2014 Highest Murder Rate in the Country: Detroit 43.4 per 100,000

The Daily Beast

Last year, America’s big cities continued the slow, but steady decline in murders.

Though not at the breakneck pace we saw last year, the nation’s largest cities continued to witness steady declines in both total murders and murder rates in 2014.

Data provided by police departments in the 10 cities with the highest number of murders in 2013 shows that six out of 10 saw a significant drops in both total murders and murder rates in 2014. Baltimore and Detroit led the pack with the sharpest declines over last year, but a look at an impressive big picture shows that Los Angeles and New York have managed to cut murders in their city by roughly half. Not every mayor will be celebrating, however—Philadelphia couldn’t make a dent in its homicides this year, and both Indianapolis and Houston saw some significant increases.

I couldn't help but notice that for most of the cities the decline is next to nothing. I'd say it's easily attributable to the ever-increasing emergency services provided to victims of shootings. Perhaps a better indicator is shootings rather than murders.

One could surmise that with fewer people owning guns and the murder rate remaining about the same (in some cases it actually increased), things are not improving as the gun rights fanatics keep saying.

Australian Lawmaker says Tyrannical Gun Laws made a “Nation of Victims” & it’s “Unforgivable”

Sen. David Leyonhjelm of Australia’s Liberal Democratic Party

D.C. Clothesline

In the wake of the jihadist taking hostages in a Sydney café earlier this week and murdering two of them, and Australian lawmaker blasted the tyrannical gun laws, similar to those in England, that led to the citizens he serves being turned into a “nation of victims.”

Sen. David Leyonhjelm of Australia’s Liberal Democratic Party said that if the hostages had been allowed to carry guns concealed there would have been someone who would have been able to stop him.

“That nutcase who held them all hostage wouldn’t have known that they were armed and bad guys don’t like to be shot back at,” Senator Leyonhjelm told ABC radio, according to the Guardian.

“We are all disarmed victims,” Leyonhjelm added.

He then spoke about Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson, who were reportedly shot by the Islamist just moments before police entered the café and shot him dead.

“It would have been illegal for them to have a knife, a stick, a pepper spray, a personal Taser, mace, anything like that for self-defence,” Senator Leyonhjelm said.

“To turn an entire population into a nation of victims is just unforgivable,” the Senator concluded.

The Most Dangerous Cities in the Western Hemisphere

A police officer inspects tattoos on a Mara Salvatrucha gang member after his arrest in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. A wave of violence has made Honduras among the most dangerous places on Earth. 

The Daily News

San Pedro Sula might be the most dangerous place on earth.

Around three people are intentionally murdered every day in the northwest Honduran city--that’s around 169 homicides per 100,000 residents. These grim statistics place it at the very top of a list of the 50 most violent cities, making San Pedro Sula the alleged murder capital of the world two years in a row.
 
The first American city on the list is New Orleans, which comes in at number 17 with 56 murders for every 100,000 people. Also on the list are Detroit, Mich. (21), St. Louis, M.O. (40), Baltimore, Md. (41), and Oakland, Calif. (43).

The data was compiled by the Citizen Council for Public Security, Justice, and Peace, a Mexican think tank. The organization used intentional homicide statistics from 2012 to draw comparisons, focusing on cities in North, Central, and South America. Middle Eastern cities were not included.

It seems like this is a list of North and South American cities, so the claim of being the most dangerous places in the world may or may not stand. Nevertheless, thanks to the lax gun laws in the US, we can be proud of our representation on this dubious list.

What fo you think?  Please leave a comment.