Violent crime is down

And the research shows why   

Since our last issue, there’s been a lot of news on the gun safety front. First came good news from the Council on Criminal Justice, which reported that violent crime, including homicide, aggravated assaults, and domestic violence incidents, is down nationally in the first half of 2024. Any drop in violent crime means a drop in gun violence as well, because the vast majority of homicides involve firearms.

Another pair of reports from RAND found that states with the most restrictive gun policies had a 20% lower firearm mortality rate compared to states with the most permissive laws, and provide new evidence that 1) licensing and permitting requirements may decrease mass shootings, and 2) domestic violence misdemeanor prohibitions may decrease gun-related intimate partner homicides.

These findings are not only consistent with 97Percent’s policy roadmap, but also with an analysis by The Trace that found that states with permitless carry laws see more gun deaths. Permitless concealed carry is legal in 29 states, and in a greater number of states, gun owners are legally allowed to openly carry firearms in public without a permit.

Adding to the base of evidence that gun permitting is critical to gun safety is new research from Dr. Michael Siegel, a 97Percent grantee, which shows that states with universal background checks and gun permits have an 18% lower gun homicide rate than those with background checks alone.

In other gun-related news, Vice President Kamala Harris announced her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, last week in Philadelphia. You can check out Walz’s record on guns here, and Harris’ proposals here. But what stood out to us was this piece from Harris’ introduction of Walz: “Tim is a hunter and a gun owner who believes, as the majority of gun owners do, that we need reasonable gun safety laws in America.” Exactly. And the research shows why.