Vermont has a genuine right to carry law (i.e., requires no permits) and yet boasts one of the lowest crime rates in the nation

A. Vermont enjoys the 49th lowest crime rate in the nation, according to the FBI:

Violent Crime (1997) rate per 100,000 people
Rank	State	Rate
1st	Florida	1023.6
2nd	South Carolina	990.3
	U.S. average	610.8
49th	Vermont	119.7
50th	North Dakota	87.2

B. The FBI statistics also show that Vermont boasts the 47th lowest murder rate among the 50 states:

Murder (1997) rate per 100,000 people
Rank	State	Rate
1st	Louisiana	15.7
2nd	Mississippi	13.1
	U.S. average	6.8
47th	Vermont	1.5
48th	New Hampshire	1.4
49th	South Dakota	1.4
50th	North Dakota	.9

C. Anti-gunners like Sarah Brady want people to think that "access to firearms" is one of the greatest social ills facing this nation. If this is so, then why are guns not a problem in Vermont where anyone can strap a .45 under their jacket and go about their business? Why hasn't Vermont turned into the popular notion of the Wild West? Few states ever come close to earning the title of the "state with the lowest crime rate." Vermont has.(9)

http://www.gunowners.org/vtcarry.htm

 

 I’m half way through the book "Chronicles of the World", which is a 1,200 page book of history in Newspaper format. In reading of all the genocides, murders, wars, plagues, and famines, I agree with the author who wrote this about the recently deceased Kurt Vonnegut:  "He also shared with Twain a profound pessimism."  "Mark Twain," Mr. Vonnegut wrote in his 1991 book, "Fates Worse Than Death: An Autobiographical Collage," "finally stopped laughing at his own agony and that of those around him. He denounced life on this planet as a crock. He died."