Bloomberg Should Learn From Others Before New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg decides to take his gun control agenda on the road nationwide, scholar and author John R. Lott Jr. suggests he first talk to the leaders of other nations where similar plans have done nothing but rob law-abiding citizens of their rights. “Everyone wants to prevent criminals from getting guns,” writes Lott. “But the experience in other countries, even island nations that have gone so far as banning guns and where boarders are relatively easy to monitor, should give Mr. Bloomberg and his supporters some pause.” Lott lists a number of examples in a recent column, including the fact that the British government banned handguns in January 1997 but recently reported that gun crime in England and Wales nearly doubled in the seven years from 1996 to 2003.