Washington, D.C. is the nation’s political capital, but tragically it’s also known as America’s murder capital. In an effort to curb homicides, the city banned its citizens from owning handguns starting in 1975. More than 30 years later, the U.S. Supreme Court recently overturned the law, saying "the absolute prohibition of handguns" was unconstitutional. The decision sparked a legal chain reaction as similar lawsuits were filed in Chicago and San Francisco. Was this the right verdict for the safety of D.C. citizens and the nation?
Why is Washington, DC frequently the nation’s murder capital?
People are often surprised to learn that the city used to have a relatively low crime rate in the 1960s. It never held the unenviable title as the nation's Murder Capital.
But that all changed after the city passed its draconian gun ban in 1976. In the following 25 years, the city's murder rate increased 51 percent, even while the national rate decreased 36 percent.
Well, gun control advocates argue, don’t criminals just get their guns from neighboring jurisdictions, such as in northern Virginia?
Perhaps they do. But then why don’t those places have even higher crime rates? If the ability to easily acquire guns is the root of DC’s crime problems, then why isn’t northern Virginia even more dangerous, since guns are easily available there?
The truth is, northern Virginia has murder rates that are much, much lower. In 2005, FBI data reported a DC murder rate there of 35 per 100,000 residents. Compare that with Fairfax County, which has nearly twice the population … and the traffic. The murder rate in this northern Virginia county was 2.0 per 100,000 -- just a fraction of what it is in the District.
Contrast Washington, DC to a city which took the exact opposite approach. In 1982, Kennesaw, Georgia enacted a law requiring every household to own a firearm, exempting those with criminal records or religious objections.
Opponents argued the law would result in serious accidents and that angry residents would settle their differences with gunfire. Happily, those predictions never materialized.
The residential burglary rate in Kennesaw fell immediately -- almost 90 percent in the months directly following the law's enactment. And in the ensuing years, Kennesaw's crime rate has remained at basement levels. In 2001, there was not one murder in the town. No one was gunned down, even though the entire town is armed!
The law has continued to work well for more than 20 years. Guns save lives.
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