Crime With Firearms at 20-Year Low

AMERICANS UNAWARE OF DRAMATIC DROP . . . The U.S. Department of Justice and the Pew Research Center last week issued studies confirming that crime involving firearms, as well as violent crime in general, has dropped dramatically in the last two decades, even as the nation’s population and firearms ownership has increased. Yet, the American public believes that crime is rising. Only 12 percent of Americans surveyed correctly replied that crime has been significantly reduced in the last 20 years, as opposed to 56 percent who thought it was higher. On the other hand, Americans in a new Gallup poll do not rank gun control as a top national priority, placing it next to last on a list of 12 issues on which they think the President and Congress should be working.