False Argument: Gun Ownership is Up Therefore Crime is Down [View all]

Opposing Views

The number of violent crimes reported to police decreased 3.8 percent last year to 1.2 million, the fifth straight year of declines, the FBI announced Monday.

Meanwhile, the total number of property crimes reported to law enforcement agencies went down by 0.5 percent to 9 million, the ninth consecutive year that figure has fallen.

The FBI’s data showed that the South accounted for 41.3 percent of violent crime, while the West accounted for 22.9 percent. The Midwest claimed 19.5 percent of the cases and the Northeast, 16.2 percent.

The pro-gun blogs are ablaze with a false interpretation of this report. Crime is down while gun ownership is up, they keep repeating. The obvious inference is that BECAUSE gun ownership is up, crime is down. Often it's more than an inference.

This is one of their fundamental misconceptions, the idea that more guns means less violence.

The proof of their fallacy is in the geographic breakdown. The South, which has a high concentration of gun ownership, accounts for 41% of the violent crime. The Northeast, which has a much lower concentration of gun ownership, accounts for only 16.2%.

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Cross posted at Mikeb302000