The same year that so-called “constitutional carry” achieved majority acceptance among the states, the Gun Violence Archive (GVA)—a source frequently quoted by the establishment media—shows the number of homicides and suicides decreased.
According to the GVA, 2023 saw fewer murders (18,906) than in 2022 (20,396), and suicides were also down, 24,090 last year as opposed to 27,038 then previous year.
As noted by Northeastern Global News, “Overall, homicides in the U.S. dropped by an estimated 12% in 2023 — a decline that Fox had predicted three years ago when the U.S. was experiencing a 30% rise in murders amid the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Axios News also reported there were 36,366 gun-related injuries in 2023, down from the 38,578 injuries reported during the previous year.
The GVA data got the attention of Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, who stated, “So far this year, there has been an odd silence from anti-gunners who were drowning us with ‘Chicken Little’ predictions of mass mayhem now that we’ve got more states with permitless carry. But the data from their favorite source doesn’t support those claims.”
He said the numbers “don’t support the narrative.”
Last year, the number of permitless carry states increased to 27, which means more states allow private citizens to carry personal protection sidearms without a license or permit than those states which still have a requirement. In several of those states, the laws still make it difficult for people to get a license, even following the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, the case which brought down New York’s century-old restrictive carry law.
The effort to expand permitless carry has been met with heavy resistance from gun control proponents. In virtually each case, dire predictions about eruptions of violence, and the inability of police to prevent criminals from carrying guns have been common. Those arguments were met with counter observations that criminals already carry guns without permits, and they are the people committing the violent crimes, not traditional peaceable citizens.
CCRKBA’s Gottlieb observed, “Tens of millions of honest citizens, exercising their constitutional right to keep and bear arms, have not been running amok, whether they live in permitless carry states or where a carry license is still required. If the data shows us anything at all, it proves anti-gunners have been wrong about licensed concealed carry and constitutional carry. Maybe we should ask what else are they wrong about?”
