Why is the murder rate in the US so high?

Murder - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Can anyone elaborate? Is it the drugs? poverty? guns?

I mean, we have a death penalty for murder....on the flipside we allow guns in homes.

It's not just numbers, its a ratio. This is what i came to after doing some calc math.

Canada - .1757

France - .000015625 (how do they do it?)

USA - 5.6 (why are we so deadly)

Brazil - 3.0054644808743169398907103825137e-4 (lol wtf?)

Because ultimately, American culture is a more violent than other cultures.

It's tempting to just throw the problem at gun ownership and say that's it. I think that's not quite on the mark, personally. The US's problem is that our gun laws are too lax. Our background checks aren't worth a shit. I can get a handgun license at 21 that will never require me to renew it again. WTF?

The right to own a gun is in the constitution and that's not going to change, but that doesn't mean we need to be passing out free guns with the purchase of a 12-pack.

Originally Posted by Vinjeux

France - .000015625 (how do they do it?)

They don't take themselves so goddamned seriously, that's how.

Brazilians, too.

They play harder than they work. They're not wound as tightly as Americans seem to be.

Of course, this is my own observation. I've been to France, and the lifestyle is a lot more simple, but a lot less stress than in the US. Life isn't focused on GET MONEY, SPEND MONEY as much as it is here. People here would sell their soul if it meant they'd get a little richer. Not to say some people overseas aren't like that, but society doesn't really shove it down their throats like we have it here.

I don't even want to speculate about the guns. I'm sure it's got something to do with it, but I suspect the mental health of the nation has more to say about our murder rates than the gun control issues.

Why is the murder rate in the US so high? Boston Red Sox fans.

The real question is - why aren't more of them dead?

(Don't forget that murder doesn't require a gun, so bringing gun permits into this is moot. Kitchen knives don't require a permit and practically everyone owns a car. Murder is simply the method in which someone dies - be it manslaughter or otherwise.)

Originally Posted by LeHah

Why is the murder rate in the US so high? Boston Red Sox fans.

Jesus. Bitter much?

Originally Posted by Sassafrass

Jesus. Bitter much?

As opposed to 80 years of jokes about Babe Ruth and pianos falling by people who mispronounce every word containing a vowel in a second rate city? Not even close.

Quote:

It's tempting to just throw the problem at gun ownership and say that's it. I think that's not quite on the mark, personally. The US's problem is that our gun laws are too lax. Our background checks aren't worth a shit. I can get a handgun license at 21 that will never require me to renew it again. WTF?

The right to own a gun is in the constitution and that's not going to change, but that doesn't mean we need to be passing out free guns with the purchase of a 12-pack.

American gun laws are hella restrictive short of outright banning firearms.

The problem isn't gun ownership -- criminals, by definition, don't follow the law, so stopping American citizens who abide by the law from owning weapons or making it harder for them to get them won't stop a bitch ass thing.

In order to support your point, you'd have to show that a substantial portion of these gun murders were done with legally purchased firearms.

Originally Posted by LeHah

As opposed to 80 years of jokes about Babe Ruth and pianos falling by people who mispronounce every word containing a vowel in a second rate city? Not even close.

So you're here to contribute absolutely nothing to the actual conversation then?

You're just going to sit there and talk trash about fans of a certain sports team in the middle of a discussion about murder rates?

As for the actual topic, here: why would people jump to the conclusions that guns are "probably" to blame for the high murder rate in this country? Criminals in any nation will likely obtain a gun, regardless of the law.

Originally Posted by Sassafrass

As for the actual topic, here: why would people jump to the conclusions that guns are "probably" to blame for the high murder rate in this country? Criminals in any nation will likely obtain a gun, regardless of the law.

I think you're much more likely to be bludgeoned to death in England than shot.

Of course, that's a tiny island. And we know how incompetent the US Gov't is at keeping things "controlled."

Well, I mean, let's face it: if you want to kill a person, there's more than one way to do it. You don't need a gun to murder.

Which is why I am a smidge confused about the gun control argument here. Like I said, I think it says something about the American psyche more than anything.

Why are we such murderous assholes? Is it REALLY because guns are more accessible here than in any other nation?*

*I don't actually know this.

The alienation Americans feel from each other, the lack of meaningful human connection, makes it easier to stifle empathy and end another's life. For all America's material wealth, its technical sophistication, it has failed to improve on the things humans need most. Psychiatric pharmacology cannot replace familial emotional connections or a sense of community. Convenience and assembly line processes cannot replace meaningful work that one can take pride in. American life becomes a competition for wealth, encouraging people to regard one another as enemies. The people, their needs perpetually unmet, forget exactly what it is they are lacking, and are puzzled and frustrated when their children are unsatisfied. Each generation becomes successively more disconnected from their own humanity. Violence in media is the result of this, a symptom, not a cause.

There are many reasons for murder in every culture. Americans simply more often lack the reasons to refrain from it: empathy, any shred of hope that their life could improve, having a worthwhile life they wouldn't want to lose due to incarceration or execution, etc.

As much as I hate people who want to blame the media for people's actions. Look at how backwards things are here. We censor the heck out of anything sex related but don't give a crap about violence. This is like completely backwards from other countries.

That and the wealth thing others mentioned. Makes me glad I don't care about money as long as I have enough to get by. Course I guess that just means I'm more likely to be murdered then the other way around.

I'm curious as to what the ratios for death from other causes are, amongst the countries listed in the first post.

On the other hand, it's really easy to say "I only need so much money enough to get by."

Think of all the unnecessary crap Americans buy - how much shit do you have laying around on your shelves that you never use? The things you purchase "just because." What is "enough to get by?" Enough for food, shelter, and warmth? Is it because that's all you can afford? If you could afford more, wouldn't you have more? Where is the line drawn?

I agree with the majority of what Gray said, but at the same time, I don't think the world at large is without a lot of the same symptoms. The world is becoming a smaller place, and it's becoming the same-old, same-old everywhere.

Americans, I think, have just become so stressed out and so distanced from what is reality that they're losing themselves in their endless pile of stuff.

We're bred to think a college degree, a great job, and productivity in a meaningless job in a high-rise someplace is what we should all aspire to become. Creativity is lost, which in my opinion is a great outlet for people to get in touch with each other.

It may sound cliché, especially coming from me, but I think we've lost a sense of self. We're wrapped up in what we "should" be, and aren't focused enough on what we want to be. This, I believe, can cause a lot of societal problems. I know people who go through endless cycles of jobs, careers - even family - and they still don't know who they are or what they want. There's no cutting loose, there's no exploration of yourself, there's no doctor to tell you what you really need in lieu of writing something up for the pharmacist to prepare.

The answer isn't in drugs, television programs, self-help videos, or even in riches. It's in ourselves.

Brazil murder rate is biassed, the vast majority here is murder II or IV, the lack of a good health care and the fact that most police forces take forever to arrive at the scene is what raises mortality.

Originally Posted by Sassafrass

So you're here to contribute absolutely nothing to the actual conversation then?

Good job, the fat girl can't put down her box of donuts long enough to read what I did post...

Quote:

(Don't forget that murder doesn't require a gun, so bringing gun permits into this is moot. Kitchen knives don't require a permit and practically everyone owns a car. Murder is simply the method in which someone dies - be it manslaughter or otherwise.)

Congrats on being willfully ignorant!

Originally Posted by LeHah

Good job, the fat girl can't put down her box of donuts long enough to read what I did post...

How's that one-trick pony thing working out for you?

Originally Posted by Night Phoenix

American gun laws are hella restrictive short of outright banning firearms.

The problem isn't gun ownership -- criminals, by definition, don't follow the law, so stopping American citizens who abide by the law from owning weapons or making it harder for them to get them won't stop a bitch ass thing.

In order to support your point, you'd have to show that a substantial portion of these gun murders were done with legally purchased firearms.

Compared with other countries we are insanely lax - of course, I do live in the Midwest, so it's hard to say comparatively what things are like in coastal cities. Here in Indiana though there's more ways to get a gun than I'm able to count.

I don't mean to argue for more gun control...but Indiana at least could definitely use smarter gun control. I basically just have to show up and say that I'm not a felon and a day later I can go out and legally get a firearm - provided the vendor actually cares that I'm licensed to own one.

A lot of murder crimes are done with guns - and I don't think we need to necessarily do more blanket restrictions on ownership...well, you know where I'm going with this, already covered it.

Even more legal restraints would make it difficult to obtain a gun illegally. I know ultimately it's not going to stop a criminal who wants to kill somebody, but I can't imagine it wouldn't help at all.