CPRC was founded by Dr. John R. Lott, Jr., an economist and a world-recognized expert on guns and crime. Lott recently served in the Trump administration as Senior Advisor for Research and Statistics in the Office of Justice Programs for the US Department of Justice and then the Senior Advisor for Research and Statistics in the Office of Legal Policy for the US Department of Justice. Lott has held research or teaching positions at various academic institutions including the University of Chicago, Yale University, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, and Rice University, and was the chief economist at the United States Sentencing Commission during 1988-1989. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from UCLA. Nobel laureate Milton Friedman noted: “John Lott has few equals as a perceptive analyst of controversial public policy issues.” Lott is a prolific author for both academic and popular publications. He has published over 100 articles in peer-reviewed academic journals and written nine books, including “More Guns, Less Crime,” “The Bias Against Guns,” and “Freedomnomics.” His most recent books are “Dumbing Down the Courts: How politics keeps the smartest judges off the bench” and “The War on Guns.”