Several big U.S. cities see homicide rates surge

[SecularMotion]

After years of declining violent crime, several major American cities experienced a dramatic surge in homicides during the first half of this year.

Milwaukee, which last year had one of its lowest annual homicide totals in city history, recorded 84 murders so far this year, more than double the 41 it tallied at the same point last year.

Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn said the mounting homicide toll in his city of 600,000 is driven by Wisconsin's "absurdly weak" gun laws – carrying a concealed weapon without a state-issued concealed carry is a misdemeanor in the Badger State – as well a subculture within the city that affirms the use of deadly violence to achieve status and growing distrust of police in some parts of the city.

Milwaukee is not alone.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/07/09/us-cities-homicide-surge-2015/29879091/

[Fred Sanders]

1. "Absurdly weak" gun laws in a nation of 320 million guns. What could go wrong?

[friendly_iconoclast]

4. It's still illegal everywhere for convicted felons to possess firearms.

Perhaps you'd like to make it double super illegal?

[blueridge3210]

2. Is there any evidence that the additional homicides

have been committed by anyone who was otherwise legally permitted to carry a firearm? If not, then the reference to "concealed weapons" is a classic misdirection. This is why it is difficult to engage in a discussion regarding firearm violence; one side attempts to misdirect and present a dishonest argument.

From the article: "– as well a subculture within the city that affirms the use of deadly violence to achieve status and growing distrust of police in some parts of the city."; this seems to be a greater concern that whether some otherwise law-abiding person is carrying a firearm without a concealed carry permit.

[friendly_iconoclast]

5. How gauche of you to mention such inconvenient truths...

[blueridge3210]

8. Yes, you're right.

Clearly the lack of response by the OP is an indication of how "gauche" the inquiry was.

I wonder why our "cut and paste" spam expert seldom responds to legitimate questions regarding his google dumps? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Duckhunter935]

12. Yes we do. nt

[ileus]

3. Why are cities so violent...why can't they be as harmless as your typical rural town?

[beardown]

6. The clip posted does not seem to reflect the overall article

I read where federal and local funding cuts are to blame. I read where two cities the violence spiked after the police killings of black men. I read where synthetic drugs are causing it in one city. I read where some cities, such as New York, are coming off of record lows so the rate has no where to go, but up. I read where towns with tight restrictions have seen increases, while towns like Phoenix (wild west) have seen declines.

I'm not sure why Wisconsin's 'absurdly weak' gun laws increase murders in some non-Wisconsin cities with strong gun laws and decrease murders in some non-Wisconsin cities with weak guns laws. These Wisconsin guns laws apparently encouraged police in two non-Wisconsin cities to kill suspects under questionable circumstances.

These Wisconsin gun laws are as powerful and fickle as any gun laws that I have ever read about.

Personally, I think that highlighting the Wisconsin gun law statement was probably not a very representative statement to show the gist of the article.

Thanks for posting as I think that it clearly shows that murders and gun violence is a complex issue that is likely driven by non-gun factors, such as police perception, poverty, and racism.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

7. "I'm not sure why Wisconsin's 'absurdly weak' gun laws increase murders..."

We see similar arguments concerning Chicago's gun violence. Chicago has the model gun law regime yet its gun violence is off the leash.

"Lax gun laws elsewhere allow for the illegal importation of guns!" we're told. Yet, those areas with lax gun laws seem to have lower gun homicide rates.

[Eleanors38]

9. And Detroit's homicide rate in 2014 was its lowest in 47 years.

That from the Jan 5, 2015 ed. of the Detroit News.

This is the city where the police chief recommended to its citizens that they arm for self defense partly because the police response times are measured in dozens of minutes. A report similar to the OP's on NPR cautioned against drawing any conclusions that there was a general trend upward in homicide rates.

[benEzra]

10. The fact that Baltimore and Syracuse have seen *their* gun homicide rates skyrocket,

after enacting extremely punitive gun restrictions aimed at gun enthusiasts, seems to undermine your hypothesis a bit.

[blueridge3210]

11. If "seems to undermine your hypothesis a bit."

means "blows it completely out of the water", I would have to agree with you. I wonder if the author of the OP has any thoughts?

[the band leader]

13. Milwaukee has seen a 500% increase in heroin deaths over the past 9 years

and a 33% decrease in homicides over the same period.
Heroin is clearly a larger problem.
so why is Milwaukee focusing on guns as opposed to, say, Heroin?


2014 statistics: Heroin-related deaths outpace traffic deaths in Milwaukee County