…after Illinois loosened gun control:
On July 9, 2013, a bill to recognize Illinois gun owners’ right to carry concealed firearms was passed by both chambers of the state Legislature. Illinois became the last state in the nation to allow [it]…
On Tuesday, the Chicago Police Department announced that the city experienced its lowest murder rate since 1958 in the first quarter of 2014. There were 6 fewer murders than the same timeframe in 2013 — a 9 percent drop — and 55 fewer murders than 2012, police said…
BUT (and as Jason Howerton responsibly notes), coincidence is nothing like causation:
All crime is down 25 percent from 2013 and police say they have confiscated over 1,300 illegal guns in the last three months…
It should also be noted that the first concealed carry permits were issued in late February, so the decrease in crime can’t yet be attributed to more people carrying guns.
So, what happened? Did the killers in Chicago reach a point where a large number of them had been killed (by victims possibly, or by each other), leaving the law-abiding residents in greater peace? That may be about to happen in Detroit:
Detroit…police chief, James Craig, has advised “fed up” residents to exercise their Second Amendment rights if they feel their life is in danger.
He said criminals should be afraid to break into homes or commit other crimes because it could be the last thing they ever do. Craig also pointed out, “you’re not always going to have time to dial 911.”
…the number of fatal self-defense shootings are on the rise in Detroit. There had already been 10 fatal self-defense shootings in the city as of March 27, while there were only 15 in all of 2013.
Fascinating issues.
“Murder is down for the quarter” is kind of a cherry-picked statistic from CPD. We’re at 2011 homicide rates and within a few percent of other years (except for 2012.) We’ve had a horrible winter that kept would-be shooters indoors. But I’m confident that we’ll be back to normal soon. There was a good homicide stat that we had the lowest whatever in nearly 50 years. Well, that was when we had as a city a million more people than we do now.
And the gun control loosening is too early to really do anything about it. People have had CCW permits for less than 90 days, so we can’t infer anything.
cn, I noted that in the post. I much appreciate the added color from a local!
They keep saying “the weather had nothing to do with it.” (Maybe not in the article you cite, but in several articles.)
Chicago has just had the worst winter in something like 27 years. That means it is a winter like bad guys have NEVER seen. But don’t blame the decrease in crime on the weather – it is all due to the work of Chicago’s Finest. Or something.
Truth in advertising: I don’t live in Chicago, but I did at one time and I follow it closely – mostly for stories of Chicago cops doing bad things.
Deb – That’s amazing, because in recent economic reporting it is the opposite. No matter how bad the latest stats are….blame the weather!
Convenience is King, I guess.
Well, it sounds like we will have to wait and see if the trend holds. Personally, I have my own firing range on my farm. And, South Carolina is a concealed carry state. I don’t have one. But do have a loaded 38 caliber automatic in my house. And, I know how to use it.
Yeah; I’m not sure if there is any usual trend to these things in the short term. I made sure to note the example of Detroit, where self-defense killings are up and the police chief is (apparently) encouraging them. Maybe Detroit’s numbers will be up for awhile, as the populace eliminates some of its criminals (street-level); and since the number of criminals is finite, the numbers would eventually have to come down again.