Nice. I completely missed this last week, but it is awesome and I think merits a little love.

Last week, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced that violent crime is down for the fifth straight year in a row, with violent crime across the country declining 4 percent compared to 2010.

The FBI also said Monday that the number of reported property crimes went down 0.8 percent, the ninth straight year-to-year decline.

The bureau says murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault all went down in 2011.

Violent crime decreased in all four regions: 4.9 percent in the Midwest; 4.7 percent in the West; 4.5 percent in the South and 0.8 percent in the Northeast.

Car theft, larceny, and burglary also saw modest drops.

Can it be a complete coincidence that the legal purchase of firearms and the number of people carrying said firearms has also been rising steadily? That gun manufacturers are having difficultly keeping up with the heavy demand for their products? I think not. Emily Miller has more:

“This is not a one-year anomaly, but a steady decline in the FBI’s violent-crime rates,” said Andrew Arulanandam, spokesman for the National Rifle Association. “It would be disingenuous for anyone to not credit increased self-defense laws to account for this decline.”

Mr. Arulanandam pointed out that only a handful of states had concealed-carry programs 25 years ago, when the violent-crime rate peaked. Today, 41 states either allow carrying without a permit or have “shall issue” laws that make it easy for just about any noncriminal to get a permit. Illinois and Washington, D.C., are the only places that refuse to recognize the right to bear arms. …

The FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) serves as one of the best indicators of gun sales because it counts each time someone buys a gun. Checks hit an all-time high of 16.5 million last year. In the first five months of this year, the numbers have gone up 10 percent over the same period last year as Americans rush to the gun store in case President Obama decides to exercise “more flexibility” in restricting guns in a second term.

Oh, the irony! Despite all of his spectacularly terrible economic and regulatory policies bogging down the economy, President Obama has inadvertently spurred major growth in the firearms industry — a business his administration would clamp down on if only he were given the chance. It hurts so good.