Legal Gun Owners Can Deter Crime, Says Detroit Police Chief

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

It's an even longer way from over 30,000 which would be the comparable figure if you include all gun related deaths. If gun deaths would occur in the UK at the rate that lives are wasted by guns in the US, the UK would have to have well over 6,000 rather than 146 gun related deaths. Put differently, the gun death rate in the US is more than 40 times that of the UK. And that is not at all surprising.

Indeed it is not.

[Darnell 8,480]

I pray you are feeling safer now that yer back in country.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I pray you are feeling safer now that yer back in country.

Feeling safer? I have never felt 'unsafe' in the UK, or the US for that matter. That said - the violent crime in some of the cities I lived in/near in the USA was off the charts. Even so, I have never felt the need to own a firearm. Some people clearly do - it's a different state of mind.

Going O/T I'm going to ask - why do you have this fixation with me (across multiple threads) posting things about the UK (or even of posting from the UK)? You seem too have a hyper-inflated sense of your own importance - as if noone is allowed to post unless you personally approve.

Maybe if I find myself posting on a site you run, or if somehow you end up running the show on VJ at some point then I'll take note. Until then - maybe you ought to get over yourself.

Edited January 6, 2014 by Papa Lazarou

[Merle 458]

Feeling safer? I have never felt 'unsafe' in the UK, or the US for that matter. That said - the violent crime in some of the cities I lived in/near in the USA was off the charts.

I don't feel unsafe in the US either. How would you compare the violent crime in the major cities in the UK compared to the US?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I don't feel unsafe in the US either. How would you compare the violent crime in the major cities in the UK compared to the US?

Speaking anecdotally, there is a gang crime in the inner cities in parts of London, Manchester, Birmingham etc and a gang-related stabbing will pop up in the local news a couple of times a month. Outside of that though, the most common type of violent crime is little more than people getting into fights after a night out. Fairly common through the UK (although there's a lot more of it up in Scotland).

The difference here and where I lived in NJ is of scale - while there might be a single gang related stabbing in a London borough, in Newark a whole apartment full of people might be gunned down.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Going O/T I'm going to ask - why do you have this fixation with me (across multiple threads) posting things about the UK (or even of posting from the UK)? You seem too have a hyper-inflated sense of your own importance - as if noone is allowed to post unless you personally approve.

Maybe if I find myself posting on a site you run, or if somehow you end up running the show on VJ at some point then I'll take note. Until then - maybe you ought to get over yourself.

He does the same thing with me about Canada. It's odd.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

He does the same thing with me about Canada. It's odd.

Especially so since you're from the UK.

[Danno 1,228]

People don't have to be products of their environment, but the fact is many are. If you've not seen The Wire, it might give you some insights into how this works.

Fix the city and eventually you'll fix the people.

People build cities..... not the other way around.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Back to topic. Legal gun owners have deterred many crimes. We have had numerous stories about said incidents posted here. The good guys do win once in a while against the criminals.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

People build cities..... not the other way around.

Not in the cases like Detroit. How does one take care of crime when the police are no where to be found? How does one take care of the streets if the services are nil?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Not in the cases like Detroit. How does one take care of crime when the police are no where to be found? How does one take care of the streets if the services are nil?

If the city is bankrupt and services are slashed to a skeleton crew, then the everyday citizens become 'law enforcement'.

That's happened before - it was called the Wild West.

Kinda doubt anyone seriously believes that was a good state of affairs.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

If the city is bankrupt and services are slashed to a skeleton crew, then the everyday citizens become 'law enforcement'.

That's happened before - it was called the Wild West.

Kinda doubt anyone seriously believes that was a good state of affairs.

The folks here that think it's a great idea are the ones that's so far removed from those neighborhoods, it's unreal.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

He does the same thing with me about Canada. It's odd.

He seems to think he's VJ's (self-appointed) public avenger.

[Danno 1,228]

Not in the cases like Detroit. How does one take care of crime when the police are no where to be found? How does one take care of the streets if the services are nil?

I would challenge you that most parts of the country could and would form their own "watch" or actual security force if no other were available.... this is exactly what we see during natural disasters.

Why has that same spirit not prevailed in Detroit or Camden?

A. Families build good citizens which build good communities.

IF you want to fix the Black areas, you have to recreate the black family.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Back to topic. Legal gun owners have deterred many crimes. We have had numerous stories about said incidents posted here. The good guys do win once in a while against the criminals.

Sure, but that is but a drop in the bucket compared to the extra gun violence we have. The gun violence that the abundance of firearms - and the easy availability of firearms for anyone who wants one - this abundance brings about. Again, the higher the gun ownership rate in a state, the higher the homicide rates.

Edited January 6, 2014 by Mr. Big Dog