City Statistics

I will freely admit I do not have data on firearm ownership by the city. I’m not sure there is any out there. But let’s take a look at the homicide rates for various cities in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex. I could have listed all of the cities and the data but that is a bit cumbersome.

The Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area, the official title designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget, encompasses 13 counties within the U.S. state of Texas. The area is divided into two distinct metropolitan divisions: Dallas–Plano–Irving and Fort Worth–Arlington–Grapevine. Residents of the area informally refer to it as the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, DFW, or The Metroplex. It is the economic and cultural hub of the region commonly called North Texas or North Central Texas and is the largest land-locked metropolitan area in the United States.^[3]

The 2011 official estimate U.S. Census has the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex at 6,526,548,^[4] making it the largest metropolitan area in the South. During the 12-month period from July 2008 to July 2009, the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area gained 146,530 new residents, more than any other metropolitan area in the United States.^[5][6] The area’s population has grown by about one million since the last census was administered in 2000.^[7] The Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington MSA is, by population, the largest metropolitan area in Texas, the largest in the South, the fourth-largest in the United States, and the tenth-largest in theAmericas. The metroplex encompasses 9,286 square miles (24,100 km²) of total area: 8,991 sq mi (23,290 km²) is land, while 295 sq mi (760 km²) is water, making it larger in area than the U.S. states of Rhode Island and Connecticut combined. It is also the sixth largest gross metropolitan product (GMP) in the United States,^[8] and approximately tenth largest by GMP in the world.

I think it is fair to say the cities all share the same geography, climate, state laws – including a preemption in the area of gun control; cities can not pass laws that contradict state law. Many of the people work in one city and live in another. For Example, I live in Arlington and work in Grapevine.

Okay how about we look at something not affected by great distances

So, let’s ask again why homicide rates differ so greatly in the various cities? Plano has more residents then Grand Prairie but the homicide rate is only 1/5th. Mesquite has 1/3rd the population but the homicide rate is very close to Arlington? Richardson and Plano are neighbors geographically but the homicide rate is nearly double in Richardson.

All of the cities have similar firearm laws; the state does not require a permit to own a firearm, Concealed Carry is not prohibited, no background checks on private sales in one city and not the other. Access to each city is easy, well fairly easy depending on how many roads are under construction. So — Why does Frisco have no homicides and Dallas have 11.4 per 100K.
By the way, keep in mind the homicide rate for Chicago 15.2 per 100K for 2013.

Data from the FBI Uniform Crime Reports