Increased gun ownership is associated with less crime. Not only do the states with the highest gun ownership rates have the lowest violent crime rates, but the states in the United States that have had the biggest increases in gun ownership have also experienced the biggest relative drops in violent crime. Each one percentage point increase in gun ownership has been associated with a 4 percent reduction in violent. Both countries have experienced soaring violent crime rates, and the British government is deeply concerned about the huge number of illegal guns now flowing into the country. Before passing yet more new laws, it is time to ask whether the existing laws have produced the desired benefits.
Laws frequently have unintended consequences.
Sometimes even the best intentioned ones cost lives.