The media is responsible for the people’s erroneous view about guns and violence in society. Good work by CNN to get some facts and information into the debate.
“The good news is that as America becomes safer, fewer and fewer Americans feel the need for a weapon. The overall violent crime index has tumbled by one-third since the early 1990s. The worst crimes — murder and rape — have declined even more. American citizens are safer today from crime than at almost any time since record-keeping began, very likely safer than at any time in the history of the country.
Americans perceive these improvements in the safety of their immediate neighborhood. Back in the early 1980s, half of Americans said they feared to walk alone at night near their own homes. By the early 2000s, only one-third expressed such fears. (Those fears have ticked up a little in the last few years, even as crime rates continue to fall, but again they remain way below historic peaks.)
Yet unfortunately, Americans are not, however, nearly so accurate at assessing national trends. In the mid-2000s, when crime rates were declining fast, almost 70% of Americans wrongly said that crime rates had risen over the past year.”
We’re getting safer, but feeling more fearful. When drama is the key requisite for news programs as opposed to educating the public, this is what you get.
bleatmop
Mystro
The Arbourist
Dead Wild Roses 
4 comments
October 23, 2012 at 4:50 pm
Rob F
If you look at statistics you’ll find that a significant driver of crime (or more specifically, murder rates) is economic inequality. The more economically unequal, the higher the murder rate.
And in what is likely to be a surprise to no one here, those “law and order” conservatives are opposed to policies that increase economic equality.
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October 25, 2012 at 10:25 pm
The Arbourist
I assume you’ve been to the equalitytrust website?
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October 26, 2012 at 11:26 am
Rob F
Actually no, I’ve never heard of that site before. But it looks good. Thank you.
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October 26, 2012 at 9:56 pm
The Arbourist
My pleasure. Much of the statistical analysis/interpretation can be found in the book called the Spirit Level – a great read and contains great arguments for the structuring of society toward a more egalitarian format.
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