The Christian Science Monitor reports that the "oft-cited credo that more guns equal more crime is being tested by facts on the ground this year: Even as gun ownership has surged in the US in the past year, violent crime, including murder and robbery, has dropped steeply." FBI statistics for the past several years had shown crime rates holding steady but for 2009, violent crimes dropped "dramatically." Contrast these figures with the fact that gun sales are up 12 percent since the election of Barack Obama.

Alan Gottlieb, the founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, was quoted as saying:

What this shows is that gun prohibitionists are all wrong when they argue that more guns result in more crime.... Hard facts trump hot air. These people are consistently wrong about our rights. Millions of people bought guns, especially semiautomatic sport-utility rifles that gun grabbers want to ban because they say people aren’t safe with all of those guns in private hands. Well, the people disagree, and so does the data.

Gun rights researcher, Professor Gary Kleck, a criminologist at Florida State University in Tallahassee, explained that he believed the surge in gun sales might possibly be having a deterrent effect on criminals. “It’s possible that criminals hear about lots of people buying guns, and then you can see a plausible mechanism, that conceivably could have produced a reduction in murder… It’s all a matter of perception, not reality, for prospective murderers."

Joe Gimenez, writing for The American Thinker, commented:

But shouldn't more guns equate to more murders and other violent crime? Only if you live in liberal never-never land. That certainly has not been the case in early 2009. Guns are purchased so that good people can protect themselves against bad people. And moreover, self-protection is a basic human right, despite the fact that our new wise Latina Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor couldn't bring herself to acknowledge that this summer.

Economist John Lott, author of More Guns, Less Crime, told Human Events that "[t]his is just the type of thing that was predicted… Letting law-abiding citizens carry guns reduces the rate at which criminals are carrying guns… Criminals tend to avoid activities that are risky to them.”

Another encouraging sign is that nationwide, gun laws tend to be loosening. A nationwide review published by the Associated Press, "found that over the last two years, 24 states, mostly in the South and West, have passed 47 new laws loosening gun restrictions." This trend has been accompanied with changing perceptions regarding gun ownership.

The AP also reports that, according to Gallup polling, the popularity of so-called "gun control" has drastically declined over the past 50 years. "In 1959, 60 percent of respondents said they favored a ban on handguns except for 'police and other authorized persons.' By last year, Gallup's most recent crime survey found 69 percent opposed such a ban." There were also laws passed in some states which increased restrictions on gun rights but, overall, the AP found that "more than three times as many laws were passed to make it easier on gun owners."

Photo: AP Images

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Flu-Bird said:

Too bad liberals So now the facts show that whenever theres more ownership the crime rate falls and putting a lie to the notion thats more guns lead to more crimes and indeed these liberal politicians and journalists and lying big time

January 07, 2010

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merrietree said:

English, please Please, if you are going to attempt to make an educated statement at least use words actually found in the dictionary. This is not The New American making the statement, or the John Birch Society so when you refer to "u ppl" who are you referring to? The Christian Science Monitor or the Second Amendment Foundation? Or are you lumping all "ppl" who still cherish our wonderful Constitution in the same category?

January 07, 2010

Mick said:

Truth Oh please garen? This is the way liberals nondebate, when they have no truth or facts they fall back on personal attacks, recirculating old lies and name calling. The truth is weapons sales are up since Obama became president for whatever reason this is a fact it's undeniable, also factual the statistics showing a drop in crime in states and communities that are inviting and not hostile to the RIGHT of private gun ownership for self-defense, a right that BTW preexisted this country's constitution do your homework and use your intellect and truth instead of your emotions to arrive at your opinions. "Government is about coercion. Limiting government is the single most important instrument for guaranteeing liberty. We're working on a third generation which has little in the way of education about what our Constitution means and why it was written. Thus, we've fallen easy prey to charlatans, quacks and hustlers." -- Dr. Walter Williams

January 07, 2010

Roger said:

Major flaw in the "logic" of this article Correlation does not equal causation Just because more people are buying guns does not mean THAT is the cause of crime going down. Sheesh... basic science FAIL.

January 07, 2010

Björn said:

I think it's the other way around, Roger Even though some would point to this as a proof that more guns = less crime (which is not neccessarily true), I like to see it as a proof that more guns does not equal more crime. Which is what the liberals are propagating.

January 08, 2010 | url

BV said:

... West Virginia has less restrictions on guns than most states and one of the lowest crime rates. An armed society makes criminals think twice.

January 10, 2010

Don said:

Please Roger, please give us a break will ya? I'm sick of listen to people like you! Less than 1% of all killings by guns are done by people that have them legally! More than 99% are from people that don't have guns legally. Do you get it?

January 10, 2010