Gun Control Debate: Justice Dept. Reports Violence is Down

The NRA Annual Meeting has concluded. New England liberals are now engaged in a prolonged conniption fit over the organization's support for the Second Amendment.  Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said the NRA is becoming a "paramilitary" group, and compared pro-gun rights legislation to segregationist policies. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) has said that his resolve for more gun control has only been strengthened.  Well, it looks like gun control advocates will be on a crusade of self-martyrdom again since the Justice Department released a report today that gun violence has gone down.

Conservatives will roll their eyes at Murphy and Blumenthal, but it's to be expected.  They're lefty senators from a loony blue state. They can say these things without backlash from their constituents. Yet, some Republicans, like Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), have said that another anti-gun push will happen before the end of the year.  Once again, liberals will lose, especially if Republicans are able to gain more seats in the Senate. In fact, if they retake the Senate, Obama's second term agenda is essentially over. Given the Justice Department report, smart liberals should advise their colleagues in not repeating another embarrassing legislative defeat.

In all, the Washington Post reported that "firearms-related homicides declined 39 percent between 1993 and 2011, the [DOJ] report said, while nonfatal firearms crimes fell 69 percent during that period." Additionally, "firearm-related homicides dropped from 18,253 homicides in 1993 to 11,101 in 2011, while nonfatal firearm crimes declined from 1.5 million in 1993 to 467,300 in 2011. The drop extended to schools: Homicides at schools declined from an average of 29 per year in the 1990s to an average of 20 per year in the 2000s."

While the piece stated that 70% of all homicides were committed by a firearm, it's impact is marginalized with this drastic drop in gun violence. How did this happen?  It wasn't because the U.S. adopted more gun control. Lastly, liberals love to cite the butcher's bill guns are responsible for, but the graph below shows that Brazil beats us by a long shot.