Gun homicides, violence down sharply in past 20 years

[NobleSavage]

Gun-related homicides and crime are "strikingly" down from 20 years ago, despite the American public's belief that firearm crime is on the upswing, a new study said Wednesday.

Looking back 50 years, a Pew Research Center study found U.S. gun homicides rose in the 1960s, gained in the 1970s, peaked in the 1980s and the early 1990s, and then plunged and leveled out the past 20 years.

"Despite national attention to the issue of firearm violence, most Americans are unaware that gun crime is lower today than it was two decades ago," the researchers say.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/08/us/study-gun-homicide/

 

[Tigers!]

That's gunna stuff up the gun-control chaps

 

[Samhain]

Yes, we all already know it peaked in the 80s and 90s. There have been a bunch of stories recently noting a correlation of the reduction and elimination of leaded gasoline with falling crime statistics. Crime was at an all time high 20 years ago, but no one can really explain the reasons why it fell later. Of course, law enforcement will attempt to take credit for that, but as David Simon points out every chance he gets, law enforcement is "juking" the statistics to begin with, so we can't really trust those either. Gun crime is lower now, yes, but it's certainly not because more guns are in the hands of Americans, and it certainly doesn't mean that gun control doesn't work (because there was significant gun control legislation introduced in the 90s which could also be responsible for the rates dropping). And the fact that it has leveled off also doesn't mean that nothing more should be done to try to lower it even further. Articles like this are simply guilty of begging the question.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Yes, we all already know it peaked in the 80s and 90s. There have been a bunch of stories recently noting a correlation of the reduction and elimination of leaded gasoline with falling crime statistics. Crime was at an all time high 20 years ago, but no one can really explain the reasons why it fell later. Of course, law enforcement will attempt to take credit for that, but as David Simon points out every chance he gets, law enforcement is "juking" the statistics to begin with, so we can't really trust those either. Gun crime is lower now, yes, but it's certainly not because more guns are in the hands of Americans, and it certainly doesn't mean that gun control doesn't work (because there was significant gun control legislation introduced in the 90s which could also be responsible for the rates dropping). And the fact that it has leveled off also doesn't mean that nothing more should be done to try to lower it even further. Articles like this are simply guilty of begging the question.

Two biggies:

1) Removing lead from the environment. It's not just gasoline but lead paint also.

2) Legal abortion. A lot of would-be criminals were aborted.


Meanwhile, reporters need big news to report on--and they have gotten better and better at pretending news is big.

 

[DBT]

I heard that the US military is in the process of developing non lead projectiles.

 

[dockeen]

They are called green bullets.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

That's gunna stuff up the gun-control chaps

Aren't the number of homes with guns down over that same time line?

 

[ksen]

It's probably got more to do with an ageing population than anything else.