Interesting find. Although this doesn't mean guns prevent burglaries just by mere presence. And if anything it ends in bloodshed because thieves get shot at upon a breach and it's not necessarily a safer scenario.
Though as to why burglaries went down, I wonder if people got more alarm systems or took other deterrent countermeasures after the database was published?
[1] A DOJ special report PDF https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/vdhb.pdf
You need more information beyond that to assess -- e.g. are people living in remote areas or next to a police officer?
Sounds like we need to make it easier to obtain suppressors so that the victim's guns do not blind or deafen them as much.
It’s safer overall if it means there are fewer people willing to rob a home, whether it’s because (1) they’ve seen what happens to other people when they try, or (2) they themselves tried, and now cannot try again.
> In Kennesaw, Georgia, local law says that “every head of household residing in the city limits is required to maintain a firearm.” “If you're going to commit a crime in Kennesaw and you're the criminal – are you going to take a chance that that homeowner is a law-abiding citizen?” asked Kennesaw Mayor Derek Easterling
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/06/us/kennesaw-georgia-gun-owner...
Further exempt from the effect of this section are those heads of households who are paupers or who conscientiously oppose maintaining firearms as a result of beliefs or religious doctrine, or persons convicted of a felony.
I definitely attribute the lack of household break ins to be a correlated to the number of gun households. Areas with a high degree of gun ownership and castle laws, there is a pretty big deterrent to the criminal to find their prey elsewhere. Just too much risk for the minimal rewards you find in most homes.
You can still claim a lot of things, but not that.
I think you may mean that a socioeconomic factor could be responsible for the correlation.
If you break into my obviously occupied house, then you aren't doing it to steal $100 of shitty electronics.
Put another way, you saw that my dwelling was occupied and felt that made it more of a good target than any of the other houses around me.
I don't use lethal force to protect stuff. I use lethal force to protect my family.
> after the database was publicized
It seems they couldn't confirm if burglaries were prevented or merely moved the burglaries to low gun zipcodes, but they felt they had weak evidence for a drop in burglaries in total