The United States Virgin Islands exists as a United States territory. As an entity which is not a state, it has higher rates of homicide than any state. The homicide rates for the US Virgin Islands are about 7.8 times as high as the average homicide rate for the United States. It is one of the highest illegal homicide rates in the world.
Extreme restrictions on the ownership and use of firearms in the US Virgin Islands are more restrictive than any state since the implementation of the Bruen decision by the Supreme Court. The Bruen decision was published on June 22, 2022. Some states have resisted and passed very restrictive firearms laws. However, those states have a defined process. From southerndefense.com:
The US Virgin Islands has extremely strict gun laws. A permit and waiting periods accompany all firearm transactions. Once in a person’s possession, it is almost always illegal to carry that firearm in public either openly or concealed, and as of this writing, there are no good, governmental sources for even begging a firearms permit application. Calling a local attorney for guidance will be a must given the long sentences the territorial laws have for violating its opaque firearms laws.
The territory is about 12.9% of the size of Rhode Island, with about 7.9% of the population of Rhode Island.
The United States Virgin Islands were purchased from the Dutch government in 1917, during the First World War. An act of Congress gave U.S. citizenship to the inhabitants in 1927. The Danish legal code of the islands was retained. In 1970, self government took effect with a Governor and Lt. Governor elected for four year terms. The Senate of the U.S. Virgin Islands consists of seven elected from St. Croix, seven from the district of St Thomas and St. John, and one at-large senator who must be a resident of St. John. Senators are elected for two year terms.
There are about 5,713 residents per Virgin Islands Senator. Senators receive an $85,000 a year salary. Senators are allocated many perks.
The number of homicides in the Virgin Islands in a given year were found in a number of sources, primarily from stcroixsource.com, from sthomasssource.com, and from stjohnsource.com. Population for the Virgin Islands was from the US census and worldometers.info.
Average homicide rate for United States Virgin Islands from 1999 to 2023 is 40.6.
Average homicide rate for the United States from 1999 to 2023 is 5.21. The VI rate is 7.79 times higher than the United States rate over the last 25 years for which records could be found.
Hawaii has fairly similar firearms laws as the United States Virgin Islands. Homicide rates in Hawaii are considerably lower than the average in the United States. Hawaii homicide numbers were not found for 2022 and 2023. The average homicide rate from 1999 - 2021 was 2.16. Puerto Rico is another island jurisdiction with strong firearms restrictions. Puerto Rico homicide rates are less than half of those in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Analysis:
US Virgin Island Homicide rates are among the highest in the world.
Firearms restrictions have no correlation to overall homicide rates.
If someone tells you firearm restrictions reduce murder rates in Hawaii, tell them about the US Virgin Islands. Similar firearms laws exist in both sets of Islands. Homicide rates in the VI are 19 times larger.
©2024 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
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