There Isn’t Just One Thing: There’s A Dozen Things You Should Know

by Avens O’Brien

Following the shooting at Umpqua Community College, the reactions have been, as they always are, predictable. It comes from all sources: guns bans, mental health screenings, article after article telling us what we can do to fix the horrors of gun violence, school shootings and troubled young people shooting up their communities.

But there are a few things everyone could stand to learn about gun violence.

1. The Homicide Rate in the US Is At Its Lowest Since 1966

Violent crime nearly quadrupled between 1960 and its peak in 1991.

Since the 1990s, however, violent crime in the United States has declined steeply.

Over the last 20 years, the firearm homicide rate has lowered by nearly 50%. Violent crimes committed with a firearm (assault, robbery, sex crimes) lowered 75% over the last 20 years, and violent crime in general is down 72% over the same time.

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