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That book of Lott's is probably the most exhaustively investigated ever -- and the gun-grabbers only found one error. If there were more, they would surely have found them by now and he'd be pilloried just like Bellesiles. But he hasn't been.

I call that good news.

Faking data, if true, is not ok. While I support the position Lott takes concerning the role of guns in our culture, there should be enough data available without making it up. In this he is no better than Bellesailes and it casts doubt on his entire thesis. This is not a good thing for those who must fight the sea of misinformation and faulty assumptions of the gun control crowd.
He should never have done such a thing.
In a larger view, what does it say about the integrity of academia that they are constantly being "caught" faking data, misrepresenting findings and flat out lying? What has happened to integrity? This is the kind of future we can expect? All research will be meaningless and unreliable if it can't be trusted. I don't have any answers but it certainly bodes ill when research is used to make policy and that research is tainted by intellectual dishonesty.

I wish I could agree with you. What we have here is not a mistake but an intentional effort to deceive for the sake of personal gain. What Malkin describes calls the entire study into question. If I had bought the book, I’d want my money back. I will never quote from it or reference it. This kind of blatant fraud discredits the whole work.