About That Massive Drop in the Murder Rate...

[rangerrebew]

About That Massive Drop in the Murder Rate...
By Tom Knighton  | 7:31 PM | May 13, 2026
   
 
Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen a significant drop in the homicide rate. It’s an unprecedented drop, and while many are claiming that it’s just a restoration to pre-COVID norms, that’s clearly not true. After all, the drop is more than the increase we saw starting in 2020.

So what gives?

Well, while the media might try to spin it as some approach or another being effective, the fact is that these are all localized, yet the drop is nationwide.

At American Rifleman, podcast guest John Lott has thoughts.

https://bearingarms.com/tomknighton/2026/05/13/about-that-massive-drop-in-the-murder-rate-n1232514

[rangerrebew]

Many, many years ago, I was listening to a late-night radio talk show (that's how long ago it was).  Anyway, the person being interviewed was an ex-con who had gone straight and was an advisor on crime prevention.  The one thing he said that really stuck with me was that for crooks, the idea someone you are going to rob may have a gun and is really scared, is the scariest situation they face.  A frightened hand with a finger on a trigger is very unpredictable and dangerous to the crook.

[verga]

From the article: This is completely counter to the narrative the gun-control groups promote—and that many in the mainstream media tout—so, I asked, “But John, this can’t be possible because gun sales have been going up and up. The number of people with firearms has gone up and up. Concealed carry permits, in the states where they still keep track of them, not constitutional-carry states, has gone up and up. So, how could this possibly be the case when a lot more people have guns and the media always tells us that means murder rates go up?”

Robert Heinlein/ Jeff Cooper: An armed society is a polite society.