Guns, Government & Crime
It is very easy for meaningful crime data to be inadvertently "lost" by the mainstream media.
Case-in-point, all the rage the last couple of news worthy days has been the focus of the High Court taking up the case of the District of Columbia's ban on concealed carry weapons by non law enforcement citizenry within the district's boundaries. We are not going to discuss this today, but rather some eye-popping statistics that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has just released concerning it's compilation of crime stats for 2006.
The FBI released the latest data last September and the numbers are in- total violent crime is LOWER by 37.5 percent than it was in 1991 (when violent crime peaked in the U.S.). Murder and robbery, the two types of violent crime most likely to involve firearms, decreased the most between 1991-2006, dropping 42 percent and 45 percent, respectively.
During the last 5 years, violent crime has been lower than any time since the mid-1970's. During the last 8 years, murder has fluctuated slightly, but remained lower than any time since the mid-1960's.
This is GREAT news for America. But the report has mainly been ignored by mainstream media since the release of this data has become available. Instead, the sensationalist media outlets ignored the long term trends and instead pointed out that violent crimes rose 1.9 percent between 2005-06. When adjusted for the nation's ever increasing population, the violent crime rate increased only 1 percent- and that, over a single year. The media, as usual, went with the higher figure.
The Fibbies report was very bad news for the anti-gun crowd in several ways. First, violent crime remains relatively low, while the numbers of guns, gun owners and Right-to-Carry states have risen to all-time highs, and gun control has been reduced significantly at the federal, state and local levels. Second, the FBI once again state that crime levels are determined by a variety of factors, ranging from economic conditions, to cultural, climate and citizens' attitude toward police - but not including gun control.
Third, in 2006 Right-to-Carry states had lower violent crime rates, on average, compared to the rest of the country. Total violent crime was 26 percent lower, murder 31 percent lower, robbery 50 percent lower and aggravated assault 15 percent lower. 13 of the 15 states with the lowest total violent crime rates and murder rates, and 14 of 15 states with the lowest robbery rates, were Right-to-Carry states.
Evidently, the high and mighty crowd in the marble and brass clad hallways of government have failed to grasp basic number trending. They are more caught up on whether a law passed in 1976 is still worth fighting for in preserving "the security of private citizens" within Washington, D.C. Yet, when the numbers are highlighted for them, they cannot explain why D.C. remains at the top of the list of most violent regions in the country per capita. You see, the average citizen in Washington, DC is not allowed to carry a firearm for protection. They can have one in the home if it is registered, locked up completely or otherwise made immediately "safe" by placing an after-market gun lock on the weapon. (But you cannot carry in public-even if licensed.)
Unfortunately, the blue bloods will continue to thumb their noses until a Virginia Tech tragedy takes place on their hallowed ground or the Supreme Court hands them a definitive decision in the next session. My pick is for the latter, but we know that governmental types only respond to crises and emotional duress brought about by either Mother Nature or psychotic citizenry.
These are the times we live in...are you armed?
If not, why?
Case-in-point, all the rage the last couple of news worthy days has been the focus of the High Court taking up the case of the District of Columbia's ban on concealed carry weapons by non law enforcement citizenry within the district's boundaries. We are not going to discuss this today, but rather some eye-popping statistics that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has just released concerning it's compilation of crime stats for 2006.
The FBI released the latest data last September and the numbers are in- total violent crime is LOWER by 37.5 percent than it was in 1991 (when violent crime peaked in the U.S.). Murder and robbery, the two types of violent crime most likely to involve firearms, decreased the most between 1991-2006, dropping 42 percent and 45 percent, respectively.
During the last 5 years, violent crime has been lower than any time since the mid-1970's. During the last 8 years, murder has fluctuated slightly, but remained lower than any time since the mid-1960's.
This is GREAT news for America. But the report has mainly been ignored by mainstream media since the release of this data has become available. Instead, the sensationalist media outlets ignored the long term trends and instead pointed out that violent crimes rose 1.9 percent between 2005-06. When adjusted for the nation's ever increasing population, the violent crime rate increased only 1 percent- and that, over a single year. The media, as usual, went with the higher figure.
The Fibbies report was very bad news for the anti-gun crowd in several ways. First, violent crime remains relatively low, while the numbers of guns, gun owners and Right-to-Carry states have risen to all-time highs, and gun control has been reduced significantly at the federal, state and local levels. Second, the FBI once again state that crime levels are determined by a variety of factors, ranging from economic conditions, to cultural, climate and citizens' attitude toward police - but not including gun control.
Third, in 2006 Right-to-Carry states had lower violent crime rates, on average, compared to the rest of the country. Total violent crime was 26 percent lower, murder 31 percent lower, robbery 50 percent lower and aggravated assault 15 percent lower. 13 of the 15 states with the lowest total violent crime rates and murder rates, and 14 of 15 states with the lowest robbery rates, were Right-to-Carry states.
Evidently, the high and mighty crowd in the marble and brass clad hallways of government have failed to grasp basic number trending. They are more caught up on whether a law passed in 1976 is still worth fighting for in preserving "the security of private citizens" within Washington, D.C. Yet, when the numbers are highlighted for them, they cannot explain why D.C. remains at the top of the list of most violent regions in the country per capita. You see, the average citizen in Washington, DC is not allowed to carry a firearm for protection. They can have one in the home if it is registered, locked up completely or otherwise made immediately "safe" by placing an after-market gun lock on the weapon. (But you cannot carry in public-even if licensed.)
Unfortunately, the blue bloods will continue to thumb their noses until a Virginia Tech tragedy takes place on their hallowed ground or the Supreme Court hands them a definitive decision in the next session. My pick is for the latter, but we know that governmental types only respond to crises and emotional duress brought about by either Mother Nature or psychotic citizenry.
These are the times we live in...are you armed?
If not, why?
posted by Troy M. Stirman | 5:12 PM
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