Guns and Crime: The dark side of America?

Many students (and their parents) think America is dangerous. But is this really true? Is America dangerous? In my case, I was born and raised in Los Angeles and NEVER saw or HEARD of a gun (except in one case—a suicide), NEVER saw or heard of a robbery, and only knew one girl who had been raped.

BUT I have been robbed in Japan! =Does this mean Japan is more dangerous than America??

Much of this image comes from the media. The famous documentary director Michael Moore (in “Bowling for Columbine” 2002) discusses one of the most famous school massacres in recent world history. At Columbine High School in Colorado, in 1999, two boys Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shot several students before taking their own lives. In another recent massacre at Virginia Tech University in　2007, Seung Hui Cho shot several students before turning himself in. One should also remember the incident at Ikeda Elementary School in Osaka in 2001, though, when Mamoru Takuma stabbed several children with a knife, killing .

One of the biggest difference between the first two events and the last one is the use of guns. There are guns in the US, but not in Japan. Why are there guns in the US? One reason is that many people use guns for hunting. The biggest reason is the second amendment to the Constitution (in the Bill of Rights) which gives US citizens “The Right to Bear Arms”. Another reason is the power of the National Rife Association (NRA), which you saw in the History of America clip from Bowling for Columbine.

How many guns are there? It is hard to give a specific number, but there are over 200 million privately-owned guns, and more owned by military, police and museums. There is probably an average about 1 gun per person in the country. But--most people DO NOT own guns! WHY? There is an easy reason for this--people who DO own guns often do not just own one gun. They own many, sometimes as many as over 50.

Do you know Yoshihiori Hattori? In 1995, Yoshi was a Japanese student studying in Louisiana. Gun Control Laws: Yoshihiro Hattori and the Brady Bill

The Brady Bill (1994) background checks 5-day waiting period (still true in some states) How much crime? Crime rates depend on where you are

Violent crime by city (per 100,000 people) Burbank 293.4 Los Angeles 1353.0

National average of violent crime: 

		763 (1991)
               506 (2001)
               454.5(2008)　per 100,000 people

Crime rates are going down！ SO… IS America dangerous? It depends on where you are

Bigger cities have higher crime rates

Poorer areas in bigger cities have higher crime rates

The moral: “Look where you leap”

A final story: My student went to Disneyland. He came back and complained that his wallet was stolen. He was carrying $200 in cash. In a few hours, I got a call from Disneyland. They said they had found a wallet with his name on one of their rides. It had his identification, credit cards, and yes—

all $200 in cash.