CPRC’s Research on the Geographic Concentration of Murders Covered Extensively by Breitbart

Breitbart (May 10, 2017) had a long discussion on our recent research about the geographic concentration of murders in the US.

A study conducted by the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) shows that U.S. counties with the highest murder rates are among those with the lowest rates of gun ownership. . . .

On May 2, 2017, Breitbart News reported that the study shows that 2% of U.S. counties account for 51% of U.S. murders. Moreover, the CPRC study found that “the worst 5% of counties,” which only “contain 47% of the population,” are home to 68% of murders in the United States.

Writing in Real Clear Policy, CPRC’s John Lott explains that even within the deadliest of counties, there are areas where murders rarely occur. The contrast between deadly and not-so-deadly is found in the divide between the most urban parts of the worst counties and the more suburban areas. For example, Los Angeles County, which led the CPRC study with “526 murders in 2014,” had “virtually no murders in the northwestern part of the county.” There was “only one murder each in Beverly Hills, Hawthorne, and Van Nuys,” for a total of three out of the county’s overall 562 murders. . . .

Breitbart News spoke with Lott about the findings and the way those findings undercut so many of the gun control lobby’s claims. Lott said, “It is striking how 54% of the counties in the U.S. have zero murders and also, by far, the highest gun ownership rates. There are lots of things that affect murder rates, but for those claiming that gun control is the solution, the fact that there are zero murders in these counties is hard to ignore. The 2% of the counties with over half the murders also have very low gun ownership rates. . . . .