Murder by Numbers from the American Thinker

I liked this article, Murder by Numbers, written by Randal Hoven at American Thinker.  The media can inflame the depth of our feeling about mass murder.  Their sensationalized coverage actually increases the incidence of subsequent murders by giving the murderer the notoriety he seeks.  This article describes the rates of murder and compares the US to other countries.  I found it fascinating.

For example:

• Over time, we are now at a 50 year low in murder rates, and we are at 40 percent of the peak rate we experienced in 1980.
• Compared to other countries, the US is average in its murder rate, with some surprising countries exceeding our rate.
• Compared state by state in the US to other countries, Minnesota has a lower murder rate than Canada taken as a whole.
• Compared to other countries, the rate of gun ownership has little to do with the murder rate, and if anything, gun ownership weakly reduces the rate of murder.

It is a good article and I hope you give it a look.. here  and at Hoven’s blog here.  The murders at the Connecticut  public school are a horror.  Many people have used our feelings of revulsion to promote their cause.  This article helps me keep their many claims in perspective.

I have a subtle disagreement with Hoven’s article.  The murder rate may have declined because of our extraordinarily high rate of incarceration.  We lock up more violent people, and Hoven acknowledges this factor.  He does not credit our increased quality of medical care with skewing the data.   We save more victims, so they become victims of aggravated assault rather than murder statistics.  Our rate of aggravated assault is high, though it too has fallen recently.

~_~_

I’ve a few notes on public debt before I can comment on school security.

Rob

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