As WRCB reports, a new survey shows that approximately two thirds of Alabama residents own a gun, and about half of them have permits to carry concealed weapons. This is one of the highest gun ownership and concealed carry permit rates in the country, and corresponds with a relatively low crime rate – considerably lower than localities such as Chicago which have handgun bans.
The fact that Alabama’s crime rates are lower than the crime rate in places which heavily restrict gun ownership should come as no surprise: A criminal bent on committing a violent crime will not think twice about violating a gun control law. Only the law abiding citizens, who weren’t going to commit crimes in the first place, will be disarmed. The result is that “gun free zones” become areas in which only the criminals are armed, with deadly results for law abiding citizens. Perhaps if Chicago’s politicians were to allow their law abiding citizens to have a gun for self defense, the Governor of Illinois wouldn’t feel compelled to offer the National Guard and State Police to help quell Chicago’s violence.