Wow, violent crime statistsics are way different than I thought.

[So]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ry-Europe-Britain-worse-South-Africa-U-S.html

The article has the numbers of violent crime victims per 100,000 people in several different countries. Apparently:
US: 466
Canada: 935
UK: 2034

Now, I'm not going to weigh in on gun control law, but I was totally under the impression that you were much more likely to be the victim of a violent crime in the US than the UK or Canada.

 

[classy]

I find those numbers very very hard to believe. No way Canada has more violent crime than the US. Something tells me the definition is at play here.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

No way Canada has more violent crime than the US.

Based on...?

 

[OCGuy]

The knife crime is out of control in the UK due to the draconian gun laws......

Sad.

 

[So]

I find those numbers very very hard to believe. No way Canada has more violent crime than the US. Something tells me the definition is at play here.

The numbers *are* per capita. Obviously there is more actual violent crime in the US in real terms.

Still, it's a valid question. Not much meat on an article like that.

 

[shortylickens]

In Canada harsh language counts as violent assault.

 

[thecrecarc]

UK also has a higher robbery rate too.

 

[SlitheryDee]

A point they make in the article is that countries differ in what they record as a violent crime. That still can't make up for the difference though. I suppose its just safer in the US, gun toting maniacs and all.

 

[iCyborg]

They mention that in UK an affray is considered a violent crime, so it's pretty obvious that it's more about the definition than a meaningful comparison.
Homicide rate is much less left to interpretation, and US has 5.0, Canada 1.81 and UK 1.28 from wiki, it's hard to believe that the numbers reverse when you look at violent crime rates...

 

[classy]

Based on...?

Case in point. Montreal has about 4 million people in it, they had less than 40 murders in 2010.

Philly has about 6 million people in in, they had over 330. Last year somebody was murdered in Philly every 28-29 hours.

 

[So]

UK also has a higher robbery rate too.

Woah, neat link. Worth poking around there.

 

[0roo0roo]

oh those stats are always fun...each country has a different report method...sometimes one country only counts arrests, others onlyh count convictions..blabbity blah, the devils in the details. one thing is true though, in the uk they do get their houses broken into a lot..no worries about getting shot.

 

[brianmanahan]

everyone knows white people are the most violent by far, and the UK is basically all white people since they are the country that invented white people.

i predict that the US will become safer and safer as more and more hispanics immegrate into the country.

 

[Slew Foot]

A body check during a hockey game counts as a violent crime in Canada

 

[NeoV]

what the 'gun control doesn't work' people fail to mention when they talk of the escalating 'violent crime' levels in the UK is that the very definition of violent crime was changed at the same time.

The Homicide rate is all you need to pay attention to - no ambiguity in what constitutes dead or not.

Frankly - it's a huge black eye on America - but most don't see it as a problem, or pass it off with bs like 'when you mix all of these types of people together there are going to be problems'.

 

[bfdd]

what the 'gun control doesn't work' people fail to mention when they talk of the escalating 'violent crime' levels in the UK is that the very definition of violent crime was changed at the same time.

The Homicide rate is all you need to pay attention to - no ambiguity in what constitutes dead or not.

Frankly - it's a huge black eye on America - but most don't see it as a problem, or pass it off with bs like 'when you mix all of these types of people together there are going to be problems'.

We count homicides very differently in the USA than UK as well. for instance I believe we count self-defense killings as homicide and in the uk they don't.

 

[So]

what the 'gun control doesn't work' people fail to mention when they talk of the escalating 'violent crime' levels in the UK is that the very definition of violent crime was changed at the same time.

The Homicide rate is all you need to pay attention to - no ambiguity in what constitutes dead or not.

Frankly - it's a huge black eye on America - but most don't see it as a problem, or pass it off with bs like 'when you mix all of these types of people together there are going to be problems'.

See, that's what I had heard, but thecrecarc's link seems to indicate that's not the case. I mean. 4.8/100k and 5.2/100k strike me as about the same.

Maybe those statistics are misleading though.

 

[coldmeat]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_the_United_States#Violent_crime

The reported US violent crime rate includes only Aggravated Assault, whereas the Canadian violent crime rate includes all categories of assault, including the much-more-numerous Assault level 1 (i.e., assault not using a weapon and not resulting in serious bodily harm).http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_..._note-Crime_in_Canada.2C_Canada_Statistics-30 A government study concluded that direct comparison of the 2 countries' violent crime totals or rates was "inappropriate"

 

[Scouzer]

I find those numbers very very hard to believe. No way Canada has more violent crime than the US. Something tells me the definition is at play here.

+1. The murder rate difference in Canada vs US is staggering. We clearly count violent crime completely different.

 

[SMOGZINN]

They mention that in UK an affray is considered a violent crime, so it's pretty obvious that it's more about the definition than a meaningful comparison.
Homicide rate is much less left to interpretation, and US has 5.0, Canada 1.81 and UK 1.28 from wiki, it's hard to believe that the numbers reverse when you look at violent crime rates...

The problem with that is that with more liberal gun control laws more of the violent crimes will end in homicide. So it does not answer the base question of 'is there less overall violent crime with guns or with out?" Either could be true.

 

[jlee]

How different is gang activity in Canada/UK vs the US? I wonder how much different the overall numbers would be if gang wars were removed from the equation.

 

[JulesMaximus]

How different is gang activity in Canada/UK vs the US? I wonder how much different the overall numbers would be if gang wars were removed from the equation.

Wait, that would make the inner cities safe places to live! Now there's a thought. :sneaky:

You should do a ride along in south central L.A. Man, talk about an eye opener. I've been through some of those areas in daylight. Not a friendly place...

 

[Robsasman]

We count homicides very differently in the USA than UK as well. for instance I believe we count self-defense killings as homicide and in the uk they don't.

Yeah those 1 or 2 self-defense killings a year in the UK would make a big difference.

 

[makken]

i got about 1/3 of the way through the article before i got distracted by uniboob

 

[tboo]

http://www.break.com/index/watchuwant-2161668