Gun ownership in the United States is up. Violent crime is down. Is this a matter of cause and effect?
The question merits pondering on the January 8 anniversary of the Arizona mass shooting which killed six people, severely injured a member of congress, Gabrielle Giffords, and rekindled the seemingly endless on-and-off debate over gun regulations . . . .
Judging from the background checks gun dealers filed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), that number jumped by around 1.5 million in December, thanks partly to a spurt of buying around Christmas. For Arizona gun enthusiasts who left firearms out of their Christmas giving, gun shows in Tucson and Phoenix provide another shopping opportunity on the Giffords shooting anniversary.
Advocates of tighter restrictions on firearms have long insisted that more guns equal more violence but a series of FBI statistics released in 2011 makes one wonder about that assumption. Gun sales have risen by twelve percent nationally over the last three years, initially spurred by mistaken fears that President Barack Obama would push for tighter controls. In the same period, violent crime (murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault) dropped steadily and now stands at a 37-year low.
Does this vindicate the school of thought that holds that armed citizens are the best defense against crime? “The numbers are consistent with what I’ve been saying for a long time,” says John Lott, author of a controversial 1997 study entitles More Guns, Less Crime. “When bans on guns, as in Chicago and Washington DC, were lifted, murders actually declined,” he said in an interview. (Washington recorded 145 murders in 2009 and 132 in 2010). . . .
LEE COUNTY: Gun shop owners in Lee County say sales are up and they attribute the increase to home invasions.
Officials with the Lee County Sheriff's Office say at least 15 home invasions have been reported this year. In Cape Coral, police say they have investigated five and have solved most of them.
At Tactical Weapons in Fort Myers, salesman Andrew Bulman says the store sells 10 guns a week to first-time buyers.
"I do think people do react to the circumstances around them at the time," Bulman said. "A lot of people are coming in to look for something to protect themselves, their property. It gives them a peace of mind to resort to." . . .
NBC2 talked to Cape Coral Police Chief Robert Petrovich and he encourages people to bear arms, but to do so properly.
"We can't be everywhere, for them, every time, every minute, every second of the day," Petrovich said. . . .
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