And where there are more guns, there are more shootings. The Brookings study found this most recent spike in firearm sales was different from previous ones in another crucial respect: Gun purchases have been higher in states with greater levels of racial animus. “Taken together, the findings paint a particularly bleak picture of the United States in 2020,” Mr. Ingraham writes. Despite this most recent increase in shootings, national crime rates are still at or near the lowest levels they’ve been in a generation. The key question, then, is whether the surge is an isolated event or the beginning of a longer-term trend.

Source: New York Times August 20, 2020 22:30 UTC