In recent years, Lott also has been criticized for using an online pseudonym to promote and defend his work. Lott, a scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, "acknowledged in 2003 using the online pseudonym 'Mary Rosh' for more than three years to attack his critics and praise his own work — particularly his controversial book from 1998, 'More Guns, Less Crime,"' according to a New York Times article published Monday.

It's a fact of life that academics disagree over many things. For every John Lott out there, there are a dozen others who may refute Lott's point of view. But these allegations point to what has been lacking in Utah's concealed-weapons debate — balance. If the point of allowing people with concealed-carry permits to carry guns into just about every public place in Utah is enhanced public safety, there had better be sound science to back it up.

As the U.'s president implores, the crux of this issue is safety. "Our only goal from the beginning has been to keep our students safe," Young said during a press conferences Friday. "Universities across the country uniformly prohibit guns on campus."

What do those policymakers know that Utahns don't? And shouldn't state lawmakers — in the wake of controversy over Lott's work, which figured prominently into changing Utah's concealed weapons permit law — be willing to take another look at this issue?

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Marjorie Cortez, proud holder of a hunter safety certificate issued by the Colorado Division of Wildlife Resources, is a Deseret Morning News editorial writer. E-mail: marjorie@desnews.com.