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Did Loosening Gun Laws Cause Crime Rates to Go Down?
Some say yes. Others say no. We find both findings inconclusive and reeking of confirmation bias.
If you listen to pro-Second Amendment organizations tell it, loosening gun laws directly led to the massive decline in the violent crime rate between the 1990’s and the 2010’s. For example, the US Concealed Carry Association points out that an increase in the population eligible for shall-issue concealed handgun permits (from about 10% in 1986 to 65% in 2013) corresponds to a massive drop in violent crime (from a rate of 600 per 100,000 in 1986 to just under 400 by 2013).
However, pro-gun control organizations tell a different story, seemingly with the same data, just viewed over a different time period. Everytown For Gun Safety claims that states with stricter concealed handgun permitting systems saw 11% lower homicide rates, and states that eased or eliminated their permitting systems saw a 13–15% increase in violent crime rate.
