Reply #15: The NUMBER OF FIREARMS owned by civilians has been going up ... [View All]

[spin]

Gun Owners Buy 14 Million Plus Guns In 2009 – More Than 21 of the Worlds Standing Armies
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 at 11:43 AM

Washington, DC --(AmmoLand.com)- Data released by the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) for the year reported 14,033,824 NICS Checks for the year of 2009, a 10 percent increase in gun purchases from the 12,709,023 reported in 2008.

So far that is roughly 14,000,000+ guns bought last year!
The total is probably more as many NICS background checks cover the purchase of more than one gun at a time by individuals.

To put it in perspective that is more guns than the combined active armies of the top 21 countries in the world.
http://www.ammoland.com/2010/01/13/gun-owners-buy-14-million-plus-guns-in-2009/

And the violent crime rate has been falling.

Violence declines in first half of 2010, FBI says
Dec. 20, 2010, 8:46AM

Reported violent crimes in the U.S. declined 6.2 percent in the first six months of this year, the FBI said.

In its preliminary report for January through June 2010, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said there was a 2.8 percent decline in property crimes compared with the first half of 2009.

Fueling the decline were a 10.7 percent drop in robberies and a 7.1 percent decrease in murders, the bureau said today. Rapes fell 6.2 percent and aggravated assaults declined 3.9 percent.

The report showed that previous crime decreases are continuing. In September, the FBI said violent crime in 2009 declined for the third year in a row. The violent crime rate last year fell 5.3 percent, and property crime declined 4.6 percent.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/7347297.html

These statistics have been presented numerous times in the Gungeon. Reading comprehension and memory are important skills.