What really reduces violent crime?

GUN CONTROL  VS  CRIMINAL CONTROL

Gun Control is again a hot topic in the news. We hear reports of the huge increase in violent crime.

Referring to the FBI website to see what their statistics reveal, below is a chart of murder statistics. Interestingly the numbers for all murders peaked in 1993.  Dropped steadily to 2002, then seemed to stay flat. Murder by firearms was pretty constant at 68% of total.  A gun control enthusiast would probably point out that background checks and the assault weapons ban were passed in 1993 and 1994. There is one problem with that argument. We see that all category's of weapon used dropped in tandem with gun crimes.

Guns -59%  Knife -58%  Blunt objects  -57%  hands  -57%   Arson  -44%

Population increased by 71 million from 1990 to 2014.  156 million guns have been sold by licensed dealers since 1994. More guns and a larger population have not resulted in more crime.

Checking to see what other laws were passed at this time. Washington State passed the first, "Three Strikes and Your Out," law in 1993. Get convicted of your 3rd felony and you got an automatic 25 year sentence. California passed their similar law in 1994 and by 2001 they convicted 50,000 violent felons.

The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act was passed into federal law in 1994. Three violent acts = life in prison without parole.  Similar laws were passed by 24 states.

Murder by Weapons Used
Year	Murder Victims	Guns	Percent	Knife	Blunt Object	Strangulation, Hands, fists,Etc	Arson	Other
2014	13,853	9,603	69 %	1,722	573	849	96	1,010
2013	14,196	9,895	69 %	1,684	541	733	84	1,259
2012	14,856	9,789	63 %	1,838	692	1,198	93	2,246
2011	14,661	8,847	58 %	1,730	737	1,093	83	2,171
2010	14,722	8,975	59 %	1,904	740	1,245	74	1,784
2009	13,636	9,146	67 %	1,825	641	801	92	1,131
2008	14,299	9,484	66.3	1,897	614	949	86	993
2007	14,831	10,086	68.0	1,796	647	854	130	1,016
2006	14,990	10,177	67.9	1,822	607	833	115	1,128
2002	14,263	9,528	66.7	1,776	681	954	103	874
1997	15,289	10,369	67.8	1,963	702	1,187	134	934
1996	15,848	10,744	67.8	2,142	733	1,182	151	726
1995	20,232	13,790	68.2	2,557	918	1,438	166	968
1994	22,084	15,463	70.0	2,802	912	1,452	196	1,079
1993	23,180	16,136	69.6	2,967	1,022	1,482	217	1,168
1992	22,716	15,489	68.2	3,296	1,040	1,445	203	1,043
1991	21,676	14,373	66.3	3,430	1,099	1,529	195	847
1990	20,045	12,847	64.1	3,503	1,075	1,424	287	909
1985	17,545	10,296	58.7	3,694	972	1,491	243	849
1980	21,860	13,650	62.0	4,212	1,094	1,666	291	947
1975	18,642	12,061	64.7	3,245	1,001	1,646	193	496
1970	13,649	9,039	66.2	2,424	604	1,031	353	198
1965	8,773	5,015	57.2%	2,021	505	894	226	112

Common sense tells us, controlling individuals who have shown a violent nature is much more effective than tying to control inanimate objects. We have not tried to control knives, blunt objects etc. and had similar decrease's in murder with these weapons.

These statistics are available to all our elected politicians, many who are now advocating releasing large numbers of the prison population while advocating more gun laws. I can only assume their motives are not honest.


Originally published 10/20/15 more relevant than ever.