If you want to be duped into believing California's ranking as the number one gun control state equates to a great place to raise children, knock yourself out. However, you will be greatly disappointed. I know, I live here.

The Brady Campaign's annual gun control rankings by state are again making the news.

As usual, The Brady Campaign ranks California #1 with the strictest gun control laws in the nation. Utah, is ranked 50th, with the fewest gun control laws in the country.

The folks at the Brady Campaign repeatedly tell Americans through the highly compliant news media that stricter gun control means safer streets. However, that is not case.

Let's look at the statistical data from the FBI's Uniform Crime Statistics from 2005 through 2008 for California and Utah and see if we can draw any conclusions. 2009 data as of this date is still in preliminary status according to the FBI's website and was not included in the data presented.

Let's start with the most obvious of crime statistics and that is the murder rate of California vs. Utah. As you can see from the chart below, California's murder rate ranged from 6.9 murders per 100,000 inhabitants in 2005 to a low in 2008 of about 5.8 murders.

Utah, noted by the green line, is over 4 times less than California per capita. In fact, using the Brady Campaign's very same scoring method, when it comes to murder rates, Utah ranked as 49th among the 50 states with the fewest number of murders. In fact, Utah's murder rate is so low, it compares favorably with most European nations. California on the other hand had enough murders to put it into the top 20 states ranking it 18th nationwide.

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It doesn't stop with murders. The FBI's index for violent crime ranks California with the 15th highest crime rate over the four year period, while Utah is ranked 46th near the bottom of all states.

California is ranked with the 6th highest robbery rate, while Utah is ranked near the bottom in 41st place.

It is important to remember the data presented by the FBI is not based on outright crimes, since California's population is higher than Utah it stands to reason they would have more incidents of crime each year. The data is on a per capita basis, meaning it is expressed in relative numbers per 100,000 residents, which makes the differences in crime rates between the two states all that more alarming.

What's wrong with the Brady Campaign's view of crime?

The Brady Campaign's mission statement in part says the following:

We are devoted to creating an America free from gun violence, where all Americans are safe at home, at school, at work, and in our communities.

The Brady Campaign works to pass and enforce sensible federal and state gun laws, regulations, and public policies through grassroots activism, electing public officials who support common sense gun laws, and increasing public awareness of gun violence. Through our Million Mom March and Brady Chapters, we work locally to educate, remember victims, and pass sensible gun laws, believing that children have the right to grow up in environments free from the threat of gun violence.

If you were considering a retirement move, or moving to a state to raise children in a relatively crime-free environment, who in their right mind would rely on the Brady Campaign's gun control rankings as a guideline? If you want to be duped into believing California's ranking as the number one gun control state equates to a great place to raise children, knock yourself out. However, you will be greatly disappointed. I know, I live here.

Americans are becoming increasingly skeptical of gun control advocates, and rightly so. The latest polls show that over 70% of Americans believe they have a constitutional right to own firearms for self-protection. While the Brady Campaign becomes increasingly irrelevant with their questionable rating system for ranking Americans' relative safety, hard crime statistics tell why that is so. The statistical data says that less gun control equals less crime.

No matter how the Brady Campaign twists the data to show another story, the facts speak for themselves.

Note: In case you are wondering, North Dakota had the lowest murder rate in the country in 2008 with 0.5 murders per 100,000 inhabitants. North Dakota's overall violent crime ranking was 50th in the nation. Unfortunately, the Brady Campaign ranked its gun control efforts near the very bottom with only 4 points scored out of a possible 100 putting North Dakota on the Brady Campaigns list of 'dangerous' states. Utah had the lowest with 0 points scored.

The average murder rate nationwide was 5.4 murders per 100,000 inhabitants. Statistically, Americans are 10 times more likely to murdered in other locations in the U.S. than in North Dakota and almost 4 times more likely than in Utah.