I love the Hur de durrr red state argument.

Don't blame him. It's a common talking point. It takes a lot of effort to start really drilling down into crime stats to try to understand what's going on.

I was young once, and believed the exact same thing he does. It's not an uncommon take.

cities are bound to STATE-level laws, just because a city has more crime (duh, they are generally bigger) doesnt mean anything really. what meaningful conclusion do you have to add? if you'd like to make an argument about this go ahead but its been debunked myriad times already. even if you compare just blue state cities to red state cities, the red state cities have significantly higher gun violence rates. no matter what factor you choose to cherry pick - the statitics bear out the same results

This post was edited by gnarjay on Feb 15 2024 05:08pm

Cities may be bound to state-level laws, but the cities themselves have a whole new set of laws and policies of their own, as well as added tax spectrums, housing restrictions, and a host of other bullshit you have to deal with.

Behaving as though Mayors and their administrations have no power is silly. Here I was trying to defend you, and you're falling back on nonsensical talking points. Ugh.

explain to me how a mayor or any other city leader can affect gun crime if their state has lax or no gun control laws

Um, cities have their own gun control laws. Weren't you aware?

Edit: Also, if we're being fair, using "Gun Control Laws" as a measure isn't really a thing either.

Take Oregon for example. Legal age to purchase a firearm is still 18. You can't buy smokes or vapes or booze or pot until 21. Firearms? 18. Even in the Portland area, gunshops are EVERYWHERE. Like, I knew fewer people who were NOT armed than people who were. Whether it was in small town (southern) Oregon, or smack dab in the middle of the big city. Everyone was armed. Yet until 2016, it was one of the safest cities and safest states in the entire nation, from a violent crime perspective. Murders could be counted without even taking off your shoes. BLM riots and Antifa riots have changed the picture in Portland itself, yet even today it's STILL far safer than cities with the most oppressive gun control measures in the nation, such as DC or Chicago or Baltimore or just take your pick.

Oregon is hard blue. Blue governor, blue senators, blue mayors in Eugene/Springfield, Salem, Portland, and the majority of the Portland suburbs.

Turns out, you don't really need gun control. It's something else that kept violent crime down. Any ideas?

Edit 2: Oregon has also ALWAYS had open carry. Wander into a walmart, you'll see 20% of the customers strapped. Nobody blinks. Concealed carry still requires a permit, last I checked. And seeing pickups with gun racks is the norm, not the exception. When I say "Everyone is armed" I mean it.

This post was edited by InsaneBobb on Feb 15 2024 05:33pm

The data is per capita.. do you even read what you write?

very few yes and theyre mostly democrat states. conversely, in MOST republican states, localities are PUNISHED if they try to enforce their own gun legislation. so i ask you again, how would a democratic mayor in a republican state affect gun control laws?

Go ahead and review my edit to the prior post. I'm doing my best to take you seriously, so I figured I'd give you a bit more effort.

LMK.

The map I posted showed homicide rates, in that case the number of homicides per year per 100k people.


Most blue states are rich and coastal while most of the red states are southern or midwestern and generally poorer. Are we really gonna compare crime rates between Arkansas and Massachusetts?


The vast majority of gun crimes are gang-related. Explain to me why we should expect stricter gun laws to have a noteworthy impact on gangs.

The most effective ways to reduce gun violence would be to crack down on gangs and dangerous drugs (meth, fentanyl, but not necessarily weed...), as well as addressing the mental health crisis. But that would be a generational task, so shrill voices on both sides instead shout "hurr durr, it's the guns that kill people" or "hurr durr, it's all the n***az fault".

This post was edited by Black XistenZ on Feb 15 2024 05:35pm