Only, something funny happened on the way to the OK Corral.
Violent crime went down in states that recognized the freedom of their citizens to keep and bear arms.
It has already been reported, though not as widely as it should have been, that most Ohio metropolitan areas saw a decrease in “gun crime” in the aftermath of constitutional carry.
Earlier this month, Buckeye State Attorney General Dave Yost announced findings from Bowling Green University’s Center for Justice Research. And the results flatly contradicted “conventional wisdom.”
The study proved that crimes involving guns actually decreased in six of the state’s eight largest cities. These encouraging figures came after several mayors breathlessly warned of carnage to come.
But Bowling Green researchers wanted to look at hard data to determine if there was such an impact. As it turned out, the reverse was true.
The study pored through incidents dating from a year before the new law took effect — June 2022 — through one year after. It spotlighted criminal acts involving firearms, verified gunshot-detection alerts and law enforcement officers struck by weapon fire.
Results demonstrated significant decreases in gun-related criminal activity in several cities. Gun crimes in Parma plunged 22%, and Toledo and Akron each saw an 18% drop. There were small increases in Dayton and Cincinnati.
Even so, Cincinnati experienced an almost 20% decline in homicides.
On the heels of the Ohio results came word that Florida cities enjoyed their own significant improvement in violent crime rates. House Bill 543 took effect July 1, 2023, and critics howled that the “dangerous” new law would escalate crime and threaten families.
Constitutional carry has been in effect in the Sunshine State for over six months, and the results are startling.
Jacksonville recorded a 6% drop in homicides involving firearms from 2022, carrying on a trend across the state. The change in Miami was even more dramatic.
Florida’s largest city saw homicides plunge from 49 to 31, the fewest ever recorded in Miami. Even more impressive was the 34% decrease in shootings that did not result in a fatality. These fell from 151 to 100.
To be clear, no one is asserting that Florida or Ohio’s numbers are solely attributable to constitutional carry. The nation overall experienced a dip in violent crime after the extreme surge that began in 2020, and several factors are doubtlessly involved.
But it bears repeating what many in the anti-gun mainstream media warned would happen. In an NBC News article, Florida’s new law was slammed as “extreme” and “controversial.”
Forbes declared constitutional carry “will drive gun violence up and further jeopardize the safety of our families and communities.”
Even White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre joined the chorus. She called the new law “shameful” and “the opposite of common sense gun safety.”
How did these predictions hold up? Not well in either Ohio or Florida. But law-abiding gun owners were never the issue to begin with, so permitting them the right they already had to keep and bear arms was not going to push crime upward.
After all, how many criminals worry about concealed carry laws or government hoops they are required to jump through to purchase a weapon? Zero.
If critics were right, there should be blood flowing in the streets. That obviously is not the case as crime went down even as the nation became a majority constitutional carry Republic. Perhaps it’s time to consider armed citizens part of the solution rather than the problem.
