Washington D.C. has one of the highest murder rates in the U.S. It also has perhaps the strictest gun control laws [ref, ref]. In 1976 D.C. passed a law that essentially prohibited residents from carrying firearms, and required privately owned firearms to be kept unloaded and inoperable. In 2008 the U.S. Supreme court struck down the law as constitutional. During D.C.’s unconstitutional gun ban its murder rate was 73% higher than prior to the law’s enactment [ref].
Police Lieutenant Lowell Duckett, President of the Black Police Caucus, and Special Assistant to the Washington D.C. Police Chief had this say about gun control in Washington D.C.:
Gun control has not worked in D.C. The only people who have guns are criminals. We have the strictest gun laws in the nation and one of the highest murder rates. It’s quicker to pull your Smith and Wesson than to dial 911 if you’re being robbed. [ref]
Chicago’s strict gun control laws apparently have done nothing to stop criminals either. In 2012 there were 500 homicides, an almost 17 percent increase over 2011’s total. Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy blamed the tally on “gang violence and [the] proliferation of illegal guns” [ref].
Most big cities in the U.S. have very strict gun control laws, yet disproportionately high murder rates compared to rural areas with much higher per-capita gun ownership.
If guns really were responsible, regions with less gun control and higher gun ownership would have higher murder rates. They don’t.