Those claiming firearms ownership is equated to crime cannot explain the latest figures from the U.S. government. With firearms ownership increasing, the violent crime rate has continued falling.

CRIME RATE FALLS AGAIN . . . Preliminary data from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Statistics for 2004 shows violent crime dropping 1.7 percent and murders declining 3.6 percent, with the biggest improvements reported in cities with more than a million in population. This, despite claims that expiration of the “assault weapons ban” in September would cause crime to rise, an observation that was the genesis of a Second Amendment Foundation news release and a commentary by The Outdoor Wire.