The second amendment of the constitution guarantees the right to keep and bear arms. As the specter of gun violence continues in our workplaces, roads and schools, the question keeps arising: do guns keep you safe, or just increase the level of violence?
We’re a bit surprised at the suggestion that violent crime, or the one quarter of it that is committed with guns, is at a particularly high level. The FBI just reported crime statistics for 2007, showing that violent crime and murder have dropped 38 percent and 43 percent, respectively, since 1991. Since 2002, violent crime has been lower than anytime since 1974, and since 1999 murder has been lower than anytime since 1966.
Not only has crime gone down as gun control restrictions have been eliminated and the number of guns has risen, study after study—by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Institutes of Justice, the Congressional Research Service, the CDC, the Library of Congress, independent researchers and, occasionally, even researchers who support gun control—find that gun control does not reduce crime. Just this week, a study by a researcher who has supported gun control found that restrictions on gun shows do not reduce murder rates.
Sure, there are a few anti-gun researchers out there who repeatedly take money from the radically anti-gun Joyce Foundation and other donors, to produce half-baked papers masquerading as legitimate studies. But they have been rejected by independent researchers.
Moreover, the basic fact is, more Americans own more guns than ever, and violent crime is at a 30-year low; murder is at a 40-year low. States that allow people to carry guns for protection have lower violent crime rates. And people use guns for defense against crime 3-4 times more often than to commit crime. We continue to argue about gun control mostly because many in the media support gun control and report gun control supporters’ claims without regard for their accuracy.
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