Posts under ‘Crime and Guns’

Basic to the debates on gun control is the fact that most violent crime is committed by repeat offenders. Dealing with recidivism is key to solving violence.

71% of gunshot victims had previous arrest records.

64% had been convicted of a crime.

Each had an average of 11 prior arrests1.

63% of victims have criminal histories and 73% of [...]

Fact: There is no such thing as a ‘plastic gun’. This myth started in 19801 when Glock began marketing a handgun with a polymer frame, not the entire firearm. Most of a Glock is metal (83% by weight), detectable in common metal and x-ray detectors. “[D]espite a relatively common impression to the contrary, there is [...]

Fact: There is no such thing as an “unlicensed dealer,” except for people who buy and sell antique – curio – firearms as a hobby.
Fact: This 25-50% figure can only be achieved if you include those dealers not selling guns at these shows. These non-gun dealers include knife makers, ammunition dealers, accessories dealers, military artifact [...]

Fact: The “time-to-crime” of a firearm ranges from one to 12 years, making it rare that a newly purchased firearm is used in a crime.1
Fact: The national five-day waiting period under the Brady Bill had no impact on murder or robbery. In fact, there was a slight increase in rape and aggravated assault, indicating no [...]

Fact: From 1960-1980, per capita imprisonment for violent crimes fell from 738 to 227. In the same period, violent crime rates nationwide tripled.
Fact: Why does crime rise when criminals are released from prison early? Because they are likely to commit more crimes. 67.5% were re-arrested for new felonies or serious misdemeanors within three years. Extrapolating, [...]

Fact: Guns prevent an estimated 2.5 million crimes a year, or 6,849 every day.1 Often the gun is never fired and no blood (including the criminal’s) is shed.
Fact: It seems to be slowing down property crime (especially burglaries). The chart shows the legal handgun supply in America (mainly in civilian hands) to the property crime [...]

Fact: Only 0.7% of convicts bought their firearms at gun shows. 39.2% obtained them from illegal street dealers.1
Fact: Less than 1% of “crime guns” were obtained at gun shows2. This is a reduction from a 1997 study that found 1.7% - 2% of guns used in criminal offenses were purchased at gun shows.3
Fact: The FBI [...]

Fact: 25% of this unreliable figure1 includes “direct war deaths”, and another 14% are suicides. The bulk of the rest come from violence prone and near lawless localities.
Fact: The source for these raw data admits “A complete dataset on people killed in conflict— directly or indirectly—does not exist. All published figures are estimates based on [...]