A close look at Philadelphia s 499 homicides in 2020 reveals that the surge in violence began after the city s COVID-19 lockdowns were put in place and continued throughout the rest of the year. As Cam explains, the data demonstrates that the shootings and homicides weren t driven by the increase in gun sales to law-abiding citizens, but by the pullback on the part of police and the court system, which led to far fewer consequences for violent offenders.