What The Mainstream Media Won’t Tell You About Violent Crime

[Charlie T Waite]

Annually, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) publishes national data on the prevalence of crimes of all types. Recently, the FBI’s “2018 Crime Statistics” revealed that, yet again, violent crime in America has declined.

Unfortunately, the mainstream media, in its never-ending quest to promote more gun control, gave this data little to no coverage. Why not? Given their biases, it doesn’t feel cynical to say they don’t want to let people know about this wonderful fact because it runs counter to their narrative that America is an increasingly violent place.

If the mainstream media were to truly examine the numbers and then print what they found, they would have to explain how the FBI’s 2018 statistics mostly show a 30-year decline in violent crimes. A decline, it should be noted, that coincided with a huge increase in the number of civilian-owned firearms and with the expiration of the “assault-weapons” ban. Many in the media told us in 2004, when the Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 sunset, that ending this gun ban would cause the homicide rate to go up. 

Data gathered by the FBI tells a different story: “The [2018] violent crime rate fell 3.9% when compared with the 2017 rate; the property crime rate declined 6.9%…. The estimated number of three violent crime offenses [murder, nonnegligent manslaughter and aggravated assault] decreased when compared with estimates from 2017…. [M]urder and nonnegligent manslaughter offenses fell 6.2%, and the estimated volume of aggravated assault offenses decreased 0.4%.”

Violent-crime rates in America hit a low point in 2014, according to the FBI–the lowest since 1970. The violent-crime rate in 2018, by comparison, represented the third-lowest rate since 1970.

To the extent the mainstream media even dealt with the FBI statistics, based on a search of 20 major media outlets, they briefly noted the general decline and then talked about places where violent-crime rates were higher than average—they did this, however, without noting that these areas tend to have the strictest gun-control laws.

Some media outlets opted to focus on the one category where the numbers are up: rape. But these articles didn’t then mention that gun rights also empower women. What a missed opportunity. They could have interviewed victims who have since armed themselves or firearms instructors who teach women how to protect themselves. But again, that wouldn’t fit their narrative. 

Meanwhile, another very interesting statistic was circulating among the gun community, though as always, the mainstream media ignored it. According to Dr. John Lott and the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), “The number of concealed handgun permits has increased for the third year in a row. The figure now stands at over 18.66 million, a 304% increase since 2007. It’s also an 8% increase over the number of permits we counted a year ago in 2018.”

And the actual numbers are even higher because we don’t have precise data regarding how many people lawfully carry firearms in 16 states. Why? Those 16 states have some form of “consitutional” carry. 

So, the FBI data proves that violent crimes are down, and the CPRC data shows the number of concealed-carry permit holders is increasing fast. Does this mean that the increase in people carrying concealed is making America safer? The mainstream media won’t even entertain that question.

Scientifically speaking, there are many factors at work here. These include various crime-prevention programs, local economic conditions and a host of other sociological and legal factors that can affect violent-crime rates. Still, it is dishonest of the media to ignore the fact that more people are carrying.

Unfortunately, we don’t often see honest analysis of gun-related issues from the mainstream media. They prefer to push the provably false narrative that violent crime is plaguing America because of the availability of firearms. They like this storyline because they want people to believe we need more gun-control laws.

Another constituency that was silent on the new FBI findings were, surprise, the gun-control groups. An internet search of the websites for the Brady Campaign, Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action found no reference to the FBI crime report and no mention that violent crimes are in a steady decline. Actually, all three websites made rather sensationalist claims about violent-crime increases.

Perhaps that’s not shocking; after all, if these groups admitted the truth about the decline in violent crime, their reason for being would dry up. As would, one suspects, their fundraising efforts.