I think you and davis are both right. We do have an exorbitant amount of violence--comparatively, but he's right that serious violence, including gun violence, has dropped markedly since the 90s. The exception is lone wolf mass shootings not associated with gang violence/street crime.
Regardless of political affiliation, property and violent crimes are down from the high watermark of the 90's and generally we live in a very safe time. Active shooter incidents are up but make up a small percent of gun deaths. Almost the entire spike in murders are gun related.
Yup, Ronald Reagan expanded the War on Drugs in the mid to late ‘80’s and his focus on punishment over treatment put (and kept) criminals in jail and not coincidentally, violent crimes started reducing greatly in the early ‘90’s. I agree completely we need stricter gun laws and controls in this country but another way to reduce violent crimes is to simply keep the bad guys in jail and off the streets.
Thing is, incarceration is not anything close to the effective crime control strategy as some think it to be. There's some reduction effect, but a lot less bang for the very costly buck.
Crime started falling in 1994, six years after Reagan left office and immediately after the 1994 crime bill passed by Clinton led to massive incarceration. Trump repealed it in 2019 to significant bipartisan support and crime has moved upwards since.
Updated report says no charges will be filed. The student apparently banged and kicked the door for some time before breaking the glass and reaching inside to unlock the door, then then owner shot him. I have to think if the owner had tried to talk to him, though the door, it could have been avoided, but I can't fault the police for not charging the owner when the kid broke the window.
The shooting unfolded in the early morning hours of Aug. 26, when Donofrio "mistakenly went to the wrong home" on the 500 block of South Holly Street in Columbia "and attempted to enter by repeatedly knocking, banging, and kicking at the front door while manipulating the door handle," police said in a press release. Donofrio also lived on South Holly Street at the time. Once again we get lectured about all The things the homeowner should have done prior to learning what the perpetrator did to initiate. It’s sad and tragic but you can’t go kicking in doors and at 3am and expect for the owner to say “um sir , I’m uncertain of your intentions so would you please stop that “
So why not yell "I got a gun, get off my porch" and make some sort of effort to end this without death?
well if you have ever been in a situation that calls actual defensive violence you wouldn’t say that. Ever heard the phrase “if you hear a warning shot it’s because I wasn’t aiming at you “ There are a million permutations of what could have happened and it’s awful for a drunk college kid to lose his life. Could just turning on the porch lights have stopped him? Maybe. Lord knows I did a lot of stupid stuff at 19, but when someone is kicking and banging at the door and possibly even breaking glass to gain entry, it’s not the responsibility of the homeowner to guess the intentions and immediately put themselves at a disadvantage.
How is that a disadvantage? He's still got a gun a position where he can easily shoot the guy if breaks the door.? I'd have turned on my outside lights and yelled something to him. We'd all still be alive today. It would have been a much better ending. And by the way, I did have someone bang on my door in the middle of the night before ... it turned out to be a cop. I know that because I looked out my window and talked to him before opening my door. He just wanted permission to walk around my property because they were looking for someone.
I agree. Just step off to the side of the door in case the person is armed. SYG and castle doctrine are the law, but shooting another human being should be your last option, not your first choice.
mine came across as flippant didn’t mean to. It’s an awful Thing the kid lost his life. Have to be careful about conflating someone kicking door and breaking glass to gain entry to a cop knocking on the Door. My point is once a decision is made to go kinetic you do not want it to be measured or fair. You want it to be extremely violent and one sided.
I'm clearly talking about the time before he broke the glass. I agree that once he broke the glass, the guy was justified to shoot him. But seems like he had time before that to attempt to deescalate it, in a safe way, before "going kinetic".
Do we know that he didn’t? He called the cops, right? Do we know that he didn’t yell at the kid that the cops where called?
A woman in Tennessee allegedly shot a 4-year-old in the chest while giving her a lesson on gun safety. The shooting is suspicious because the child had just been disciplined, according to two witnesses. The woman appears to have been granted custody of the girl, presumably for her safety . . . I feel bad that the U.S. has devolved to the point that this story is classified as "entertainment". Guns are way too affordable, and way too accessible. Too many idiots and emotionally unstable people have access to guns. Woman Charged in Fatal Shooting of 4-Year-Old Girl Claims She Was Trying to Show ‘Gun Safety’
If true, then it's an unfortunate but justifiable shooting. OTOH, I wonder how verifiable this is. Was there a door cam, or is this merely according to the shooter?
Could be that he’s was still on the phone with the dispatcher? We know he called the cops and usually they try to keep you on the phone until the police arrive. If we assume it is nothing more than a story made up by the shooter we assume he is just a cold blooded killer who went through a lot of trouble to stage the scene to look like his story?
