According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Uniform Crime Report, there were 45,154 fewer crimes in 2018. That's down 9% year over year. That's great progress in a year but it's actually part of a longer-term trend. In fact, the FDLE report shows that crime has declined year over year for eleven years. It's even more remarkable when you consider that we went through the Great Recession in the midst of that streak as well. What's most instructive is the incredible increase in gun ownership at the same time.
Florida's crime rate is at a 48-year low. This while Florida's concealed carry permits are at record highs along with gun ownership. Florida now leads the country with 2.18 million concealed carry permitted holders. That's 400,000 more than last year. If more guns, with more people moving to Florida, equaled more crime how would this be possible?
What's happened over the previous eleven years? The same eleven years that crime declined every year in our state, a near 300% increase in permits. So, here's the question? Who's interested in facts and who's interested in a political agenda?
In the meantime, this is great news for Florida. As for South Florida, the news was excellent as well. Crime rate year over year in each county went down. The biggest decrease came from Palm Beach down 11.1%, followed by Broward down 9.7% and Miami-Dade down 6.2%.
Let’s keep the good news coming. And I’ll keep the facts coming.
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