Posting from me is probably going to be a little light over the next few days. I've got a lot on my plate, and I can't afford to slack off and not get it done. But I just had to link to an article that I found over at Ravenwood's place.

THE number of violent crimes soared last year, shock Government figures revealed yesterday.

Police recorded a 14 per cent rise in offences involving violence.

Britain isn't doing so well on the crime issue, as I've tried to point out time and time again. They've disarmed the law abiding citizens, and now only the criminals have guns. The predictable crime wave is ongoing. I'm not going to post the whole thing, just the one part that I wanted to show everyone.

Britain dominates the top five in the crime league of Western countries, with only Sweden above them.

England and Wales have 10,608 crimes for every 100,000 citizens, followed by Scotland and Northern Ireland with 8,315.

Germany has 7,734, France 6,880 and America — known for violent crime — just 4,157.

Let that sink in for a bit. As of right now, thirty-six states have "shall-issue" concealed weapons permits. Anyone with a clear background can get a permit and carry a gun. The hoplophobes screamed that there would be shoot-outs in the streets, massive amounts of gun violence, the sky would fall, seas would boil, and the poles would reverse their polarity. And yet we have less that HALF of Britain's violent crime. LESS. THAN. HALF.

People who take on the responsibility of carrying a gun are not the criminals who commit crime. This is a fact that needs to be pounded into the politicians heads. I have a four pound sledge that will do the trick quite nicely. The BENEFIT of people carrying guns covers EVERYBODY, not just those who carry. How does a criminal know who's carrying a gun? They don't. They have to take their chances. And with every new carry permit issued, the chances that they'll get shot while committing violent crime goes up. As that happens, criminals either find a new venue for their crimes, or they find a new line of work. Everybody benefits from a concealed carry law, except the criminals.

The next time someone tells you how "violent" America is, just smile. And then re-educate them.

UPDATE: US Bureau of Justice statistics are in line with this report as well.

UPDATE 2: This map ties in very well with this post. It's a map of states that have shall issue CCW permits, from 1986 to 2004. Granted, it's not quite accurate, since many of the states it claims had no permit at all in 1986 allowed people to carry guns openly. But, it'll give you the idea. Found it at Random Nuclear Strikes.