The number of homicides across the United States fell by nearly 13-percent in 2023, fueling a corporate media news cycle about how crime overall is down despite public perception. What is being ignored, however, regarding the shift in crime levels since the pandemic is the fact gun ownership has drastically increased.
A recent poll showed 52-percent of registered votes acknowledged they or someone in their household owned at least one firearm – an all time record high. A similar poll in 2023 found only 42-percent of Americans said they or a household member owned a gun. Pew Research produced a survey showing over 40-percent of Americans at-large live in a home where someone owns a firearm – with nearly half-of self-described Republicans saying they owned a gun.
Between 2020 and 2022, Americans an estimated 60 million firearms. Compared to two decades ago, gun sales in the United States have nearly doubled. The recent spike in sales appears to be fueled by concerns President Joe Biden and Congressional Democrats would work to put new restrictions on gun purchases and ownership through gun-control legislation. Additionally, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement’s demand local governments abolish police departments have lead some Americans to to invest in personal protection and firearm self-defense training.
While cities like Detroit are on track to see the lowest homicide rate since 1966; the nation’s capital, ‘gun free’ Washington, D.C., has seen a 40-percent spike in violent crime – with murders up 35-percent since last year. The city has also seen a nearly 70-percent increase in robberies, an 83-percent increase in motor-vehicle thefts, and a 25-percent increase in theft.
