I live in Northern Virginia. The state has very liberal gun laws, you can pretty much buy a gun anywhere, wear it anywhere. Ranks 5th lowest state in violent crime stats. I guess it's because criminals assume everyone is packing heat. All of the crime in my area occurs in D.C & Maryland, the bordering States/Districts with the most stringent gun laws. In those states law abiding citizens can't get guns to protect themselves so they are prey upon by criminals. It's amazing how the crime virtually stops as soon as you step across the state line.
Whilst the figures in the below link dont perfectly correlate with "More gun ownership = less crime" there is definitely some truth to it, Wyoming appears to have the highest gun ownership rates and lowest crime but its it one of the most sparsely populated as well?