Last week, The US Supreme Court ruled that Americans have a right to own guns for self-defense and hunting. This overturns the Washington DC ban on gun ownership, which was enacted in 1976.
Based on comments by council members John A. Wilson and Marion Barry upon passing the gun ban, it is clear that there was no expectation that the gun ban would have any effect on reducing gun crime. One must assume that politicians only want to be perceived as “doing something”, regardless of whether the laws they enact cause more harm than good. Banning guns disarms law abiding citizens from being able to defend themselves from criminals, but criminals who do not obey laws are given a firepower advantage over the unarmed population.
In response to the Supreme Court ruling, Washington mayor Adrian Fenty said, “More handguns in the District of Columbia will only lead to more handgun violence.” Prior to the ban, the 1969 homicide rate in DC was 287 (36 per 100,000 residents). After the ban, the homicide rate increased to a peak of 482 (81 per 100,000 residents) in 1991. As the DC homicide rate per 100,000 residents decreased to 35 in 2005, the national rate fell from 9.8 to 5.6, with over 80% of DC murders by shooting. It would appear as though the gun ban has not reduced gun violence.
Meanwhile, according to a 2005 FBI report, Right-to-Carry (RTC) states had 22% lower total violent crime, 30% less murder, 46% lower robbery, and 12% lower aggravated assault rates, compared to the rest of the country.
