Interestingly, the vast majority of rapes, and a very significant number of homicides (probably close to a majority but not 100% sure) involve alcohol. Not to mention DUI which kills as many people as all firearm homicides. Guys like Perknose got to get their daily fix though, so no stopping that. (EDIT: A quick Google is telling me about
1/3 of homicides involve alcohol)
Alcohol is something that should not be seen lightly. Alcohol is so common that people forget that it takes away your reason when you had too much to drink. In comparison to guns, alcohol on its own only kills when you consume massive amounts of it. It only kills others when you hit someone with a bottle or use a gun, another weapon or strangle that person.
Alcohol on itself does not kill people unless consuming massive amounts to the point of alcohol poisoning. People under the influence of alcohol still need a weapon, may that be fists or guns, or a knife or a bat to kill.
When i see those youngsters drinking like crazy and behaving sometimes like idiots, the alcohol is not to blame. It is society that makes it alright and cool to drink alcohol while putting a tampon saturated with wodka up ones ass or a bottle of wodka on the eye.
Alcohol is a drug and should be used in moderation. The point is, people need to be able to let go. And a moderate amount of alcohol can help with that.
But as with everything, alcohol requires responsibility.
The police kill many more people in the USA than do rampage killers per year. Additionally, the police have no obligation to protect anyone, and in large cites like NYC, it's difficult to even get police to come in the case of an average property crime. When it comes to violent crime, police response is almost never fast enough to stop a perpetrator before the act. I'm of the opinion that relaxation of private recording laws, plus super-cheap cameras and phones with automatic cloud storage will revolutionize the way people handle crime within a few generations, so admittedly I think self-policing/monitoring may limit the value of self-defense in the future.
I do agree that population density should be considered as a factor, and would add demographics/cultural issues. Many people say "Hey, you can only compare USA gun homicides to those in first-world Western nations, otherwise it's not fair!", neglecting to mention that the majority of gun violence occurs in isolated pockets in the ghettos where standard of living is far below that of a poor German or Australian neighborhood.
Well, i never said that the police is perfect everywhere. When a police officer gets little money to put his life on the line and citizens can shoot them at any moment, a police officer is not going to take much chance. Blame that on your country. Police officers are heroes in general and should be paid well. As should soldiers.
Does NYC not have a financial problem ? I do not know.
And again, it shows that when people live in poverty, and education is not possible as a means to get a good job. Most people will look at that guy with the big car and the money. That guy, usually a psychopath that turns into a dealer, pimp, crime lord. But he is rich and has power. In places where there is a lot of poverty, there will be people who look up to that guy. And will follow in his footsteps. And so , the spiral of crime will begin.
Again a problem created by the country.