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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsShootings in U.S. are up -- and experts fear it will get worse
Through the first five months of 2021, gunfire killed more than 8,100 people in the United States, about 54 lives lost per day, according to a Washington Post analysis of data from the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit research organization. Thats 14 more deaths per day than the average toll during the same period of the previous six years.
https://digital.olivesoftware.com/olive/ODN/HoustonChronicle/Default.aspx (pay wall)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/06/14/2021-gun-violence/ (no pay wall)
There is much more worth reading in the article but the bottom line is that IT REALLY IS THE GUNS.
MORE GUNS = MORE SHOOTINGS. There's no way to deny it.
At the same time other crimes, violent and non violent, are down and remain at near all time lows. It's only gun violence that is up.
SoCalDavidS
(9,999 posts)No Shit Sherlock!
Of course theyre going to get worse. Theyre also going to happen forever, because its who we are! America!
Botany
(72,223 posts)Look @ Japan no guns = no murders by guns.
Binkie The Clown
(7,911 posts)KPN
(16,027 posts)SYFROYH
(34,201 posts)as gun sales were soaring those years? Seems to indicate that more guns don't always lead to more deaths.
bottomofthehill
(8,751 posts)Maybe something to do with the assault weapons and hi capacity magazine ban in the Clinton years that expired. I dont really know the numbers but the dates of enactment and running out close to line up.
bottomofthehill
(8,751 posts)Not based on a lot more than a hunch, but reasonable to me as an explanation.
AndyS
(14,559 posts)which was a major contributor to lead poisoning in congested areas.
As low level lead poisoning decreased so did the violent tendencies in it's victims which began to die off.
I think the bigger question should be "what happened in 2014 to cause the huge jump in murder?" The CDC says the 2019 murder rate was 5.8/100k. The trend is continuing, 2020 was the higher than that and 2021 is running 16% higher than that. We could be well over the 6.8/100k in 1972 reported in your graph.
There was no pandemic in 2014, the economy was soaring, unemployment was low and there wasn't a surge in drug influx or gangs and Trumpism was still two years away.
So SY, do you have an opinion on what happened in 2014 to begin the massive increase in murder rate and why has it continued for so long?
Oh, and FYI the 2019 rate per 100k in the top 80 cities ranges from 11 to 26 per 100,000.
Edited for clarity and to correct year for highest murder rate.
Chainfire
(17,757 posts)Klaralven
(7,510 posts)Crime is directly related to the number of criminals and addicts.
If we legalized all drugs, crime would drop to nothing.
sarisataka
(20,741 posts)But if you read the whole article-
Also-
At the same time other crimes, violent and non violent, are down and remain at near all time lows. It's only gun violence that is up.
Major American cities saw a 33% increase in homicides last year as a pandemic swept across the country, millions of people joined protests against racial injustice and police brutality, and the economy collapsed under the weight of the pandemic a crime surge that has continued into the first quarter of this year.
Sixty-three of the 66 largest police jurisdictions saw increases in at least one category of violent crimes in 2020, which include homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, according to a report produced by the Major Cities Chiefs Association. Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Raleigh, North Carolina, did not report increases in any of the violent crime categories.
So crime is actually increasing in all areas. You may point out that the WaPo article says crimes are down from the 80s and 90s however that statement is equally true for gun related crimes.
Chakaconcarne
(2,717 posts)Hoyt
(54,770 posts)Anything more than that, is the problem.
This is the crud that has to stop:
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Renew Deal
(82,831 posts)With the increase in gun violence. Something is going on psychologically that is not positive.
AndyS
(14,559 posts)Overall crimes like assault are still at long time lows but violent airline confrontations seem to be an anomaly. The airlines have always had a problem with passengers over indulging on alcohol because as cabin pressure decreases alcohol's effects increase. That doesn't explain the recent surge in physical assaults.
At least they don't have guns . . .