By: Teresa Mull
Joe Biden has been making quite the show of “doing something” about violent crime.
His policy proposal includes, of course, extreme gun control, including, among other things, bans on so-called “assault weapons,” bans on 9mm handguns, making the lives of gun shop owners living hell, and putting gun manufacturers out of business by making them liable for crimes committed with their products.
Gun control is ineffective and actually makes innocent, law-abiding people more vulnerable. We know this. And new data shows that targeting the weapons criminals rarely use, even if we could somehow “control” them, would have little effect on violent crime.
Crime Prevention Research president John Lott reported recently:
Although firearms were used in about 74% of homicides in 2019, they comprise less than 9% of violent crimes in America.
The vast majority of violent offenses – including robberies, rapes and other sex crimes – almost always involve other weapons or no weapons at all.
According to Lott, it is the release of prison inmates during the COVID-19 outbreak and police department budget cuts that are to blame for the increase in crime, not the surge in gun sales.
What’s more, a recent study from Injury Epidemiology, a peer-reviewed scientific journal, found no link between record-breaking gun sales over the past year and an uptick in crime.
Real America’s Voice News
Rather than allege “more guns, more crime,” the study’s author told the Guardian, “We need to be looking at other factors, like job loss, economic change, the closure of schools and community organizations and nonprofits, and civil unrest.”
The Biden administration’s civilian disarmament plan comes at a time support for gun control is low. A recent survey found Americans’ approval of how Biden is handling gun violence – for both Republicans and Democrats – is dismal.
As more citizens arm themselves, Biden is going to have a tough time selling his gun control agenda.
Teresa Mull ([email protected]) is editor of Gunpowder Magazine.