Evading Gun Violence
This New York Times article talks about the trends of murder in New York City over the last 3 years. It states:
“If the average New Yorker is concerned about being murdered in a random crime, the odds of that happening are really remote,” Mr. Farrell said. “If you are living apart from a life of crime, your risk is negligible.”
Criminologists confirm that assessment. “People will be shocked to see how safe it is to live in New York City,” said Andrew Karmen, a sociology professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and an expert on victimology. “Victims and offenders are pretty much pulled from the same background. Very often, young victims have young killers. Very often, the victim and killer knew each other.”
This position is something I have been thinking about lately. Particularly in regard to gun control. One of the arguments gun control advocates have adopted is that the US has more gun deaths than most other developed countries in the world. This kind of argument leaves one with the impression that at anytime anywhere one could be gunned down. Yet, for living in the country with so much gun violence I have only seen one gun, a rifle my father used to shoot rabbits. I have never seen a handgun. I have never seen a weapon pulled on me or anyone in my immediate surroundings. If not for the incessant whining of anti-gun advocates I would have no idea just how many people in this country are murdered by guns.
The fact that gun violence is so ‘ubiquitous’ and yet I have never actually seen it led me believe that gun violence is prevalent only to those that put themselves in situations were gun death is possible. I suspect the vast majority of those that perish from guns have had much more exposure to guns then someone like me. They may in fact know people who own guns and they may have seen those guns. They may actively seek a gun for their own personal use. At the very least, these people have a basic awareness of those in their environment who own a gun.
I suspect, those with a sense of where the guns are in their community, but fail to actively avoid situations where these guns might be used, constitute a large bulk of the murder by gun death. Probably those that perish in these circumstances are somehow involved in criminal activity. I must be absolutely clear about what I’m saying. I’m not trying to place the blame of a person’s death on their unwise decision to hang out with some guy totting a gun. In my eyes, it will always be the case that the guy shooting the gun is the one to be blamed for the murder no matter how imprudent it was for the victim to be there. However, when statistics are being used to convince me of gun control laws there is quite a difference between these two statements:
The US has one of the highest gun murder rates in the developed world.
The US has one of the highest gun murder rates in the developed world, which is mostly concentrated in areas where much criminal activity occurs.
The first statement makes the US seems extremely violent. The second statement simply states the obvious. Places where people are uninterested in laws are places were extreme violence occurs. The first statement leaves one with the impression that no matter what they do they are going to be the victim of gun crime, while the second statement makes it rather apparent that wise decisions will allow one to evade gun violence. Those interested in avoiding being gunned down should exert a degree of effort in avoiding situations were one might get gunned down.
Early this week a friend of mine mentioned how he and his girlfriend were walking down the street and when they turned the corner they saw many young men yelling and cussing at each other. Other men were driving down the street in their low riders playing their music loud and threatening each other as they passed by. Prudently, my friends turned back and went another way. The following day my friend had read in the paper that the night before several people had been killed in that area. Had those that perished exercised the same shrewdness my friends exercised they would not have died.