Baltimore Gets Serious on Crime Control, and the Results Speak for Themselves

As the mid-year mark of 2025 hits, a promising report on crime trends has come out of the City of Baltimore. Surprising news at first glance until you dig deeper into the policy direction the city is taking with not a single mention of gun control. Then it all makes perfect sense.

The city of Baltimore is reporting significant decreases in its midyear crime data showing a 22% decrease in homicides compared to this time last year, while nonfatal shootings were also down by 19%. The data goes on to show that shooting suspects are being arrested at higher rates, with a homicide clearance rate of 64% and a 44% clearance rate for nonfatal shootings, which is 20% above the department's 10-year average.

The City of Baltimore is crediting specific new policies for these reductions based on “qualitative and quantitative data” as cited by a Baltimore Police Department press release. While some will emphasize the city’s relatively strict gun control, that was also in place during the days of sky-high violent crime in Baltimore, when attempts to get through even one murder-free weekend were destined to fail. The difference now is smarter and stricter policing and enforcement.

Baltimore City State's Attorney Ivan Bates released an insightful statement on the direction of those new policies:

While some have criticized our office for moving beyond the policies of the previous administration, the progress we've made in reducing homicides in Baltimore tells a different story — one grounded in results, not rhetoric. By repealing ineffective non-prosecution policies, we've empowered our police officers to re-engage fully in the mission of public safety — not only as law enforcers, but as violence interrupters working proactively in our communities.

These truths about crime enforcement are certainly not new to the NRA community, as we’ve long reported on examples such as Washington, D.C. and its accidental epiphany.  Beyond the need to focus on enforcing existing laws rather than creating unconstitutional laws that only affect law-abiding citizens, there is an important need to focus work on deterring the people considered most likely to be involved with crime, specifically gun violence. See NRA-ILA’s previous alert on this topic for proven strategies for what works. Hint: It’s not layering gun control on top of gun control.

Forecasting crime is a tricky endeavor reliant on a vast amount of variables, but for certain, as more cities are confronted with facts rather than rhetoric on violent crime, it becomes undeniable that the soft-on-crime policies and anti-gun scapegoating are simply not solutions.  

Entering the second half of the year, the hope is that more failed gun control proposals fall off in favor of what is working and will work in other cities beyond Baltimore. Focusing on failed gun control models has absolutely sapped critical energy from the facts of crime control and public safety needs for far too long.  

While cities continue to work on the many pieces of the crime prevention puzzle, NRA-ILA continues to work tirelessly in every state to prioritize solutions that address real drivers of violence along with public safety policies based on facts and data, just as Baltimore appears to be doing so far to good effect in 2025.