In the so-called Gunshine State, home to the most gun permits in the country, firearm violence has fallen to the lowest point on record.
As state and national legislators consider gun control laws in the wake of last month's Connecticut school shooting, Florida finds itself in a gun violence depression. The firearm-involved violent crime rate has dropped 33 percent between 2007 and 2011, while the number of issued concealed weapons permits rose nearly 90 percent during that time, state records show.
"We're happy to have facts and statistics put into these debates, because every time they do, we win," said Sean Caranna, executive director of Florida Carry Inc., a pro-gun-rights advocacy group.
But other state and national data suggests a more nuanced picture of gun violence.
Florida statistics show murderers are increasingly using firearms. Between 2000 and 2005, Florida's firearm-involved murder rate never topped 3.5 per 100,000 residents. Every year since, it has exceeded that number. And in 2011, for the first time on record, guns were used in more than 70 percent of homicides.
Mirroring the 33 percent decline in gun violence since 2007, the violent crime rate also dropped 26 percent during that time, which could suggest other factors at play in causing fewer criminal acts.This article was linked on my facebook account by one of the most ignorant and biased gun-rights fanatics out there. He/she offered it as "proof" that more guns means less crime. I guess the part about "a more nuanced picture" and the part about "other factors at play" went unnoticed.
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