Police Report Crime Drop, Assaults with Guns Jump 52 Percent (MD)

[jpak]

http://crofton.patch.com/articles/police-report-crime-drop-assaults-with-guns-jump-52-percent

The Anne Arundel County Police Department reported a 7 percent reduction in major crime in 2010, though officials remain concerned about the number of violent crimes, especially those involving guns.

The county saw a significant drop in major property-related crimes, including a 7-percent drop in burglary, 9-percent decline in larceny and 26-percent drop in arson.

But instances of aggravated assault rose from 1,903 to 2,003, with a 52-percent jump in the number of assaults involving a gun.

“We are going to have to look heavy at the gun issue,” Maj. Thomas Wilson said. “When we saw that <52 percent> number pop up, that is certainly a concern for us.”

<more>

but...but..but...more guns, less gun crime

The NRA wouldn't lie to us

would they?

[shadowrider]

1. This has exactly what to do with LEGAL gun owners?

Bet your paycheck the rise in assaults is due to them, and prove it, instead of thugs who, I'll bet, already have a criminal record and I'll grant you MAY have a point.

If you CAN'T prove the assaults are being done by LEGAL owners, I'll dismiss this argument faster than I got rid of my first ex-girlfriend (and that was pretty damn quick).

[fasttense]

2. Back when the bushes first took over the white house

I remember hearing and reading reports about how the bush administration had changed the reporting of crimes. I remember interviews and complaints from police and sheriff's departments stating that the new crime reporting system did not count actual crimes. That the statistical manipulation of the input of data drastically reduced crime levels and would continue to make it appear as if crime were on the decline.

But after about a month of these complaints, it stopped and I have heard nothing further. I've done searches for old news articles but can't find any.

But ever since then, I take all crime reporting with a serious grain of salt. I've heard nothing to indicate the Obama has gone back to older more accurate methods of gathering crime statistics.

So, until I hear otherwise, I don't believe most crime reports.

[X_Digger]

12. Crime has continued to drop through Clinton, Dumya, and Obama..

93-94 was the peak (depending on the crime you're looking at).

It's been downhill ever since.

[Name removed]

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[lawodevolution]

6. So violent crime is going up in a state that has strong gun control?

[GreenStormCloud]

7. Sure. MD is a shall-issue state, de facto no-issue.

That means easy disarmed victims. Nearby VA & PA are shall-issue states, and unhealthy for criminals. So they go to MD to commit their crimes. It is safer for them.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

14. You mean "may-issue"? nt

[GreenStormCloud]

24. OOPS. Yes. Thanks. N/T

[Ken_Fish]

8. Nope. Criminals do criminal shit. No permits in MD unless you pay a bribe or are connected

so that pretty much rules out general CCW as the source of this.

[Hoyt]

9. There goes the "more guns equal less violent crime" meme from progunners.

We'll see how quickly they forget.

[Common Sense Party]

10. Does Maryland have more guns all of a sudden?

What changed recently to dramatically increase the supply of guns, which then caused the uptick in gun crime?

[petronius]

11. I'd be more concerned with the 22% increase in rape and the 17% increase in homicide

:scared:

Seriously, without the actual numbers and some indication of the long term trend, this fright-story is difficult to interpret...

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

13. Maryland has some of the TOUGHEST laws in the nation - (ranked 5th by Brady)... What's your point?

[spin]

15. I wonder if other states copied Maryland's tough gun laws, gun crime would increase ...

Enabling criminals by disarming honest citizens is a FOOLISH idea at best.

[jpak]

16. Do MD gun laws disarm honest citizens?

nope

fail

yup

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

17. nt

[spin]

18. Maryland is NOT a "shall issue" concealed carry state ...

which allows prejudice and bias to influence the process of obtaining a concealed carry permit. In order to get a carry permit, you have to:

Provide evidence of recent threats and/or assaults. This information is mandatory for personal use permits and must be supported by police reports and/or notarized statements.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2064603_get-permit-carry-concealed-weapon.html

This requirement is ludicrous. Why should an individual have to be assaulted or threatened before they can get a carry permit? What if instead of threatening or assaulting the individual the bad guy decides to simply kill him? It's a bit late to get a license to carry a concealed weapon for self defense when you are six feet under.

Plus, in order to be safe and proficient a person needs time to practice with their concealed weapon. Handguns are difficult to master so it's wise to plan on many visits to a gun range before you are prepared to carry in public.

Effectively Maryland DOES disarm honest citizens.

Yup!

[RamboLiberal]

25. No you fail on this one

Md does just about all it can to disarm legal carriers. It is a very unfriendly state to legal gun owners.

[WatsonT]

19. Let's check that math

"But instances of aggravated assault rose from 1,903 to 2,003, with a 52-percent jump in the number of assaults involving a gun."


Ok so that's a total increase of 100 incidents. Let's say every single one of those 100 was gun related. That would mean that to have a 50% increase there would have been about 200 hundred before. Meaning a total of 300 out of the 2000 are gun related. Meaning a mere 15% of the total violent assaults are gun related.

That is based on the mathematical maximum based on a worst case scenario.

Meaning that likely a tenth or less is gun related.

So what does that signify kiddos?

"Reported cases of rape increased from 87 to 106, while homicide cases also rose from 12 to 14. All cases of violent crime rose from 2,666 to 2,693.

Motor vehicle thefts, meanwhile, rose from 1,047 to 1,119."

That's it, ban cars and genitals!

[petronius]

20. Not necessarily: gun-related cases could have replaced non-gun cases

The most extreme possibility is that all 2003 cases (100%) in 2010 were gun-crimes, which would mean that there were ~1318 out of 1903 total in the previous year, to give a 52% jump. On the other hand, it could be something like 25 in one year increasing to 38 in the second year (also a 52% jump)...

[WatsonT]

22. I'm guessing the 2nd option is more likely

If they were all gun related this year the article would have mentioned it.

[petronius]

23. Yup. My rule of thumb is that when a scary number is reported, but some obviously relevant

data is conspicuously omitted, it's usually because the scary number isn't that scary after all...

[diveguy]

21. states with tough gun control laws have higher crime rates.

states with lax gun control laws have lower crime rates. And hows that gun control working for you. yup.