Since 2015, residents of the state of Maine have been allowed to carry a concealed firearm without any special permit, and now the results are in: crime has fallen to the point where the state is now rated the safest in the nation from the threat of crime. The Maine Examiner reports:

When Maine passed a “Constitutional Carry” law allowing Maine residents to carry a concealed firearm without any special permit in 2015, opponents of the law forecast a dangerous future for the state. They said the new law would hurt public safety and put Maine kids at risk.

One state representative who opposed the bill went so far as to say it would give Mainers a reason to be afraid every time they went out in public or to work.

Another state representative suggested the law would lead to violent criminals with recent arrests and convictions legally carrying handguns.

They were wrong, as wrong as the San Francisco Board of Supervisors labeling the NRA a “terrorist organization.” And for the same reason, the notion that a physical object, not human beings, causes evil. The US News &World Report rankings of the safest states has named Maine as the safest state in the nation.

Public safety makes up 50 percent of the Best States for crime & corrections ranking. This subcategory evaluates both the violent crime rate and the property crime rate in each state, as measured by the FBI in 2017. Though some major cities, such as Chicago and Baltimore, have seen drastic increases in homicides in recent years, overall violent crime and property crime rates remain near historic lows. A higher state ranking indicates a lower crime rate for these metrics. Maine ranks first in the nation for public safety. Fellow New England state Vermont places second in this subcategory, followed by New Hampshire, New Jersey and Idaho.

Beautiful... and safe, thanks to universal concealed carry (photo credit: PXhere)

As the Maine Examiner noted, second-ranking Vermont also has a constitutional carry law.

Guns in the hands of honest citizens decrease crime. That is fact that has been statistically demonstrated by John Lott’s pathbreaking book, More Guns, Less Crime, a rick-solid statistical analysis showing that when states pass “shall issue” concealed carry laws, crime goes down. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors should take note.

Hat tip: Bryan Demko