It’s not just Pew. This Department of Justice report makes embarrassing reading for those who spend their time trying to make it appear as if America is in the middle of a gun-crime wave. The headlines:

Firearm-related homicides declined 39%, from 18,253 in 1993 to 11,101 in 2011. Nonfatal firearm crimes declined 69%, from 1.5 million victimizations in 1993 to 467,300 victimizations in 2011. For both fatal and nonfatal firearm victimizations, the majority of the decline occurred during the 10-year period from 1993 to 2002.

Visually, the decline is particularly striking:

Control by race, you’ll find the same thing:

Control by region, you’ll find the same thing:

And those screaming “. . .but Sandy Hook!” will no doubt be pleased to know that school shootings, too, are down 33 percent since 1993.