I know I'm a party pooper sometimes, but I just can't let this slide. :to_pick_ones_nose3:
These stats are fairly inaccurate at best. First off, it's well known in criminology that you can mathematically create a crime wave simply by reclassifying different types of offenses. Politicians do this all the time to prove that they made crime go down or their opponent made it go up. A "decline" in crime can happen just because people stop reporting certain incidents, or police don't document it properly. Some unsolved crimes might get totally reclassified if they're borderline - ie, a few possible homicides get urgently relabeled as suicides or accidents and the cases are closed.
Secondly, the FBI doesn't go around adding all of these crimes up and making sure the reports jive with the statistics. LE agencies all over the United States report them and the FBI just puts the numbers into a big chart. There's no accounting for changes in classification and there's no federal audits or anything like that. It's just an honor system. A good number of violent crimes typically go unreported for various reasons. Most murders do get reported, except for an insignificant number where the victim simply "disappears".
Then there's the old problem of quantity. Most murders are also robberies, and sometimes rapes. If you have a robbery, rape and murder, is that all of the above or just a murder? Is it an assault, battery and kidnapping too? If two guys break into one house, is that two burglaries or one? This can get fairly involved and change crime stats significantly.
The main factors that influence violent crime are economic conditions and average age of the population. Poverty and young people are usually the main ingredients for an increase. I don't know whether concealed carry actually has a significant increase on crime. The number of CWP holder is so small relative to the population - even in good states like Florida - and violent crime is actually quite rare, so the twain do not typically meet. There's no reliable numbers to say one way or another.
Here's my opinion, though. I don't need any kind of benefit for society as a motivator for my gun ownership or carrying. It's my individual right, and that's all. The right to carry is an inherent, natural right and doesn't need to be justified with anything. Carrying because one can should be good enough for anyone.