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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe blasé acceptance that you might get shot is a fact of American life
Megan Carpentier
Its hard to be shocked at the Virginia shootings. Theyre part of a cycle in which innocent people are murdered and politicians get away with doing nothing
The first time I did something about Americas epidemic of mass shootings was not when I looked up and saw on TV that a child had shot up a school full of children although thats happened a lot of times here.
It wasnt when I saw a horrific video playing on a loop on Facebook on Wednesday, like so much of the rest of the world did, after another video of the same killing played in a loop on the the cable networks and across Twitter, even as people called for the Virginia video to disappear.
No, there wasnt social media or an online death reel of snuff films in the midst of a snipers killing spree in the Washington DC metro area, way back in 2002.
I didnt write my then-congressman demanding more gun control, of which we have little.
I didnt email my then-senators demanding that they do something to reduce the number of guns on the streets, because I knew they didnt really read their emails.
I didnt even call my state assemblywoman or my state senator in Richmond, Virginia, to demand that they close the states well-known and egregious loophole that lets people buy guns easily at gun shows.
Instead, I positioned the back of my car toward a building, and stood, bent over, behind my car door while I pumped gas in case a teenage sniper was aiming at me, from somewhere I couldnt see, hunting me.
more
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/27/the-blase-acceptance-that-you-might-get-shot-is-a-fact-of-american-life
malaise
(269,054 posts)more flowers, candles, teddy bears, etc. etc. and not one damn thing from Congress.
The NRA owns the scumbags
turbinetree
(24,703 posts)in front of the national head quarters in Virgina of the NRA and Gun Owners of America, with a big screen, with a permit, and they should have that video feed shown twenty-four seven, seven days a week, with the sound.
This organization and the current politicians and the U.S. Supreme Court have Blood" on there hands and they also should be reminded along with the gun manufactures-------------------enough is enough
+ the other thousands that have died, mostly woman and children in a domestic dispute
One_Life_To_Give
(6,036 posts)Honduras, Venezuela, US Virgin Islands have an order of magnitude higher murder rate.
When it comes to the probability of being Murdered we sit between North Korea and Cuba. We have a long way to go to catch up to leaders like Indonesia. Japan and Monaco. But we are far better the Venezuela and Brazil.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate
Edit to add link
Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)US murder rate is 5x that of France, the UK, the Netherlands and Germany, 3x that of Canada and Greece (and the US murder rate is higher than in places like Syria and Libya).
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)According to the FBI, approximately 70% of US homicides are related to drugs or gangs (or both).
Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)Gang-related homicide, according to that data, constitutes a little over one-quarter of total homicides nationwide, rising to 50% in locales with heavy gang activity. That's obviously a significant contributor to the c. 70% figure, which combined gang activity with illicit drugs. I would expect drug-related killings to constitute a higher percentage than gang-related homicides, and I suspect a good number of the former occur in connection to property crimes committed to support addiction. Some homicides will, obviously, fall into both categories.
Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)13% is closer to one-eighth than it is to a quarter.
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)I took the figure of 2363 gang-related homicides from the chart at the bottom of the first page. That represents about 20% of homicides for that year. So one-fifth would have been more accurate...
I'll also point out that your citation is of rather dubious accuracy. It states that "the FBI estimated, on average, more than 15,500 homicides across the United States." That's simply incorrect. The FBI cites (https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2012/crime-in-the-u.s.-2012/offenses-known-to-law-enforcement/expanded-homicide/expanded_homicide_data_table_8_murder_victims_by_weapon_2008-2012.xls) the following homicide totals for most of the years in question:
2008: 14,224
2009: 13,752
2010: 13,164
2011: 12,795
2012: 12,765
2007 would have to be one hell of an outlier to get the average anywhere near 15.5k.
You were saying...?
Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)An estimated 16,272 persons were murdered nationwide in 2008
An estimated 15,241 persons were murdered nationwide in 2009
An estimated 14,748 persons were murdered nationwide in 2010.
n 2011, an estimated 14,612 persons were murdered in the United States
In 2012, an estimated 14,827 persons were murdered in the United States
sum of those years divided by six gives an average of 15,438 (close to 15550). Going with that figure? 14%. (And whether it's 14% or 20% or even 25% it's no-fucking-where near the absurd 70% you initially claimed.)
flamin lib
(14,559 posts)Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)The link SJ provided has some pretty glaring inaccuracies (that is, it cites FBI stats that the FBI's own site contradicts).
flamin lib
(14,559 posts)of the numbers.
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)My link is to the FBI's breakdown of homicide by weapon type, and it includes totals for each year. Where on earth do you see any sort of speculation or "massaging the numbers?" It's a straight up list of totals by type.
I do find it interesting that the FBI contradicts itself on homicide totals by year, though...
Taitertots
(7,745 posts)Just ignore the vast majority of the people on earth.
We're the worst when we ignore everyone that's worse.
JackInGreen
(2,975 posts)because the other option is continual leaping out of my skin paranoia.
Indydem
(2,642 posts)"Instead, I positioned the back of my car toward a building, and stood, bent over, behind my car door while I pumped gas in case a teenage sniper was aiming at me, from somewhere I couldnt see, hunting me."
Fucking, pure, unadulterated paranoia.
Your odds of being shot randomly is so slim, that you have a better chance of winning the lottery.
It is a statistically impossible event.
You can go every single day of your life and not be shot, or shoot anyone else.
It happens to hundreds of millions of people in America throughout their life.
Acting like someone is just around the corner, ready to murder you, is absolute, unjustified, paranoia.
n2doc
(47,953 posts)This was during the DC Sniper killing spree. Someone was 'just around the corner' in those days.
Indydem
(2,642 posts)There were 17 people killed in the Beltway sniper attacks.
There are 9.25 Million people in the Beltway Combined Statistical Area.
So, you had odds of 1:544,117
You had better odds to win $100,000 in the Powerball.
flamin lib
(14,559 posts)Besides, 130,000 people are shot every year at a cost to the economy of $260 billion. That is no small item and worthy of consideration, don'cha think?
GoneOffShore
(17,340 posts)flamin lib
(14,559 posts)from other people with guns are the same ones who cite low crime rates and the improbability of being harmed with a gun because of, wait for it, GUNS!
I don't know if Indy is one of those people, I just wanted to make that point.
Indydem
(2,642 posts)Concealed or openly.
I have 2 rifles and a shotgun.
But I do support the second amendment.
I have a lot of wacky ideas. I'm sure someone will be along shortly to tell you I am a member of the NRA. Guilty as charged. I support their training programs for youth and adults. When someone comes along and does it better, I will support them.
I don't include pain and suffering for drug dealers and criminals (who are by far, the vast majority of those shot each year).
So direct costs are 8.5 billion. I'll be generous and double that to $17 Billion.
We Spend $130 Billion on health care costs directly related to Tobacco use. Better get on outlawing that.
We spend $25 billion on health costs related to alcohol. Better get on repealing the 21st amendment, Section 1.
We spend $11 billion on health care directly related to illicit drugs. Better make those illegal.... oh wait.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/04/true-cost-of-gun-violence-in-america
http://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics
flamin lib
(14,559 posts)expenses. Indirect costs are medical, physical therapy, lost income, lost productivity, mental health costs and a lot of other things that bring the total cost to $229 billion from your own source.
Gang and drug related shootings make up between 13 and 20% according to another thread with links to the FBI for reference. https://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Survey-Analysis/Measuring-the-Extent-of-Gang-Problems
As for being an NRA member, well, it's nice to have such a clean brain.
Indydem
(2,642 posts)"Indirect costs amount to at least $221 billion, about $169 billion of which comes from what researchers consider to be the impact on victims' quality of life. Victims' lost wages, which account for $49 billion annually, are the other major factor. Miller's calculation for indirect costs, based on jury awards, values the average "statistical life" harmed by gun violence at about $6.2 million."
Nothing there about medical bills or physical therapy.
I didn't say anything about gangs. I said drug dealers and criminals. Show me those statistics.
I'm sure "clean brain" is some kind of insult - guess I'm not smart enough to follow.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)Look at our population for a second and that shouldn't be surprising at all.
Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)The UK, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, and Scandinavian countries combined have a population about equal to the USA and a murder rate of about one-fifth to one-third that of the US, give or take.
hack89
(39,171 posts)it is very concentrated in high population, high poverty urban neighborhoods. The vast majority of Americans live in areas that are just as safe as any neighborhood in Western Europe. Even in cities, the violence is concentrated in a few neighborhoods.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)People are really bad at seeing the things they are most at risk from. Might be at more risk of hurting herself seriously in a fall around the house than being shot.
The shootings get played over and over. People are really easy to fool.