Florida vs. Washington DC

You've (hopefully) read the short article about Florida's decreasing crime rate over the past 14 years. Now let's take a look at recent news out of Washington, DC.

Nation's Capital Declares Crime Emergency
By BRETT ZONGKER
Associated Press Writer

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Alan Senitt, was attacked in the Georgetown area on Sunday, his throat was slit and police say the attackers attempted to rape his companion. It was the 13th homicide in the city this month. Robberies are up 14 percent, and armed assaults have jumped 18 percent in the past 30 days.

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District of Columbia Police Chief Charles Ramsey declared a crime emergency in the city after Senitt, a volunteer for the potential presidential campaign of former Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner, was killed.

The crime emergency declaration allows commanders more flexibility to adjust officers' schedules and reassign them to high-crime areas.

The tourist-friendly National Mall, which is under the jurisdiction of Park Police rather than D.C. police, is usually considered safe. But the recent crimes against tourists have raised calls for a larger police presence.

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But.. but... how can this be? DC has a complete and total handgun ban. Surely if we enact strict firearm laws then crime will go away, right?

Anti-gun advocates say that allowing citizens to carry handguns for self defense somehow increases the violent crime rate, or at worst has no effect. Some of the most widely accepted studies on the matter are from John R. Lott's studies in More Guns, Less Crime. He finds that while crime rates overall do not tend to decrease, violent crime is significantly reduced and those criminals displace their efforts into property crime.

Let's say the gun grabbers illogical claims are correct and the scientific study performed by James D. Wright and Peter H. Rossi is incorrect in which they surveyed almost 2000 imprisoned felons and found that criminals fear armed citizens more than the police. Even if a growing armed populace won't decrease the overall crime rate, it allows for a decrease in the most important crime rate of all: The personal murder rate for me and my family.