The common refrain from gun control activists is that guns cause crime. They believe that by restricting access to firearms, they can reduce the crime rate and save lives. If their position were valid, then the opposite would have to be true as well — more guns would lead to more crime. But thanks to the FBI, which keeps track of crimes in the United States and reports on its trends, we know that despite the record level of gun sales and manufacturing in 2013, the crime rate has dropped to another new record low . . .
The FBI released Crime in the United States, 2013 today, which shows that the estimated number of violent crimes in 2013 decreased 4.4 percent when compared with 2012 figures, and the estimated number of property crimes decreased 4.1 percent. There were an estimated 1,163,146 violent crimes reported to law enforcement last year, along with an estimated 8,632,512 property crimes.
During the same time period, firearms sales went through the roof. More people bought firearms than ever before. From the Washington Times:
The FBI reported that it performed an astounding 21,093,273 background checks for the year ending Dec. 31. In fact, eight of the top 10 highest weeks ever for National Instant Background Check System (NICS) checks were in 2013 (the other two were during Dec. 2012.)
The checks in 2013 were 8 percent higher than 2012. The one-year increase is significant because the year leading up to the presidential election also saw massive which firearm sales.
Mr. Obama has actually been the best gun salesman in history. NICS checks have gone up a whopping 66 percent since he came to the White House.
If Michael Bloomberg and his telegenic sock puppets at Moms Demand Action were right — if guns in civilian hands cause crime and keeping guns out of the hands of Americans was the answer to “gun violence” — then crime should have skyrocketed during 2013. Gun sales were at their highest point ever, so the crime rate should have been astronomical. But it wasn’t. In fact, while there were more guns floating around than ever, there was also less crime — far less — than any time in recent history.
Guns don’t cause crime. Removing guns from America will not eliminate crime. It should go without saying that legal gun owners are not, for the most part, criminals. These are all facts that have been proven time and again with hard statistics and scientific analysis. But Michael Bloomberg and Shannon Watts still parrot the party line, claiming guns are the root of all evil.
I can’t make it any more clear than this. Some bigots just prefer to hate an entire group of Americans for their choices rather than understanding the facts of the situation.