There are those who have suggested that banning firearms altogether will eliminate the violent crime rate in the United States, but FBI statistics suggest otherwise. According to a recent report Violent Crime Declined As Gun Sales Climbed in 2009:
Violent crime continued to fall in 2009, even as gun sales reached an all-time high, according to statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). This is “proof positive that gun prohibitionists have been consistently and undeniably wrong,†the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said in a statement.
Released Tuesday, the violent crime statistics are part of the FBI’s yearly Uniform Crime Report, which collects crime statistics from localities all across the country and is the most comprehensive report on crime in America.
According to the FBI, the number of violent crimes of all types declined in 2009 by 5.3 percent and property crimes declined 4.6 percent. In fact, the rate of violent crime declined 6.1 percent below 2008 figures.
…
In fact, the types of crime most likely to be committed with a firearm, murders and manslaughters, experienced one of the greatest rates of decline in 2009 – 7.3 percent.
While violent crime was going down in 2009, guns sales were experiencing a record year. According to data from the FBI’s National Instant Background Check System (NICS), 2009 was the best year on record for gun sales.
If you are legally armed in your home or on your person, one doesn’t need fancy statistics to tell you that you will be safer from violent crime. If your home is broken into in the middle of the night, and you have a firearm in the home, the chances of you or a member of your family becoming a gunshot victim drop significantly. The same is true if you are packing on your way to the car in a dark parking lot in the middle of the night.
While anti-second amendment protestors feared that issuance of conceal and carry licenses would lead to old west style confrontations in the streets of America, the exact opposite happened.
Furthermore, those pushing to ban certain types of weapons due to their supposed transfer to drug cartels in Mexico are once again missing the point: Guns don’t kill people – stupid people with guns kill people. Even if we were to completely prevent 100% of US-made weapons from entering Mexico, cartels would obtain their guns from countries like Venezuela and China.
We need a sensible gun policy in this country, and the extent of that policy should be that if you are a law abiding citizen and you want to arm yourself in public or in your home, you should be free to do so.
Hat tip Wheedle
CARS KILL PEOPLE. as a matter of fact cars kill lotsa people. often 2, 4, or 6 at a time.
therefore cars must be outlawed.
The back to school sales have ended but they are still 5 deep at the cash registers in my town buying guns.
…AND in a recession/depression, too!
Nice, Mac.
Didn’t the U.K. ramp up their gun laws at some point within the last decade or two?…and didn’t their gun-related violence actually go up afterwards?
I could have sworn I read that somewhere…
It’s nice to see common since finally make the news.Â
I double dog dare some idiot to step foot in my house at night uninvited.Â
Comments….. mushroom
September 28th, 2010 at 11:47 am
CARS KILL PEOPLE. as a matter of fact cars kill lotsa people. often 2, 4, or 6 at a time.
therefore cars must be outlawed.
—————————-
Â
Trees kill people too. Poor Sonny Bono hit one skiing. One can never have enough guns and ammo.
unwitnessed skier-tree collisions involving honest men with powerful wealthy enemies are often not as they seem…
Seems to me that people I work with that have never wanted to own a gun for self defense are now asking me a ton of questions about guns. Of course, some of the people at work are still clueless and think they can just run to Sam’s and Walmart to stock up if it starts going bad. Oh well, maybe they won’t breed!
2 to the chest and 1 to the head .
Â
Comments…..
Nice idea with one state allowing teachers at universities to carry–good for that state! Forgot the one–but it shocked me.
Why does Switzerland have the lowest crime rate per capita???
this youtube will fill you in…Second amendment safe there
Comments….. When you don`t have enough police officers on
patrool, statistics like this go down (not enough people to file and solve problems). Ask FBI the same question after 6 months.
What is it that they say about a well armed society being a very polite society?
The gun control freaks and the government are very afraid that we the people are going to someday get so pissed-off that the American Citizens that they turn their guns on them.
 Remember, politicians much prefer unarmed citizens! Much safer for them that way!!!
Its 1 in the heart..2 in the mind..
I dont leave home without it..been that way since they got the message that they better stop infinging on our 2nd amendment rights..I dont agree on them issuing licences..that in itself is an infingement in my eyes..
I have the right to carry..We the People Gave them our rules..this is not a democracy..this is a republic..we the people have the right to own carry and protect our selfs with arms..we gave them the rules we live under, the more people understand how this country and its government were truely built , concieved and run..the sooner we can get rid of the commies and lozers in power
Remember we are sovereign individuals…
Lock and Load and Target practice will begin shortly…Barack has made it that way
A local gun dealer’s  advertisements , always thanks “this  Administration” , for their outstanding record sales, month after month.  There is no recession for gun dealers.
I bought my first firearm this year and I am very happy I did it.
By the end of 2011, I plan to have at least 1 more firearm – if not 2 more.
Lock & load.
Touro – Excellent! Â Don’t forget LOTS of lead to go with them and practice, practice and more practice.
LT. Brigs:Â What if they panic & start shooting?
Dirty Harry:Â Â Nothing wrong with shooting so long as the right people get shot!
Everyone, pro- and anti- should read this book and then shut the hell up:
More Guns, Less Crime by John Lott, Jr.
If you don’t like guns, don’t buy them and don’t hang around people that do. If you do like guns, buy them, shoot them.
The dangerous things are corrupt cops with guns. They shoot pregnant women, murder children, beat up old men and break their necks, beat up people for calling them for help or asking directions and arrest people for “criminal recklessness” because they shot into their lawn.
Cops cause way more death, destruction and crime than either criminals or guns. Guns don’t kill people, cops and other people do. Eliminate crime: Fire ALL of the police. For decades law enforcement has been engineering job security by making more and more things a violation. Its not law enforcement, is VCD (Victimless Crimes Division) which is an oxymoron. If there is no victim, there is no crime. Police and government foster corruption. FIRE THEM! Let them get jobs that produce something instead of hindering production. Donut consumption and tax feeding is not production.
X-mas is coming up in 3 months, lay away a few by each door. Your family will love you for it.
Ya, and another thing is the retards who believe hollywoods version of the OLD West! Like everyone just walked around shooting everyone and everything! Remember these leftist liberty haters know that people with guns dont take kindly to being raped beaten and robbed …all favorite pastimes of tyrants upon serfs…our fathers lived under these tyrants and made sure that we didnt have to,hence the saying “Dont tread on me” has better clarity!
Harry Callahan: Where’d you learn to shoot like that? Certainly not around here.
Officer Phil Sweet: No, sir. Airborne Rangers… Special Forces.
Harry Callahan: And how about the rest of these guys? Are they as good as you?
Officer Phil Sweet: Well, Grimes here… I’d say he’s about even with me… Astrachan’s a little better on a good day
Officer Red Astrachan: [snickers] A little better?
Officer Phil Sweet: And Davis there… he’s just dog crazy. He’s a lot better.
Harry Callahan: A lot better? You sure show a sense of style… Sweet is it? Well, when I get back on homicide I hope you boys will come see me.
I don’t think there is enough evidence from the presented FBI stats to conclude that the increased gun sales are responsible for the drop in crime… c’mon, making that assumption one is making just as much a false argument as the gun-ban supporters.
For example, Canada has about 1/3rd the number of guns per capita that the US does. By the above logic, we should have significantly more violent crime…. but we don’t. We have about 1/3 as many per capita. Does that mean that because we have less guns per capita we have less violent crime?
I don’t think so… the dynamics that lead to violent crime are far more complicated than that.
The stats on their own can’t conclude that MORE GUNS = LESS CRIME, but they DO demonstrate that MORE GUNS does NOT necessarily mean MORE CRIME. And that DOES put a big hole in many gun-ban supporters’ arguments.
That Wild West analogy is spot on. Liberals think that, if everyone were armed and someone pulled a gun, there’d be some kind of showdown. But, that’s the exact opposite of what happens. People who think the other person might be armed are LESS likely to draw their own gun, and vice-versa, so as to AVOID a showdown.
It’s a paradox that drives liberals nuts. (Quick! Get the car!)