Gun crime has plunged in the United States since its peak in the middle of the 1990s, including gun killings, assaults, robberies and other crimes, two new studies of government data show. That's according to a recent report from LATimes.com.
Yet, few Americans are aware of the dramatic drop, and more than half believe gun crime has risen, according to a newly released survey by the Pew Research Center.
NewsChannel 3 asked citizens in Virginia Beach their opinions about gun violence.
Many say they felt like gun violence was actually getting worse. In a national study, 56% of Americans believed gun crime is higher.
But in less than two decades, the gun murder rate has been nearly cut in half.
NewsChannel 3 found gun-related deaths dropped in the state of Virginia from 318 in 2005 to 208 in 2011.
Some think the media may be to blame for public opinion on the issue.
Other gun crimes fell even more sharply, paralleling a broader drop in violent crimes committed with or without guns. Violent crime dropped steeply during the 1990s and has fallen less dramatically since the turn of the millennium, according to The Los Angeles Times.
Read this entire article from The Los Angeles Times, HERE.
