In an op-ed for the New York Post today, Michael A. Walsh makes a good point about those clamoring for tighter gun control laws in the wake of the Tucson shooting:

The fact is, outrages like Tucson are the exception -- not the rule. Arizona's gun laws may be among the most "lenient" in America, but they're not as "lax" as Vermont's -- and nobody's rushing to demonize Howard Dean or Bernie Sanders. Indeed, Arizona's laws are far closer to the American mainstream than are the restrictive policies of New York, Massachusetts and California.

By and large, looser gun laws correspond with less violence. Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C. just had 13 homicides in 11 days involving a number of gun crimes. And yet, Maryland has much stricter gun laws than Arizona and the neighboring District of Columbia might have the strictest gun laws in the country. Looking at violence around the country, it's very tough to argue that that gun control laws make the streets will be any safer.