By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
The latest Rasmussen survey on violent crime in the U.S. finds more likely voters (48%) trust Republicans more to handle crime and law enforcement issues than Democrats (39%), while 14 percent aren’t sure, and overall 77 percent are concerned about the problem.
The survey revealed that public concern about violent crime is down slightly from the same question in 2021, when 85 percent of likely voters expressed concerns.
Rasmussen conducted the survey of 1,139 U.S. Likely Voters on Oct. 20-22. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
According to Rasmussen, “Among voters who are Very Concerned about violent crime, 62% trust Republicans more to handle crime and law enforcement issues. Among those who trust Democrats more to handle the issue, only 32% are Very Concerned about the problem of violent crime in America.”
Incredibly, the lack of concern among Democrats comes on the heels of a new report from the Crime Prevention Research Center that data from the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) “shows a dramatic drop in arrest rates for homicides over the last 60 years — a 43 percent, 39 percentage point, drop.” According to the report, the Excel file with the data is available here.
It’s not exactly an “ignorance is bliss” scenario, as Rasmussen pollsters found that majorities of every political category—73% of Democrats, and 79% of both Republicans and Independents—are at least “somewhat concerned” about violent crime.
However, 83 percent of Republicans trust their own party more to handle crime and law enforcement issues, while 72 percent of Democrats think their party has a better grasp of those issues. Among Independents, 47 percent trust Republicans and 29 percent trust while a whopping 24 percent “are not sure.”
The Crime Prevention Research Center annually releases data on licensed concealed carry, and the report for 2025 should be available within the next few weeks. Last year’s report was released in December and indicted more than 21 million citizens are licensed to carry. Twenty-nine states currently have “Constitutional Carry” laws, so no permits/licenses are required, and this has impacted the overall number of carry licenses.
