We reported yesterday on Mayor Bloomberg’s newest use of faulty rhetoric, blaming other states for his problems. During a press conference at City Hall Bloomberg’s Chief of Staff depicted Virginia (among other southern states) as a haven for criminals, filled with lawless gun purchasing and a desire to commit criminal activity.

Would it be surprising if we told you that’s not even close to the truth?

Recently released data suggests the opposite, in fact as gun sales rise the crime rate continues to drop.  According to a report from Times Dispatch, during 2012, firearm sales through licensed dealers rose 16%.  From that same period of time, gun crimes dropped 5%.

From Times Dispatch:

“This appears to be additional evidence that more guns don’t necessarily lead to more crime,” said Thomas R. Baker, an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University’s L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs who specializes in research methods and criminology theory.

“It’s a quite interesting trend given the current rhetoric about strengthening gun laws and the presumed effect it would have on violent crimes,” Baker told the newspaper. “While you can’t conclude from this that tougher laws wouldn’t reduce crime even more, it really makes you question if making it harder for law-abiding people to buy a gun would have any effect on crime.

Looks like legal gun owners turn out to be polite, law-abiding citizens.  Who knew?  If only these anti-gun groups would realize we’re not the ones that deface public property and participating in violent protests.  In fact, when we gun owners get together to rally, it always ends up being respectful.