Have a play with this interactive chart from Pew, which shows
that “National rates of gun homicide, non-fatal gun crime and all
non-fatal violent crimes have fallen since the mid-1990s.” Pretty much
every single combination of variables — murder, violence, sex, race
– yields a decline.
But whatever you do, do not point out that most states have heavily liberalized their firearms laws since the mid-1990s.
But whatever you do, do not point out that most states have heavily liberalized their firearms laws since the mid-1990s.
It’s not just Pew. This Department of Justice report makes
embarrassing reading for those who spend their time trying to make it
appear as if America is in the middle of a gun-crime wave. The
headlines:
Firearm-related homicides declined 39%, from 18,253 in 1993 to 11,101 in 2011.
Nonfatal firearm crimes declined 69%, from 1.5 million victimizations in 1993 to 467,300 victimizations in 2011.
For both fatal and nonfatal firearm victimizations, the majority of
the decline occurred during the 10-year period from 1993 to 2002.
Visually, the decline is particularly striking:
Control by race, you’ll find the same thing:
Control by region, you’ll find the same thing:
And those screaming “. . .but Sandy Hook!” will no doubt be pleased
to know that school shootings, too, are down 33 percent since 1993.
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