GunLink Blog

A new report released this month by the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) tells us what we already knew: gun control advocates are full of it.  Unfortunately, much of the population is buying what the anti-gunners are selling.  According to a recent Pew Research Center Survey, only 12% of Americans believe that gun crime is lower today than it was 20 years ago while nearly 60% believe it is higher.

Some of the highlights noted in the BJS report include:

• Firearm-related homicides declined 39%, from 18,253 in 1993 to 11,101 in 2011.
• Nonfatal firearm crimes declined 69%, from 1.5 million victimizations in 1993 to 467,300 victimizations in 2011.
• About 70% to 80% of firearm homicides and 90% of nonfatal firearm victimizations were committed with a handgun from 1993 to 2011.
• From 1993 to 2010, males, blacks, and persons ages 18 to 24 had the highest rates of firearm homicide.
• In 2007-11, less than 1% of victims in all nonfatal violent crimes reported using a firearm to defend themselves during the incident.
• In 2004, among state prison inmates who possessed a gun at the time of offense, less than 2% bought their firearm at a flea market or gun show and 40% obtained their firearm from an illegal source.

These highlights seem a bit contradictory to the agendas that “mainstream” media and anti-rights zealots are foisting upon the ill-informed. Firearm-related murders are way down, yet “we need gun control now more than ever.” Victimizations involving firearms are way down, but “we need more control over who has firearms.” Most gun crimes involve handguns, but “we need to regulate ‘assault weapons.'” Nearly no firearms used in crimes come from private transfers at gun shows and flea markets, yet “we need to close the ‘gun show loophole.'”
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