Lawful Ownership of Guns Reduces Crime

Many examples and case studies exist that bolster the idea that lawful gun ownership can reduce crime. As mentioned previously, a disarmed citizenship represents a more vulnerable target to most criminals. One case study in which Florida passed a right-to-carry (concealed firearm permits) law in 1987 reveals convincing data (Agresti, James D. “Gun Control Facts.” Just Facts. June 10, 1999). After law-abiding citizens were allowed to conceal carry firearms, the crime rates drastically dropped in Florida between 1987 and 1996. A graph provided by the study indicated that the homicide rate dropped 36%, the firearm homicide rate plummeted 37%, and the handgun homicide rate fell 41%. Critics of the law argued that arming citizens with concealed weapons would simple aggravate the handgun violence problem. In response to this concern, the study revealed that out of 221,433 concealed carry licenses issued in Florida between 1987 and 1994, only 18 individuals legally carrying concealed weapons were guilty of crimes. Therefore, the presence of lawful guns in Florida drastically reduced crime. Further bolstering the idea that lawful gun possession reduces crime, the data indicates that licensed gun owners are statistically very unlikely to use their handgun for criminal purposes (18 cases out of 221,433 licensed permit holders).

Another source, the NRA, issued the following statement in their 2010 Firearm Fact Card: “Forty states have Right-to-Carry, and 48 states prohibit cities from imposing gun laws more restrictive than state law. And, since 1991, the total violent crime rate has declined over 40% to a 35-year low, and the murder rate has declined by half to a 45-year low.” The NRA prefaced this information by stating that in recent years, legislators have been reducing the severity of gun control. Similar data in other cities and across the nation supports the reality that lawful gun owners reduce crime.

What does this mean about the relationship between guns and violence? Guns, when used responsibly by law-abiding citizens reduce crime. A basic logical deduction can be drawn from this phenomenon: upstanding citizens who carry guns act as a deterrent to those who would commit a crime against them. If a criminal suspects that a person carries a gun or possesses guns in his or her home, they will most likely be less inclined to commit a crime against that person or that household. Therefore, gun control should target criminals who possess guns illegally, not law-abiding citizens who essentially act as a deterrence to crime. As now implemented, gun control can actually encourage more crime as it disarms the American populace. Gun control creates a dangerous vulnerability. Perhaps one of the best ways to fight crime is to reduce the market for crime, reduce the easy targets that encourage criminals to rob, rape, and murder. If criminals in a city knew that most citizens possessed a firearm and would use it to protect themselves, crime rates would most likely drastically decrease. Although the intentions of gun legislation are to reduce crime, it fails do accomplish this. Revoking the current gun laws that disarm law-abiding citizens and prohibit them from purchasing handguns and enacting laws that strictly targeted the black-market and criminals who illegally possess firearms will successfully reduce crime.