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> The modern version is people who are afraid of Chicago. I thought America has a serious gun problem. Or is it so exaggerated that it is irrational to be afra

> The modern version is people who are afraid of Chicago. I thought America has a serious gun problem. Or is it so exaggerated that it is irrational to be afraid of a city that's in or around the top 10 highest rates of gun homicides in the country?

ty6853 1y ago
No it's not. Last time I had a vehicle failure in a top 10 city the locals noticed, and put a gun to my head. You're a straight up moron if you sleep on the streets of Chicago without a weapon. Here's a hint, get on a rooftop, out of sight.
- bitexploder 1y ago
  Chicago is not a survival video game. If you are stranded call the police.
  - ceejayoz 1y ago
    The police are not going to come out - Chicago or otherwise - for "my car broke down". You'll wait hours for a five minute dismissive interaction. You call a tow truck.
  - ty6853 1y ago
    Lol maybe in Evanston.
- only-one1701 1y ago
  One time this happened to me. But then when they came I used aikido to disarm them whole flipping the gun out of their hands (all of them at the same time). They were so impressed they made me the leader of their primitive tribe and I started collecting resources and completing mini-missions until I became a high enough level to walk through the sewers until I found the final boss and hit the right combo to kill him.
  - ty6853 1y ago
    I mean sure but if that doesn't work I have literally taken the el to an industrial district and slept on top of a warehouse, rather than getting picked over by people on the street.
    - ceejayoz 1y ago
      It sounds like your problem is significantly more likely to be "routinely sleeps outside in cities"?
    - tptacek 1y ago
      Did you manage to pick up any apples or full-sized rotisserie chickens off the ground to boost your HP? Sometimes they're hidden in trash cans; you have to kick them to find out.
      - ty6853 1y ago
        Likening the real violence perpetuated amongst people without shelter in Chicago to some game is absolutely sickening.
        deleted 1y ago
        [deleted]
ceejayoz 1y ago
Yes, it's irrational. There are rough neighborhoods in any large city, but they're not the sort of area you go touristing in. The shootings that occur there are largely people with existing grudges against each other. You are far more likely to die in a car accident driving through.
- jobs_throwaway 1y ago
  > There are rough neighborhoods in any large city, but they're not the sort of area you go touristing in I think this is underselling the issue a bit. I lived in Hyde Park and heard shootings on a monthly basis, had a friend shot in an attempted robbery, and in general had a visceral sense of ongoing gun violence around me that I've never had in NYC, SF, Dallas, Austin, Seattle, or any other major American city where I've spent a lot of time. Sure, Hyde Park is a bit of an anomaly in terms of being both highly violent and having things worth touristing for, but 'any large city has neighborhoods like that' doesn't ring true for me.
  - ceejayoz 1y ago
    > Sure, Hyde Park is a bit of an anomaly in terms of being both highly violent and having things worth touristing for, but 'any large city has neighborhoods like that' doesn't ring true for me. I live near a ~100k person city and a local legislator (from a very rural district) claimed they wouldn't go into the area without an armored car, to much mockery. My wife, at the meantime, was doing visiting nursing in the same neighborhoods. The worst interaction she had out on the streets was a family laughing (justifiably) at her parallel parking. https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/rochester/news/2016/10/28/errigo-comments-carter-street-rochester https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/rochester/news/2016/10/28/... (Same guy was later arrested for wire fraud and bribery. Concern about crime was projection, as is common.) Every city has these stories. You'll hear gunshots (and there'll be a higher per-capita gun death rate) in rural areas too.
    - ty6853 1y ago
      > My wife, at the meantime, was doing visiting nursing in the same neighborhoods This is how they got to me. I was working in a hospital in a 'meh' business area surrounded by a high-crime predominantly black neighborhoods. Sure you are generally fine at the hospital, or during day in the surrounding business district, but then you have to drive past that. The population we served noticed when I got a flat tire, because I was the only white face around at ~3am when my shift ended, and they moved in on their prey. And that's how it works out. The tourist might be ok. The locals have to drive through bad areas sooner or later to work, get something they need, and when their vehicle fails they strike.
SketchySeaBeast 1y ago
If you look at the numbers, in 2023 Chicago there were 23.3 murders/ homicides per 100,000 population, about 0.02% of the population, which is a statistic that totally ignores if there's specific patterns to these homicides. For perspective, in 2022 42,514 people in the US died in car accidents, which works out to about 0.01% of the population, so about half that rate. Would you say the fear of Chicago is more or less than twice the fear of driving?
- ty6853 1y ago
  Lol having lived in Chicago and Cleveland let me explain how it works. They're not probably going to kill you. They're going to just take your shit, maybe beat the shit out of you or knock you out if you resist. In my case, I managed to call their bluff and they did not pull the trigger, I punched them and then managed to narrowly get away. If you live in these rough neighborhoods are you going to call the police, have their jacked up corrupt policeman show up, basically releasing a wild hyena in your home with access to secret torture sites[0]? Just to hear "sorry for your luck, we can write a report and then do nothing about it, but maybe open an investigation on you." No, you're going to buy a gun/knife, spend some time at the range, be ready for next time, and go on with your life. This shit doesn't show up in the statistics like it would for podunk town. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homan_Square_facility https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homan_Square_facility
  - SketchySeaBeast 1y ago
    So you're agreeing that you're not going to get killed?
    - ty6853 1y ago
      You're probably not going to get killed in an actual war either, I would still want a gun and worry about what others might do with theirs.
    - wqaatwt 1y ago
      Seems like an extremely low bar? It would be safe to assume that for every random (non gang related) person who is killed there are many times more assaulted or robbed.
bitexploder 1y ago
Well, there are ~2.4 million people in Chicago. In the last 12 months there were ~2600 shootings. In a given week, ignoring all other factors your odds of being shot are 1 in 48000. As a visitor you are unlikely to be in higher crime areas where shootings are more likely as well. In short, no, it is probably not something to overly worry about.
ReptileMan 1y ago
There is reason this joke exists >A friend who has worked in Chicago his entire life tells me it's not that violent. He's a tail gunner on a school bus Looking at the data - you can spin it either way, because of how the violence is distributed and segregated inside the city.
- tptacek 1y ago
  Yes, the reason is right wing meme boards.
  - ReptileMan 1y ago
    And what is the reason the joke is about Chicago and not Boston? Gallows humor needs something to work with and it seems that Chicago delivers on that.
    - tptacek 1y ago
      That joke would be funnier if Chicago was even in the top 10 for violent crime, but it's mostly a joke about how "Chicago" and "Boston" are two of the 4 cities every American can name.
      - ReptileMan 1y ago
        People's perception of violence is exponential in both per capita and geographic density. And Chicago has the blessing of being both being big, dense and violent enough to easily climb the mindshare ladder.
        tptacek 1y ago
        That's a hell of a just-so argument.
15155 1y ago
> gun problem Why isn't this a "murder problem?" Why is a century-old piece of technology you can manufacture in your home workshop (mills and 3D printers aren't regulated yet) in China, Germany, wherever the "problem?"
- ceejayoz 1y ago
  People in China and Germany largely aren't doing that, though. You've invented a theoretical gun supply issue in response to an actual one. The US firearm homicide rate is higher than most other countries everything homicide rate. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intention... US: 5.763/100k (of which 3-4/100k are firearms: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_firearm-related_homicide_rates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_firearm-r...) Germany: 0.823/100k China: 0.502/100k > Globally, the U.S. ranks at the 93rd percentile for overall firearm mortality, 92nd percentile for children and teens, and 96th percentile for women. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/2024/oct/comparing-deaths-gun-violence-us-other-countries https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/2024/oct/compa... We are absolutely abberant if you chart it (the one titled "No Other Rich Western Country Comes Close"). https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/14/upshot/compare-these-gun-death-rates-the-us-is-in-a-different-world.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/14/upshot/compare-these-gun-...
  - ahmeneeroe-v2 1y ago
    Funny how you're doing this on a thread about how murder rates are not something to be afraid of. Which one is it? Should we be afraid of Chicago or not?
    - ceejayoz 1y ago
      Several related facts: * The US has a lot more guns than most other developed countries. * The US has a lot more murders than most other developed countries. * Places like Chicago are, statistically, not all that different in this regard from elsewhere in the US. The US has a murder/firearm problem at a population level. The chances of any randomly selected individual being part of it remains fairly low. We simultaneously should be ashamed of our clear violence problem, and recognize that "and then I started blasting" is not a great response to it. Focus on "urban" people in Chicago is a misdirection by folks who'd rather not deal with the national-level concerns. The same people who want you to think Chicago's ~26.9/100k homicide rate is terrifyingly scary want you to think COVID's ~279/100k was not.
quickthrowman 1y ago
The vast majority of gun crime in America is between impoverished people who know each other. If you don’t spend time with people who shoot other people, you’re unlikely to get shot.
tstrimple 1y ago
Chicago isn't in the top ten. You'd think it was the absolute worst the way conservatives talk about it. How many people terrified of Chicago don't have the same feelings about St Louis or Cleveland or Kansas City or Philadelphia all which are examples of cities with higher murder rates than Chicago?

ty6853 1y ago

No it's not. Last time I had a vehicle failure in a top 10 city the locals noticed, and put a gun to my head. You're a straight up moron if you sleep on the streets of Chicago without a weapon. Here's a hint, get on a rooftop, out of sight.

bitexploder 1y ago
Chicago is not a survival video game. If you are stranded call the police.
- ceejayoz 1y ago
  The police are not going to come out - Chicago or otherwise - for "my car broke down". You'll wait hours for a five minute dismissive interaction. You call a tow truck.
- ty6853 1y ago
  Lol maybe in Evanston.
only-one1701 1y ago
One time this happened to me. But then when they came I used aikido to disarm them whole flipping the gun out of their hands (all of them at the same time). They were so impressed they made me the leader of their primitive tribe and I started collecting resources and completing mini-missions until I became a high enough level to walk through the sewers until I found the final boss and hit the right combo to kill him.
- ty6853 1y ago
  I mean sure but if that doesn't work I have literally taken the el to an industrial district and slept on top of a warehouse, rather than getting picked over by people on the street.
  - ceejayoz 1y ago
    It sounds like your problem is significantly more likely to be "routinely sleeps outside in cities"?
  - tptacek 1y ago
    Did you manage to pick up any apples or full-sized rotisserie chickens off the ground to boost your HP? Sometimes they're hidden in trash cans; you have to kick them to find out.
    - ty6853 1y ago
      Likening the real violence perpetuated amongst people without shelter in Chicago to some game is absolutely sickening.
      - deleted 1y ago
        [deleted]

ceejayoz 1y ago

Yes, it's irrational. There are rough neighborhoods in any large city, but they're not the sort of area you go touristing in. The shootings that occur there are largely people with existing grudges against each other. You are far more likely to die in a car accident driving through.

jobs_throwaway 1y ago
> There are rough neighborhoods in any large city, but they're not the sort of area you go touristing in I think this is underselling the issue a bit. I lived in Hyde Park and heard shootings on a monthly basis, had a friend shot in an attempted robbery, and in general had a visceral sense of ongoing gun violence around me that I've never had in NYC, SF, Dallas, Austin, Seattle, or any other major American city where I've spent a lot of time. Sure, Hyde Park is a bit of an anomaly in terms of being both highly violent and having things worth touristing for, but 'any large city has neighborhoods like that' doesn't ring true for me.
- ceejayoz 1y ago
  > Sure, Hyde Park is a bit of an anomaly in terms of being both highly violent and having things worth touristing for, but 'any large city has neighborhoods like that' doesn't ring true for me. I live near a ~100k person city and a local legislator (from a very rural district) claimed they wouldn't go into the area without an armored car, to much mockery. My wife, at the meantime, was doing visiting nursing in the same neighborhoods. The worst interaction she had out on the streets was a family laughing (justifiably) at her parallel parking. https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/rochester/news/2016/10/28/errigo-comments-carter-street-rochester https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/rochester/news/2016/10/28/... (Same guy was later arrested for wire fraud and bribery. Concern about crime was projection, as is common.) Every city has these stories. You'll hear gunshots (and there'll be a higher per-capita gun death rate) in rural areas too.
  - ty6853 1y ago
    > My wife, at the meantime, was doing visiting nursing in the same neighborhoods This is how they got to me. I was working in a hospital in a 'meh' business area surrounded by a high-crime predominantly black neighborhoods. Sure you are generally fine at the hospital, or during day in the surrounding business district, but then you have to drive past that. The population we served noticed when I got a flat tire, because I was the only white face around at ~3am when my shift ended, and they moved in on their prey. And that's how it works out. The tourist might be ok. The locals have to drive through bad areas sooner or later to work, get something they need, and when their vehicle fails they strike.

SketchySeaBeast 1y ago

If you look at the numbers, in 2023 Chicago there were 23.3 murders/ homicides per 100,000 population, about 0.02% of the population, which is a statistic that totally ignores if there's specific patterns to these homicides. For perspective, in 2022 42,514 people in the US died in car accidents, which works out to about 0.01% of the population, so about half that rate. Would you say the fear of Chicago is more or less than twice the fear of driving?

ty6853 1y ago
Lol having lived in Chicago and Cleveland let me explain how it works. They're not probably going to kill you. They're going to just take your shit, maybe beat the shit out of you or knock you out if you resist. In my case, I managed to call their bluff and they did not pull the trigger, I punched them and then managed to narrowly get away. If you live in these rough neighborhoods are you going to call the police, have their jacked up corrupt policeman show up, basically releasing a wild hyena in your home with access to secret torture sites[0]? Just to hear "sorry for your luck, we can write a report and then do nothing about it, but maybe open an investigation on you." No, you're going to buy a gun/knife, spend some time at the range, be ready for next time, and go on with your life. This shit doesn't show up in the statistics like it would for podunk town. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homan_Square_facility https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homan_Square_facility
- SketchySeaBeast 1y ago
  So you're agreeing that you're not going to get killed?
  - ty6853 1y ago
    You're probably not going to get killed in an actual war either, I would still want a gun and worry about what others might do with theirs.
  - wqaatwt 1y ago
    Seems like an extremely low bar? It would be safe to assume that for every random (non gang related) person who is killed there are many times more assaulted or robbed.

bitexploder 1y ago

Well, there are ~2.4 million people in Chicago. In the last 12 months there were ~2600 shootings. In a given week, ignoring all other factors your odds of being shot are 1 in 48000. As a visitor you are unlikely to be in higher crime areas where shootings are more likely as well. In short, no, it is probably not something to overly worry about.

ReptileMan 1y ago

There is reason this joke exists >A friend who has worked in Chicago his entire life tells me it's not that violent. He's a tail gunner on a school bus Looking at the data - you can spin it either way, because of how the violence is distributed and segregated inside the city.

tptacek 1y ago
Yes, the reason is right wing meme boards.
- ReptileMan 1y ago
  And what is the reason the joke is about Chicago and not Boston? Gallows humor needs something to work with and it seems that Chicago delivers on that.
  - tptacek 1y ago
    That joke would be funnier if Chicago was even in the top 10 for violent crime, but it's mostly a joke about how "Chicago" and "Boston" are two of the 4 cities every American can name.
    - ReptileMan 1y ago
      People's perception of violence is exponential in both per capita and geographic density. And Chicago has the blessing of being both being big, dense and violent enough to easily climb the mindshare ladder.
      - tptacek 1y ago
        That's a hell of a just-so argument.

15155 1y ago

> gun problem Why isn't this a "murder problem?" Why is a century-old piece of technology you can manufacture in your home workshop (mills and 3D printers aren't regulated yet) in China, Germany, wherever the "problem?"

ceejayoz 1y ago
People in China and Germany largely aren't doing that, though. You've invented a theoretical gun supply issue in response to an actual one. The US firearm homicide rate is higher than most other countries everything homicide rate. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intention... US: 5.763/100k (of which 3-4/100k are firearms: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_firearm-related_homicide_rates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_firearm-r...) Germany: 0.823/100k China: 0.502/100k > Globally, the U.S. ranks at the 93rd percentile for overall firearm mortality, 92nd percentile for children and teens, and 96th percentile for women. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/2024/oct/comparing-deaths-gun-violence-us-other-countries https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/2024/oct/compa... We are absolutely abberant if you chart it (the one titled "No Other Rich Western Country Comes Close"). https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/14/upshot/compare-these-gun-death-rates-the-us-is-in-a-different-world.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/14/upshot/compare-these-gun-...
- ahmeneeroe-v2 1y ago
  Funny how you're doing this on a thread about how murder rates are not something to be afraid of. Which one is it? Should we be afraid of Chicago or not?
  - ceejayoz 1y ago
    Several related facts: * The US has a lot more guns than most other developed countries. * The US has a lot more murders than most other developed countries. * Places like Chicago are, statistically, not all that different in this regard from elsewhere in the US. The US has a murder/firearm problem at a population level. The chances of any randomly selected individual being part of it remains fairly low. We simultaneously should be ashamed of our clear violence problem, and recognize that "and then I started blasting" is not a great response to it. Focus on "urban" people in Chicago is a misdirection by folks who'd rather not deal with the national-level concerns. The same people who want you to think Chicago's ~26.9/100k homicide rate is terrifyingly scary want you to think COVID's ~279/100k was not.

quickthrowman 1y ago

The vast majority of gun crime in America is between impoverished people who know each other. If you don’t spend time with people who shoot other people, you’re unlikely to get shot.

tstrimple 1y ago

Chicago isn't in the top ten. You'd think it was the absolute worst the way conservatives talk about it. How many people terrified of Chicago don't have the same feelings about St Louis or Cleveland or Kansas City or Philadelphia all which are examples of cities with higher murder rates than Chicago?