local gun store LGS
(AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)

By Elizabeth McGuigan

The FBI has released its crime data for 2018 and the news is good. Violent crime dropped 3.3 percent in 2018 compared to 2017. According to the report, a decrease was seen across nearly every type of violent crime.

Looking at a 10-year trend, the numbers of violent crimes were down a full 9 percent from 2009 through 2018. The rate shows a more dramatic drop: “There were an estimated 368.9 violent crimes per 100,000 inhabitants in 2018, a rate that fell 3.9 percent when compared with the 2017 estimated violent crime rate and dropped 14.6 percent from the 2009 estimate.”

Homicides with firearms were down 7 percent from 2017. And in stark contrast to the theatrics of last week’s House Judiciary Committee on banning modern sporting rifles, rifles were again only used in 2 percent of homicides, far less than the share committed with knives (11 percent) or hands and feet (5 percent).

MSR Ownership Up, Crime Down

This chart says it all. Through 2016, there have been over 16 million modern sporting rifles in the hands of law-abiding citizens. Meanwhile, violent crime is declining. The message is clear. Tragic criminal actions must be addressed. Banning certain types of firearms is not the answer.

More MSR sold - Violent Crime Rate Drops -Graph

Real Solutions

The firearms and ammunition industry shares the goal of finding the root causes of criminal violence and has created programs over the years to help address safety practices and problems of unauthorized access. The firearms and ammunition industry prides itself on high rates of compliance and on our voluntary programs, often in partnership with local, state and federal government agencies, to help curtail the actual problems of guns illegally getting into the wrong hands.

We work to make sure states are submitting all prohibiting records to NICS. We provide millions of free gun locks and educational materials in all states. We train our members to spot straw purchasers, to comply with all laws, and to use discretion when making transactions and keeping their inventory secure.

We work with the Defense Department, Department of Veterans Affairs and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to help address the crisis of suicides in our country. In short, it is time for Real Solutions. Safer Communities.SM to help continue the trend of declining violence in our country.

 

Elizabeth McGuigan is Director of Legislative and Policy Research at the National Shooting Sports Foundation. 

34 COMMENTS

  1. Why should I believe the FBI’s stats when choosing to believe the Bloombergs shrieking harpies triggers my confirmation bias? That serotonin dump feels so good.

    • You shouldn’t!!! Enough is enough! I’ve tried to educate all you conservatard hillbillies and all you do is ignore the facts and insult me. This “facts” are made up by the TrumpenRiech NRA alliance to trick America. The truth is on MSNBC and CNN. This is just another capitalist lie! This is the problem with capitalism. Too much free and unfettered knowledge allowed to just spread around without any control. I can’t help you anymore. I’m fleeing to the one the place left uncorrupted by capitalism: SPACE!!!!!

  2. Too bad republicans politicians are so meek compared to democrats. This needs to be shouted from the rooftops.

  3. That graphic, assuming it’s accurate, is a good, strong suggestion that we should be looking somewhere else to reduce violence.

    It’s a shame that the entire D-party is so indifferent, to violence, to violence done with guns, and to what has nothing to do with either. Waht could possibly be their motives?

    • Gaggles of politicritters are going after guns n rights in the name of “violence” because of the payoffs in everything but guns, rights, and violence. They would go after guns on their own merits, but the anti-people’s payoffs are way bigger, and elsewhere.

      A — The easy appearance of action, without trying anything hard or doing anything uncomfortable (to people they care about?)

      B — Creeate constituency n patronage in the agitator-class, enforcement cadres, and adminidrones, who all have more to do as long at this is a something that must be done.

      C — Additional discreationary, process crimes and selective enforcement. Can’t get you for what they want, but can get you for this?

      D — Money. Donations by the Bloomie-n-company wanna-be overlords. Contributions from the angsty, n frightened. (It’s like TV evangelists soliciting donations from frightened and lonely senior citizens, but worse.) Funding from fines, more fodder for the machine. Like any other organized protection scheme, you pay off the locals with a cut, to do the ground level work, and keep them on board.(*)

      E — A way to “other” and demonize the baskets of deplorables who are inconveniently in the way on other issues. Run them out of the political discussion for WrongThink (He’s one of *them.*), cripple their ability to do anything with “investigations” and similar (Tea Party, much.), or tag them with a felony so they can’t vote.

      Or, all of the above. No wonder they won’t let go of this issue — it pays off too well in everything else they care about. Gaggles of politicritters are going after guns because of the payoffs

      (*) NYS has a generations’ long history of collusion between the state and counties, towns, and villiages. The state makes laws n establishes penalties that the locals get to enforce, keeping a cut of the “fines”,. plus various process fees like hearing admin costs, or even a fee for holding bail, if that’s required.

      • Yes. Every bit of this. They have no idea how to actually solve a problem. What they do know, is how to create new positions and expand the administrative state. At least two of the candidates want to create a Director of Gun Violence, and one wanted that director “to go after hate groups and white nationalists.” March for our lives rep Hogg wants to end the culture of gun violence and white supremacy. So now, gun owners are all white racists, and “gun violence” is really just committed by white supremacists?? These people are absolute morons.

    • Has no one gotten the message yet? the Demoncrats don’t give a Flying Sh!t about reducing violence or reducing crime. They depend on increasing violence and increasing crime to further propel their true primary agenda. Anyone ever try to figure out if they are so opposed to crime and violence, why are they so soft on punishing violent crime? (Look at recent trials and sentencings in Chicago). Their ultimate goal, as a few of their presidential candidates have leaked out is disarmament of the People. They need disarmament just as Stalin, Castro, Maduro and Hitler needed disarmament to force the general public to swallow the bitter pill of their regimes. The Demoncrats saw the mess in Somalia and Afghanistan where competing armed opposed groups lead to no one easily overcoming the will of the masses. They know that it is easier to herd a bunch of disarmed people. The Demoncrats may be stupid, but they are not complete idiots. As someone one smarter than me once said, there is nothing more dangerous than a little bit of knowledge.

  4. Slightly off topic, but where did all the MSRs come from between 1994 and 2004? Looking at the graph, it’s almost like the AWB didn’t exist.

    • There were those AKs that couldn’t take standard AK mags either. Instead they took some wierd modified single stack mag.

    • AR-15s were widely available during the AWB, they just did not have a flash hider. If you notice the “new” AWB proposal it changes to that can not happen again. Even a handguard (“barrel shroud”) would not be allowed. However if I read the text right manufacturers could still make a semi automatic rifle that accepts detachable magazine with a full stock like a Ruger Mini 14. Apparently a Mini 14 is not dangerous in the hands of a maniacal murderer bent on mayhem,

      https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/66/text?q=%7B

      (36) The term ‘semiautomatic assault weapon’ means any of the following, regardless of country of manufacture or caliber of ammunition accepted:

      “(A) A semiautomatic rifle that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and any 1 of the following:
      “(i) A pistol grip.
      “(ii) A forward grip.
      “(iii) A folding, telescoping, or detachable stock, or is otherwise foldable or adjustable in a manner that operates to reduce the length, size, or any other dimension, or otherwise enhances the concealability, of the weapon.
      “(iv) A grenade launcher.
      “(v) A barrel shroud.
      “(vi) A threaded barrel.

      • I am guessing they did such to get the support of the Fudds for a new AWB and then ban their guns too at a slightly later point in time. The whole boil the frog in a pot of water thing.

      • Thanks for the clarification. I was of legal age toward the end of the ban, but wasn’t by any means a firearms enthusiast. Just had the ol’ High Point and Remington 22 at the time.

    • One could still procure MSR’s it just couldn’t have certain supposed bad features like a grenade launcher,remember all the mass grenade attacks that took place,yeah neither does anyone else because none ever took place.

  5. Nice RPD in that picture. Is that the real deal or one of those semi auto ones Atlantic had? I kinda wish I would’ve bought one of the Atlantic ones when they had them.

    • That’s an old photo from an Illinois gun store, so definitely semi auto. The business is no longer open.

      2010-2012, or pre-panic I wanna say.

      Image is used pretty often here on TTAG

    • That is because it is not so much a gun grab for the progressive democrats as a power grab to make us all good and fearful subjects. They also need the extreme violence in their paradise urban ghettos and gun free “safe” zones caused by their disturbingly bad failed policies over the decades to make their case to disarm every citizen in the USA.

  6. It’s still a MSR without a bayonet lug, grenade launcher, or flash suppressor, but it wouldn’t have been an “assault weapon” as defined by the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.

  7. Hate to break it to ya’, but violence and crime ain’t goin’ anywhere. It’s a permanent fixture of life on this planet and the Universe. Has been for millions if not billions of years. Kinda like “climate change”. The question you should be asking is: “What level of crime and violence is acceptable to you, individually, and society generally? Give us some numbers, maybe we can work something out, maybe not.

  8. Seems like a not so great comparison; MSRs sold vs violent crime rate. Gathering data on New MSR Owners would be nice to see, but maybe difficult to obtain. Most folks bought their first or 2nd or 3rd MSR during the Obama years. Now a days the gun grabbers aren’t just going for the ARs and AKs, they want all types of guns.

  9. Violent crime would be down even more if cities didn’t catch and release violent criminals. If they actually had to do some prison time they wouldn’t be out to re-offend continually and build up 77 page felony rap sheets.

  10. If we could just jettison those relatively few precincts that gave Obama 85% or more in 2012, we could probably drop the crime rate by 50% overnight!

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