By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
A national grassroots gun rights organization says newly-released data from the FBI on crime has destroyed a “long-standing myth perpetuated by the gun prohibition lobby” which has claimed for years that more guns in private hands translates to more violent crime involving firearms.
Earlier this month, the FBI reported an estimated 18.1 percent decrease in murder and non-negligent manslaughter from 2024 to 2025. Robberies declined an estimated 18.5 percent and aggravated assault went down by an estimated 7.2 percent. Rape offenses decreased an estimated 7.6 percent, the FBI said.
The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms released a statement saying the new data has literally undone the “more guns = more crime” argument, which anti-gunners have been using for decades to push for stricter gun control laws.
“Yet here we are, following years of steady firearms sales, resulting in expanded gun ownership, and violent crime has plummeted,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “This isn’t us talking, it’s the FBI, which said in its own news release that these figures ‘marked the largest year-to-year decline in violent crime rates since FBI estimations began in 1936.’ Not surprisingly, the media has failed to report this part of the story.
“Annual gun sales have been in the millions,” he observed, “according to firearms industry data. The most recent estimate on licensed concealed carry across the United States tops 20 million. Twenty-nine states have adopted ‘Constitutional carry’ laws allowing citizens to carry firearms without licenses or permits. Supreme Court rulings have been restoring the Second Amendment as the cornerstone of our Bill of Rights.
“And now,” Gottlieb continued, “gun prohibitionists remain silent, stubbornly refusing to acknowledge their hysteria-driven rhetoric has been wrong, because their crusade has never been about public safety. Their goal is public disarmament.”
Likewise, the National Rifle Association is reporting, “These numbers are clearly worth celebrating.
Unless, of course, you are an anti-gun extremist who relies on exploiting violent crime to promote your attacks on the Second Amendment.
“A week after the release of the FBI report,” the NRA says in a statement, “none of the major anti-gun organizations appear to have anything to say about what any rational individual would call either great news or at least a major story in public safety.”
CCRKBA’s Gottlieb declared, “The billionaire-backed gun ban bunch is essentially running on empty. They will try to spin statistics in an effort keep the public duped. They will keep blaming guns instead of criminals. They will continue to penalize honest citizens with more restrictive laws, while liberal judges and prosecutors perpetuate a catch-and-release justice system that allows repeat offenders back on the streets.
“The FBI data just let the air out of their tires,” Gottlieb quipped. “It’s time for them to start walking.”
Translation: Anti-gunners should take a hike.
“The 2025 murder rate of 4.1 per 100,000 inhabitants is tied with 1955 and 1956 for the lowest murder rate,” the FBI said. “Property crime and hate crime also declined in 2025.”
The complete analysis is located on the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer, the agency said. In addition to the traditional data elements published during the release, including downloadable tables, the FBI unveiled RCN Online: dashboards that modernize the annual report and enhance ease of access to high interest data, such as 2025 annual violent and property crime trends, the agency noted in its news release.
