Over the course of the last couple years the discussion over gun control has been gaining momentum. Unless you lead a secluded life, you have at least heard the incessant hubbub surrounding the debate, if not outright participated.
When the Aurora and Sikh shootings happened over this past summer I followed the ensuing debate very closely. I gained a strong stance against guns. For the most part, the arguments of the predominantly liberal pro-gun control crowd resonated well with me. Guns are designed to kill, and though they are not responsible for high crime rates, easier access provides the opportunity to do more harm, and after all, who needs a 30 round magazines?
Then I heard some interesting statistics revealing that over the course of the last 20 years, crime rates have been dramatically decreasing in the United States. According to crime stats provided by the FBI, America had a violent crime rate of 757.7 per 100,000 in 1992. Fast forward to 2012, and America’s violent crime rate dropped to 386.3 per 100,000. That is an almost 50 percent decrease. If this is true, why isn’t it better publicized? The media seems to want us to think that we will get shot every time we walk out our front door.
What’s even more surprising is that the United Kingdom—idolized by every good progressive liberal for their strict gun legislation—is, according to the European Commission, the most violent country in Europe. The rate of violent crimes with firearms has in fact doubled since the ban on guns was implemented after the Dublin shootings 20 years ago. According to the Home Office, England and Wales had over 762,515 violent crimes in 2011 alone. For a population of only 56 million, that comes out to a ratio of roughly 1,361 violent crimes per 100,000. That is 3.5 times higher than in the U.S.
Looking closely at the facts, it is evident not only that violence does not decrease with increased legislation, but that the opposite is true: the decrease of legally obtainable weapons leads to an increase in violence. The obvious conclusion is that in either case, people who use firearms for harm do not obtain them legally.
It is true that the U.K. has a slightly lower murder rate—only 1.3 compared to the U.S.’s 4.7— however, there are other factors to consider. The bulk of murders take place in small pockets in metropolitan areas of over 250,000 people. The U.S. has 186 of these metropolitan areas whereas the U.K. only has 32. Needless to say we are just scratching the surface when considering the complexities behind these tragedies.
It is clear that the solution does not lie within stricter gun laws. To suggest such a thing would be to ignore the facts. For example, both Chicago and NYC have a total ban on firearms, yet both cities are at the top of the charts for murder rates. So why would creating more gun restrictions better anything?
The statistics make the suggestions of gun-control seem even more ludicrous. According to the EU Commission the U.S. is not even in the top 25 most violent modern nations. The U.K., Austria, France, Sweden, Finland, and even Canada are ahead in violent crime rates. Based on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission data, guns aren’t even in the top 10 most common reasons for emergency room visits. Yet the media has a heyday every time there is a violent crime in America. It makes a better story to talk about one crazy man on psychotropic drugs shooting up a school in a state possessing some of the strictest gun laws in place, than to mention the mother in Colorado protecting her twin infants by taking down a home-invader with her .38 special, or the 15 year old boy in Houston who defended his sister against 4 armed home-invaders with his father’s legally obtained AR-15, or, most notably, the woman carrying a concealed weapon at the Hobbit premiere in San Antonio who took down Jesus Garcia, preventing what would have surely resulted in another Aurora-style slaughter. There are countless stories of law abiding citizens defending themselves with legally-obtained weapons.
This is a sensitive issue to be sure. But realize that where the insensitivity lies is in those who manipulate facts surrounding tragic events in order to push their agenda and increase government control.
Our time and energy would be better spent in figuring out how to decrease unemployment and poverty and fix the education systems within the areas with high crime rates, rather than attempting to deprive law abiding citizens of a chance to defend themselves against rapists, home-invaders, and criminals who gain access to illegal weapons.
