Detroit Police Chief: Armed Citizens Fighting Off Crime

Detroit Police Chief James Craig says his suggestion last January that law-abiding residents should arm themselves has helped cut crime in his struggling city.

Craig pointed out that crime statistics have dropped overall, but admitted there is no way to know for certain how many crimes were not committed because a potential criminal feared facing an armed citizen.

There have been 37 percent fewer robberies so far in 2014 than the same period in 2013, 22 percent fewer break-ins, and 30 percent fewer carjackings, The Detroit News reports.

Studies have differed on whether armed citizens deter crime, the News reported.

Detroit resident Al Woods told the paper he believes guns in people's homes deter crime. Woods says he is a reformed criminal and now an anti-violence advocate.

"If I was out there now robbing people these days, knowing there are a lot more people with guns, I know I’d have to rethink my game plan," the 60-year-old Woods said.

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