3 ms·

Violent crime has been on the way down since the '90s [1] (also when Doom came out), so public opinion will probably start to reverse. [1] http://www.wolframal

• hga 15y ago
  Those statistics don't matter a wit if the perception of violent crime stays high. Our media, with its "if it bleeds, it leads" attitude, plus all that "true crime" stuff, all the fictional stuff (books, TV, movies) based on violent crime, etc. etc. have glossed over that minor detail. Plus I believe there's been a sea change in both the reality and perception of "stranger" initiated violent crime. (See my added note above about deinstitutionalization.) Practically no place in America is considered "safe" any more, communities where you used to be able to leave your doors unlocked are no more, etc. etc. Look at the tension between helicopter parents and the "free range" children movement. Again, perceptions count, with the media expending so much ink and pixels on every stranger kidnapping or murder of a child. This also seems to be a wash with regards to the demographics of the baby boomers. Their large cohort of young men obviously drove up crime back then, but now the boomers are getting old---all are middle aged by now---and their need for effective protection that's not dependent on their declining physical strength is steadily going up. Plus their perception of their general security in the future has gone way down with the Great Recession and the trashing of their typical retirement investments (home, stocks).