Record Gun sales in Virginia, coinciding with a crime drop.

[virginia mountainman]

Surprised no one here has posted this fact...Seems like the gun control mantra "More guns = More crime", is bullshit..

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the number of gun crimes dropped for the fourth consecutive year as firearms sales in Virginia climbed to a new record last year with 490,119 guns purchased, which was a 16 percent rise over 2011. The Times-Dispatch obtained the information from federally licensed gun dealer sales estimates.

According to the Virginia State Police, gun crimes fell from 4,618 in 2011 to 4,378 in 2012, a 5 percent drop.

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/08/05/report-virginia-gun-related-crimes-fall-as-firearms-sales-rise/

Someone needs to tell Bloomberg, he is STILL blaming Virginia for New York's crime problems.

“Despite all we do to keep our city safe, we’re increasingly at the mercy of weak national gun laws and weak gun laws in other states,” Mr. Bloomberg said, according to The New York Post. “We have been attacking this problem from every angle, but we cannot do it alone.”

He cited Virginia as about the worst, in terms of allowing guns to flow into New York.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/aug/1/mayor-bloomberg-blames-virginia-many-new-yorks-gun/

Somehow all these "Virginia" guns, are not causing many problems in Virginia??

As a Virginian, Bloomberg, go suck an egg

[aquart]

1. Yes, I'd like to thank hysterical hoarders for taking so many guns off the market.

Ensuring that the only bullets fired will be into their friends and children.

[blm]

2. except crime has dropped all over

but, the Moonie News wouldn't want that reported, would they?

http://www.npr.org/2012/01/03/144627627/falling-crime-rates-challenge-long-held-beliefs

[HockeyMom]

3. Does that include all the little kids

shooting themselves and their friends with "law abiding" parent gun owners? The gunners don't want to hear about tha,t just grannies with guns defending themselves. Right.

[geckosfeet]

4. Well, we could use some evidence of causation, but it is starting to look like

armed citizens capable of defending themselves is a deterrent to crime.

All those fancy new laws in NY only serve to weaken the rights of lawful gun owners. They do zero to stop crime. It will be interesting to watch the crime rate in NY after the passage of these laws, and watch blumeturd blame it on everyone else.

On another note, legal challenges to some of NY's new "Safe Act" laws will be in court in September.

[msongs]

5. cause and effect relationship? not very likely nt

[Eleanors38]

7. Gosh, msongs, I quite agree. Thanks to you and Virginia Mountainman. nt

[DonP]

14. It's simple, it's only a proven causal relationship with CCW if the crime rate goes up.

If CCW increases and the violent crime rate ticks up, even a little, it's clearly because of "all the guns stuffed in their pants".

If the rate continues to drop, it clearly has nothing to do with law abiding people being allowed to carry and can easily be attributed to the phase of the moon or the increase in the Eastern Bluebird population. Never to the stupid idea that law abiding people might deter a crime by showing their personal defense tool to a potential miscreant or using it to defend themselves or their family.

That should be obvious to even the most casual observer.

Any moment now someone will show up with either old, carefully chosen statistics from an impeccable gun control source, like Bloomberg's private bathroom diary, to prove that what we all have been seeing for a decade isn't really happening at all. Or it might be a random example of a gun used for nefarious purposes or in a tragic accident, which obviously immediately negates any actual data showing otherwise.

And even if there is a vague causal relationship, it still isn't as good as living in Australia/UK/Canada/Sweden/Japan et. al. would be.

[Eleanors38]

15. The diff between post hoc and horse hock indeed.

[ileus]

6. They're all shpping to New York donjaknow...

[Eleanors38]

8. Did VA pass SC in the latest Coaches' Poll? nt

[ileus]

10. The Cavs or Tech?

We don't keep up with either, we're Mountaineer fans in this house.


On another note we do have practice the next 4 evening in a row again this week. LOL

[Common Sense Party]

9. Half a million guns bought in ONE state in ONE year?

So, obviously, there were half a million fatal shootings last year, right? These ARE killing machines, death spewers. That is what they are designed for and that's ALL they do.

Probably 250K unprovoked murders committed by CCW permitholders, and another 250K children getting hold of daddy's gun and having a terrible accident.

That HAS to be the case. I don't buy the VA State Police numbers for a second.

[Lurks Often]

11. I see the hypocrisy of anti gun crowd is showing

They are very quick to say there is no relationship between the increase in gun sales and the drop in crime in VA with it's less stringent gun laws, but are very quick to blame crime rates in Chicago and Washington DC, both with very restrictive gun laws, on the guns.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

12. While this is a good point...

...I think overall crime and the use of guns in crimes, suicides, accidents and self-defense are much more complicated. The two statements, "More guns, more crime" and "More guns, less crime" are completely invalid as conclusions. IMHO, there is very little relationship between gun ownership and crime. Also, IMHO, countering the anti-RKBA arguments with "More guns, less crime" is damaging to the pro-RKBA cause since it maintains the idea that these two things have a direct link.

Just some thoughts. Have a good day.

[Lurks Often]

17. Oh I know. Crime is mostly a function of economic & social pressures,

but pointing out the hypocrisy of the anti gun crowd is always worthwhile.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

18. True enough

[jimmy the one]

13. richmond & DC, sister cities

lurks often: I see the hypocrisy of anti gun crowd is showing .. They are very quick to say there is no relationship between the increase in gun sales and the drop in crime in VA with it's less stringent gun laws, but are very quick to blame crime rates in Chicago and Washington DC, both with very restrictive gun laws, on the guns.

You're comparing a rural area virginia with two densely populated urban cities, can't do that, at least not with meaningful results (generally). Virginia has a population density of 207/sqmile, while chicago has ~12,000/sqmile & DC about 5,000/sqmile.
Crime in DC & Chicago has dropped over the past 20 yr time period when their handgun bans were in effect (pre 08 & 10). Influx of guns in the 70's CAUSED the problems in DC & Chicago. Your argument premise isn't legitimate under scrutiny, for guncontrol & gunbans were enacted in response to rising crime & increasing firearms in both cities.
And DC has always had roughly 20% gun ownership rate, since longguns were legal throughout & approx 100,000 longguns for ~550,000 residents, plus grandfathered handguns.

Compare apples to apples: 2006 Crimes/100k (DC handgun ban era):
....Richmond, VA ...... Washington, DC
Murder: 38.8 .............29.1 (DC often had lower murder rate)
Rape:.. 38.83 ............31.3
Robbery: 504.3 ..........619.7
AggrdAsslt: 460.9 .......765.7 (DC higher violent crime rates^)
Burglary: 1167 ..........657.9 (Richmond higher property-cr-rates v)
Theft: ...3245.1 .......2602.1
AutoTheft: 744.5 .......1213.5
TotalCrime: 6200........5917 >>>> Cities are at parity wrt Crime.
http://www.areaconnect.com/crime/compare.htm?c1=Richmond&s1=VA&c2=washington+&s2=DC

VaMtnMan: .. tell Bloomberg, he is STILL blaming Virginia for New York's crime problems.

In part he is, because virginia's guns are: {BBg} cited Virginia as about the worst, in terms of allowing guns to flow into New York. In 2011, guns from Virginia were involved in 322 violent incidents.. He also said that guns from states other than New York were used to commit 90% of the city’s crimes in 2011 – and that’s up from 85% in 2009.

It's called gun smuggling, mtnman, same with DC where guns smuggled in from maryland & virginia caused most of the gun problems.

[Eleanors38]

16. So a National scheme of pot prohibition keeps quantities low everywhere?

[Nuclear Unicorn]

20. Of course!

Just like "Stop & Frisk" made predominantly white New York City safer.

(Hopefully a sarcasm tag would be as warrantless as a NYPD sidewalk search.)

[Socal31]

19. The White House again confirmed Obama believes the 2nd is a personal freedom.

I don't know what party supports outlawing private weapons, but for some reason this one seems to gather the fringers.

[Lurks Often]

21. It is less about party and more about where the politician lives

The majority of anti-gun politicians come from districts that contain cities or suburbs adjacent to a city and/or states that have been considered liberal such as CT, MA, MD, NJ & CA among others. Many of those politicians are Democrats, but not all of them. Feinstein would probably be the most prominent anti gun Democrat and Christie is probably the most prominent anti gun Republican politician I can think of, although there are others.

In contrast Reid & Baucus are prominent pro gun Democrats and there are others as well.