In America, there are an estimated 300 million firearms.
100 million of those are handguns.
Reported gun ownership is at its highest since 1993.
Forty-nine states allow citizens to carry a concealed weapon with a license.
Twenty-four states have a form of stand your ground or Castle Doctrine laws, protecting people from prosecution when defending their property or their life.
And violent crime in America is at a 41 year low:
Giving a positive character to the old expression, “same old stuff,” this week the FBI preliminarily reported that violent crime has dropped yet again – for the 18th time in the last 20 years. According to the report, the estimated annual number of murders dropped 1.9 percent from 2010 to 2011 which, given the increase in the U.S. population during the year, would translate into a drop of between 2.5-3 percent in the per capita rate of murders.
The FBI is expected to report the final 2011 figures around the end of the summer. Assuming those figures match the current estimates, the nation’s murder rate has been cut by about 53 percent and the total violent crime rate has been cut by about 49 percent since 1991, when violent crime hit an all-time high. Stated another way, the nation’s murder rate has fallen to about a 48-year low, and the nation’s total violent crime rate has fallen to about a 41-year low.
Obviously, this is bad news on top of bad news for gun control groups. Ever since the 1970s, they have said that more guns must–as if by some law of nature–result in more crime. It’s also bad news for people who are currently trying to undermine self-defense laws that have been popularly-termed “Castle Doctrine” or “Stand Your Ground.”
Meanwhile, in Chicago, where guns are pretty much illegal:
At least seven people were killed and 35 were injured since Friday night. The youngest victim was a 16-year-old girl who died after she was shot three times in the chest Saturday evening in the Englewood neighborhood.
Ten people were shot overnight Friday, and in one hour Sunday morning, three people were killed. The latest shooting happened just after midnight Monday when a 19-year-old was shot to death on the city’s North Side.
The shootings mark the third weekend in a row with gunfire injuries totaling well into the double digits. Last weekend, 46 people were hurt and eight killed across Chicago. The previous weekend, 29 were injured and three were killed in shootings.
More guns, less crime.
It is that simple. An armed society is a polite society.
Featured Image Photo Credit: gres.ceres
I would like to be able to draw some conclusion that violent gun-related crime is more prevalent in places where ordinary citizens have more restrictions placed on their ability to own and use guns.
This article does nothing to help me draw such a conclusion. How am I to know whether the crimes alluded to in the Chicago area are statistically higher than the national average? Would you please provide some statistical analysis to support your assertions that “More guns, less crime” and “An armed society is a polite society”?
This article gives me nothing I can use in a logical manner to advocate for less restricted gun laws.