The number of privately owned guns in the U.S. is at an all-time high....

The number of gun owners is also at an all-time high....

--National Rifle Association fact sheet, 11/1/05

The nation's murder rate jumped 2 percent during the first six months of this year, with the highest increases in small towns and the Midwest, the FBI said Monday....

--AP today

But I'm sure it's just a coincidence.