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Gun Homicide Rate Down 49% Since 1993 Peak; Public Unaware

pewsocialtrends.org

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Re: Gun Homicide Rate Down 49% Since 1993 Peak; Public Unaware

#81

Post by wahsd »

Some may call me crazy, but I have a hunch that the decline in gun homicide, and crime in general, is related to gaming.

There is frequently a claim that it's the FPS and other violent games that trigger mass shootings. Although I believe that there is an negative effect, I also believe that that negative effect is essentially all but negated by other outcome positive effects of gaming. I feel like there might be net positive outcomes related to those who would in the past have been the types who felt the need to enforce their ego through violence, posturing, and domination. Additionally, because those types of people / kids would then also not have come in contact with "mentors" who would groom them, there could also be a cycle-interrupting process going on here.

Re: Gun Homicide Rate Down 49% Since 1993 Peak; Public Unaware

#82

Post by pdeuchler »

ebbv wrote: post #45

Of course it is. All violent crime is down. That has nothing to do with the fact that kids are still accidentally getting shot. I propose a new law; if a child (under 18) is found in possession of a gun the gun owner is fined $50,000. If the gun's ownership cannot be established, the parents or legal guardians are fined $50,000 instead. People might be a little more serious about locking up their guns and not letting…

Similar policies have worked brilliantly with alcohol and tobacco, or so I hear.

Re: Gun Homicide Rate Down 49% Since 1993 Peak; Public Unaware

#84

Post by learc83 »

ebbv wrote: post #45

Of course it is. All violent crime is down. That has nothing to do with the fact that kids are still accidentally getting shot. I propose a new law; if a child (under 18) is found in possession of a gun the gun owner is fined $50,000. If the gun's ownership cannot be established, the parents or legal guardians are fined $50,000 instead. People might be a little more serious about locking up their guns and not letting…

>People might be a little more serious about locking up their guns and not letting their kids play with them.

People are serious about not letting their kids play with guns.

You make it seem like this happens a lot.

In 2007 there were 122 children killed accidentally by firearm.

Sugar breakfast cereal is a far greater danger to kids than guns.

Re: Gun Homicide Rate Down 49% Since 1993 Peak; Public Unaware

#85

Post by kalleboo »

grimtrigger wrote: post #15

Please keep the politics out of HN. Edit: Referring to some of the comments in this thread, not the article.

Agreed. There aren't any comments on this article that I couldn't have read on reddit. Topics like this will always generate a lot of comments and discussion since it's very easy to have an opinion on it (vs more technical topics).

Re: Gun Homicide Rate Down 49% Since 1993 Peak; Public Unaware

#86

Post by Millennium »

Of course they're unaware. It's harder to keep fear alive when information like this gets out.

Both sides know this. But each side is convinced that it benefits more from a fearful populace than an unafraid populace, and that the reverse is true for its opposition. And so the fearmongering continues.

Re: Gun Homicide Rate Down 49% Since 1993 Peak; Public Unaware

#89

Post by codeulike »

jstalin wrote: post #18
pwenzel wrote: post #4

Others may be unaware of the shift in suicide rates by firearm: "The sharp decline in the U.S. gun homicide rate, combined with a slower decrease in the gun suicide rate, means that gun suicides now account for six-in-ten firearms deaths, the highest share since at least 1981."

Looks like the suicide rate has been on the decline since the 1950s as well: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0779940.html

But what about "Suicide Rates Rise Sharply in U.S. (nytimes.com)" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5647015

Re: Gun Homicide Rate Down 49% Since 1993 Peak; Public Unaware

#90

Post by jordan0day »

corresation wrote: post #30
Terretta wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> selectively choose which crime stats to promote For example, FBI homicide stats last year show 350 killed by rifles of any kind, assault or otherwise, while 750 killed by hammers. I keep waiting for the groundswell of public support for hammer control.

750 were killed by hammers or clubs which includes any blunt force attack (vase, bat, golf club, etc. I am assuming that you're accurately quoting a number, though last I saw that number was more in the 450 range). Secondly every home has numerous objects that qualify as "clubs", many of them serving valid, functional roles (for instance to hammer, or to hit balls, etc). In many households a firearm has one single pu…

Do you have a source for that 30,000+ figure? The FBI statistics link in this thread mentions around 8600 firearm-related murders for 2011 (but not suicide or accidents). That's the only hard data I've seen in this thread so far though.

In these sorts of threads, anecdotes and hyperbole can quickly overrule data and thoughtfulness, so I'm just hoping that numbers like "30,000+" aren't being pulled out of thin air. I'm not saying that's what you did, I'd just like to see people actually source their claims in threads like this which tend to devolve quickly.

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