BELLEVUE, WA – Preliminary crime data from the FBI for 2010 adds more evidence that gun prohibitionists have been consistently wrong, and that more guns do not equal more crime, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.
According to the FBI, all four violent crime offense categories show declines nationwide for 2010, with murder and manslaughter down 4.4 percent from 2009, robbery down 9.5 percent and aggravated assault down 3.6 percent. Forcible rape was down 4.2 percent. Violent crime declined in all four regions of the country. At the same time, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, firearm sales were up dramatically.
“Gun banners can spin data anyway they want,†observed CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, “but in the final analysis, their contention that more guns in the hands of law abiding citizens translates to more crime is clearly nonsense. More than 6.2 million citizens are licensed to carry, Wisconsin appears ready to join states with rational carry laws, and the NSSF reports that the largest surge in gun sales happened during the years 2008 to 2010.
“Instead of more guns resulting in more crime,†he added, “increased gun ownership just might be having the opposite effect. Of course, you’d never get the gun prohibition lobby to admit that.â€
According to the FBI report, released Monday, violent crime declined in all city categories, with the greatest drop at 6.9 percent in cities with populations of 250,000 to 499,999, although these cities reported a 3 percent increase in murder and manslaughter. Violent crime in rural counties decreased 6.4 percent and in metropolitan counties, the decline was 6 percent, the FBI report said. Murder and manslaughter dropped 25.2 percent in small cities (below 10,000 populations). Robbery is also down across the board, the FBI report said.
“The bottom line,†Gottlieb stated, “is that none of the extremist predictions about blood in the streets and skyrocketing body counts as a result of increased gun ownership, reformed gun laws and expanded concealed carry have come true. Once again, the Chicken Little mentality of the anti-gun lobby has been refuted by the facts.