In 2020, the last year available, data from the Department of Justice’s National Crime Victimization Survey shows that there were 4,558,150 rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults and the FBI reported 21,570 murders. Of those, about 364,000 involved firearms.
According to the DOJ's own data, just 7.9% of violent crimes in 2020 were committed with guns.
But a new survey "finds that people are badly misinformed about how much violent crime involves guns. The average likely American voter is way off, thinking that over 46% of violent crimes involve guns," John Lott, president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, wrote for RealClear Politics on May 16.
Joe Biden's handlers have sent him out to deliver four major speeches on violent crime. Each one focused on gun control laws. In the four speeches, he mentioned “gun” or “firearm” 179 times. The term “weapon,” sometimes in connection with “assault weapon,” was used another 31 times. The words “crime,” “violence,” or “violent” were mentioned about half as often – 94 times. He only mentions the words “murder” and “homicide” seven times in these four presentations, and entirely omits them from his two most recent talks.
With Team Biden and its media allies constantly pushing this theme, it is not surprising that "those who believe that most violent crime involves guns are more likely to view gun control as the solution," Lott wrote.
A McLaughlin & Associates survey of 1,000 likely voters from April 20 to 26 for the Crime Prevention Research Center "shows how misinformed people are," Lott added. "People across the country, of all races and incomes, have wildly inaccurate beliefs about how frequently violent crime involves guns."
The survey found Democrats estimate that 56.9% of violent crimes involve guns. Republicans said 37%. The McLaughlin survey also gave people three options on the best way to fight crime: Pass more gun control laws, more strictly enforce current laws, or have police concentrate on arresting repeat violent criminals.
Some likely voters thought that more than 80% of violent crime involves guns. Most of those supported either more gun control laws (33%) or more strict enforcement of current gun laws (28%). Only 36% of them wanted the focus on arresting violent criminals.
Other respondents at least got it right that less than 20% of violent crime involves guns. Just 8% prioritized more gun laws, and 15% focused on stricter enforcement of existing laws. An overwhelming 71% thought the best way of fighting crime was to arrest violent criminals.
"Perhaps the gun control debate would be very different if the media had done a better job of informing people about crime. The most newsworthy cases, unfortunately, don’t tend to be typical of violent crime. Focusing on how to solve 8% of violent crime does nothing to solve the other 92%," Lott noted.
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