4 ms·

New Hampshire doesn't have a city of the size of Stockholm, Oslo, or Helsinki in it. Large cities almost always have higher crime rates than rural areas. Clea

by syops 5y ago

New Hampshire doesn't have a city of the size of Stockholm, Oslo, or Helsinki in it. Large cities almost always have higher crime rates than rural areas. Clearly class and culture are part of the equation but I believe so too is the ready access to guns.

tjs8rj 5y ago
Ready access to guns, also ready access to alcohol, ready access to knives, etc these are all part of the equation, but I contend that they are so dwarfed by the other factors that focusing on them seems disingenuous and otherwise random except as a result of knee-jerk politics. So maybe cities have the same order of magnitude effect in increasing crime as guns do - what would you suggest we do about that? Should we lower violent crime by banning cities and banning guns, or should we focus on the root problems of culture, social cohesion, and poverty? Also: Switzerland also has a ton of guns and major cities, violent crime rate is near the bottom - is suspect because their culture, social cohesion, and efforts to minimize poverty.
- syops 5y ago
  I don't suggest anything other than what I wrote. Specifically, that comparing the crime rate of a rural American state that has no major metropolitan centers to the crime rate of Scandinavian countries which do have major metropolitan centers is not apt. Switzerland has a ton of guns but not a ton of ready access to ammunition. Also according to this article [1] the U.S. has far more guns per person than Switzerland. According to the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey, there are about 89 civilian-owned guns for every 100 people who live in the United States. Switzerland ranks third in terms of gun ownership, the Survey estimates, with 3.4 million guns among its population of nearly eight million. [1] https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21379912 https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21379912
- mbrodersen 5y ago
  You are absolutely right that culture and inequality is the key decider on violence. The US worship guns and the military to a degree I have never seen in any other western country. I am not surprised at all that individuals in the US believe they can fix things by shooting a random number of people or blow up federal buildings. I have lived and worked in western Europe, USA and Australia so I have seen the differences in culture up close.
  - tjs8rj 5y ago
    HackerNews isn’t for “scoring points”, your comment doesn’t contribute anything to the discussion. Make your snappy clap backs on twitter

by syops 5y ago

tjs8rj 5y ago

Ready access to guns, also ready access to alcohol, ready access to knives, etc these are all part of the equation, but I contend that they are so dwarfed by the other factors that focusing on them seems disingenuous and otherwise random except as a result of knee-jerk politics. So maybe cities have the same order of magnitude effect in increasing crime as guns do - what would you suggest we do about that? Should we lower violent crime by banning cities and banning guns, or should we focus on the root problems of culture, social cohesion, and poverty? Also: Switzerland also has a ton of guns and major cities, violent crime rate is near the bottom - is suspect because their culture, social cohesion, and efforts to minimize poverty.

syops 5y ago
I don't suggest anything other than what I wrote. Specifically, that comparing the crime rate of a rural American state that has no major metropolitan centers to the crime rate of Scandinavian countries which do have major metropolitan centers is not apt. Switzerland has a ton of guns but not a ton of ready access to ammunition. Also according to this article [1] the U.S. has far more guns per person than Switzerland. According to the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey, there are about 89 civilian-owned guns for every 100 people who live in the United States. Switzerland ranks third in terms of gun ownership, the Survey estimates, with 3.4 million guns among its population of nearly eight million. [1] https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21379912 https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21379912
mbrodersen 5y ago
You are absolutely right that culture and inequality is the key decider on violence. The US worship guns and the military to a degree I have never seen in any other western country. I am not surprised at all that individuals in the US believe they can fix things by shooting a random number of people or blow up federal buildings. I have lived and worked in western Europe, USA and Australia so I have seen the differences in culture up close.
- tjs8rj 5y ago
  HackerNews isn’t for “scoring points”, your comment doesn’t contribute anything to the discussion. Make your snappy clap backs on twitter