Democrats and associated liberal media supporters have been reduced to blaming the surge in crime on Republicans by linking it to gun control to make themselves look better.
Unfortunately, they provide nothing in the way of evidence.
NYT Gun Sales
The New York Times made an attempt at this by noting both killings and suicides using firearms increased in 2019. After providing a rundown of the CDC data, Roni Caryn Rabin then posited a connection to firearm sales.
Rabin noted even while the CDC study didn’t dig into why so many people were dying by gunfire, there was a coincidental uptick in gun sales and new buyers during the epidemic.
"Gun deaths surged during the pandemic’s first year, the C.D.C. reports." by BY RONI CARYN RABIN via NYT https://t.co/hNKyhgL7UG
— The Believer ™ (@maxvaldes) May 10, 2022
Is there evidence linking the increase in gun sales to an increase in murder or suicide? Of course not, but as New York’s Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul reminded everyone, liberals don’t need evidence to believe gun control reduces gun deaths.
Under Kathy Hochul's new gun law the majority of citizens of the State of New York are currently UNABLE to purchase ANY semi-automatic long gun.
In sum, Democrats have stripped 2nd Amendment rights from the State of New York.
Are you paying attention yet?
— Matthew Kolken (@mkolken) October 6, 2022
In spite of the ambiguity around the rise in gun-related suicides (up 10% since 2019, although other forms of suicides are down 8%), the rise in gun-related homicides is unmistakable.
Both the beginning of the pandemic in March and the subsequent June Black Lives Matter riots contributed to a significant rise in gun purchases across the country in 2020.
Both periods saw an uptick in crime, but leftists have the timing all wrong. The increase in crime rates was not a contributing factor to the proliferation of firearms.
Riots and Violence
Although there was an increase in gun purchases during 2009–2013, both violent crime and homicides fell during that time.
Homicide and other violent crimes decreased for several years before 2014, the year in which the Black Lives Matter group gained notoriety, following Michael Brown’s death.
In 2020, Democratic mayors ignored riots, creating an environment where criminals felt free to accomplish more violent acts.
Since most criminal offenders do not buy firearms legally, we know gun purchases likely had nothing to do with the crime boom in 2020 and the minor increases in 2014.
According to a 2019 Department of Justice report, 91 percent of criminals who used weapons did so by purchasing them illegally.
These breakers of the law ended up obtaining them as a discovered item at a crime scene or stealing them. About 7.5% of gun owners have done so legally.
The Times’ coverage is a textbook example of failing to distinguish between cause and effect. Increased gun sales are a symptom, not a cause, of gun violence.
As a result of progressive prosecutors not prosecuting repeat offenders, the Democrat Party and its friends in the media (such as the New York Times) have encouraged and tolerated riots, while pushing for gun regulation for law-abiding residents.
Liberals need to undergo some soul-searching if they really want to reduce gun murders.
This article appeared in NewsHouse and has been published here with permission.
