The anti-gun lobby exploded with anger when Maine began allowing eligible residents to exercise their constitutional rights of concealed carry. The warnings were dire and shrill that the state would quickly descend into chaos and suffer from an epidemic of “gun violence.”
Maine became a permit-less carry state in 2015. This meant that anyone over the age of 21 who is not prohibited from possessing a gun can carry a loaded weapon and keep it in their vehicles. This freedom also applies to an active or honorably discharged member of the armed forces who is 18-20 years old.
There were still some restrictions. Except for law enforcement, it is illegal in Maine to carry a firearm in or within 500 feet of schools, in court and federal buildings, on Statehouse grounds, state parks, and Acadia National Park.
Guns are also still not allowed on strike picket lines or in restaurants and bars that posted signs barring permission.
This change, the mainstream media and anti-gun radicals charged, would quickly result in a Wild West frontier-style shooting gallery.
But something funny happened on the way to the OK Corral.
The exact opposite of the gun control fanatic’s arguments developed, and their silence on the outcome is deafening. Not only did violent crime rates steadily fall, but the Pine Tree State now boasts the lowest level in the United States.
According to official FBI statistics, property crime and violent crime in Maine have dropped since the much-needed reform was instituted. And this came at a time when the violent crime rate increased nationally from 2015 to 2020.
The criminal law professionals at jorgevelalaw.com pored through mountains of Bureau data to determine the rate of violent crimes per 100,000 people. Across the nation, 398.5 violent crimes were committed per 100,000 people in 2020, the last year of available numbers.
The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program categorizes violent crime as murder and non negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. And, according to these official standards, Maine now has the lowest violent crime rate within the U.S.
In 2020, the state’s average for violent crime was roughly 108 committed per 100,000 people. That totaled almost four times less than the national average.
New Hampshire came in second lowest with 146.3 violent crimes per 100,000 people, and Vermont ranked third with 173.4 violent crimes on average per 100,000 people.
On the other end of the violence spectrum, Alaska ranked number one with a whopping 837.8 violent crimes per 100,000 people, followed by New Mexico, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana.
Back to Maine, where FBI data showed property and violent crime have steadily dropped since the 2015 constitutional carry measure. And this followed a slight increase in the year before the reform passed, according to FBI figures.
Property crime rates are now the lowest since the FBI first began compiling data in 1985.
To be fair, the drop in violent crimes since Maine citizens were allowed to exercise their constitutional right to bear arms is not proof that the Second Amendment is solely responsible for the improvement. But look at the result from the other direction.
Anti-gun critics screamed that giving Maine citizens the right to concealed carry would spark a powder keg of violence in the state. Simple arguments would escalate into gunfire and blood would flow on the streets if people were able to carry firearms as they are constitutionally guaranteed the freedom to do.
That, of course, failed to materialize. Instead, the good people of Maine are permitted to carry concealed weapons and are the safest Americans in 2023. And that, which for obvious reasons you never hear about, is a slap in the face for all of those who would strip your constitutional guarantees to protect yourself away from your home.
