Washington, D.C. has never been a particularly safe city, at least not in my lifetime. There are parts, of course, where you can go about your business unmolested and without a care in the world and probably never have an issue. Other parts of the city, though, are like any other large urban center. It’s just not pretty.

However, it seems that one particular brand of “gun violence” has been declining in the District of Columbia.

A 12-year-old boy has been arrested in four recent robberies in Northwest Washington, the two latest on Wednesday in the Cleveland Park area, according to a D.C. police report issued Saturday.

There was no indication that a gun was used in the robberies, which appeared to be part of a city trend this year. The number of robberies involving a gun has declined compared with last year at this time, but the number of non-gun robberies has increased, according to police figures.

With the year almost over, police figures show the number of gun robberies has declined to 674 from 734 last year at this time, a drop of about 8 percent.

However, the number of robberies without a gun has increased to 1,343, which is 243 more than last year at this time, an increase of 22 percent.

Of course, there’s no mention of just what they mean by “robberies without a gun,” which is kind of an important thing.

For example, if they’re talking about property crimes, then things are really looking up in D.C.

More likely, though, they’re using something akin to the legal definition of robbery which means there needs to be either a threat, force, or intimidation. That means the problem is actually getting worse, but the crooks aren’t using firearms.

I have a theory for that, though.

You see, not that long ago, the city was forced to become a “shall issue” jurisdiction after a court ruled against them in a lawsuit. The suit took issue with the “may issue” law in effect. The city opted not to go to the Supreme Court with it because they figured they’d lose and there would be ramifications throughout the nation in that case.

The result of that, though, is more people having concealed carry permits than ever before.

Criminals can be dumb, but they’re not universally stupid. Some are bound to figure out there are more armed people and thus more of their potential victims are armed. Using a gun to rob someone might be a hell of a way to get your butt shot.

On the other hand, their reasoning might well go, using your fists or just intimidation may well give them pause. After all, D.C. isn’t exactly a Stand Your Ground jurisdiction. Folks carrying firearms have to pause for a minute to make absolutely sure they’re clear to engage.

The bad guys may be playing on that fact.

They’re also hopeful that if they do get shot at, they’ll be able to spin it as they were just asking for a few dollars for the bus or something and this person just went nuts. That’s easier to do if you don’t have a gun on your person.

Either way, the use of a gun is down in a city that’s known to have a crime problem. This is good news, right? It should be all over the media.

It’s not, though, because there isn’t some new gun control law they can point to. That’s why the Washington Post is quick to note that non-firearm robberies are up. Heaven forbid that anyone get the idea that guns save lives or anything, right?

Except, they do.