Old North News

For the first time since 2016, a majority of Americans say they are greatly worried about crime, according to a recent Gallup survey. 

With Americans across the board voicing concern about crime, a Washington Post columnist said the Biden Administration needs to take the matter more seriously. 

"While overall crime has not reached levels seen in the 1980s and ’90s, the homicide rate has been increasing in recent years,” Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin wrote. “Whatever the relative crime rate, voters see the current rate as unacceptable.” 

In North Carolina, the state's 2020 violent crime rate (419 incidents per 100,000 residents) was higher than that of most states, according to The Center Square. Three-fourths of the 44,451 violent incidents were aggravated assault cases. The state also reported 852 homicides in 2020, a 35% increase from the year earlier. The number of 2020 killings in North Carolina surpassed the total for New York, a state with nearly twice as many residents. 

An April Gallup poll revealed that 53% of Americans personally worry a "great deal" about crime in the country. It is the first time since 2016 that a "great deal" of worry has reached a majority figure. Meanwhile, 27% indicated they worry a "fair amount," which ranks crime as the third biggest national concern, behind only inflation and the economy. 

Crime has continued to tick upward across the nation, according to Gallup. In October, Gallup survey results showed 51% of Americans said there is more crime in their local area. That number is up from 38% in 2020. The website also reported that the last time a majority of Americans perceived crime as being up in their area was in 2009, and the last time it exceeded 51% was in 1992 (then 54%). 

Rubin said that it is not only Caucasian Republicans who worry about increases in crime. She cited a recent Pew Research Center poll that showed that among Black voters, 17% identified crime or violence as their top worry. 

According to Rubin, the president and other Democrats have been treating crime as only a gun issue, leading voters to conclude the Left doesn't really care about crime. Rubin said that President Joe Biden's actions are usually framed in terms of "gun restrictions,” as he recently issued an executive order to stop the proliferation of ghost guns. It is in Biden's best interest to "announce new efforts that focus on violent crime in particular" or "by convening a White House summit on crime," Rubin said. 

A two-day national poll by Reuters/Ipsos found that 52% of Americans disapprove of Biden's job performance as of Wednesday. It rated crime as the second-most important issue for Americans, trailing only economic concerns.

Ghost guns are considered the weapons of choice for criminals these days because they lack a serial number and can be purchased without the buyer undergoing a background check, POLITICO reported. Biden's ghost gun rule "requires new background checks and serial numbers" for them. 

Only 38% of voters approve of the president’s handling of crime, according to an April ABC-Ipsos poll, prompting the White House correspondent for POLITICO to describe the president's ghost gun laws as "an attempt by Biden to regain his footing on a political front that is currently bedeviling him and Democrats.”