crosspost

[flamin lib]

We’ve had a massive decline in gun violence in the United States. Here’s why.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/12/03/weve-had-a-massive-decline-in-gun-violence-in-the-united-states-heres-why/?tid=a_inl

In a nutshell the reasons cited are:

1. More police officers on the beat

2. Police using computers

3. Less booze

4. Less lead

5. A better economy

Nothing here about an armed society being a polite society or the rate of DGUs having an effect.

[hack89]

1. Good - we are on the right track with no need for draconian measures.

win-win for both sides, don't you think?

[beardown]

2. Also done without banning guns too

I assume the point you were trying to make was your closing line "...nothing about an armed society being a polite society or the rate of DGUs having and effect".

While trying to make your point you stumbled onto the salient point that gun violence is falling at the same time that the number of guns and CCW is greatly increasing. It doesn't matter if more guns are NOT helping to reduce the violence as long as it's clearly observable that more guns are not preventing gun violence from being halved over the last couple of decades.

Throw in better mental health support and you'll see a drastic drop in the 2/3 of gun deaths driven by suicides.

[jmg257]

3. Good news...Let's hope the trend continues!

Pretty much understand for years that the amount of guns (and types) in circulation has little affect on crime, certainly other factors matter much more.

Crime rates go up, crime rates go down, while the amount of guns as been steadily increasing since...like always.

[sarisataka]

4. It is worth noting that

also there is nothing here about gun control having any effect

[friendly_iconoclast]

9. Bears repeating: "there is nothing here about gun control having any effect"

[freebrew]

5. As always...5.

'It's the economy, stupid.'

Plus, springtime is here, better environment for happy.

Or maybe just out back practicing.

Got lead. Got powder. Need flint.

[theatre goon]

8. I'm always running short of flint...

I can generally estimate how much powder and ball will go together, but I never seem to have enough good, sharp flint on-hand at any given time...

[ileus]

6. Good news indeed, makes it safer to carry.

[theatre goon]

7. Hey, great!

Since over that same time, laws such as concealed carry (even open carry) have become more common, and the crime rates just keep going down, no reason not to move on to even more liberalized carry laws!

Of course, it does kinda ruin that whole "blood will run in the streets" thing that the anti-rights activists like to toss around whenever a more liberalized law is proposed -- maybe they'll even stop using it now, since it's been repeatedly disproven...

[benEzra]

10. Things that have also happened in that time frame, as the violent crime rate decreased by half:

-- An order-of-magnitude increase in the number of citizens with clean records who are licensed to carry handguns.

-- A vast increase in the number of people who own and shoot modern-looking semiauto rifles (way, way more than hunt), coinciding with a steady decrease in rifle homicide.

-- A vast increase in both annual gun sales and ammunition sales (the latter tracking with increased participation in target practice, training, and the shooting sports in general).

-- A trend toward smaller calibers, and therefore higher capacity, in civilian handguns and rifles.

-- A big increase in the proportion of women who own and carry guns.

I'm not arguing post hoc ergo prompter hoc here, just observing. Methinks that the observations in the OP *should* lead people in the gun control movement to rethink handgrip bans, magazine bans, and opposition to carry licensure as the three shibboleths of the gun control movement. Those things are absolutely irrelevant to gun violence, but rather are aimed at harassing lawful owners. Whether those shibboleths are motivated by ignorance, by fundraising efficacy, or by fundamentalists trying to maintain orthodoxy in the prohibitionist ranks, the result is simply to motivate gun owners into political activism, and is counterproductive.

[krispos42]

11. And ready access to birth control and other reproductive services

This is part of the reason that the southern states, with their ongoing War on Women, will always have higher crime rates.

[gejohnston]

12. and here I thought it was because of country music

that glorifies getting drunk, cheating on the wife, and robbing stores. The city kids don't have anything on Conway Twitty.

[Eleanors38]

13. Nice of WaPo to overhaul Freakonomics; otherwise, a strawman....

You can always find those who support the idea that firearms carried more widely has resulted in less crime, but the true concensus is this:

More guns has NOT been shown to increase crime. The position thay more guns = more crime has been pumped ad nauseum by controller/banners for years. It is NOT supported.

Glad I got the chance to clear that up.