If you only listened to Democratic politicians and much of the media, you’d think America was drowning in an unprecedented wave of violent crime. But the numbers tell a very different story—one that exposes a stark partisan divide in where violence actually occurs.
A new study from the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) reveals that firearm homicides are even more geographically concentrated than overall murders. While 53% of all U.S. murders happen in just 2% of counties, 57% of gun murders occur in those same areas. The worst 1% of counties account for 40% of the nation’s murders—and nearly all are urban centers with long histories of Democratic leadership.
The Blue City Bloodbath
This isn’t a new phenomenon. Back in 2012, commentator Bill Whittle highlighted how cities like Detroit (54.6 murders per 100,000), New Orleans (53.2), and Baltimore (34.9) had rates rivaling the most dangerous countries globally. Meanwhile, gun-friendly areas like Plano, Texas (0.4 per 100,000) proved that widespread firearm ownership doesn’t inherently lead to violence.
The CPRC report underscores how little has changed. In 2025, 78% of U.S. counties recorded zero or one firearm murder. Yet in Democratic strongholds like Chicago, St. Louis, and Baltimore, killings remain densely clustered—often in small pockets within already violent counties. Where cities don’t encompass entire counties, these urban cores consistently vote more Democratic than their surrounding areas.
The Political Irony
There’s a bitter irony here. The same party that pushes the strictest gun control laws governs the places where gun violence is worst. President Biden won nearly all these high-murder counties in 2020. The cities with the most restrictive firearms policies—like Chicago—continue to bleed while rural, gun-owning America remains comparatively safe.
As the report notes, murders have recently declined fastest in the most violent counties. But the fundamental disparity persists: progressive governance correlates strongly with concentrated violence, while areas embracing gun rights see far fewer homicides.
What the Data Means
These findings torpedo multiple Democratic narratives. First, America isn’t uniquely violent globally—we rank 111th in murder rate. Second, guns clearly aren’t the primary driver of homicide, given how safely they’re owned in red areas. Third, the “systemic violence” Democrats decry is overwhelmingly concentrated in the cities they’ve controlled for decades.
Instead of disarming law-abiding citizens in peaceful areas, the data suggests Democrats might better serve their constituents by fixing the crime epidemics in their own backyards. But as the article notes, it’s always easier to bully the peaceful than to clean up the chaos you’ve enabled.
Source: www.americanthinker.com — https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/11/where-the-crime-really-is/