geez, will we ever stop killing each other?

[Rokenn]

Four dead at University of Arizona nursing school

Not as long as nut cases exist. One thing you do have to remember though. It seems that a day doesnt go by now that we dont hear about someone ebing killed or maimed, but the percapita occurances aren't really all that much higher than years gone by, we just have the technology that allows us to hear about everything that happens now.

[True_Moose]

Not true. Mass killings are a recent phenomenon because of those exact same media you just described, Magik. The first real mass killing was in the U of T clocktower in the 60s, but that was isolated. It really started growing in the 80s, escalating to it's current rate of about 1-2 per month in the States, 2-3 per year in Canada. It's just a sad fact of the times: these people are not only nut cases, but they also get the "glory" and attention that mass media brings.

[ 10-28-2002, 08:09 PM: Message edited by: True_Moose ]

[Sir Goulum]

The sad fact is: Probably not. As True-Moose said, they are not only nut-cases, but they do it for the attention and media, partly, as well. Some, may be just be mentally handicapped and not know any better, but the rest... [img]graemlins/1disgust.gif[/img]

[Larry_OHF]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Murder, rape and every other violent criminal act except aggravated assault rose last year, the FBI said Monday in reporting the first year-to-year increase in overall crime in a decade. The number of murders increased for the second straight year, following several years of decline, according to the FBI, which compiles its annual survey from crimes reported by 17,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide. The 15,980 murders represented a 2.5 percent increase over 2000, while forcible rapes were up less than 1 percent and robberies rose 3.7 percent. Aggravated assaults fell by a half-percentage point, reaching its lowest level since 1987. The FBI did not include the September 11 deaths at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the plane crash in Pennsylvania. These deaths, the FBI said, "are different from the day-to-day crimes committed in this country." The report listed the total number of September 11 murder victims reported by law enforcement agencies as 3,047. Of those, 2,823 occurred at the World Trade Center, 184 at the Pentagon and 40 in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, the FBI reported. The total number of crimes rose 2.1 percent last year, the first increase from year to year since 1991, the FBI said. But overall crime still is down 10 percent compared with 1997, according to the report. Property crimes up, too Property crimes such as burglary, larceny and arson, with no threat of violence, rose 2.3 percent, to 10.4 million cases. The total value of stolen property was pegged at $17.1 billion, with motor vehicles and jewelry accounting for the most money. About a third of stolen property was recovered. The FBI report differs from a survey done earlier this year by the Justice Department, which identified a drop in all violent crimes except murder in 2001, based on interviews with victims. Murder is not included in that survey, and the FBI cautions against comparing the two reports. Despite the increase in murders, the FBI said the overall number still is down nearly 33 percent from 1992. Murder accounts for only about 1.1 percent of the nation's violent crime, with aggravated assault making up about two-thirds of the cases and robbery another 29 percent. There were 6,750 white murder victims, 6,446 who were black, with the remainder a mix of other or unknown races. Men were far more likely than women to be murdered. Firearms accounted for 8,719 slayings, or about two-thirds, followed by knives, "personal" weapons such as fists and feet, blunt objects and such methods as drugs, strangulation and drowning. There were 10 murders-by-poison in the United States last year, according to the FBI. Police were able to make arrests in about 20 percent of all cases. They did better with violent crimes, solving 46 percent, including two-thirds of all murders. Burglaries remain the toughest cases to crack, with just 13 percent of offenses resulting in arrests. There were more than 2.3 million arrests for crimes tracked by the FBI in 2001, down less than 1 percent from the year before.

[ 10-28-2002, 09:10 PM: Message edited by: Larry_OHF ]

[Sio]

Fo more insight into media and killings and the glory they give to them I really reccomend watching 15Minuits with Robert De Niro and Kelsey Grammer, I saw it the other week and it opened my eyes quite a bit on the gloryfying of killings

[Gromnir]

I have to say that if there is a chance that they can get away with it mass killings will always be around.

Just thought some hard numbers would be appropos.

Anyway, the latest actual statistics (for Y2000) read as follows:
Leading causes of death:

Heart Disease:■ 710,760
Cancer:■ 553,091
Stroke:■ 167,661
Chronic lower respiratory diseases:■ 122,009
Accidents:■ 97,900
Diabetes:■ 69,301
Influenza and pneumonia:■ 65,313
Alzheimer's Disease:■ 49,558
Kidney diseases:■ 37,251
Septicemia:■ 31,224
Suicide: 29,350
Liver disease:■ 26,552
Hypertension/renal disease:■ 18,073
Homicide (all causes):■ 16,765
Pneumonitis:■ 16,636
All other combined:■ 391,904

Total deaths by gunshot: 28,663

Circumstances of gunshot deaths:
1.■ Suicide: 16,596 (53%)
2.■ Homicide: 10,806 (38%)
3.■ Accident: 774 (2.7%)
4.■ Police: 258 (0.9%)
5.■ Unknown: 229 (0.8%)

As a percentage of the total U.S. population:
-- Gunshot homicide deaths (10,806) : 0.0036%

And for comparison purposes:
-- Death by alcohol (19,358): 0.0062% [excl. alcohol-related accidents]

In other words, you're almost twice as likely to die of alcohol poisoning than by gunshot-homicide.■

I know the news makes it sound like we are dropping like flys from guns, but the mass media can't really do much with these numbers, so you don't see them often unless you go looking for them.

The Source is here: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr50/nvsr50_15.pdf

That is the Center for Disease Control, which is also responsible for tracking all cause of death type statistics in the USA.

[Barry the Sprout]

I don't doubt thats its not a large percentage of the population that is actually killed by gunfire MagiK. But I think that most people would agree if I were to say that it is still too big, whatever it is.

Originally posted by Barry the Sprout: I don't doubt thats its not a large percentage of the population that is actually killed by gunfire MagiK. But I think that most people would agree if I were to say that it is still too big, whatever it is.

Well at least you and I have one point that we can agree on. We both think that too many people are being killed. We disagree on the whys and wherefores and who or what is to blame but we both would like to see the killing stop.

[ 10-29-2002, 12:00 PM: Message edited by: MagiK ]