In a blog post on 3/15/2012, the Arizona Repugnant’s Big-Fish-In-A-Small-Pond E.J. Montini posted a remarkably neutral view on Arizona’s gun laws.
In his post, he states,
The easy access to firearms in Arizona has NOT made us the safest state in the nation.
Nor has it made us the UNSAFEST.
The problem here is Montini’s application of statistics. He fails to define what he means by safe. However, let’s assume his notion of safe relates to Crime. Comparing Crime Rates between a state like Arizona, with nonrestrictive gun laws, to states with more restrictive gun laws is a false comparison. It fails to take into account the myriad of other factors influencing crime rates in a given locality.
The better comparison is to look at crime rates within Arizona before and after significant changes in gun laws. A graph of such a comparison is included below. It charts violent crimes in Arizona per 100,000 in population.
Note that the graph takes a marked downturn after 1994.
Arizona began allowing Concealed Carry guns in 1994.
Source: DisasterCenter.com
This post first appeared on Arizonawatch | A Blog Of Arizona Politics, Economics, Commentary, please read the originial post: here
