Gun Control Facts: Detroit Crime Rate is the Result Of Gun Control

Ronald Reagan is often quoted as saying, “Government is not a solution to our problem, government is our problem.” The same can be said when it comes to gun control and crime in Detroit, Michigan. 

A quick review of Michigan gun laws shows that law abiding citizens wishing to own a gun for self-protection are strongly regulated and actively discouraged. First, they have to take and pass the Michigan Basic Pistol Safety questionnaire. Then they have to apply for the Ten Day Handgun Purchase Permit to buy the gun and make sure they find and buy the gun of their choice within 10 days, otherwise they have start the process all over again. When they make their purchase, they have to fill out a Michigan Pistol Sales Record form and make sure the pistol has a valid firearm Safety Inspection Certificate. 

Once the citizen has purchased their firearm, they have 10 days to take the gun to the local police department, have the sale recorded, and a new Safety Inspection Certificate issued in their name. Otherwise, they are considered in violation of the law and could be arrested on a misdemeanor gun violation. 

Federal laws also require a background check if you purchase a gun from a licensed dealer with a Federal Firearms License.

Note that each and every legal gun buyer in Michigan, and particularly Detroit, must be approved by the local police at least twice each and every time they purchase a gun and undergo a background check by the federal government. 

As a result, Detroit has the second highest murder rate in the nation and is considered by many to be the most dangerous city in which to live in the United States. Simply put, gun control, as a means of controlling crime and protecting law abiding citizens, is a dismal failure. 

The reason is quite simple. Criminals don’t obey laws, register their guns, or bother getting permits. In fact, criminals are generally in favor of more stringent gun controls because it makes their criminal activities safer. 

Rather than following the progressive model of gun control, where law-abiding citizens are disarmed and only criminals possess firearms that worked so well in Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, Australia, and Britain, Americans should be looking at the immense success of “universal” gun ownership in places like Switzerland or Kennesaw, GA. In Kennesaw, for instance, all citizens are required to own at least one firearm and keep ammunition. As a result, Kennesaw is reported to have the lowest crime rate of any city its size in America. And crime statistics show the downward trend is positive as word of the “armed city” spreads. 

In Switzerland, every male is part of the national military and is required to keep their fully automatic weapons and ammunition at home, when not on duty. Switzerland is listed as one of the top 20 countries for safety. 

John Lott, updating his book, More Guns, Less Crime, shows that communities wherein law-abiding citizens are armed generally have the lowest crime rates, while those with the most restrictive gun laws have more crime and more violent crime. Detroit, with their restrictive gun laws and rampant crime, is simply confirming what decades of studies have shown.

The answer to Detroit’s violence and rampant crime isn’t more restrictive gun controls, just the opposite. The answer is law abiding citizens, armed, empowered, and mobilized to protect themselves and take back their communities. Instead of peaceful families cowering in fear that the next knock on the door might be a savage gang coming to kill them, criminals should be fleeing the city because Detroit has become to well-defended to provide the “easy pickings” they have, up to now, enjoyed.