Fact: More Guns Lead To Safer Communities

On August 28, the NRA tweeted, “Since ’91, Americans have

acquired over 170 million new firearms and violent crimes have declined by 51%.”

This tweet was based on data from the  ATF and FBI data showing Americans have purchased “170 million new guns” since 1991, and violent crime has fallen “51 percent.”

The findings of a Congressional Research Service (CRS) study covering the slightly shorter period of time from 1994 to 2009 found for those years, CRS found that Americans purchased approximately 118 million firearms, and the 1993 “firearm-related murder and non-negligent homicide” rate of 6.6 per 100,000 fell to 3.6 per 100,000 by the year 2000. It eventually fell all the way to 3.2 per 100,000 in 2011.

That is more than a 50 percent reduction in “firearm-related murder and non-negligent homicide.”

The studies have proved that more guns equals less crime. Americans have purchased “170 million new guns” since 1991, and violent crime has decreased as gun ownership has increased.