With the current trend to looking to evidence based medicine to define what is a worthwhile test or treatment, what does the evidence say about gun purchases?
Breitbart news reports:
In 2002, 350,000 guns were sold in the state of California. By 2011, that number was 600,000. Last year, it jumped to 817,000, a single year increase of 36 percent.
Did crime go up? Precisely the opposite. Since 2002, hospital visits due to injuries from gun wounds plummeted 28 percent. Gun deaths decreased 15 percent.
Similar national statistics show that violent crime has gone down in the US while gun ownership and legal concealed carry has increased. Homicides have also dropped nationally and in most areas. This is in spite of large increases in violence and homicides in specific zip codes associated with large cities and gang activities. In Chicago, for example, out of control gangs that the police chief says number 180,000 members, are the primary contributors to the more than 500 homicides in 2012.