The big news isn't the high number of murders...but where they happened.
Years ago, Classic Seattle, the neighborhoods of the north, the Ballards and Wallingfords and University District even, were safe havens. You could walk around these areas at any hour of the day or night and feel safe.
Sure, there were these "other places" deep in South King County where serial killers and drug dealers lurked...but living in Seattle was like living on a western college campus. You could even stumble around tipsy drunk, and it was small town. Anything that did happen, was non-tragic.
Now, everywhere is South King county. There is no haven from gangs and shootings. 26 killed...but one of those, sitting in your coffee shop, or jogging around Greenlake, could be you. Unlike before...
@2 No Bailo, South King county is where Seattle's white liberals are pushing out blacks and Latinos. We can hear the sound of gunfire moving south to Renton, federal way, skyway, kent, white center and Burien. The suburbs are the new ghettos. Enjoy.
I am going to guess that the "unregistered" is our resident racist asshole. Go suck something, dude. It'll take your mind off...no, you don't have a mind.
@2 the Cafe Racer shooter wasn't a gang member. he was a crazy guy that had an easier time finding a gun because of the flood of guns into our society. 30 / 40 years ago gang members didn't have so many weapons either. Then the NRA industry controllers realized that every killing increased their sales if the guns were available to purchase and that the more guns on the street the more killings there would be. there weren't enough pure gun nuts then so they had to convince a bunch of hunters that the hippies and the black people wanted to take their rifles and shotguns. Now, the hunters as percentage of gun owners is way way down, and the gun industry and their gun nut flying monkeys have jumped joyfully with every killing by anyone of anyone, as each killing increased peoples fear and increased gun sales. Frickin' vampires.
@2 Actually Ballard has a lower rate of violent crime and burglaries than when I move here 20 years ago. In fact, in 2010 Seattle had the lowest murder rate since 1956. The overall trends have been good. This tell me you are trying to manipulate people's opinions by making shit up based on racist stereotypes of neighborhoods and their attributes. What a horrible despicable person you are to do that.
@8, you are the classic fearmongering nitwit who drives the stupid discussion on crime in this country.
Wallingford? Wallingford is the safest goddamn neighborhood in the United States, probably the safest in the world. There is virtually no crime of any kind in Wallingford. If you are afraid of crime in Wallingford you are a clueless moron. Trembling old women think you're a fearful nitwit.
Yes, you can read about a car prowl on a neighborhood blog, but that doesn't tell you anything, really. One or two incidents in a neighborhood of tens of thousands of people is NOTHING.
It's especially interesting that studies show that the fear of crime is roughly identical in places like Wallingford, where there is no crime, and places like East St. Louis or West Memphis, which have third-world levels of violence. People there have a much better picture of their own safety than you do.
And for your information, thirty and forty years ago Fremont and Green Lake and Wallingford were poor neighborhoods with a serious crime problem. I remember well when Fremont was a crumbling slum and Green Lake was nothing but ramshackle rental housing, and the U District was chockablock with drug addicts breaking into anything they could.
Goldy should move to Baltimore. Then he wouldn't have to cherry pick other cities gun incidents. Christ, he would be in heaven writing about all those dead son of bitches.
@1, 3, etc. -I'm not really sure what the utility of your constant race baiting here is. Doesn't seem like you're going to convert anyone to virulent racism, and no one seems to be launching into a fruitless debate. Maybe take a break, drum up some more aggressive insults, and come back to us.
@11 FNARF Thanks for the history on Fremont, Wallingford, Greenlake, etc. I have talked to many people about how these neighborhoods were tough way back when, but don't have any first hand knowledge til I got here 20 years ago.
Funny how right wingers who want to attack Seattle liberals, like Dorrie Monson, who grew up in Ballard, will totally remake history. One thing I know for sure is that at the time Monson was growing up, a large percentage of Ballard families couldn't wait to get into the suburbs where they could get a bigger house and the better schools that went with generally better conditions. I talked with a lot of these folks and their kids in the course of my work and living here in Ballard. These neighborhoods are completely different now.
@17, Germany, with roughly 25,000,000 privately owned firearms, or about 30 guns/100 people, has the 4th highest rate of privately owned guns in the world. It is possible for a private citizen to get a permit to own handguns and long guns. It is also possible to own semi-automatic firearms as well as conceal carry.
Somehow, even with a large number of firearms in civilian hands, Germany still manages to have 1/5th the homicides, by any method, as the United States.
Maybe, just maybe, overall homicide rates are more complex than simply, "OMG! GUNS!"
Here's some more numbers for you - the United States has more than twice as many people living in poverty than Germany, Germany also has universal health care yet spends almost half as much as a percentage of GDP as the United States.
So yeah, I agree.. We could be doing much better in a lot of things.
@20, in Germany you can't walk into a store and buy a semi automatic rifle with 100 round magazine. Here, you can. We also have 3 times the number of gins per capita as Germany.
My point was they should be banned because they're obviously trolls and everything they post is nasty. They call themselves by different names for different posts but they must actually use one ISP -- I doubt they jump around from library to library. Why couldn't/shouldn't they be banned?
As you point out, Germany is a nation of sane people. The US is full of dimwitted fucknuts. Thus Americans should not be allowed the same access to guns they have now. So gun control still makes sense.
One thing I do know, you and the other meanspirited lowlife urbists, Google bombers, snippy teens and hipsters weren't around back then...and it certainly was a nicer place.
But hey, the unemployment rate is dropping fast in LA and the rents in Manhattan are falling as well.
Maybe it's not long before 45th street is empty at 2pm in the afternoon.
@20 sure its more complex than just the tool - but the problem is that you guys kinda need to fix the tools designed for killing humans now so you can worry about the rest later.
Plus you have kinda omitted allot of details that make German gun laws different from the US. Ours (Sweden) and their gun laws are similar and the parts you don't mention is the amount of control involved, the steps required. You can't just buy a gun and you can definitely not buy a pistol (again, its a tool thats shit for basically every single thing except killing humans) in the same way as in the US.
Seattle's low murder rate exist in a state with some of the least restrictive gun laws, and which defeated a mild gun control initiative by 71-29% in 1997. I'd say Goldy just provided an argument against strengthening WA State's gun laws.
@20
"Maybe, just maybe, overall homicide rates are more complex than simply, 'OMG! GUNS!'"
But saying that the situation is a lot more complicated than "OMG! GUNS!" does not get the kind of hits that drive advertising here.
If Goldy was actually interested in addressing this issue, he'd run a continuing list of all shootings here including whether anyone was hit or killed and the reason behind the shooting (as far as can be determined).
But Goldy is more into the grief porn aspect so instead you'll see whatever shooting he is interested in throughout the nation.
@45 - LOL. The State also defeated an initiative that same year that would've given homos discrimination protection. Yet here we are in 2013 with marriage equality given at the ballot box by referendum. What's your point again?
Anywhere you have large disparities in wealth combined with a large percentage of poor, you're going to have higher crime rates and more homicides. I bet that raising the minimum wage to $16-20/hour (adjusted for area, that's about the minimum you need to keep out of poverty with a 40 hour work week) would have a greater reduction in crime than any firearms bill. Better yet, tie the minimum wage in a company to the highest salary. You want to pay the CEO $10 million a year, that's fine as long as you pay the janitor 100k/year. Don't forget to include stock options and other benefits in total compensation!
@34, I have zero problem with making it harder to own handguns, particularly if part of making it harder includes training and mental health issues. My problem is that the big noise is a "assault weapons" ban. When "assault weapons" make up a miniscule portion of deaths. The difference is that handguns mostly kill the poor and disenfranchised, and apparently we don't give a shit about them.
@23, Have you ever gone into a store and tried to buy a 100 round magazine? Do you know anything about firearms other than what you've seen on TV? If all the crazy-ass psychopaths used 100 round magazines, they'd be out of the picture must faster because their magazines would jam. (See Aurora, CO)
There has not been a single mass-shooter who was not batshit crazy. While it may make 'gun control nuts' feel good to ban "assault weapons" it is not going to do anything to prevent batshit crazy people from killing people if that is what they want to do. And it is also not going to do anything about the majority of firearms violence/death in this country.
@49 Somehow when I see po'verty, I can't picture it with Ja'mari Jones and Deshawn "Dope dealer" Millikin hanging out in Munchbar. When I imagine po'verty, I see shanties, not Cristal and high end sports bars in Bellevue Square.
Years ago, Classic Seattle, the neighborhoods of the north, the Ballards and Wallingfords and University District even, were safe havens. You could walk around these areas at any hour of the day or night and feel safe.
Sure, there were these "other places" deep in South King County where serial killers and drug dealers lurked...but living in Seattle was like living on a western college campus. You could even stumble around tipsy drunk, and it was small town. Anything that did happen, was non-tragic.
Now, everywhere is South King county. There is no haven from gangs and shootings. 26 killed...but one of those, sitting in your coffee shop, or jogging around Greenlake, could be you. Unlike before...
to get the murder rate under control impose strict Negro Control.
Actually I agree, black people can never be held responsible. It's like 2 yr olds.
Btw Cafe Racer was an outlier. Enjoy!
But actually I agree, we need to keep guns out of the hands of the lower classes.
Wallingford? Wallingford is the safest goddamn neighborhood in the United States, probably the safest in the world. There is virtually no crime of any kind in Wallingford. If you are afraid of crime in Wallingford you are a clueless moron. Trembling old women think you're a fearful nitwit.
Yes, you can read about a car prowl on a neighborhood blog, but that doesn't tell you anything, really. One or two incidents in a neighborhood of tens of thousands of people is NOTHING.
It's especially interesting that studies show that the fear of crime is roughly identical in places like Wallingford, where there is no crime, and places like East St. Louis or West Memphis, which have third-world levels of violence. People there have a much better picture of their own safety than you do.
And for your information, thirty and forty years ago Fremont and Green Lake and Wallingford were poor neighborhoods with a serious crime problem. I remember well when Fremont was a crumbling slum and Green Lake was nothing but ramshackle rental housing, and the U District was chockablock with drug addicts breaking into anything they could.
You don't know anything about this city, Bailo.
@9 - of course he is, he's a republican. Trying to install fear of the other is a requirement.
Germany, population 82,000,0000: 15 firearm murders in 2010 (latest stats I could find)
We are doing well for an American city, yes. For a global city, not so much.
Funny how right wingers who want to attack Seattle liberals, like Dorrie Monson, who grew up in Ballard, will totally remake history. One thing I know for sure is that at the time Monson was growing up, a large percentage of Ballard families couldn't wait to get into the suburbs where they could get a bigger house and the better schools that went with generally better conditions. I talked with a lot of these folks and their kids in the course of my work and living here in Ballard. These neighborhoods are completely different now.
It is not race baiting or racism to note the correlation between murder rate and race.
The first step to addressing a problem is to honestly acknowledge it.
Or do you not care about the sky high rate of murder among African Americans?
Not your problem, right?
The Truth will set you free.
Why are you afraid of The Truth?
Don't be a Slave to your willful Ignorance....
Somehow, even with a large number of firearms in civilian hands, Germany still manages to have 1/5th the homicides, by any method, as the United States.
Maybe, just maybe, overall homicide rates are more complex than simply, "OMG! GUNS!"
Here's some more numbers for you - the United States has more than twice as many people living in poverty than Germany, Germany also has universal health care yet spends almost half as much as a percentage of GDP as the United States.
So yeah, I agree.. We could be doing much better in a lot of things.
Happy New Year.
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Comme…
For registered commenters acting trollish, I look at the activity history in their profile. If they've chosen to hide it, that's just confirmation.
Also - what's up with being able to hide your activity? If you cant handle people reading your past comments, why even bother registering?
As you point out, Germany is a nation of sane people. The US is full of dimwitted fucknuts. Thus Americans should not be allowed the same access to guns they have now. So gun control still makes sense.
One thing I do know, you and the other meanspirited lowlife urbists, Google bombers, snippy teens and hipsters weren't around back then...and it certainly was a nicer place.
But hey, the unemployment rate is dropping fast in LA and the rents in Manhattan are falling as well.
Maybe it's not long before 45th street is empty at 2pm in the afternoon.
Once again.
I know you are...but what am I ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sXENI8tp…
Plus you have kinda omitted allot of details that make German gun laws different from the US. Ours (Sweden) and their gun laws are similar and the parts you don't mention is the amount of control involved, the steps required. You can't just buy a gun and you can definitely not buy a pistol (again, its a tool thats shit for basically every single thing except killing humans) in the same way as in the US.
Why do Liberals fear most of all The Truth?
oh Pudge you silly goose
Aurora, Newtown, though...
starting off 2013 as callous as 2012 i see.
"Maybe, just maybe, overall homicide rates are more complex than simply, 'OMG! GUNS!'"
But saying that the situation is a lot more complicated than "OMG! GUNS!" does not get the kind of hits that drive advertising here.
If Goldy was actually interested in addressing this issue, he'd run a continuing list of all shootings here including whether anyone was hit or killed and the reason behind the shooting (as far as can be determined).
But Goldy is more into the grief porn aspect so instead you'll see whatever shooting he is interested in throughout the nation.
Seattle black percentage - 7.9
Chicago's 36.8
New Orleans 67.
Matches up quite nicely with the difference in murder rates. The only thing Seattle "does right" is not having a lot of blacks.
Seattle - poverty rate, 2009 @ 14.5%
Chicago - poverty rate, 2009 @ 27.5%
New Orleans - poverty rate, 2009 @ 31.5%
Anywhere you have large disparities in wealth combined with a large percentage of poor, you're going to have higher crime rates and more homicides. I bet that raising the minimum wage to $16-20/hour (adjusted for area, that's about the minimum you need to keep out of poverty with a 40 hour work week) would have a greater reduction in crime than any firearms bill. Better yet, tie the minimum wage in a company to the highest salary. You want to pay the CEO $10 million a year, that's fine as long as you pay the janitor 100k/year. Don't forget to include stock options and other benefits in total compensation!
@34, I have zero problem with making it harder to own handguns, particularly if part of making it harder includes training and mental health issues. My problem is that the big noise is a "assault weapons" ban. When "assault weapons" make up a miniscule portion of deaths. The difference is that handguns mostly kill the poor and disenfranchised, and apparently we don't give a shit about them.
@23, Have you ever gone into a store and tried to buy a 100 round magazine? Do you know anything about firearms other than what you've seen on TV? If all the crazy-ass psychopaths used 100 round magazines, they'd be out of the picture must faster because their magazines would jam. (See Aurora, CO)
There has not been a single mass-shooter who was not batshit crazy. While it may make 'gun control nuts' feel good to ban "assault weapons" it is not going to do anything to prevent batshit crazy people from killing people if that is what they want to do. And it is also not going to do anything about the majority of firearms violence/death in this country.
Thanks,
Gun nuts!!
Black people with illegal guns using them often?
Poverty victims!!
I'd also like to see that compared to road rage incidents, which sadly have some overlap as in the case of Yancy Noll (RIP).