Given the recent clamoring from Barack Obama and his cadres on gun violence, you would think violent crime levels were astronomical relative to past decades. Far from it. In fact, the latest statistics from the FBI reveal a substantial decline. Unsurprisingly, the mainstream media and this administration dedicated to gun confiscation have greeted the encouraging news with deafening silence.

With gun ownership in American at an all-time high, violent crime, according to the FBI’s most recent national crime report, is at its lowest level in more than four decades. The rate of homicides in which murderers use guns has decreased almost 50%, from a high of 6.62 per 100,000 to 3.27 in 2012.

But why are mass shootings rising, you ask? A recent Wall Street Journal report helps explain one of the primary reasons: “One theory is the proliferation of public areas where guns are outlawed. ‘Since 1950, almost every single public shooting in the United States in which more than three people have been killed has taken place in what are commonly known as "gun-free zones,”’ reports the Washington Examiner. Recent shootings at schools and movie theaters illustrate this point. The Navy Yard shooting is another example. A policy implemented 20 years ago effectively banned people other than security guards from carrying guns on military bases. The shooters go where it’s less likely that someone will fire back.“

Imagine that: It’s leftist policies that are behind the overall rise. The Left’s fantasy "gun-free zones” effectively encourage perpetrators to pick the point of least resistance.