THE FINDING:
Gun crime is down, a new study shows.
THE CONCLUSION:
Gun control is working, but could be improved.
As the U.S. Senate tries to salvage a gun bill that should never have failed in the first place, opponents will undoubtedly point to new statistics that show that gun crime is down in order to assert the legislation isn't needed. In reality, the statistics only underscore the opportunity to save more lives while respecting the 2nd Amendment.
Pew's report on "Gun Violence in America" found that shootings, fatal or otherwise, have sharply declined over the last 20 years. In raw numbers, homicides fell 20 percent, from 18,253 in 1993 to 11,078 in 2010. The drop was even larger as a percentage of the population, plunging almost 50 percent from a peak of 7 per 100,000 people to 3.6. The rate of all crimes involving a firearm fell 75 percent, from about 725 per 100,000 people to 181 in 2011. And suicides with firearms were down from 7.3 per 100,000 people to 6.3 in 2010.
Pew says the reasons for these declines are probably multifold: Crack cocaine use is down. There are more criminals behind bars. The legalization of abortion has reduced the number of unwanted children, who are more likely to become criminals. The elimination of leaded gasoline has reduced brain damage associated with violent behavior. And in the U.S. and many other countries, violent crime in general is down.
Two other factors are worth considering. One is that in 1994, a year after gun violence peaked, the federal government began pouring billions of dollars into local crimefighting through the COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) grants. Then, in 1998, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System went into effect, requiring people purchasing firearms from federally licensed gun dealers to have their names run through the FBI's database to make sure they aren't barred from owning a handgun because of a criminal record, mental illness, or other reason. According to the FBI, the NICS checks have blocked more than 700,000 sales of the 100 million that have occurred since it started.
All the more reason that the Senate should redouble its efforts to close loopholes in the law that allow sales at gun shows and between individuals without a background check. This sensible expansion of the law is widely endorsed even among gun owners, but strenuously opposed by the NRA and gun manufacturers.
It's also worth noting Pew's finding that most people don't realize that gun violence is down. It partly blames the heavy focus of news coverage on crime, particularly high-profile mass shootings. Some gun control foes have seized on that to suggest that the fear of gun crime is the news media's fault.
Perhaps the NRA and the gun industry are satisfied with "only" 11,078 gun homicides and a "mere" 32,672 gun-related deaths when suicides are added.
But given the success of background checks so far, Washington should consider how many fewer people would die if it strengthened a law that's clearly working, and which doesn't tread on the right of responsible citizens to bear arms. And it ought to consider how many fewer mass murders America might have to witness if high-capacity assault weapons and magazines were outlawed.
To read the full Pew report, go to http://tinyurl.com/cvhotkq