There's No Such Thing as an "American" Homicide Rate

von Mises Institute ^ | 11/09/2017 | Ryan McMaken

[x1stcav]

We often hear about homicides are rampant in "America" — presumably caused by high levels of private gun ownership — but any serious look at the numbers forces us to refine our question and instead ask why some parts of the US have some of the lowest homicide rates on earth, while the situation in other areas is considerably different.

What Libresco did conclude, was that a host of societal issues are driving much of what we hear about in terms of so-called gun violence. Mental illness, suicide, gang violence, and domestic violence are all important factors that drive gun violence. The problem, Libresco admits, is that simply prohibiting certain types of guns doesn't really address these issues.

[gaijin]

Blacks.

Everyone knows it.

[from occupied ga]

I saw a movie about that. It was called "Schindler's List."

Liberals (anti-gunners) think that sort of a government is ideal as long as they're the ones in charge. After all they have a bone deep conviction that they know what's best for everyone, and an iron determination to force (the operative word being force) their silly ideas on the rest of us.

[from occupied ga]

No fanatic can be reasonable.

Gun control is one of the fundamental tenets of the religion of liberalism. When you disagree with this you're not really presenting an alternative point of view to be considered, but in the liberals' minds you're committing blasphemy. To them you are evil and must be destroyed.

[SandRat]

First define Homicide, then Murder.

The terms murder and homicide are often used in the news when one person has killed another person. However, they do not give a clear indication of which means what. This often results in people that are not well versed with legal terms to confuse the two words. Murder is actually a type of homicide. Let’s differentiate the two.

Legally, murder is the unlawful killing of another person with malice aforethought. Malice aforethought means that the murderer intended to kill the victim with his entire conscious mind. Murder entails that the person was in full control of his senses and that he wanted to kill the victim and may have premeditated the murder beforehand.

There are various degrees of murder, most commonly:

First degree – crimes of exceptional premeditation and/or cruelty

Second degree – killing with malice and no respect for the law, but with no prior deliberation

Felony murder – an accidental death that occurs during the commission of a felony

Most societies consider murder as one of the most serious crimes a person is capable of and it is a crime worthy of the harshest of punishment. This usually entails a life imprisonment, or in some countries, the death penalty. The seriousness of the crime is measured by the intent of the murderer, with the direst punishment reserved for first degree.

Homicide is an umbrella term that covers the act of one human killing another human, which could be lawful as well as unlawful. The term ‘homicide’ also includes killing someone with a purpose of doing an evil deed as well as accidently killing someone in self-defense. Homicide is not always a punishable act under the criminal law and the ruling depends on the type of homicide it is. Murder and manslaughter are considered as types of homicide. The term is often used when it is unsure how and why the victim has died. Once, that is proven and clear, it is then termed under words.

There are three types of homicide:

Justifiable homicide: This homicide is done for the greater good. This homicide is considered excusable under special circumstances that need to be extensively proven. A justifiable homicide includes killing a person that was a threat to the safety of society such as rapist, murderers, etc. Killing a person in self-defense is also considered as a justifiable homicide.

Criminal homicide: Criminal homicide is when a person unlawfully kills another person with the intention of doing harm to that person. Criminal homicide also includes unintentional killings, where an innocent dies by accident. In many jurisdictions, criminal homicide automatically calls for capital punishment. Murder, voluntary/involuntary manslaughter and assisting someone in suicide are all considered to be criminal homicide. However, the punishments for each differ depending on the circumstances.

State-sanctioned homicide: State-sanctioned homicide is when a person that is performing the killing is approved by the state to kill someone. This includes capital punishment, war and authority forces (i.e. police, FBI, sheriff, etc.).

Just thought you should know the difference., because Journalists sure don't.

[Sasparilla]

Most anti gun rights advocates will dismiss the author’s changed views completely.

[x1stcav]

Just thought you should know the difference., because Journalists sure don't.

Journalists? Hell, I didn't know the difference either.

Thanks.

[LouAvul]

Reminds me of a thread on FR recently concerning Al Bore's interview with a journalist and the journalist was asking for clarification on Bore's position. Instead of answering and reasoning, Bore dismissed the inquiry by asking, "Are you a denier?" The journalist repeated his question and Al dismissed all of it as a denier and walked off.

Liberals aren't just stupid and crazy, they're cowards.

[stockpirate]

Only if the Latino commits a crime against a black or white person. If the Latino is murdered by a black he is considered black, if thelatino murdersa black then he is white.

[exDemMom]

mostly, the rate of violence of all kinds is directly related to the number of blacks living in any given area. It’s really not hard to figure out, just politically incorrect to do so.

It is not the number of blacks, it is the type of neighborhood. Black people, unfortunately, seem to be highly represented in those neighborhoods.

I do not have statistics handy, but I think that Black people living in middle class neighborhoods are no more problematic than white, Asian, or Hispanic people in those neighborhoods.

[OttawaFreeper]

You could also make the argument (that would really strike at the foundation that ones like John Oliver and Piers Morgan base their thinking on) that for many years, it was easier to legally acquire and own various types of firearms in the United Kingdom (including handguns pre-Dunblane) than it was in New York City or Washington, DC. And yet, the U.K. still had firearms death rates lower than particularly these two areas in the United States.

Great Britain did not require permits for buying shotguns until 1967. Pistol licencing began during the Victorian Era, but only for a penny per licence and it was a revenue generating tool more than anything else. Modern regulations concerning that type of firearm and also rifles were not tightened somewhat until the 1920s. And during those years until the late 1960s, crime and violence rates remained consistently low. More modern legislation (introduced since Hungerford in 1987 and Dunblane in 1996)has been followed by crime and homicide rates far higher than they were when the laws were quite casual by comparison.

[Fireone]

Some continents have third world countries with borders, some have third world countries within their borders.

[x1stcav]

Like Minnesota?

[Don Corleone]

Chicago’s is higher than Afghanistan’s.

[umgud]

There is an African American homicide rate and there is an American homicide rate. Unrelated to one another.

There is a latino murder rate too, but they are lumped in with whites for counting purposes.

Remove the black and latino homicide rates and we wouldn't be having this conversation.

[super7man]

You will find your answer here, under the heading "The Complete Perversion of the Law"

Every 12th grader in the country should study Bastiat.

Bastiat

[Fireone]

Yup! Just like that!

[Fireone]

More specifically, Minneapolis/St.Paul. The rest of the state is pretty Conservative, for the most part.

[tiki]

Yo, it isn’t rocket science but it is politically incorrect, it is black on black violence, Hispanic on Hispanic violence and white poor on white poor violence.

Those who dwell on the government plantation perpetrate 90% of our violent crime. The drug trade especially but other property crime augments their government benefits. Crime is their career.

[semantic]

This is a really excellent point. The identical thought struck me particularly hard while we were in Italy a few weeks ago.

As a frequent visitor to Europe, one of the things that appeals to many/most people is the history, art & sophistication. Euros in general seem to be more polished, less rough around the edges; especially around their uncouth cousins, the Americans. And yet, like clockwork, the line up and kill each other by the millions.

I've actually come to the conclusion Euros are incapable of self-government. The average commoner has been manipulated and controlled for so long, that they don't have any instinct for self preservation. So, they enjoy life in all its trappings until their "boss" tells them it's time to party.

The US is definitely rougher and more independent. Like you mention, citizens have skirmishes with loaded weapons, resulting in higher homicide stats. But, unlike the Euros, at the end of the day, everyone in the US - 330m - speak the same language and abide by the same cultural standards.

It sort of like bend, but don't break. The Euros are beautiful, but tend to break.