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On January 12, the FBI published their preliminary semiannual 2008 Uniform Crime Report (http://www.fbi.gov/page2/jan09/ucr_stat ... 11209.html). As a caution, this only evaluates the first half of 2008, and the data remain preliminary.

But the news is good.

Nationwide, violent crime fell 3.5 percent and property crime 2.5 percent during the first six months of the year; the full 2008 report will be available in the fall.

Each of the specific crimes measured by the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program--murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson--decreased during the first half of 2008 as compared to the same time frame in 2007.

Of interest to me was total violent crime compared, over time, to the enactment of concealed carry laws.

At the prospect of allowing non-LEO civilians to carry guns, we all remember the cries: "It will be like OK-Corral gunfights over parking spaces! Neighbors will settle arguments with bullets! The streets will run red with blood!"

Hardly.

But Democratic Governor Ann Richards did veto--aggressively--every gun-related proposal in sight.

It could happen again. Lest we forget.


If anything, concealed handgun legislation throughout the United States has proven two things:

First, holders of concealed handgun licenses are among the most law-abiding of citizens.

Second, concealed handgun legislation reduces violent crime.

Let's take a look (understanding the 2008 figures are only preliminary):



I have trouble understanding how the Brady Campaign continues to selectively ignore these numbers.

But then again, the individuals who work for the Brady Bunch are no safer from gun violence now in New York City, Chicago, or the District of Columbia than they were 15 years ago.

I wonder why?

Skiprr wrote: I have trouble understanding how the Brady Campaign continues to selectively ignore these numbers.

But then again, the individuals who work for the Brady Bunch are no safer from gun violence now in New York City, Chicago, or the District of Columbia than they were 15 years ago.

I wonder why?

To acknowledge these statistics would be contrary to their mission.

Nice graph. It would also be nice to have one with a second Y-axis showing total number of states allowing concealed carry. Visually, it would do a good job representing the inverse relationship between the decreasing crime rate and the increasing CHL states.

It would be even better to look at the individual states crime rates compared with ccw laws. I have a feeling crime increased in some of those non ccw states.