BY THE NUMBERS

Just in case you missed it — and a lot of people evidently did — a publication called Legal Reader recently reported some interesting gun-related crime data, and there are enough statistics to provide all kinds of arguments supporting the right of individual citizens to own and carry firearms.

Other available data (see below) tends to refute many of the claims by anti-gunners about where and how criminals get their firearms.

The report — Gun Violence Statistics 2024: A Comprehensive Look at the Data — was truly an eye-opener for anyone interested in crime, gun ownership and self-defense.

What's in here? For starters, the report estimates there are more than 82 million lawful firearm owners (a number I suspect is overly conservative). And the report contains these important bullet points:

• 53% of the 21 states with restrictive concealed carry laws have violent crime rates higher than the national average.
• 55% of states with a violent crime rate below the national average have permitless carry.
• 40% of criminals convicted of crimes while in possession of a firearm were already prohibited from carrying firearms.
• A 2018 study shows that 68% of those convicted of crimes while in possession of a firearm were already felons.

There are more statistics included in the report, and they will no doubt get pushback from the gun prohibition lobby, which has been insisting for years that places with higher rates of gun ownership also produce higher percentages of crime. .....