Stop calling America's murder crisis a 'crime' issue. It's something far worse.

[Nevilledog]

https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/us-rising-murder-rate-2020-2021-causes-20210923.html


It was the kind of news story that would have been utterly shocking ... before March of 2020, anyway. An everyday occasion normally associated with joy — a baby shower — pivots into a squabble over something trivial. In this particular saga, which took place last weekend in a Pittsburgh suburb, the argument was over who would transport the shower gifts. Somehow, this devolved in an altercation — but after some brief fisticuffs, the father-to-be abruptly whipped out a 9mm handgun and started firing at his guests.

This time, three people were wounded, but thankfully no one was killed. But this happened in a nation that in 2020 posted its biggest spike in homicides since modern records began, and is still seeing a lethal upward trend in 2021. What struck me about the triple shooting in Lower Burrell Township, Pa., was that it’s no longer a rare “man-bites-dog story” to read about guns — or other extreme violence, but usually guns — in situations where weaponry once would have been unimaginable.

During a Major League Baseball game, or at high school football games — again and again and again. A woman driving down I-95 for a Carolina beach vacation. Cutting into a line for gasoline in hurricane-ravaged Louisiana, or fighting over a parking space at a Walgreen’s, or a squabble over a $10 pool pass. A supermarket clerk in Georgia who asked a customer to put on a mask — one of seven such killings to happen so far in 2021. Gunplay between two 9-year-olds in Washington, D.C., that cops described as “a targeted shooting.”

A recent killing during an argument at South Philly’s iconic Pat’s Steaks was notable because it was the second time in 2021 that a customer was killed at a place where the only fear of death is supposed to be your skyrocketing cholesterol level.

*snip*

[KT2000]

1. Guns have become a viable option

and guaranteed win in any situation. In a parking lot, a stranger was telling my friend and me how an elderly couple bumped his car in the parking lot. The stranger said if he had his gun, he would have shot them. Who knows if he really would have but he revealed his thinking about guns. A man in the neighborhood takes a couple walks a day and he always carries a gun - rural and coastline area. Guns are front and center on some peoples' minds.

[Kaleva]

4. Got to wonder why a guy lives in an area where he feels he needs to be armed to go for a walk.

I've watched YouTube vids where people talk about their handguns, rifles and/or shotguns and the amount of ammo they have. Supposedly for self defense. I wonder why in the hell would they feel the need for such an arsenal in order to be able to live where they are at? Why not move?

[Whiskeytide]

10. I suspect he DOESN'T need a gun to take a walk, he ...

… just THINKS he does. The problem is not where he lives. It’s his probably unrealistic perception of how much danger he’s in.

[Kaleva]

12. They convince themselves that the remotely possible worst case scenario is very likely to happen

No amount of preparation is enough for them even though the chances of the event(s) they are preparing for is extremely unlikely to happen.

While burglary is a concern for many and one ought to take some simple and steps recommended by experts to lessen the chance of being a victim, some go way beyond what would be considered prudent and stockpile ammo and weapons. Actions that would be appropriate if one was planning on fighting on the beaches of Normandy or at Iwo Jima but way over the top for home defense.

Same with preppers. Some take actions I would consider prudent. Others are over the top, preparing for a total collapse of society.

[modrepub]

8. In PA Gun Purchases Spiked During Pandemic

You add guns to a stressful situation and you get trouble. Having a weapon capable of such harm in the possession of someone who is angry or depressed allows them to act on their immediate feelings. The consequences are much more dramatic if you are armed versus if you are not armed.

[elleng]

2. 'many Americans are using guns in situations that don't call for firepower

— like moving the gifts at a baby shower, or getting cut off on I-95 — because too many Americans have guns in the first place. . .

murder, 2020s-style, is increasingly a matter of people’s inability to control their anger . . .

The only thing that absolutely will not work is burying our collective heads in the sand. No, America does not have a new crime problem. But when people are turning baby showers into firing ranges, we definitely have a gun violence problem, and a murder crisis that comes with it. The sooner our society agrees on this, the sooner we can solve this.'

[ItsjustMe]

3. Here In Fresno

A 19-year-old man just murdered a man In a wheelchair after having an argument with him In a liquor store.

https://abc30.com/man-stabbed-to-death-fresno-stabbing-police-deadly/11036331/

[myohmy2]

5. I get...

...the feeling this place is sucking more and more...

...is this a failure of capitalism?

...

[RicROC]

6. People in the US are just not happy....

other than that, I don't know the answer.

If I can get to Europe only for a week, my stress level drops dramatically. I return to the US and notice immediately how uptight everyone is. People honk car horns for the slightest inconvenience, for a simple example.

Maybe it is this raw Kapitalismus which is finally wearing people down. Those going to (Evangelical?) church haven't seemed to help, either.

'They will know we are Christians by our love' is the song that pops into my head whenever I see hate, racism, inconsideration, et al. from people who have callouses on their knees.

[ananda]

7. It also runs across the entire Republican Party ...

Including all legislatures and the courts to the top.

[multigraincracker]

9. Gun violence in on the rise, but all other crimes look to be down.

https://usafacts.org/state-of-the-union/crime/

Is the criminal justice system working? Is the country getting safer?

Over 6.4 million Americans were in prison, jail, or under probation or parole when counted in 2018, though an estimated 10.7 million people were admitted to jail throughout the year. The total prison population decreased 11% between the 2009 peak and 2019, with decreases in federal, California, and New York state prison populations accounting for 45% of the decline. Fifty-seven percent of the decline in prison population between 2009 and 2018 was due to fewer prisoners whose most serious offense was a drug crime. Arrests have decreased every year since 2006. Reported property and violent crime rates were down 50% in 2019 compared to their 1991 peaks. The number of police officers per capita fell 9% between its 2008 peak and 2019. Firearm deaths increased 18% from 2014 to 2018, accounting for 1.4% of all deaths in that time.

Fifty-seven percent of the decline in prison population between 2009 and 2018 was due to fewer prisoners whose most serious offense was a drug crime.

Additionally, the proportion of the prison population that was Black or Hispanic decreased from 58% to 55%, while the proportion of the nation's population that was Black or Hispanic increased from 28% to 31% in that same time.

Reported property and violent crime rates were down 50% in 2019 compared to their 1991 peaks.
Violent crime rates reached a 20-year low in 2014 and remained near that in 2019. However, preliminary 2020 data from 64% of police departments shows murders trending roughly 20% above 2019 levels. Property crimes are trending roughly 8% below 2019 levels. ​


Firearm deaths increased 18% from 2014 to 2018, accounting for 1.4% of all deaths in that time.

There were nearly 40,000 firearm deaths in 2018, more of which were suicides than homicides.

It also looks like firearm deaths go way up due to suicides. In general it's safer in the USA today than it was 20 years ago. All we have to do now is get a handle on gun crimes and then we can all sleep better.

[Nevilledog]

11. Morning kick