Brace yourself for the coming debates on the national spike in violent crime. Here are four reasons grounded in empirical research and rational analysis. Thanks to the Brennen Center for Justice for this illuminating article.

1. 70% of the murders in 2020 were committed with a firearm — the highest share ever reported in FBI data going back to 1960.

2. Gun sales hit a record high in 2020.

3. Americans were more likely to open or conceal carry in 2020 than in any precious year.

4. “The time between a gun’s legal purchase and its appearance at a crime scene — a metric that law enforcement officials call a weapon’s “time-to-crime” — was much shorter in 2020 than in previous years.”

Conclusion: Increases in gun purchasing, expanded concealed and open carry laws, and SCOTUS overreach in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, are vexing trends for a country that is home to almost half of the world’s civilian-owned firearms.

The Project on Lived Theology at the University of Virginia is a research initiative, whose mission is to study the social consequences of theological ideas for the sake of a more just and compassionate world.