http://www.ocregister.com/articles/gun-682780-crime-percent.html
...Among the study’s findings are the following:
• “Between 2007-14, murder rates have fallen from 5.6 to 4.2 (preliminary estimates) per 100,000. This represents a 25 percent drop in the murder rate at the same time that the percentage of the adult population with permits soared by 178 percent. Overall violent crime also fell by 25 percent over that period of time.”
• “Concealed handgun permit holders are extremely law-abiding. In Florida and Texas, permit holders are convicted of misdemeanors or felonies at one-sixth the rate that police officers are convicted.”
• While 5.2 percent of the U.S. population has a concealed carry permit, the rate is only 0.24 percent in California. According to the CPRC study, “State level permit data suggest that each 1 percentage point increase in the adult population holding permits is roughly associated with a 25 percent drop in the murder rate.” However, “Giving government officials discretion in who gets permits reduces the percent of adults who get permits by more than two-thirds.”...
Since 2007, gun sales, as measured by the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System, have nearly doubled, from about 11 million to 21 million. And gun sales continued to break records this summer, with 4.8 million background checks performed in June, July and August. Moreover, the number of concealed handgun permits has nearly tripled since 2007, to 12.8 million. The trend has been particularly strong among women and minorities....
Saw a headline in Illinois that stated:
“Even though violent crime in decline more people applying for concealed carry permits”.
The media spins everything.