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Why does the US have so many murders?

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Heshinsi said:
Ohio has a population of about 11 million. Canada has a population of almost 35 million.

Ohio- 520 murders last year
Canada- 543 murders in 2012

Higher population and diversity (Canadian major cities are some of the most diverse regions in the world) doesn't explain this.
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It's too cold to go out and murder people in Canada. Not worth the effort, thus lower numbers?
 
Well compared to the murder rates in the countries of Central America we look like a quiet, peaceful nation.

SO THERE!!!
 
LiamA said:
The point is that relatively few murders are committed with rifles period, much less scary rifles.
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The facts bear this out. By volume far more murders are committed with handguns.

Rifles, specifically military style semi-auto chambered in 5.56mm, do seem to be the weapon of choice for shooting spree mass murderers, though.
 
Trouble said:
The facts bear this out. By volume far more murders are committed with handguns.

Rifles, specifically military style semi-auto chambered in 5.56mm, do seem to be the weapon of choice for shooting spree mass murderers, though.
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Right....but in the grand scheme of things that's an EXTREMELY small percentage of the problem....
 
LiamA said:
The point is that relatively few murders are committed with rifles period, much less scary rifles.
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Fair enough. But there is simply no rationale to permit the ownership of military style weapons by civilians. Handguns too. Less than 10% of murders in the UK are carried out by guns, in the US it is over 60%. Guns are the problem and the US needs to begin banning them.
 
Oriel said:
Yes. The M4 Carbine is available to both civilians in the US as well as national armies.
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The m4 military issue. Takes a class 3 license and about 20 grand. Very few can afford them let alone, afford them. Pistols and shotguns are the major killers. Outside of the high end cartels and gangs. Very few have m4 or any semi auto assault rifle. Banning guns doesn't fix the US, we have around 150 million floating around the US.
 
daw840 said:
4.7 murders per 100,000 people doesn't really seem that horrible. It's fairly far down the list....
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Germany has a ratio of 0.8 per 100,000. Compared to developing countries it is fairly modest, but it's high by the standards of developed nations.
 
Trouble said:
The facts bear this out. By volume far more murders are committed with handguns.

Rifles, specifically military style semi-auto chambered in 5.56mm, do seem to be the weapon of choice for shooting spree mass murderers, though.
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True. But a spree killing can be done with handguns as well. Virginia Tech points this out. Dude was using a 9mm and a .22.
 
Oriel said:
Germany has a ratio of 0.8 per 100,000. Compared to developing countries it is fairly modest, but it's high by the standards of developed nations.
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Not saying it couldn't be better....but it's certainly not completely awful. You've got a much better chance of not being murdered here than say the Honduras!
 
Oriel said:
Fair enough. But there is simply no rationale to permit the ownership of military style weapons by civilians. Handguns too. Less than 10% of murders in the UK are carried out by guns, in the US it is over 60%. Guns are the problem and the US needs to begin banning them.
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It just isn't going to happen. The culture is so ingrained here. It just.....isn't happening.
 
evil solrac v3.0 said:
I can't check the link I am at work right now but if this is one of those "it looks all big mean so it must be a military gun" arguments then you are wrong. and again, most murders commited via firearms are done with handguns not rifles.
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Indeed, which is why handguns should be banned. Nobody goes duck hunting with a Glock.
 
Oriel said:
Fair enough. But there is simply no rationale to permit the ownership of military style weapons by civilians. Handguns too. Less than 10% of murders in the UK are carried out by guns, in the US it is over 60%. Guns are the problem and the US needs to begin banning them.
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Not happening.

Oriel said:
Indeed, which is why handguns should be banned. Nobody goes duck hunting with a Glock.
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My father deer hunts with a scoped .44 caliber revolver.
 
Sutton Dagger said:
Can you provide some examples then, as the points he made seemed reasonable and in line with the evidence that I've been made aware of?
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Anything I type will be pure opinion and world experience. No studies or stats. I just think it's something more fundamentally basic, but I don't deny that his list are valid reasons why people justify violence. I just think the act of taking a life has a different meaning in America.
 
Oriel said:
Fair enough. But there is simply no rationale to permit the ownership of military style weapons by civilians. Handguns too. Less than 10% of murders in the UK are carried out by guns, in the US it is over 60%. Guns are the problem and the US needs to begin banning them.
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Banning them isn't going to happen. Smarter policies across the board from mental health to education to social infrastructure to rational gun policies that respect the 2nd Amendment but also takes the realities of our modern world and technology into consideration.

xtrasauce said:
Gun culture.
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Hunters, Recreational Shooters, Plinkers, Gun magazine readers are the reason Chicago is drowning in blood?

It's a complicated mix and there can be no doubt that firearms factor into it but let's not get ideologically myopic.
 
I'm an expert said:
Anything I type will be pure opinion and world experience. No studies or stats. I just think it's something more fundamentally basic, but I don't deny that his list are valid reasons why people justify violence. I just think the act of taking a life has a different meaning in America.
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...ok...? Can you still post them though, I'm curious now?
 
Valhelm said:
Hahaha, you really think that rap music leads to more murders?
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I'm not one of the people who blames rap music for all societal problems, it's just one part of the American culture that promotes violence. In American culture we have violence and masculinity joined at the hip, rap music is just one part of the violence, as is film, tv etc.
 
daw840 said:
Not saying it couldn't be better....but it's certainly not completely awful. You've got a much better chance of not being murdered here than say the Honduras!
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True, but it's not really a great comparison. America is a great country so it shouldn't be using crime riden hellholes as a yardstick for progress.

slit said:
It just isn't going to happen. The culture is so ingrained here. It just.....isn't happening.
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Sadly true.
 
Crayons said:
I'm not one of the people who blames rap music for all societal problems, it's just one part of the American culture that promotes violence. In American culture we have violence and masculinity joined at the hip, rap music is just one part of the violence, as is film, tv etc.
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etc like other kinds of music that also 'promote violence' etc?
 
Oriel said:
Indeed, which is why handguns should be banned. Nobody goes duck hunting with a Glock.
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but people that go hunting (as much as I hate hunting) are not going shooting sprees. it's not an accurate picture to portray. and you can forget the gun banning. it's not happening and it's a non-starter.
 
Slayven said:
Murders are homicides. And they been trending down for the last 25+ years. We have a higher population and diversity than most countries.
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I'm not sure that this is sufficient explanation. The homicide rate in the us is much higher than those countries with similar diversity.

I did find some interesting info. It surprised me. In a lot of countries, most homicide victims are women that know their murderer. That doesn't seem to be the case,in the us.

http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/offenses/expanded_information/homicide.html
 
Slayven said:
Murders are homicides. And they been trending down for the last 25+ years. We have a higher population and diversity than most countries.
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The higher population doesn't account for it. He was talking about a single state.
Apparently, only in that state the average murder is around 520 each year.
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That's if the figures are correct.
 
oneils said:
I'm not sure that this is sufficient explanation. The homicide rate in the us is much higher than those countries with similar diversity.

I did find some interesting info. It surprised me. In a lot of countries, most homicide victims are women that know their murderer. That doesn't seem to be the case,in the us.

http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/offenses/expanded_information/homicide.html
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I'm going to guess a large portion of our murders are for securing turf to sell illicit drugs.
 
If rap caused more murders, wouldn't the murder rate have gone up in the last 35 years? I think rap is just a reflection of shit people are dealing with in the real world.
 
evil solrac v3.0 said:
but people that go hunting (as much as I hate hunting) are not going shooting sprees. it's not an accurate picture to portray. and you can forget the gun banning. it's not happening and it's a non-starter.
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I never said people going hunting should be banned from having guns. Just certain types of weapons like handguns and assault rifles. Theres simply no need for them. If people want to exercises their second amendment rights give them shotguns or traditional hunting rifles. Theres nothing in the constitution that limits Congress's ability to restrict the TYPE of gun.
 
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