Well while overall firearm deaths have reduced in places like the UK, violent crime is increasing. You're literally twice as likely to incur bodily harm from assault now as you were in 2001.
Furthermore, I agree with the person above who cited density as a contributing factor as well, which is why the information I've presented below is representative of an urban city with consistently increasing gun control over the shown span.
And for Vinny, here you go. A direct statistic of guns being used in ALL CRIME, not just murders in London during a period of several legislative efforts to remove guns from the legal public. It will certainly take time to see how their newest wave of laws will effect this, but if the past is any indicator it wont have a truly positive effect. Stagnant at best I'd say, and interesting to see that the biggest spikes in gun violence happened around the times of gun control measures. Hopefully that will not be the case with the next few years, but who knows.
Crime rate19992000200120022003200420052006200720082009
Gun enabled crime
2961
3250
4005
4444
4025
3744
3881
3327
3459
2525
3295
Rate per 10,000 London
3.9
4.3
5.3
5.9
5.4
4.9
5.2
4.4
4.6
3.4
4.4
and if you're concerned with ALL violent crime, as any person frothing over the internet should, here is a depiction of knife crime over the same basic period, and in the same city.
Crime rate200320042005200620072008–092009–10
Knife enabled crime
[36]
10305
12985
12367
12301
10699
12345
12611
Rate per 10,000 London
13.7
17.3
16.5
16.4
14.3
16.4
16.8
Not a huge increase, but up several thousand. It will take time to see how their newer legislation effects this, but I am willing to bet it will simply spill over into other violence instead of drying up. I'd like to think it will work, but I know people won't want to kill or rob each other any less and a knife is easier to get away with using than a gun anyways.
To be fair, ALL murder rates have dropped by a large percentage- nearly cut in half from 2001-2010 but keep in mind that this is of limited relative relevancy in regards to the gun crime rate since they are being used in so many more crimes than just murders and those don't seem to be going anywhere. It's a very large and complicated overall picture, and we are only seeing little bits and pieces of it.
I am absolutely done with this thread though. The gun haters simply can not and will not accept any information that doesn't back them up 100%, and if you try to point out to them that taking guns away from law abiding citizens does nothing but embolden the armed criminal, they call you a pussy. Anyways, I leave you guys to your heated discussion. I have no dog in this fight, and noting will ever come of it anyways so who cares? Enjoy frothing, gentlemen.
