Gun Crime Down Sharply Even Though Most Americans Think it’s Up

(AP)-Gun-related homicides and other crimes involving guns have fallen sharply over the last two decades in the U.S., but most Americans believe the number of such crimes is higher.

According to a Justice Department analysis and a separate poll out Tuesday (May 7th) from the Pew Research Center there were 11,101 gun-related homicides in 2011, down 39 percent from a 1993 peak. Nonfatal gun crimes fell 69 percent in the same period. However, the poll found that 56 percent of Americans believe that gun crime is higher now than it was 20 years ago, with only 12 percent knowing it's fallen. The drop in gun crime mirrors a general fall in U.S. violent crime.