No, it’s very simple, when you know for a fact that other people are armed, you are less likely to commit a crime. You can try and obfuscate that fact but it doesn’t matter. All things being equal, if one state has liberal gun laws and one has strict ones, the state with the liberal more relaxed gun laws, especially concealed carry, have less crime, particularly gun crime. Look no further than Illinois, California, New York, New Jersey. All strict gun laws, all high gun crime. Compare them to Texas, Florida, Arizona, and any state with similar laws.