Strange: Most Gun Violence Occurs In Liberal Hotbeds

Starting off with a letter to the editor of the Washington Post, providing an uncomfortable truth

The fact that President Obama’s second inauguration was held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day is ripe with symbolism. But our nation’s first black president has done too little to champion the social equality at the core of King’s message. We remain a wealthy nation marred by poverty and violence, which disproportionately affect the black community. Mr. Obama’s recent gun proposals, hailed by many as a bold move, once again skirt the real problems we face. The president was galvanized into action by a massacre in a white, middle-class, suburban community. In reality, more than half of gun homicide victims in 2010 were black, while blacks compose just 13 percent of our population. Four U.S. cities rank among the top 50 worldwide in murder rates.

And just how bad are the big cities, which tend to be liberal? Here’s the Atlantic, with a spiffy map that compares the rate of gun murders to foreign countries and finds

  • If it were a country, New Orleans (with a rate 62.1 gun murders per 100,000 people) would rank second in the world.
  • Detroit’s gun homicide rate (35.9) is just a bit less than El Salvador (39.9).
  • Baltimore’s rate (29.7) is not too far off that of Guatemala (34.8).
  • Gun murder in Newark (25.4) and Miami (23.7) is comparable to Colombia (27.1).
  • Washington D.C. (19) has a higher rate of gun homicide than Brazil (18.1).
  • Atlanta’s rate (17.2) is about the same as South Africa (17).
  • Cleveland (17.4) has a higher rate than the Dominican Republic (16.3).
  • Gun murder in Buffalo (16.5) is similar to Panama (16.2).
  • Houston’s rate (12.9) is slightly higher than Ecuador’s (12.7).
  • Gun homicide in Chicago (11.6) is similar to Guyana (11.5).
  • Phoenix’s rate (10.6) is slightly higher than Mexico (10).
  • Los Angeles (9.2) is comparable to the Philippines (8.9).
  • Boston rate (6.2) is higher than Nicaragua (5.9).
  • New York, where gun murders have declined to just four per 100,000, is still higher than Argentina (3).
  • Even the cities with the lowest homicide rates by American standards, like San Jose and Austin, compare to Albania and Cambodia respectively.

Strange. All those places tend to be hives of Progressive ideals. Even big cities like Houston and Phoenix tend to lean left. Perhaps we should simply restrict those who vote Democrat from owning guns. Oh, wait, in most of those areas they are restricted, along with everyone else. Except criminals.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach.

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