Did it ever occur to you that being in a place with fewer legally-owned guns doesn't guarantee safety?

Here is a map showing the gun-related murder rate in U.S. cities compared to the gun-related murder rate in other nations.



Detroit has a murder rate of 35.9 per 1,000 people. New Orleans has a much higher rate of 62.1 per 1,000 people. If New Orleans were an independent nation, then it would be second only to Honduras in murders by nationality.

Now, compare the gun murder rate in the USA to the rate of gun ownership in the USA.



A state can have an overall low legal-gun-ownership rate and still have a high rate of gun-related murders.

sure can, I will take my chances surrounded by fewer guns though

(rates per 100k)


florida 12.4 (24.5% ownership)
idaho 12.5 (55.3% ownership)
missouri 12.9 (41.7% ownership)
georgia 13 (40.3 % ownership)
oklahamoa 13.3 (42.9)
s carolina 13.4 (42.3)
kentucky 14.4 (47.7%)
wyoming/montana BOTH 14.5 (59.7/57.7)
w virginia 14.7 (55.4)
tennessee/ NewMexico /Arkansas /Arizona 15 (43.9/34.8/55.3/31.1)
Nevada 16.1 (33.8)
Alabama 17.5 (51.7)
Alaska 17.6 (57.8)
Mississippi 18.3 (55.3)
Louisiana 20.2 (44.1)
DC 24.5

Hawaii 2.8 (6.7)



appears to me a GOOD Chance of higher gun death where there are more guns IN AMERICAN CULTURE

of course culture is another ingredient that plays into it, and the Texan culture MIXED with the number of guns would keep me from wanting to locate there,,,

I heard that Texas leads the nation in executions. There is only one good thing I can think about that ........less Texans

thats cold,,,,

less criminals... not everyone that is executed here is from here... and we've slowed down a bunch, your looking at data from bush's governor years...

There is another statistic that you might want to consider.

Here is a graph that appears in a Washington Post story titled "Gun deaths shaped by race in America".



The newspaper story begins with the following statement:


In a column for TheRootDC*, Barbara Reynolds writes the following:


So, when you talk about the rate of gun-related deaths, you might want to consider who is killing who.





[*In case you are not familiar with it, TheRoot.com advertises itself as "the leading online source of national and international news and commentary from an African-American perspective."]

For now, im considering state rankings,,,,

race and ecnomic class are historically tied together and have an impact on most other 'race' centered statistics,,,

whites are also more likely to be shot by other whites than they are blacks,, all this is well documented all over government sites,,,,


which is why Im also more likely to live in a DIVERSE envirnoment than exclusive one,,,

The Wall Street Journal has placed online U.S. murder statistics for the years 2000 to 2010, compiled from FBI statistics coming from every state except Florida.

Out of the 165,068 murders that took place between the years 2000 and 2010, 1,172 were committed by American Indians, and 2,156 were committed by people of Asian or Pacific Island descent. 15,843 of the murders were committed by Hispanics, 49,936 by non-Hispanic Whites and 68,531 by Blacks.

The lower numbers of murderers who are American Indians, Asians, Pacific Islanders and Hispanics could be due to those groups being minority groups within the USA. However, Blacks also make up a minority group within the USA, and yet the statistics show more Black murderers than non-Hispanic White murderers. Why is that?

Are we to blame poverty for people becoming murderers?

The University of Michigan’s National Poverty Center reports, “In 2010, 27.4 percent of blacks and 26.6 percent of Hispanics were poor, compared to 9.9 percent of non-Hispanic whites and 12.1 percent of Asians.”

If poverty were driving people to commit murder, then why is there a disproportionately-small number of murderers who are Hispanic, and why is there a disproportionately-large number of murderers who are non-Hispanic Whites?

The statistics do not show a correlation between the ethnicity of people who are in poverty and the ethnicity of people who commit murder.

Also, despite the fact that the USA has the world’s highest rate of gun ownership, the gun homicide rate in the USA is roughly 3 per 1,000 people.

In short, the possession of guns isn't what causes murderers to commit murders, and the economic status of murderers isn't what causes them to commit murders.

The act of murder is a result of a moral cancer that is inflicting the one who murders, and such moral cancer isn't limited to certain states.

yes, its an individual choice,, as is drinking or partying,, but people with alcohol and party supplies close at hand have more of an ACCESS to the ptotential to drink and have parties

similarly, those with less access to opportunities have more of an access to the criminal behavior options for attaining the things they want and need

those with more access to guns have more access to the potential to kill with guns,,,

noone was saying poverty leads people to commit crimes, anymore than beling black does,, yet, MOST Who commit violent crimes ARE impoverished and most who are convicted of violent crime are black,,,

many factors at play in the discussion of homicide trends, but this thread was only pertaining to gun ownership and gun culture by STATE,,,,

also the statistics do not show a 'disproportionately' smaller number , it shows the non hispanic white crime is a rate a little over three times that of hispanic,, just as the population of non hispanic whites are 63.4 and hispanic 16.7, leading one to expect (all things equal which they never are) a rate amongst whites of almost FOUR Times that of hispanics,,,

Would you care to support your claim with evidence?

undereducation is linked to poverty and most in prison are undereducated (only 43 percent with even a hs diploma or ged)

http://www.libraryindex.com/pages/2528/Characteristics-Inmates-EDUCATION-PRISON-JAIL-INMATES.html

The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that only 46 percent of incarcerated individuals have a high school diploma or its equivalent, as compared to 82 percent of men aged 18 to 34.[1] ,[2] Significantly, one in six jail inmates reports that he or she dropped out of school because he or she was convicted of a crime, was sent to a correctional facility, or was involved in illegal activities.[3] Nearly 60 percent of black men who are high school dropouts have done time in prison by their mid-30's.[4] About two-thirds of people in prison and jail were employed - either full- or part-time - during the month before they were arrested for their current offense.[5] Despite this relatively high employment rate, research indicates that individual earnings prior to incarceration are low. For example, of those in jail who were employed before their most recent arrest, the median income was less then $1,000 per month.[6]


http://www.reentrypolicy.org/Report/PartII/ChapterII-B/PolicyStatement15/ResearchHighlight15-1

100 to one, most of the states that showed green would be blood red if it could show the number of criminals who own illegal guns.

And the states that are red showed green when it comes to violence with guns.

When you look at the overall poverty rate in the USA, there is no correlation between people who commit murder and the poverty rate of different ethnic groups. In short, you can't blame poverty for a person's choice to commit murder.

People who end up in prison because they committed violent crimes are in prison because the moral decay in their souls led them to commit violent crimes.

As it turns out, it isn't popular to talk about moral decay, let alone acknowledge its existence within people.

Political Incorrectness

When you look at the statistics, it is the high concentration of Blacks that weigh the gun violence. If you remove the black gun violence from the statistics, the view changes dramatically. It is not the "American Gun Culture" that is the problem. It is the inner city black culture... statistically.

... which is one reason other races and cultures tend to move away from them. Living in Texas outside the big cities with neighbors who are mostly all armed makes you safer. Living in the inner city of any place in the US, including Texas, you are not safe.

sigh, yes individuals make individual decisions based upon their individual morals''
but morals dont develop in a vaccuum


which is why the sexually offended are more LIKELY to become sexual offenders, and the criminally exposed are more likely to become criminals,, etc,,,,

many factors can influence the moral decay or strength that an individual develops 'in their souls'

yep, its 'race' and not conditions that makes all the difference,,,

During the NAACP's D.C. banquet of 2004, American comedian Bill Cosby dared to address the factors that contribute to moral decay. African-American columnist Star Parker writes the following:



As for the significantly-high black-on-black murder rate in the USA, that rate could simply be the result of where the perpetrators live. Densely-populated urban areas have been known as areas of violence as long as there have been densely-populated urban areas, even when there were no guns to control. The high black-on-black murder rate in the USA could simply be the result of the USA’s African-American population being heavily concentrated in urban areas.

Anyway, it is foolish to claim, suggest or imply that a person experiences moral decay because that person lives in poverty. There are plenty of people around the world who live in poverty and who do not participate in violent crimes.

Moral decay is an internal issue, not an external one. It cannot be remedied through government interaction, but that fact doesn't stop some people from wishing that the government can provide a remedy to moral decay.

Whenever people look to the government to solve all problems, they will favor living in a state in which a large government is favored, such as the state of California.

When people look to something other than the government to solve all problems, they will favor living in a state in which a small government is favored, such as the state of Texas.

it is foolish to imply your neighbors race is relevant to the gun culture of a state which was the original topic I was replying to,,,,