Crime

Homicide’s Hidden Stats

The eleven counties in the US with the highest number of homicides are (in order from most to least):

  • Chicago (Cook County)
  • Los Angeles
  • Harris County (Houston)
  • Philadelphia
  • New York City (all 5 boroughs)
  • Wayne County (Detroit)
  • Shelby County (Memphis)
  • Maricopa (Phoenix)
  • Baltimore
  • Dallas
  • Marion County (Indianapolis)

Those eleven counties had a total of 4,758 of the 21,570 homicides in the US during the year 2020. Those eleven cities saw 22% of all US homicides that year, despite the fact that they contain only 41.7 million people, or about 12% of the US population. Those eleven cities have a homicide rate of 11.4 per 100,000. The only thing that shocked me about this was that St. Louis and New Orleans weren’t in this list.

In fact, diving in deeper, there are 31 counties where 42% of US homicides take place. The most violent 62 counties (2% of the counties in the nation) contain 25% of the US population, but represent 52% of all US homicides.

Contrast that with the 1634 counties who had zero homicides in 2020, plus the 502 counties that only had a single homicide, and you have 502 homicides out of a population of 32 million people, a homicide rate of 1.52 per 100,000. That’s right- 18% of the nation (60 million people or so) lives in a county with no more than a single homicide.

The part that doesn’t surprise me was, when I tried to analyze these homicide stats in comparison to the racial makeup of those counties, there was no information publicly available. Since we already know that more than half of all homicides are committed by blacks, it is not surprising that those stats would be hidden, and I am sure that it isn’t Asian software engineers or Amish farmers who are committing the murders in this country.

Sources:

  • John Lott’s report to the Crime Prevention Resource Center
  • National Association of Counties
  • FBI 2020 supplementary homicide report
By Divemedic, ago

Your Employer Doesn’t Care

A 7-11 clerk was being attacked by a customer because she refused to accept a counterfeit $100 bill. Read what happened next:

Stephanie Dilyard was working alone when a customer attempted to pay for burritos, beef sticks, and ice cream with a counterfeit $100 bill. When she refused the transaction, the situation quickly escalated.

“He threatened me and said he was going to slice my head off,” Dilyard recounted. As she tried to call police, the suspect began throwing items and then came behind the counter. “I tried to run off, but he grabbed his hands around my neck and pushed me out of the counter space. That’s when I pulled out my gun and I shot him.”

Good on her. However, her employer didn’t agree: they fired her for defending herself. I used to get roasted for this on the now defunct Packing.org, but I think that, if a property owner prohibits carry, they should be subject to liability for not taking steps to defend you from criminals. Apparently, property rights are sacrosanct to the libertarian crowd. This is what an attorney had to say about the shooting:

Ed Blau, a criminal defense attorney, explained the company’s stance, stating, “7-Eleven as a corporation, they do not want all of their employees packing heat while working all over the country. That presents a tremendous liability risk for them.” Blau suggested that Dilyard might face challenges in pursuing a wrongful termination lawsuit, as the company’s policy was clear.

The libertarian crowd has long held that, if a property owner wants to prohibit weapons or self defense on their property and you get attacked by a criminal while on the property, well, that’s just too damned bad. That’s the risk you take while on someone else’s property. I wholeheartedly disagree. To me, this is no different than a property owner chaining the emergency exit shut, then an arsonist sets the building on fire. While the owner didn’t start the fire, his actions contributed to the loss of life that followed.

So back to the criminals on property discussion: A property owner or employer prohibits weapons. A criminal comes in and stabs you, but you were prohibited the most effective means of self defense. It should be left to a jury as to how much of the liability is on the property owner. Perhaps the jury rules 10%, or even 70%. Each case is different, that’s why we have juries in the first place.

Otherwise, you create the situation we have now- you are attacked by a criminal on someone else’s property. The property owner can’t be held liable for the actions of criminals, so they are free from liability. However, if that property owner doesn’t prohibit weapons or self defense, then the criminal who gets shot in self defense can now sue the property owner for damages that were the direct result of their criminal behavior.

What a perverse incentive that favors criminals.

To sum it up- your employer is in business to make money. They don’t care if you live or die, unless your death somehow hurts the bottom line. The reason for this is that our current legal system punishes property owners and shields criminals. That needs to change.

Now I am going to get off of here and go fly my DCS plane. I’m learning inflight refueling today.

By Divemedic, ago

It’s Not the Guns

Two kids had a minor altercation at school. They agreed to meet at a nearby park after school to fight it out. However, they were both black, so you know it didn’t end there. One of them shot and killed the other. Here is the picture of 15 year old murderer Jacori Redding.

Sure, he is under 18, but that is a grown man. He knew, or should have known, that killing is wrong. For that reason, he should be tossed in prison for the rest of his life. He was charged with manslaughter, but the sheriff says the kid was found in the school cafeteria shortly after the shooting, with the handgun still in his possession. So may I suggest to the authorities that you actually do your jobs by adding some more charges:

  • Possession of a firearm on school property
  • Possession of a firearm by a minor
  • Activate Florida’s 10-20-life enhancement

Still, we will be told that, since he is a minor, they don’t want to ruin his life because minors don’t understand right from wrong. The murderer was already facing charges of grand theft auto, and had other charges in his past. Letting him go seems to do nothing but encourage more illegal behavior.

They also need to find out where the gun came from, and file more charges for that. Was the gun stolen? Did an adult give it to him? We all know the investigation won’t go there, because it never does.

When I was a kid, I lived less than a mile from that school. It was a nice neighborhood back then, mostly technical workers and engineers working nearby at what was once Martin-Marietta. That changed over the years. The area is a crime ridden shit hole now.

At least no one of any value was killed. It isn’t like either of the kids involved in this were Fulbright scholars.

By Divemedic, ago

This Would Have Been a Comment

Miguel, formerly of Gun Free Zone, has posted a video over at his Substack. I recommend that you view it. I would have posted a comment, but posting comments over there is far too tedious. Here is what I wanted to say:

At that point, the dog is being used as a weapon in order to further what is now an armed robbery and aggravated battery. She clearly shows intent with the statements “Get him!” and “I will fucking kill you.”
Her, the dog, and her accomplice are all fair game for some freedom seeds.

By Divemedic, ago

Aloha Snackbar

More people from the religion of peace have murdered 6 people who were standing at a bus stop. They were stopped from doing even more damage by a student who got his a gun license about a year ago, and who shot the terrorists.

I used to carry my J frame for quick runs to the store. Not anymore. I have been only taking my 9mm Shield plus, or lately my M&P 10mm. That 10mm holds 16 .45ACP sized bullets and launches them at 9mm velocity. It’s the best of both worlds, with the only downsides being that it’s a bit tougher to conceal, and it has stiff recoil. My split times are about 10 percent slower and I have been wearing more Hawaiian shirts.

I like the ones from Tommy Bahama. They look good and the patterns both hide the gun well and bring the look of Aloha.

By Divemedic, ago

NY and GOA: A Larger Issue?

There is a case in NY that is important, where the U.S. Northern District Court ruled in Higbie v. James that New York’s concealed carry laws are violating the Second Amendment rights of nonresidents by making it nearly impossible for nonresidents to obtain a concealed carry license. It was sponsored by Gun Owners of America.

The plaintiffs in this case argued that they each have firearms licenses which permit them to bear arms in public in their respective states “and across most of the country.” They also claimed that New York does not permit them to carry their firearms while they are in New York solely because they are not residents or employees of the State. They argued that New York’s licensing scheme is an extreme outlier among the states because at least 27 states do not even require a permit to carry a concealed firearm in public, while the vast majority that do require permits will issue permits to out-of-state residents. The US District Court agreed, and struck down NY’s complicated and overly onerous regulations as being unconstitutionally designed to deny nonresidents their constitutional rights under the Second Amendment. The court ruled that state lawmakers can not restrict concealed carry licenses to maintaining residency, property ownership, or business interests in the state.

The tyrants of NY government attempted to make the argument that their licensing measures were not entirely prohibitive for non-residential applicants, saying certain guidelines allowed for those who owned habitable property or a business stake in the state to apply for such a license. In essence, they claimed that, because they allowed one nonresident to have a permit, this excused violating the rights of the rest of them. In essence, they are relying on the “token negro” defense. The court rightly called them out on this. 

Look, this case will have no direct impact upon the reality of CCW for nonresidents in New York. We all know that, because those ass clowns will simply find another way to violate the rights of US citizens while bleating loudly about the rights of illegal immigrants to take a dump on New York city streets. Even those residents who have permits nominally have to have criminal background checks, a mental health professional sign off on the permit, and multiple references.

The reality is that New York’s scheme is all about who you know and political payoffs when deciding who gets a permit. I know someone who has a New York carry permit. He also has a state police license plate, which starts with 1SP. He began telling me that the state police union had a series of special plates made, and they are only available through Hamilton county in New York. He claimed that this plate was given to “friends” of the police union, and the lower the number was that followed the 1SP, the more important you were to the cops. He said that this plate routinely gets him out of traffic and parking tickets. Not because he paid for it, nor did he jump through hoops. It’s because he knows someone, or as he puts it, “I’ve got a guy.”

This sounded like a lload of BS to me, so I activated my Google skills. What I found was that handing out special plate numbers is a common practice in New York. and I quote:

To some recipients, special license plates issued by the Saratoga County clerk are a symbol of county pride. For others, they are an inherited treasure passed on by a family member or loved one.
For many who have them — a list that ranges from county workers to state Supreme Court judges — an unwritten rule is that a lower number may indicate a special driver.
Indeed, an examination of the recipients of the special plates, which carry an “SP” prefix, shows they are coveted by a select group of government employees and elected officials, including judges, prosecutors, town supervisors, attorneys and political party leaders. The spouses and children of those people are also among those, estimated to be in the hundreds, who have the plates.

Now the SP prefix goes to Saratoga County. The 1SP prefix, which I can find little about, belongs to the State Police. This is how things are done there, from Concealed Weapons Permits to License plates, corruption and special favors rule the day.

They claim it is for “county pride” but I am sure there are not that many people who believe that. This is a way of announcing to the police that you are politically well connected and should receive special treatment.

The real impact of the Higbie case is that the noose is closing. The era of violating people’s rights to bear arms is closing through the courts. That doesn’t mean the fight os over. Evil, corruption, and man’s quest for power to rule others never ceases. That’s why the fight can’t either.

Donate to the GOA or the FPC. They are doing the work of patriots.

By Divemedic, ago

Warrants

The left is running around saying that it is illegal for ICE to arrest people unless they have a warrant. The idiots are injecting themselves into the situation by confronting police and demanding to “see the warrant.”

  • The leftist isn’t involved in the case. Random people can’t walk up to police and demand to see anything. The cops are under no compulsion to show you a warrant, nor to explain themselves to randos on the street.
  • The cops don’t have to be in physical possession of the court order or warrant in order to make an arrest. All they need is to know that the warrant or order exists. That’s why they call in the identification of people they are in contact with. If they call in your ID and are told there is an arrest warrant, it isn’t a “get out of jail free” card if they don’t have the physical warrant.

Stop being morons.

By Divemedic, ago