Every year the FBI compiles the most accurate and impartial accounting of crime in the United States. The “FBI Uniform Crime Report” is available online for all to see. It gives people the opportunity to understand trends in crime and investigate the impact of various policies on the crime rate in the United States. Gun control activists like Shannon Watts (spokesperson for Michael Bloomberg’s Moms Demand Action and Everytown for Gun Safety campaigns) continue to assert that there is a “gun violence epidemic” in the United States. In fact, for the 12th straight year in a row. . .
the violent crime rate (including the murder rate) has decreased. Gone down. Been reduced. The exact opposite of what you would expect with an “epidemic.” From the report . . .
In 2014, there were an estimated 1,165,383 violent crimes. Murder and non-negligent manslaughter decreased 0.5 percent and robbery decreased 5.6 percent when compared with estimates from 2013. Rape (legacy definition) and aggravated assault, however, increased 2.4 percent and 2.0 percent, respectively.
According to the data released along with this report, California is the #1 state in the United States for firearms-related murders. Again. The Golden State was home to nearly twice as many firearms-related murders as the next state on the list (Texas) despite having a plethora of gun control laws in place.
This continued decline in the murder rate comes as many states are restoring gun rights to their citizens and the number of firearms in the United States continues to increase by millions annually. Logic dictates that a decreasing murder rate in the face of an increasing firearms ownership indicates that guns and murder are not related.
While the idea popularized by John Lott – more guns = less crime – is subject to debate, it’s a fact that more guns don’t cause more murders. Gun control activists have ignored this trend for the last 12 years. And there’s little hope that they will recognize – or admit – the flaw in their argument anytime soon.
Don’t sweat it.
MDA, Everytown, even Dirk’s Boo Shannon won’t let any of those pesky facts stop their ‘Crusade’…
(And the attack on our Civil Rights…)
Again.
Still.
So long as there is an agenda driving a cause, facts shall be of minimal import, used only when needed to support a position.
Every cause has an agenda……..
as every agenda has a cause
interesting relationship.
Nick, I don’t want to rain on the parade, but I don’t think your title concerning 12 years in a row is completely accurate. I can see that the violent crime rate for at least the last 20 years has grossly trended downwards(according to the stats on the linked FBI page), but there have been some years with small increases in the national violent crime rate.
For example, it went up from 387.1 in 2010 to 387.8 in 2011. Also, it went up from 463.2 in 2004 to 469.0 in 2005. (unless I’m looking at the wrong chart)
Shannon Watts and her Bloomie-supported gang are epidemic liars about…well, pretty much everything, but I want us to be as accurate as possible when we make these kind of claims.
To statisticians, that increase is too small to really count as an increase. But it definitely wouldn’t count as a decrease, so a better title would be something like “crime rate continues its 12-year downward trend”.
Right, that’s what I’m trying to get at. It’s insignificant, but it’s inaccurate to say the rate has decreased for the 12th straight year.
If the overall trend is downward with some peaks and valleys it is still considered a trend.
+1
On the other hand, violent crime committed by cops is on the rise.
Government control, anyone?
Is this a fact or just an assumption because the media has been highlighting anything cop?
Bingo.
Heard on the news today that Maricopa County AZ had a huge drop. Lowest level since the 60’s. Constitutional carry, open carry, concealed carry. The most gun freindly state in the nation.
Don’t forget sheriff Joe!
That’s like, just your opinion man. Vermont is the most gun friendly state in the nation as well as one of the safest states to live in. No permit required to buy or carry anything regardless where you’re from.
The California gun murder rate is 3.0 per 100,000 and texas is 2.8 per 100,000, not much of a difference. Even if California had a lower rate than Texas, it doesn’t matter because limiting somebody ability to defend themselves is never okay even if it did teeter to an a better net result.
Little mikey and his minions will figure a way to skew, I mean lie about this.
From the article
Sounds to me like the more people there are in a state, the more murders there will be. Huh. Go figure.
Not at all true, which is why the FBI also figures the rate of murders per 100,000 inhabitants. For instance, Alabama had 276 in the “murder and nonnegligent manslaughter” category and has a population of 4,849,377, but Colorado had 151 in the “murder and nonnegligent manslaughter” column, despite having a population of about a half-million more people (5,355,866). Alabama’s murder rate per 100,000 was 5.7, where Colorado’s was 2.8. All data from the 2014 FBI UCR, Table 5, which can be found here:
https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2014/crime-in-the-u.s.-2014/tables/table-5
There are probably other states in the same situation, but I stopped when I found the first example (I only had to review stats for the first 6 states to find this example).
I don’t think you have a solid understanding of the term “per capita”.
Freedom hating lefties will celebrate, CELEBRATE, I tell you, when the homicide rate and violent crime rate level out or even increase for whatever reason. Whatever gives them the opportunity to campaign for more gun control. They don’t care about crime or violence – they just want the scary guns to disappear.
If the trend were to reverse upward, it would be imperative to examine the data to determine why, and all the more reason to arm yourself.
IL is listed as “incomplete data” otherwise it would have probably taken crown. I suspect NY is also poorly listed as well as NJ, and I doubt Alabama had only one murder. I’m willing to take these as “garbage in, garbage out” numbers.
Alabama had 276 listed in the “Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter” column of Table 5, which can be found here:
https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2014/crime-in-the-u.s.-2014/tables/table-5
In the Murder, by State, Types of Weapons (table 20), it does show 1 under Firearms, but it also has a note next to the state name (note 3), which when you look at the key, note 3 says “Limited supplemental homicide data were received.” I take that to mean all murders and nonnegligent manslaughters were reported, but not necessarily categorized by the type of weapon used in the crime.
This is my surprised face.
So sad that emotions trump facts for so many people…
There are a lot of people in Texas getting killed by feet and hands.
Welll…try to convince the good folks in Chicago that crime and violence is
“down”. The murder rate is lower than in the 70’s and 80’s but every crime wasn’t reported 24/7(or on a camera phone). Perception is reality for dumb people(or libtards)…
I suggest that while it currently appears that these facts are working in our favor, future patterns may not. That is why we need to keep hammering on the notion that our right to keep and bear arms, our right to self defense is not subject to arguments grounded in social utility… and all that.
Excellent point. Crime is driven by demographics and not laws we don’t like. Crime levels fell in late 1940s and 50s because of the Depression birth dearth resulting in a very small number of people in the prime criminal years. It rose in the 1960s and 70s because the boomers were the largest generation in history and the destruction of the black family by the government. The crime rate began to recede but the feds busted the mob cartel and new players battled it out for supremacy. In the 1990s the get tough on crime policies locked up criminals and we had the small generation of Xers to replenish the prime age criminals. I expect crime rates to rise as we are entering a new wave of family breakdown and we have once again bought into the notion that enforcing the law creates criminals.
Good to hear and shared on Facebook.
While you’re at it, can you also remind NRA, so that next time LaPierre is delivering one of his speeches, he doesn’t go on and on about how everyone needs a gun because it’s practically Somalia in here, with criminals everywhere around them just waiting for a good moment to jump on you?
+1,000
How can crime be down when we haven’t legalized all drugs and other victimless crimes? /sarc.
+1,000
“Gun control activists have ignored this trend for the last 12 years. And there’s little hope that they will recognize – or admit – the flaw in their argument anytime soon.” You sum it up pretty well.
It’s all about an agenda to nullify Americans’ right to keep and bear Arms so that the Far-Left controlled Government can impose ever more domination over our Lives and Liberties. Facts have no pertinence to this agenda, nor the spurious deceptions used to advance it.
Some of the disarmed people murdered by the governments of the world, Christians Rome, Jews Nazi Germany, Aztecs Spanish, Maori of NZ and Aboriginals Australia, Scottish William Wallace, the Irish, Welsh by English and the Native America by the US government. THIS is why we need guns to protect ourselves from those who would subject us to their whim and if this is not enough just google dictators.
There are over 400 gun laws on the books and they have done nothing to stop the violence. Because of the winey few we are chastised for wanting to protect ourselves. We NEED guns to protect ourselves from criminals in and out of the government. I deserve the right to protect myself and if you don’t like it tough $hit. The 2nd Amendment was put into the Constitution so the people could protect themselves from a corrupt government. That is why it says “shall not infringe” so we can have what the government has to prevent a Holocaust. I believe the people should have what the government has including machine guns. The only gun control law there should be is that criminals can’t have any firearms. No double standards put the DC politicians on Obamacare and SS.Thanks for your vote.Pass the word. mrpresident2016.com
While the overall article is pretty good I do have a couple issues. How much do you trust the FBIs reporting after it was shown that they over reported the number of “mass shootings”? And are the California v. Texas numbers total overall or rate per 100,000?
“Gun control activists AND THE MEDIA have ignored this trend for the last 12 years.” FTFY
Good news, But that in and of its self does not help us.
I would like to see real work done to expose the true causes for violent crime.
I had heard that 80% of all violent crime is committed by just 10% of the criminals.
Plus I would also like hard numbers on the percentage of criminals who suffer from untreated mental illness.
If the numbers I have heard are true.
We should be trumpeting as load as we can and as much as we can.
We should constantly introduce legislation combating these conditions there by taking the initiative from the Gun grabbers.
You dumb, dumb bastards. Perfect timing on this article and these moronic comments. Fucking backwards thinking assholes. Die off (of natural causes! see?) already, would you?
Ah, another “tolerant” lefty troll.
Welcome, and may you soon choke yourself into a vegetative state on the bile you spew at others. Then you’ll be able to fully enjoy watching president Trump take the oath of office, while not being able to change the channel to avoid it.
To Denny (Dumbo):
Isn’t it frustrating, when you have decided on a certain position, but the facts don’t support your stance? Like most non-thinking liberals, you automatically assume guns cause violence. Yet, I have never yet heard of a gun committing a murder. I’ve heard of people committing murder, using a gun. But the gun is always innocent — it has no ability to do anything other than what the human holding it decides to do.
So keep being stupid.
By the way, I especially enjoyed your nasty, rotten tirade (look it up) — since you are among those “tolerant” liberals who willingly attack anyone who disagrees with them.
any questions geniuses? lehoux is absolutely correct. get a clue people. America will not be disarmed while I live.