Dear Editor:

Contrary to what some writers to this newspaper claim, violent crime in America is, thankfully, on the decline. This is despite there being many more legally owned firearms in the United States than ever. In 1994 the violent crime rate (defined as murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault) stood at 714 per 100,000 with 192 million legally owned guns in America. In 2014 it was 367/100,000 with 310 million guns. When looked at alone murder rates have dropped by similar percentages. These figures are taken from FBI, ATF and the National Institute of Justice data. There is a trend upward in the incidence of these crimes committed with firearms and I will make no claim otherwise. Handguns are by far the weapon of choice among America’s violent offenders. They are, by design a rather efficient tool for the job. But, honestly folks, these people are after all criminals and many of the murders in this country are committed while the offender is involved in other crimes. More often then not they are felons who, by law, cannot own a firearm.

There are many things that we can discuss in an effort to continue this downward trend. Let’s take an honest look at the mental healthcare system. Let’s make illegal firearm trafficking a federal crime and actually do something to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. It is time to take a long hard look at the “war on drugs.” We could talk about actually doing something about the demand in order to halt the supply. Those are things that may actually make a difference instead of just make people feel good. First though, we should enforce the existing laws that we have regarding illegal firearm possession.

Firearms laws, like the ones that we have seen recently in New York, Connecticut and Washington, do nothing to end the criminal use of firearms. Do not be lulled into thinking that these feel good measures will accomplish anything but impeding the purchase of firearms by law abiding citizens. Semper Armatus.

Linc Sample

Boothbay Harbor