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I didn't arbitrarily picking a year; the other poster whose data I'm refuting picked 2010. All I see is an increase in the past several years of deaths by firearm, not a decrease.
My response was to both of you. Neither of you are necessarily wrong about the numbers.... But that doesn't actually matter now does it? Statistics are noisey especially in such small sample sizes and it takes acutal specialization to properly analyze and derive meaning from them.
I have read all 201 posts in this thread. Thank you to everyone that gave their input.
I think it’s clear to see it’s not just about guns, it goes far deeper than that.
Over-medicated kids, lack of exercise to channel kid’s energy, (gym or recess often gets cut out of school), single parent homes. Good answers.
I was watching a tv series on how back in the day a boy had to ask a girl’s father if he could walk her home from church, “take up” with her. If that father said no, you better not bring your hide around that girl no more. That’s because good fathers were wise, they had a good reason, they were strong, their word meant something.
Nowadays, plenty of parents have no idea what their kids are doing, or who their hanging out with.
Social isolation, I think this is huge. You had strong support systems back in the day. You had a tight group of friends, neighbors who always knew where the kids were, school sports teams, going on double dates, going cruising. Now, kids hang around their room texting their “friends”, or in general glued to their screens.
I saw lack of empathy. The word empathy sounds fru-fru, but it just means being able to see the other person’s point of view, to walk in their shoes.
It’s a societal thing. The gun is just the instrument used.
Major societal change will not come either fast or easy. But, if you have a teenage son, pay attention to him and his daily activities and don't put him on popular drugs. Limit electronic devices. Encourage face to face social interactions with others. Talk to him about his interests and his feelings. Develop his empathy...
Some of these parents couldn't get help (Tucson, AZ), were themselves mentally ill (Sandy Hook), disagreed about the type of intervention their son needed (UC Santa Barbara/Isla Vista), or refused to see the signs (Columbine).
DEFINITELY the breakdown of families. 40 years ago single-parent households were less, and couples didn't just divorce nearly as much back then as they do now.
Divorce (or not having a daddy in your family atructure) can be extremely hard on a child.
If you click the link on the Guardian article, it takes you to the CDC's document. You just can't copy the link. Maybe the difference in numbers is that the CDC's document title reads: Firearm deaths by intent, 1999-2017
I clicked on the link and saw the numbers. They differ significantly from the FBI numbers. I don't see how the title would account for the differences but oh well. My main point was that the homicide rate since 2000 is significantly lower than it was from 1970 to the mid 1990s. It would seem logically speaking the firearm homicide rate would have a similar decline, though I haven't done the research on that. Regardless of the manner of death, statistically speaking we're much safer today than during the time period I mentioned. Just goes to show the power of the media and how it influences public perception, and doesn't necessarily reflect reality.
I have read all 201 posts in this thread. Thank you to everyone that gave their input.
I think it’s clear to see it’s not just about guns, it goes far deeper than that.
Over-medicated kids, lack of exercise to channel kid’s energy, (gym or recess often gets cut out of school), single parent homes. Good answers.
I was watching a tv series on how back in the day a boy had to ask a girl’s father if he could walk her home from church, “take up” with her. If that father said no, you better not bring your hide around that girl no more. That’s because good fathers were wise, they had a good reason, they were strong, their word meant something.
Nowadays, plenty of parents have no idea what their kids are doing, or who their hanging out with.
Social isolation, I think this is huge. You had strong support systems back in the day. You had a tight group of friends, neighbors who always knew where the kids were, school sports teams, going on double dates, going cruising. Now, kids hang around their room texting their “friends”, or in general glued to their screens.
I saw lack of empathy. The word empathy sounds fru-fru, but it just means being able to see the other person’s point of view, to walk in their shoes.
It’s a societal thing. The gun is just the instrument used.
Well things have changed that's for sure. Can you guess on why the national homicide rate has gone from 9.4 per 100,000 in 1990, and 10.2 in 1980, to 5.3 per 100,000 in 2017? If issues you list in your post weren't as prevalent 30 years ago, there must have been something much worse going on 30 years ago that caused the homicide rate to be nearly twice what it is today. One thing is for sure, the media's reach is much greater today than 30 years ago. This allows all news, especially bad news, to be broadcast to the masses like never before for days on end, and analyzed to death.
Well things have changed that's for sure. Can you guess on why the national homicide rate has gone from 9.4 per 100,000 in 1990, and 10.2 in 1980, to 5.3 per 100,000 in 2017? If issues you list in your post weren't as prevalent 30 years ago, there must have been something much worse going on 30 years ago that caused the homicide rate to be nearly twice what it is today. One thing is for sure, the media's reach is much greater today than 30 years ago. This allows all news, especially bad news, to be broadcast to the masses like never before for days on end, and analyzed to death.
I'm guessing the war on drugs. I remember '90s Minneapolis here was nuts - murders like crazy. We had the nickname "Murderapolis" back then.
I'm guessing the war on drugs. I remember '90s Minneapolis here was nuts - murders like crazy. We had the nickname "Murderapolis" back then.
That's probably part of it, but only part. From what I've read even the so called experts don't know for sure why crime, especially the homicide rate, has dropped so much today. Theories include demographic shifts, the justice system locking up more people, less gang prevalence, better policing efforts to deter crime, etc. Even in Honolulu where I live things were much worse in the 70s and 80s, some of it due to more organized crime. In NYC they had a peak of over 2000 homicides in a year about 30 years ago, recently it's been in the few hundreds. It's just irritating when the ignorant insist the sky is falling today, when nothing could be further from the truth. There have ALWAYS been problems, some specific to each generation (ex. social media), but to say things are much worse today is just inane. We're much safer today than 40 years ago, that's a fact based on statistics, not an opinion or "feeling".
I have read all 201 posts in this thread. Thank you to everyone that gave their input.
I think it’s clear to see it’s not just about guns, it goes far deeper than that.
Over-medicated kids, lack of exercise to channel kid’s energy, (gym or recess often gets cut out of school), single parent homes. Good answers.
I was watching a tv series on how back in the day a boy had to ask a girl’s father if he could walk her home from church, “take up” with her. If that father said no, you better not bring your hide around that girl no more. That’s because good fathers were wise, they had a good reason, they were strong, their word meant something.
Nowadays, plenty of parents have no idea what their kids are doing, or who their hanging out with.
Social isolation, I think this is huge. You had strong support systems back in the day. You had a tight group of friends, neighbors who always knew where the kids were, school sports teams, going on double dates, going cruising. Now, kids hang around their room texting their “friends”, or in general glued to their screens.
I saw lack of empathy. The word empathy sounds fru-fru, but it just means being able to see the other person’s point of view, to walk in their shoes.
It’s a societal thing. The gun is just the instrument used.
All excellent points which I agree with. As to social isolation, technology is enabling a lot of that. There used to be fewer choices for entertainment and companionship so kids were forced to interact to some degree and share common experiences. People would bond over television shows, sports or hobbies. Now it's possible for everyone to be completely alone and seek out like minded individuals on the internet, thousands of miles away. That isolation perpetuates itself and further alienates the individual from society. Throw in some teasing or other setback and you end up with violence.
That's probably part of it, but only part. From what I've read even the so called experts don't know for sure why crime, especially the homicide rate, has dropped so much today. Theories include demographic shifts, the justice system locking up more people, less gang prevalence, better policing efforts to deter crime, etc. Even in Honolulu where I live things were much worse in the 70s and 80s, some of it due to more organized crime. In NYC they had a peak of over 2000 homicides in a year about 30 years ago, recently it's been in the few hundreds. It's just irritating when the ignorant insist the sky is falling today, when nothing could be further from the truth. There have ALWAYS been problems, some specific to each generation (ex. social media), but to say things are much worse today is just inane. We're much safer today than 40 years ago, that's a fact based on statistics, not an opinion or "feeling".
I agree.
And I think ultimately the "new normal" is just that...we will never be the same.
Society has changed for good in America.
There is going to have to be changes that most of us don't like. Metal detectors at places that in the past we would have thought were nuts to have metal detectors - things of that nature.
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