Calls have rung out across the nation demanding gun control laws in a bid to curb violent crimes such as the recent series of mass shootings. Data, however, show that in states with higher percentages of households with at least one gun, crimes are not higher than in states with strict gun laws.
"Gun ownership is higher in states with fewer restrictions, and homicide rates in these states are lower. People can protect themselves," George Mason University Professor Emerita Joyce Lee Malcolm told Fox News Digital of what she's found through her research.
Malcolm pointed to a study on burglars from 1986 that found 34% of burglars interviewed reported "to having been scared off, shot at, wounded or captured by an armed victim."
Fox News Digital compiled FBI data from 2019 detailing murders and gun murders per 100,000 population for most states, as well as assembled Rand Corporation data released in 2020 showing the percentage of households with at least one firearm in 2016.
Fox News Digital compiled FBI data from 2019 detailing murders and gun murders per 100,000 population for most states, as well as assembled Rand Corporation data released in 2020 showing the percentage of households with at least one firearm in 2016.
The data does not reflect the skyrocketing violent crimes of 2020 and likely undercounts the current percentages of homes with at least one firearm as it does not reflect the influx of Americans who rushed to arm themselves in 2020. READ MORE...
