The anti-gun narrative is simple: relaxed gun laws lead to more crime. The easier it is for a community to acquire guns, the more violent that community becomes. Sounds reasonable, right? Wrong. It couldn’t be farther from the truth.
A new study conducted by NYU’s Brennan Center for Justice found that nationwide crime is “at the lowest point in a generation.” While the murder rate is spiking in certain cities (mainly in anti-gun Chicago), crime, violence, and murder rates remain as low as they’ve been in the last three decades. “Warnings of a coming crime wave may be provocative,” the report concludes, “but they are not supported by the evidence.”
Anti-gunners are no doubt asking themselves, “How can this be? States across the nation have relaxed their gun laws! Why aren’t we seeing huge spikes in crime?”
Good question. Despite (or, perhaps, because of) the federal government’s constant threat of tighter firearm restrictions, states across the country have dramatically relaxed their gun control laws in the last three decades. It’s tough to see sometimes, considering recent anti-gun decisions from federal courts and anti-gun legislation from states like California and Connecticut. But it’s true—gun control proponents have scored major victories in dozens of states since 1990.
By Jeff Dege – https://www.gun-nuttery.com/rtc.php, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3167986
Concealed carry policies have especially come in line with a proper interpretation of the Second Amendment. Missouri, for example, just became the eleventh state to pass a “constitutional carry” bill that allows Missouri residents to carry a firearm without a license. Forty states have instituted a “shall issue” policy: as long as a resident completes a certain set of requirements, the state has no right to deny that person a permit to carry. Thirty of those states issue permits to both residents and non-residents. Some states like Texas are even prosecuting local governments for not adhering to the state’s pro-gun policies.
If the anti-gun narrative held water, crime should have spiked long ago. In fact, the opposite has happened. As this graph from the Brennan Center demonstrates, crime rates have gone down in America’s thirty largest cities:
(Photo: NYU)
How do we explain this drastic decrease? There are lots of theories. The most probable is some combination of better law enforcement and better laws. Another has to do with reforms in the criminal justice system.
These theories are plausible, but here’s another: as more and more Americans have made the decision to defend themselves with firearms, criminals have become increasingly wary of committing violent crimes. No studies have shown a direct correlation between relaxed gun laws and a decrease in crime, but it’s worth thinking about.
At any rate, relaxed gun laws absolutely, without a doubt do not result in more crime. That much is certain.
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About the Author: Jordan Michaels is a new convert to the gun world. A Canadian immigrant to the United States, he recently became an American citizen and is happily enjoying his newly-acquired Second Amendment freedoms. He’s a communications professional, a political junkie, and an avid basketball fan.
As I see it, if deranged Hillary is elected and the Second Amendment is no longer considered part of the Constitution, the crime rate will be the highest it has ever been. Be assured, Hillary will have an explanation for the high crime rate and the explanation will not have any connection to disarming people and making them defenseless. In her deranged logic, the high crime rate will somehow be caused by Republicans and Hillary will ask that all Republicans be voted out in the next election.
The purpose of the previous paragraph was to illustrate the ludicrous judgement of Hillary. Believe it or not, Hillary’s presidency would surely be the worst of times in the United States. More than likely, Hillary’s supporters, such as Obama, Pelosi, Feinstein, Boxer, Bloomberg, Soros, Network News Media, Katie Couric, Sen. Harry Reid, Billy and Chelsea, Gov. Brown of California, Gov. Brown of Oregon, Gov. Inslee of Washington, Sen. Schumer of New York, AG Healey of Massachusetts, and others, would only make the situation even worse.
Of course this article is sort of preaching to the choir. I have to deal with liberals regularly. They see these statistics totally different. Most often they were not raised around guns, hunting, or the military. Some even believe guns themselves are inherently evil. I have know several people that believed that just the existence of a gun was dangerous, even an ancient flintlock. The bottom line for the progressives is to disarm law abiding citizens. It would not matter to them if the violent crime rate reached zero they would still be screaming to ban guns. Their logic is often bizarre. They support Black Lives Matter and act as if all police are racist thugs, yet say comparatively little about the black on black crime in many of American cities. Take the total crime rate, subtract black on black crime and the crime statistic for the rest of America would look even better. Of course the answer demanded from progressives for any and all gun crimes, even if committed in a jurisdiction with extremely strict gun laws and the crime committed by someone who should not have a weapon under any jurisdiction, is to ban semi-automatic rifles, or as progressive call them “assault rifles.” Yet the majority of murders, especially black on black shootings are not done with so called assault weapons but handguns. The handguns used are almost always stolen or illegally purchased. We have seen the progressive movements assault on all the Bill of Rights and it will not end.
Well! People are not stupid! You don’t mess with someone that just might be carrying a firearm unless your crazy to real stupid!
An armed society is a polite society .
Hmmm? and the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act (Assault Weapons Ban of 1994) ended thirteen years ago, and still crime is down. But, we got to get rid of them. They look real scary.
Makes perfect sence to me