More Guns, Less Crime In CA's Concealed Carry Capitol
Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 8:42 pmhttps://bearingarms.com/cam-e/2019/07/16/195482/
More Guns, Less Crime In California’s Concealed Carry Capitol
More Guns, Less Crime In California’s Concealed Carry Capitol
New data out of California provides more evidence that the presence of legal gun owners and lawful gun carries doesn’t increase crime. The Fresno Bee recently reported that Fresno County has the highest number of concealed carry licensees in the state, followed by Orange County. If “more guns equals more crime”, then more people carrying guns should lead to more crime as well, and yet both Fresno and Orange County have lower homicide rates than Los Angeles County, home to more than 10-million residents but just 424 concealed carry licensees.
According to the latest figures from California’s Department of Justice, Los Angeles County’s homicide rate in 2018 was 5.5 per 100,000. Fresno County was slightly lower, at 5.3 per 100,000. Orange County’s homicide rate was substantially lower, coming in at just 1.5 per 100,000. According to the “more guns equals more crime” theory, both Fresno and Orange Counties should be much more violent places than Los Angeles County, which simply isn’t the case. Even San Francisco County, where there are just two (yes, two) active concealed carry licenses, has a homicide rate that’s virtually identical to Fresno County, which suggests that individuals exercising their right to carry aren’t drivers of violent crime or homicides.