A basis for Democratic claims about gun control is that limiting the number of guns Americans own makes people safer because the more guns people own, the less safe everyone else becomes.
A new study undercuts that claim, saying that connecting those dots might be great rhetoric but it is bad logic.
The study, published in the journal Injury Epidemiology, noted 2020 brought a massive increase in gun purchases and gun violence.
However, “the magnitude of the increase in purchasing at the state-level did not explain the magnitude of the increase in non-domestic firearm violence,” the study said.
The study noted that in the first two months of pandemic lockdowns, there was a spike in gun-related domestic violence incidents, but ascribed that more to the impact of lockdowns than gun purchases.
“[W]e need to be looking at other factors, like job loss, economic change, the closure of schools and community organizations and nonprofits, and civil unrest” to understand the increase in gun violence last year, said Julia Schleimer, lead author of the study, according to The Guardian.
“There are a lot of strategies that can address some of the more social determinants of violence,” she said, adding that gun violence is correlated with poverty. “There’s some good evidence on youth summer job programs and young people’s risk for violence.”
The study estimated 4.3 million guns were purchased nationwide from March through July 2020 over and above expected trends and there was a 27 percent increase in injuries and deaths from gun violence, but researchers “found no association between state-level excess firearm purchasing and non-domestic firearm violence.”
She said she was well aware the increase in gun violence and the spike in gun purchases are being linked by some politicians.
“Our findings, from this current study, in this particular context, are not supporting that,” Schleimer said.
Last week, Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared gun violence a public health emergency and sought to crack down on gun ownership.
“We went from one epidemic to another epidemic,” he said, according to NPR. “We went from COVID to the epidemic of gun violence.”
However, Schleimer said context is essential.
“Last year was such a unique year in many ways, and the context was continually evolving, and there were a lot of factors changing all at once, both locally and at the state level and nationally in the context of the pandemic and social and civil unrest,” she said. “That really complicated what we were able to do analytically.”
The study noted last summer “was far from typical, with increases in anxiety, grief, substance use, economic strain, disruptions to daily routines, high-profile instances of police brutality, and a national mobilization against systemic racism, which was accompanied by civil unrest.”
“Each of these factors may act alone or in combination to increase firearm violence, such that the contribution of firearm purchasing in this context was not statistically detectable,” the study said.
“The current study suggests the importance of other contributing factors to the pandemic-related increase in firearm violence and the need for additional research. For example, future research should examine the relationships between violence during the pandemic and job loss and economic support policies; physical distancing and the closure of schools and community organizations; neighborhood social disorganization; civil unrest; and changes to policing,” the study said.
Daniel Webster, the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Prevention and Policy, spoke to The Guardian about the difference between those who carry guns legally and those who do not.
“Data from Chicago and some other cities suggest that we have seen a sharp increase in illegal gun carrying,” he said. “The role that guns are playing in the increased levels of homicides may have more to do with increases in illegal gun carrying than with the number of incidents in which people buy guns legally, especially in the short-term.”
“In places and among individuals who are particularly low risk, more guns may have little impact on rates of lethal violence, but in places and among individuals of high risk, gun ownership can greatly increase risks of lethal violence,” he said.
via wnd
Study undermines Dems’ gun narrative – no link between gun sale and murder spikes
More proof that D’Rats lie about everything.
It doesn’t take an idiot to see if you defund the police everywhere you’re going to have an increase in crime, this is as plain as the nose on your face. America knows what the real problem is when it comes to crime, you’re just not allowed to say it.
That is very true, but if you are a commiecrat you are too stupid to realize that the nose you see when you cross your eyes is your own nose. Therefore, they are continuously trying to cut it off and just wonder why their face hurts…
But these idiots don’t get it – they have never even considered the following – Defunding the police goes a lot farther than just crime. With no cops – who is going to write the accident reports? No accident report – no insurance claim. Who will look for lost people – amber alerts? Who will come when there is a snake or dangerous animal at your home? Who is going to come to the accident scenes – in a lot of places – mainly crime infested inner cities – an ambulance – paramedics will not show up until there are cops on scene for protection. I have a friend who was a paramedic – he quit – after being stabbed twice. Both times he was rendering aid to a victim when the person who had tried to kill the victim returned and attacked him – because they did not want the victim saved. You home gets broke into – or your car is stolen – tough s**t – no cops are coming. And DON’T EVER forget – it is the same people who want the police defunded that also demand your guns. Defund the police and the thugs take over – just like they took over the ghetto’s generations ago and society runs amok – it will be a free for all people being killed left and right – with NO consequences.
They get it they just thought that the ones being killed would be conservatives not their own.
“Study undermines Dems’ gun narrative – no link between gun sale and murder spikes”
That’s because all of those guns were legally sold and registered. Most ALL murders are committed with ILLEGAL guns that cannot be traced back to the killer. You can make any kinds of gun laws you want and criminals will just laugh at you. It’s ironic that the same people screaming for more gun control are screaming for unrestricted open borders too. We know they have “puny thinkers” – I guess they have never thought about how easy it will be to get whatever guns you want across an open border and weapons far worse than a gun will ever be. When the Soviet Union collapsed Pablo Escobar was buying nuclear subs from the people who took over the USSR it was easy for him – he had the money – their only question was “Do you want them with or without the weapons?”