Original sentence: The criminologist Gary Kleck; while criticizing Lott's theories as (paradoxically) overemphasizing the threat to the average American from armed crime, and therefore the need for armed defense, Kleck's work speaks towards similar support for firearm rights by showing that the number of Americans who report incidents where their guns averted a threat vastly outnumber those who report being the victim of a firearm-related crime.The economist and opinion editorialist John Lott claims to have identified a positive correlation between gun control legislation and crimes in which criminals confront citizens— that is, an increases in the number or strictness of gun control laws is correlated with an increase in the number or severity of violent crimes
Edited sentence: Other scholars, such as Gary Kleck, take a slightly different tack; while criticizing Lott's theories as (paradoxically) overemphasizing the threat to the average American from armed crime, and therefore the need for armed defense, Kleck's work speaks towards similar support for firearm rights by showing that the number of Americans who report incidents where their guns averted a threat vastly outnumber those who report being the victim of a firearm-related crime.Some scholars, such as John Lott, claim to have identified a positive correlation between gun control legislation and crimes in which criminals confront citizens— that is, an increases in the number or strictness of gun control laws is correlated with an increase in the number or severity of violent crimes