All human action begins in the body, is processed by the brain–some brain–and expressed symbolically if communication is desired, most commonly through language. Language, in turn, both expresses ideas AND creates them. Images we form are often in response to words. This primitive feelings can go through many forms, themselves constantly changing and evolving.
The deliberate abuse of language is a deliberate abuse of ones fellow humans. Conversely, consciously accurate use of language is a form of compassion and even love.
Hence: gun control is the effort to reduce illegal gun use by reducing legal gun use.
Corollary: gun control is the effort to reduce the number of illegal guns by reducing the number of legal guns.
I would stipulate John Lotts phrase should have a word added: more LEGAL guns, less crime. This is a highly defensible statement. It may be that low crime areas exist without guns–this is certainly true-/but I very much doubt there are any high crime areas outside war zones where legal gun ownership is common. Witness much of South and Central America.