Post by Sailor on Aug 5, 2013 2:34:54 GMT -8
RICHMOND
Firearms sales in Virginia are increasing while gun-related violent crimes are declining.
Firearms sales rose 16 percent in 2012 to a record 490,119 guns purchased in 444,844 transactions, according to federally licensed gun dealer sales estimates obtained by the Richmond Times-Dispatch. During the same period, major crimes committed with firearms dropped 5 percent to 4,378.
"This appears to be additional evidence that more guns don't necessarily lead to more crime," said Thomas R. Baker, an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University's L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs who specializes in research methods and criminology theory.
"It's a quite interesting trend given the current rhetoric about strengthening gun laws and the presumed effect it would have on violent crimes," Baker told the newspaper. "While you can't conclude from this that tougher laws wouldn't reduce crime even more, it really makes you question if making it harder for law-abiding people to buy a gun would have any effect on crime."
But he cautioned against drawing any conclusions that more guns in the hands of Virginians are causing a corresponding drop in gun crime.
More here;
hamptonroads.com/2013/08/virginia-gun-sales-rise-firearmrelated-crimes-fall
As interesting as the article itself is, some of the remarks and comments following can be downright entertaining. For example, one loon is claiming that "3 years prior" to abortion becoming legal crime rates began to decline.
I swear Tankey and Grumblebear post here sometimes.
Firearms sales in Virginia are increasing while gun-related violent crimes are declining.
Firearms sales rose 16 percent in 2012 to a record 490,119 guns purchased in 444,844 transactions, according to federally licensed gun dealer sales estimates obtained by the Richmond Times-Dispatch. During the same period, major crimes committed with firearms dropped 5 percent to 4,378.
"This appears to be additional evidence that more guns don't necessarily lead to more crime," said Thomas R. Baker, an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University's L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs who specializes in research methods and criminology theory.
"It's a quite interesting trend given the current rhetoric about strengthening gun laws and the presumed effect it would have on violent crimes," Baker told the newspaper. "While you can't conclude from this that tougher laws wouldn't reduce crime even more, it really makes you question if making it harder for law-abiding people to buy a gun would have any effect on crime."
But he cautioned against drawing any conclusions that more guns in the hands of Virginians are causing a corresponding drop in gun crime.
More here;
hamptonroads.com/2013/08/virginia-gun-sales-rise-firearmrelated-crimes-fall
As interesting as the article itself is, some of the remarks and comments following can be downright entertaining. For example, one loon is claiming that "3 years prior" to abortion becoming legal crime rates began to decline.
I swear Tankey and Grumblebear post here sometimes.
