Crime Drops as Gun Sales in Virginia Soar

-By Warner Todd Huston

The saying, “More Guns Less Crime,” seems to be coming true if the Commonwealth of Virginia is any indication as gun sales have soared there even as crime rates have fallen.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch has the story, noting that, “Major gun crime collectively dropped for a fourth consecutive year statewide, while firearms sales climbed to a new record in 2012 with 490,119 guns purchased in 444,844 transactions–a 16 percent rise over 2011.”

The proliferation of guns occurred as the total number of major reported crimes committed with all types of firearms in Virginia dropped 5 percent, from 4,618 offenses in 2011 to 4,378 last year, according to Virginia State Police data.

Looking back over seven years, total firearm sales in Virginia have risen a staggering 101 percent from 2006 to 2012, while gun-related crime has dropped 28 percent during that period.

Now, notice what this means. It means that the left is wholly wrong when it says over and over again that “more guns on the streets means more crime.” It is patently false.

In fact, it is well known that crime–including murder–has been falling steadily for a decade and during this same decade gun sales have gone up all across the country.

Naturally, the left has a new argument to attempt to save face. It isn’t the number of legal gun sales made with background checks that should be studied to tabulate crime, they say, but the number of gun sales made without background checks that impact crime.

Of course, this is arguing a negative because there is no way to determine how many such sales happen because by law they don’t have to be registered with police.

Further, since crimes committed with guns are falling anyway it seems like a difference without distinction, doesn’t it? Even if unregistered gun sales have quadrupled, crime is still falling! So… what, gun haters? What is your point?

The saying, “More Guns Less Crime,” became famous as the title of a 2009 book written by gun researcher John Lott.

Anyway, what do you think? Have the left been proven wrong on guns… again” Tell us in the comments.
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“The only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.”
–Samuel Johnson

Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer. He has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and before that he wrote articles on U.S. history for several small American magazines. His political columns are featured on many websites such as Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com, BigHollywood.com, and BigJournalism.com, as well as RightWingNews.com, MrConservative.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, Wizbang.com, among many, many others. Mr. Huston is also endlessly amused that one of his articles formed the basis of an article in Germany’s Der Spiegel Magazine in 2008.

For a full bio, please CLICK HERE.


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