A study conducted by FOX News Digital shows higher gun ownership “[does] not correlate with more gun murders.”
FOX News Digital compiled data from FBI stats on 2019 and reported “many states with higher percentages of gun ownership had lower or similar murder and gun murder rates to states with strict gun control.”
The findings showed, “Montana and Wyoming came in the top spots for states with the highest percentages of gun ownership, with more than 66% of households with at least one firearm. However, the states also saw murder and gun murder rates similar to states with strict gun laws.”
FOX News Digital compared Montana with Massachusetts, a state “which tied with New Jersey for lowest gun ownership in the country,” and found that Massachusetts murder rate was similar to Montana despite Montana’s higher rate of gun ownership.
George Mason University Professor Emerita Joyce Lee Malcolm noted she has found similar results in her own work, saying, “Gun ownership is higher in states with fewer restrictions, and homicide rates in these states are lower. People can protect themselves.”
Crime Prevention Research Center’s John Lott suggests that an examination of the impact of gun bans also undercuts pledges that gun control ushers in safety.
Lott noted, “The explanation is simple: while you might take some guns away from criminals, if you primarily have law-abiding people obeying the ban, you mainly disarm law-abiding people and make it easier for criminals to commit crime.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.
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