Our so-called "Violent Culture"

Watching and listening to the media, especially as of late, one would think that we Americans have the most blood-thirsty violent culture in the world; so I decided to do a little digging to see exactly where we rank.  I know that statistics can be tricky, so I always have a keen ear to them when they are being cited by the media, whether it be conservative or progressive, and then I go do my own research to see where the figures are coming from.  I began to notice that the stats on gun deaths that were being spewed by many in the main stream media weren't broken down to per 100,000 people, which is very necessary to take into account if one is to have an accurate idea of scope.  For example, I heard one report that compared US gun deaths to Switzerland (who also has a gun culture).  How can you compare a country roughly the size of Maryland to the entire US without breaking it down to per 100,000 people and keep a straight face?  

What you NEVER hear them talking about is where we rank with the world as a nation in overall violent crime. To me that is important, especially when comparing to other countries with very strict gun ownership laws.  And due to the media spin, I see many Europeans who are now afraid to vacation here because of our supposedly violent society.  Why do you suppose that is?  Let's have a look...

Let's start with exactly how many guns we own compared to the rest of the world.  These maps were compiled by The Guardian Reporter Simon Rogers.

World gun ownership - This map shows how many guns per 100 people are owned world wide:

Yes indeed.  We have the highest rate of gun ownership in the world, no doubt about it.

Now lets look at world gun death rate per 100,000 people:

The fact is, we rank toward the bottom.  If number of deaths were directly related to our recklessly liberal gun control laws, as they would have us think, we would be dark purple on this map (and Chicago would be the safest city in the country).  But we're not (and it isn't).

Next, I wanted to see where we rank in the world with regards to overall violent crime considering how many more guns we have compared to the rest of the world.  I was shocked.

I couldn't find a graphic comparing the US in the rankings in overall crime, but to have a comparison, here is how Europe lines out with overall violent crime:

According to the FBI official report last year, there were 386.3 violent crimes per 100,000 people in the US in 2011.  Compare that with any of the numbers in the right hand column in the graphic above, and we rank well below ANY of the countries in Europe for violent crime.

As a matter of fact, violent crime in this country has been steadily decreasing over the last ten years.  Here is a graph from the same FBI report reflecting the last five reported years:

These figures speak for themselves.  I'm really tired of hearing about how this and that fuels our violent, blood thirsty culture.  We really aren't. and I'm tired of feeling beat up having been raised in a self reliant culture that includes hunting and guns and responsible ownership.  And I'm sorry, but I don't want to give up my right to have guns, nor do I want the government to have a comprehensive list of law abiding gun owners to make it that much easier to take them away, should the day come.  Period.  I'm also tired of politicians using isolated incidents as a means to further an agenda - whether the agenda is to sell more guns for Walmart or compile a list of gun owners for heaven knows what or who.  We all know damn well, the criminals in possession of firearms won't be on that list, so why have it?  It has nothing to do with me fancying a standoff with a drone or a tank, as some of the sillier memes I have seen floating around would suggest - for me personally, it has more to do with having the ability to protect what we have worked so hard to have, should society indeed break down.  Once liberties are lost, they are so incredibly difficult to regain.

According to the Center for Disease Control, I have a better chance of dying from a misdiagnosis in the hospital than I do from a gun-related death in this country; and I hold to the theory that there would be a LOT more violent crime in this country if the criminals were assured that the law abiding citizens they meant to assault weren't armed.  Look at the stats from other countries.

I want to take it one step further and break down some statistics on gun-related deaths and why they occur. Something else you don't hear the media talking a whole lot about.  Why not?  You have to ask yourself.

For example, over half of gun related deaths are suicides with an incredibly disproportionate number of them being veterans - a fact I find overwhelmingly appalling.  Veterans are attempting suicide at the rate of 48 per day with 18 of those attempts succeeding.  Where's the media driven outrage over that?  Why aren't we mobilizing to do something to help our service people who are being re-upped as never before in history to fight in wars we know less and less why we are fighting, and give so much of themselves already - we CAN do better by them; but where's the push for that?  Now it appears that the rhetoric around mental health and screening has the potential of keeping vets from seeking help they may need to avoid being categorized and ending up on some list as potentially dangerous.  As overall violent crime and gun deaths have declined over the last two decades, suicides among all age groups and races have continually increased since 2006.

This chart by FactCheck.org reminds us that not one single statistic tells the whole story.

With that in mind, if we are really worried about gun-related deaths, why aren't we spending our precious resources to focus on suicide prevention?  What would it really take as a culture to improve upon that statistic?  It would take having a good hard look at causation, and I have a feeling those at the top aren't all that interested in digging that deep.  I haven't heard one feasible proposal on gun control that would have prevented any of the recent horrific tragedies that monopolize the current conversations, but I've heard plenty of proposals that will lead to a comprehensive list of law-abiding citizens that own guns.  You have to ask yourself why they are so hell-bent on compiling that list knowing full well that the dangerous criminals won't be on it.  Seems fishy to me - especially after doing some digging of my own and seeing where we really stand as a nation and supposedly "violent culture".