[extropy-chat] Gun and crime stats for the USA

[Max More]

More numbers to argue over:

The nation`s violent crime rate (the number of crimes per 100,000 
population) has declined every year since 1991 and is now at a 22-year low. 
And murder is at a 35-year low. (FBI, www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm) The trends 
include the following highlights:
·       Since 1991, the nation`s violent crime rates have all decreased 
substantially. Total violent crime (the aggregate of murder and 
non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault), has 
decreased 33.2%; murder and non-negligent manslaughter has decreased 43.7%; 
rape has decreased 24.2%; robbery has decreased 46.9%; and aggravated 
assault has decreased 25.3%.
·       National violent crime rates in 2000 were the lowest in years. 
Total violent crime, the lowest since 1978; murder, the lowest since 1965; 
rape, the lowest since 1978; robbery, the lowest since 1968; and aggravated 
assault, the lowest since 1985.
·       Further demonstrating the irrelevance of "gun control" to crime 
rates, between 1991 (when violent crime started declining nationally) and 
2000, states that had the greatest decreases in violent crime generally, 
and in murder in particular, included both those that have some of the 
nation`s least restrictive gun laws (such as Texas, Alabama, South 
Carolina, and West Virginia) and those that have some of the most 
restrictive (such as California, New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut).
·       In 2000, as in previous years, firearms were used in less than 
one-fourth of violent crimes. Most violent crimes were committed with hands 
and feet (32%), blunt objects and other weapons (28%), and knives (15%).
·       In 2000, states that had Right-to-Carry laws had lower violent 
crime rates on average, compared to the rest of the country. Their total 
violent crime rate was 21.9% lower, murder was 28.4% lower, robbery was 
37.7% lower, and aggravated assault was 16.5% lower. (Rape, the violent 
crime least likely to involve firearms, was 0.8% higher.)
·       The only states that experienced increases in their murder rates 
between 1991 (when violent crime began declining) and 2000 were Rhode 
Island (16%), Nebraska (12%), Kansas (3%), and Minnesota (3%), all of which 
still do not have Right-to-Carry laws.