Pg-#3-
Actually, from 1997 to 1998, overall violent crime in the U.S. decreased by 7.3% and robbery declined by 11.3%. Murder also decreased by 7.4% to its lowest level since 1967. In fact, Even the usage of firearms in the commission of violent offences has decreased. The rate of Firearms used in the commission of murder dropped from 67.8 in 1997 to 64.9 in 1998. The rate of firearms used to commit robberies, also decreased from 39.7 in 1997 to 38.2 in 1998. And, all this despite INCREASED gun ownership. (Source: 1998 FBI's Uniform Crime Reports released Oct, 1999).
How can this be? Doesn't the mere sight of guns drive people to blinding acts of violence? Apparently not. Take these six large cities for example, each one of them has, what could be considered, among the most stringent gun-control laws in the country and yet here again, the quantity of guns doesn't seem to have any impact on murder rates:
City # of Murders Rate per 100,000 people
Baltimore, MD 312 47.1
Detroit, MI 430 43.0
Los Angelos, CA 426 11.8
New York City, NY 633 8.6
Philadelphia, PA 338 23.3
Washington, D.C. 260 49.7
In 1998, these cities, making up only 5.6% of the U.S. population, had a combined murder rate of approx. 14.2% of the total murders committed in the U.S. (Source: FBI's 1998 Uniform Crime Reports). Maybe its the absence of guns that is the problem?
So, do guns have a definitive impact on the number of murders and other acts of violence within a society? Absolutely not. So why then have guns been so heavily targetted by governments around the world as a source of violence and death? We'll get to that, but first another faery tale about guns.