During a recent Gun Violence Prevention Task Force meeting in New York City, Joe Biden made it clear that violent crime is out of control, which is true. But his solution to the issue, targeting firearm ownership, is not just misguided, but counterproductive.
Biden called for more funding for the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF), shutting down so-called “rogue gun dealers,” and bans on so-called “assault weapons” among other schemes.
Of course, any gun rights activist should know that these aren’t solutions at all, and would only exacerbate violent crime. Because as one thing continues to be proven correct, more guns equals less crime.
When it comes to arguments about violent crime and guns, it is always best to defer to the undisputed expert in the field, Dr. John Lott, who wrote the book on the issue.
In a Fox News op-ed, Lott uses the government’s own data to destroy Biden’s gun-grabbing argument. He points out that only 7.9% of violent crimes involve guns.
“Biden's proposal yesterday to "work to take those shooters off the streets as quickly as possible" is great, but with over 92% of violent crime not involving guns, why not promise to do this for all violent criminals?
The U.S. Department of Justice’s National Crime Victimization Survey, in the latest year available (2020), shows that there were 4,558,150 rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults, and the FBI reports 21,570 murders. Of those, 350,460 rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults (see Table 8) and 13,620 murders involved firearms. Adding those numbers up, 7.9% of violent crimes used guns.
Relying on public health researchers, Democrats blame increasing gun sales as the cause. But while violent crime reported to police rose 5% in 2020, you can't blame that increase on guns because gun crimes actually fell by 27%. The National Crime Victimization Survey also finds a similar 27% drop.”
This sort of data is sure to be ignored by the gun-grabber-in-chief, but we will never shy away from the facts here at Pro-Gun News.
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