Mr_OwlAnd there's actual evidence (in Australia, a country that has a much more similar history regarding firearms to ours) to the contrary as well.
What evidence is that? I'm seeing that the homicide rate between 1996 (when the Australia gun buyback program was instituted) and 2008 the homicide rate went down 20.34 percent while the United States' homicide rate has gone down 27 percent in the same time frame. Not to mention that in the US the gun ownership rates have been driven up while homicide rates driven down. The Australian homicide rate actually went up 9% from 1996 to 1999 while the US' has only declined. Once again, somethings telling me that guns aren't the reason nor the cause for the homicide rate. Take a look at Chicago, often referred to as "Chi-raq", recently started granting concealed carry permits and the crime rates have dropped along with the homicide rate.
Since Illinois started granting concealed carry permits this year, the number of robberies that have led to arrests in Chicago has declined 20 percent from last year, according to police department statistics. Reports of burglary and motor vehicle theft are down 20 percent and 26 percent, respectively. In the first quarter, the city’s homicide rate was at a 56-year low.
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/aug/24/chicago-crime-rate-drops-as-concealed-carry-gun-pe/#ixzz3KALkJQth