Gun Violence Way Down — Here is a tidbit one would not expect to read in The Philadelphia Inquirer or hear Jim Gardner report albeit has been surprisingly reported by AP— gun violence is way, way down.
Firearms-related homicides dropped 39 percent between 1993 and 2011, while nonfatal firearms crimes fell 69 percent, according to the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics
It should be noted that places where one had the right to carry a concealed weapon increased from 17 states in 1993 –or nine states in 1986 when the right to carry movement started — to 41 states today.
While there are five states today that have no restrictions on concealed carry, liberal, safe Vermont was the only one that did so in 1986. It still does.
Another tidbit gleaned from the BJS: The firearm homicide rate for non-Hispanic whites was 1.4 per 100,000. For blacks it was 14.6 per 100,000 which was still a 51-percent drop from 1993.