Multiple choice question
March 19th, 2006Why has crime gone down over the past ten years? Is it:
- Increased availability of gun licenses via concealed carry permits in more states?
- Decreased availability of gun sales through illicit markets via more rigorous law enforcement?
- Some combination of both of the above?
- Neither of the above?
Well, if this article is any indication, there’s really no way of knowing!
Why gun dealers have dwindled: Gun-control activists tie the trend to a drop in crime, but the NRA disagrees.
(Via Christian Science Monitor.)
The article goes on the make the following statements:
And while gun-control advocates acknowledge there’s no empirical evidence, they believe the reduction was one element that added to the dramatic decline in crime during the past decade.
No empirical evidence? Doesn’t anyone study this kind of thing? Gun control has been a major hot-button issue for 20 years, major policy debates have occurred, the careers of politicians have been made or broken over this, and no one knows? Sheesh. No wonder the following is the case:
They also show widely different perceptions of the nation’s current gun laws: While one side says the regulations are inadequate, the other says they’re already too onerous.
Not that it would make too much of a difference the way every issue in this country these days seems to be divided by an impassable crevasse of titanic proportions, but it certainly can’t help bring the two sides together when neither side has strong data with which to support their position.
Of course, this is my blog, so I get to have an opinion, eh? I tend to think that it’s a little bit of both, but if one contributed more (by far), I think it would be the reduction in shady dealers caused by better enforcement and licensing of dealers. Also, this last bit from the NRA strikes me as particularly silly:
“You add to that the regulation that any FFL [federal firearms licensee] is required to maintain a record of any transaction for 20 years. That’s a requirement that even surpasses IRS standards.”
Uh, yeah? This isn’t even an apples to oranges comparison; it’s more like apples to chimpanzees. If for no other reason than that guns remain dangerous for as long as they’re properly cared for, it’s a good idea to maintain records of sales. A gun can enter the illicit market many years before it’s used in a crime that results in the gun falling into police hands.
I don’t know that anyone’s ever died as a direct result of illicit tax advice by shady CPAs.
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crime, gun control, NRA, Brady Campaign, ATF
