Crazy shoots 12 dead and injures 25

maybe it's the lack of sunshine in england and the great northwest?

 

Or the the extra "R"s on words like data. That would drive anyone bonkers.

Tom

 

I think this thread is fast headed for FHOPolitics. May as well get my licks in before that happens. Maybe push it along too.

They 'cope' by finding other means of violence to kill.

When reading mortality statistics in the UN Demographic Yearbook and a World Health Organization report on violence, about a decade ago, I found that the U.S. had:

* a higher than average murder rate for 'Western Industrialized' countries, but still lower than the world average;
* a lower than average suicide rate for 'Western Industrialized' countries, and still lower than the world average.

The poor countries tend to have high murder rates. The U.S. has a somewhat high poverty rate for a 'Western Industrialized' country.

The wealthy countries tend to have high suicide rates. While the U.S. rate is much more similar to that of a wealthy country than a poor country, it is very far from the 'leaders'.

Since the data was collected for those reports, the U.S. murder rate has fallen significantly. I haven't looked for more recent copies of these reports.

Back in the 1990s when the political spin doctors were reporting that the U.S. had the highest murder rate of any "Western Industrialized country", I noticed that they excluded the entire Western Hemisphere south of the Rio Grande. They had to, otherwise the claim was blatantly false. But numerous of those countries were still included in other kinds of 'Western Industrialized Country' comparisons.

While SCOTUS has not made a ruling, it has hinted to the contrary. See U.S. v Miller and several subsequent cases.

 

When I saw a breakdown of murder rates by state and province, it became clear that, outside a few anomalies such as Detroit and New York, there was no sharp change in murder rates at the US-Canada border. There was a general inverse correlation between latitude and murder rate.

And this pattern did not stop at the borders, north or south. Northern tier states generally had murder rates more similar to their Canadian neighbors than to the U.S. average. Southern tier states generally had murder rates higher than the U.S. average -- but lower than neighboring Mexico.

Suicide rates had the opposite latitude pattern, also not stopping at the U.S. borders. Nor even the borders of our hemisphere.

This data predated the murderous drug cartel wars in Mexico.

 

I was glad to hear there was some distance. The BBC report called it "spree killing," a pattern that after the first death, usually someone known, no one is safe until the killer uses their last round to suicide.

Personally, I like the zen of shooting:

A muzzle loader, the whole process is totally involving. Personally, I would have no problem if the Second Amendment were limited to weapons available when it passed. We need more flintlock.

I have tried shooting at a public shooting range and I don't like it. There are just one too many 'nut cases' wandering the ranges with no clue about how to hit their targets.

Bob Wilson

 

You see this same pattern with political leanings. The northern states are generally blue, and have political views that are similar with many Canadians.

Tom

 

A quick search of statistics on Wikipedia shows that about 23% of Canadian households have firearms compared to 40% of US households.

 

I don't see that pattern because it isn't at all true on this half of the continent, Dakota-Texas meridian and west. In fact there is a slight bias in the opposite direction.

But your pattern does apply to the other half of the continent, the Minnesota-Louisiana meridian and eastwards.

 

around boston, we call it 'datter'.

 

sad but interesting story happened a few months ago down in alabama, biology professor shot up a meeting room full of her peers when she didn't get tenured. at first, everyone thought it was an isolated incident in her life. after some digging, turns out there had been many violent outbursts and activities over the years as reported by former friends and collegues. beginning with what was thought at the time to be the "accidental" shooting/killing of her 18 year old brother in front of their mom in the kitchen with a 12 gauge. mom was connected and told the police cheif she didn't want to lose two childeren. now, they are reopening the investigation some 20 plus years later as a possible murder. as daniel said, big brains, but...