The more educated anti-gunners know crime has been dropping, when confronted with the fact the default to "yes, crime has been decreasing, but expiration of the federal AWB correlates with a slowed decrease in crime rate"
Gang crime has decreased too, and trends in chicago do not represent the country as a whole. There will always be anomalies and exceptions.
Also, what would the point of manipulating the data in such a manner when the only way the anti gun narrative can survive is if the public believes crime is rampant?
I hate to pull the "paranoid gun owner" card, but...