Crime Drops After "Assault Weapon" Ban Expires

You'd almost suspect that crime was caused by criminals rather than guns:

Nine months after the Clinton-era "assault weapons ban" expired, the FBI has released crime statistics showing a drop in homicides in 2004 -- the first such drop since 1999. The FBI report said all types of violent crime declined last year, and cities with more than a million people showed the largest drops in violent crime.

When the Clinton ban on certain semiautomatic weapons expired last September, gun control groups warned that violent crime would escalate, including violence against children.

But those "doom and gloom" forecasts have been exposed as "pure clap-trap," said SAF President Joe Tartaro.

"Where is the news media on this?" Tartaro wondered. He said if the number of homicides had gone up, reporters would be writing front-page stories linking the rise to the end of the semi-auto ban.

"But that's not the case, and the mainstream press, with the exception of an April 28 New York Times article, has been pretty quiet about it," Tartaro said.

I talk a lot about media bias here. Too much, some people say. And sometimes I think it's too much too.

But the institution charged with reporting important information to us -- information useful for making political decisions -- simply refuses to relay facts like these to us.

posted by Ace at 01:15 PM

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