Baltimore homicides exceeded 300 each year from 2015 through 2018, and 2019 is on track to cross the 300 threshold for the fifth year in a row.

A 2016 report from the Baltimore Sun showed 344 homicides for the year 2015. A homicides counter maintained by the Sun shows 318 for 2016, 342 for 2017, and 309 for 2018.

USA Today reported that the 342 Baltimore homicides in 2017 represented a “homicide rate of 56 per 100,000 people.” The homicide rate in Chicago was less than half of that, at “24 per 100,000.”

As of July 28, the Sun’s counter shows 191 Baltimore homicides for 2019, which means the city is well on its way to surpassing 300 homicides for the year.

At least five people were shot, three fatally, in Baltimore on July 27 alone. And on July 25, Breitbart News reported eight persons were shot in one night of Baltimore violence. One of the shooting victims succumbed to his wounds.

The violence, including surges in homicides, has been all-too-present in the years since Maryland implemented the Firearm Safety Act in 2013. That act put in place many of the left’s favorite gun controls, such as an “assault weapons” ban and “high capacity” magazine ban. It also implemented a fingerprinting/registration process for new handgun buyers.

The number of homicides in Baltimore was 211 for the year 2014, but has been over 300 every year since.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.