thats all fine, still not my preference to be where so many people feel the need or desire to have guns,,,,,if they feel so unsafe,, why shouldnt I,,,,?

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.

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

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

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,,,

Gun deaths are shaped by race in America. Whites are far more likely to shoot themselves, and African Americans are far more likely to be shot by someone else.

The statistical difference is dramatic, according to a Washington Post analysis of data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A white person is five times as likely to commit suicide with a gun as to be shot with a gun; for each African American who uses a gun to commit suicide, five are killed by other people with guns.

The slayings of all children are horrible, yet even in death, they are not treated equally.

If slayings happen in a single event, as in the terrible shooting deaths of 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., there is public and media outrage. And if the killing is believed to be racially motivated, as in the Trayvon Martin case, civil rights leaders bring thousands to protests, as they did in Sanford, Fla., to push for punishment of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch member accused of shooting Martin. All that is as it should be.

Yet if there are no guys like Zimmerman — who is of white and Hispanic background — to attack, there is often numbness, an unjustified nothingness when the issue is blacks killing blacks. The civil rights machines don’t crank up, the pulpits seldom roar with vitriolic sermons and editorials crying out loudly for an end to the black-on-black carnage are few and far between. In fact there is such a lack of programs, protest or caring about black kids getting killed, I wonder have their lives ceased to matter at all to the power brokers. As Charles Ramsey, the former D.C. police chief, reportedly said at a gun forum, “Nobody in this room would have known Trayvon Martin if he had been shot by a black kid.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that among 10- to 24-year-olds, homicide is the leading cause of death for African Americans, and other reports show that more than 90 percent of the violence is from other blacks, mostly from guns.

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."]

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

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.

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.

MOST Who commit violent crimes ARE impoverished

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

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.

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.

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

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'

Cosby had the temerity to deliver tough, critical talk about what too many blacks are doing with the freedom that civil rights activists of the 1960’s fought to achieve.

He contrasted the sixties generation with the new generation of black youth sitting in jail. “…..these are not political criminals. These are people going around stealing Coca Cola. People getting shot in the back of the head over a piece of pound cake.”

Cosby attributed the chaos to breakdown in values, family, and personal responsibility.