Funder of Lott 1996
CCW Study Has Links to the Gun Industry
Research conducted
by John Lott, purporting to show that relaxed concealed weapons laws reduce
crime has been the subject of severe criticism not just for its methodological
shortcomings, but also for its funding source. These questions have focused
on the ties to the firearms industry of the funder of Mr. Lott's fellowship,
the John M. Olin Foundation.
There are significant
links between the John M. Olin Foundation and the Olin Corporation, which
owns Winchester Ammunition (the largest producer of ammunition in the
U.S. and the manufacturer of the infamous "Black Talon" bullet). Olin
Corporation at one time also owned Winchester Firearms, a trade name which
it now licenses out. Winchester Ammunition stands to reap financial gain
from the increased sale of handgun ammunition generated by the passage
of lax concealed weapons laws.
The Violence Policy
Center has conducted extensive research regarding the links between the
Olin Corporation and the Olin Foundation as well as the political agenda
of the Olin Foundation. While the Olin Foundation has denied any links
between it and the Olin Corporation, research conducted by the Violence
Policy Center has revealed the following:
- The Olin Foundation was founded
in 1953 by John M. Olin while he was head of Olin Corporation. The
July/August 1983 issue of Foundation News details the historical
overlap between the leadership of Olin Corporation and the Olin Foundation:
"[John M.] Olin started the foundation..., running it out of his vest
pocket for a quarter of a century. `It was just a charitable checkbook,'
says [then-Olin Foundation Executive Director Michael] Joyce. Not
until 1977 did Olin attempt something more substantial. That year
he hired small staff for the foundation and persuaded both [William]
Simon and McCloy to join the enterprise....[When Olin died in 1982
he left]...an additional $50 million to the foundation, a gift that...[would]...soon
place it among the big-league grantmakers."
-
-
Tax records
of stock sales by the Olin Foundation disclose that millions of dollars
in Olin Corporation stock were donated to the foundation in 1957 and
that as recently as 1994 the foundation sold shares for millions of
dollars in revenue (the Olin Foundation initially denied that it held
significant holdings in Olin Corporation and then would not respond
to inquiries regarding how many shares of Olin Corporation stock it
holds today).
-
A 1983 Foundation
News profile of the Olin Foundation noted that many of its directors
"have either been closely associated with the foundation's founder,
the late John M. Olin, or with the corporation he headed." At that
time, these included: Walter F. O'Connell, then-chairman of the Olin
Corporation's Finance Committee; and, John W. Hanes, a consultant
to Olin since 1957. This trend continues today.
-
At the time
of the release of the Lott study, former Olin Corporation executives
continued to serve on the Foundation's board of directors. Olin Foundation
board member Eugene F. Williams, Jr. served on the Olin Corporation
board of directors from 1955 to 1994. Fellow Olin Foundation board
member Richard M. Furlaud also served on the Olin Corporation board
of directors from 1963 to 1993 and is listed in the publication Who's
Wealthy in America, 1996 as a holder of inside stock in Olin Corporation.
Although the Olin
Foundation purports to have no link to the Olin Corporation, reporters
and writers often note the close association between the two.
- The July/August 1983 issue
of Foundation News, in describing one critic's concerns about
the Olin Foundation, stated, "Turning to the Olin Foundation, [Alfred]
Kazin informed his readers that the parent corporation last
year took in $2.2 billion in revenues, chiefly from the manufacture
of chemicals, rifles, ammunition, skis, carpet padding, copper for
the U.S. Mint, brass, cellophane and cigarette paper." [emphasis added]
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-
The July 19-26,
1995 issue of Christian Century contained an article entitled
"Funding the war of ideas." The article detailed the activities of
"the four sisters"�the "four conservative-leaning foundations [Olin,
Bradley, Smith Richardson, and Scaife] that have been willing to put
their money into journals and think tanks in order to win the battle
for hearts and minds." It asks the question: "Who's behind these
four foundations? The John M. Olin Foundation was created in 1953
by the Olin Corporation, which produces, among other things, Winchester
rifles. [emphasis added] Olin became a more aggressive player
in public affairs in 1977 when William Simon became president and
Michael Joyce was named executive director. `The intellectual movement
on the right is a very serious movement,' commented George Gillespie,
secretary-treasurer of the foundation, in 1983. `We support some of
the best thinkers at some of the country's best institutions."
-
The People
for the American Way publication Buying a Movement: Right-Wing
Foundations and American Politics states, "The John M. Olin Foundation
grew out of a family manufacturing business, and has grown substantially
in the past 20 years." The study adds, "Research done in Olin programs
provides an academic basis for right-wing policy."
And regarding the
role of business leaders on foundation boards, Olin Foundation President
William Simon wrote in the preface to the Capital Research Center's book
Patterns of Corporate Philanthropy: The Progressive Deception that:
business leaders can
direct corporate giving along constructive lines by playing an active
role on the boards of the foundations their enterprise has made possible...[C]orporate
leaders have abdicated far too much day-to-day operational control of
their giving to a philanthropic managerial class which sets their giving
priorities for them....While businesses may understandably wish to give
to traditional charities of interest to local employees and customers,
it is also their responsibility to nurture the efforts of individuals
and institutions which strive to strengthen the very freedoms that allow
business to thrive in the first place....Companies should give as through
their futures depended on it, for in a very real sense, they do.
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