Violent Crime in America

 

The recent murders of Charlie Kirk, Iryna Zarutska, Dr. Julia Gard Schnuelle and subsequent sympathy for their murderers is unreal. In the case of Charlie Kirk, it has included celebrating in the streets, defacing memorials, attacks on mourners, and remarks so vile that many have been fired from their jobs. Even talk show host, Jimmy Kimmel wasn't immune. Since when do Americans celebrate the death of someone over a difference of opinions? 

The glorification of violence and disregard for human life has once again underscored the vast and deep divide between the Left and Right in this country. It has also brought to the national forefront once more the growth of violence in this country, with some calling for confiscating firearms (all though two of the murders involved the use of a knife).

Along with this rise violence has been the dramatic increase in vitriol anti-White rhetoric. Black on white crime is at a all time high, with Black assailants and White victims accounting for  63.9% of robberies, 58.6% of the rapes, and 51.8% of assaults. By contrast, Blacks are the victims in crimes involving robbery where the perpetrator was White just 8.3% of the time, and in 2.7% of assaults, and 5.5% of the rapes.

Hispanics also face a far disproportional rate of victimhood when it comes to murder, rape, assault, and robbery. They are more likely to be the victim of a violent crime 65% more often than someone who was White and 54% more likely than a Black  individual. Asians too are facing higher rates of violent crime. What is happening in America?

According to FBI statistics from 2019, the latest available, 51.3% of those arrested for murder were Black. 45.7% were White, while 1.83% were Hispanic and 1.1% were Asians. When it came to aggravated assault,  Whites were responsible for 62.2%. Blacks committed 32.7%. Native Americans were 2.2%. Asians made up just 1.8% of those convicted on aggravated assault charges. Note these are raw numbers and not based on their percentage of the population

Another form of assault is rape. In 2019, there were some 13,799 reported cases. Whites were reported as the offender in nearly 70% of the cases. Blacks were reported as the perpetrators in 26.8% of the incidents. Asians were arrested in 1.7% of the attacks while Native Americans accounted for 1.5% of the reported rapes.

Note that many cases of rape are not reported or the charges are withdrawn for various reasons. As of 2024, there are an estimated 225,000 unprocessed rape test kits currently lagging in storage areas. While the judicial system does consider rape a serious issue, many jurisdictions lack the funding or staff to process the kits timely.

A ScienceDirect Study from 2020 reported that from 2016 and 2018, there were approximately 300,000 to 400,000 untested kits awaiting processing. A 2022 Congressional Study reported an estimated backlog of anywhere from 90,000 to a staggering 400,000 untested kits were still pending. Some of the worse offenders are West Virginia, Louisiana, Oregon, and North Carolina.  

One of the states with the worse record is Kentucky. It received a test kit on January 7, 1993 and didn’t finalized the results until 28 years later, on September 27, 2021! But if you think that’s bad, consider Washington State. It received a test kit on January 14, 1984 and didn’t return the results until October 3, 2022, some 38 years later! While there should have been repercussions, it should also be noted that the there is no federal law mandating the tracking, processing, and reporting on rape test kits, which is obviously unacceptable on any level.

When it came to robbery, the FBI report indicated that in 2019 there were 104,595 reports. Of those apprehended, Whites made up the overwhelming majority at 69.8%. Blacks were 27.3% while Native Americans were 1.4% and Asians were 1.2%. Hispanics were 18, 584 of those arrested and convicted.

Unlawful weapon possession is another serious crime the FBI keeps track of. Their data shows there were 97,466 reported arrests made in 2019. Of those busted, 54,167 were White. 40,827 were Black. 18,756 were Hispanic. 1,073 were Asian, and just 988 were Native American, which brings up to another topic—gun violence.

Despite the rantings of a few, the prospects of any political or government agency actually seizing America’s guns are highly unlikely. Based on 2024 data, there are approximately 107 gun owning Americans, or roughly 32% of the adult population of the United States. In all likelihood, that number is higher. Much higher. There are approximately 120 guns per every 100 individuals. In addition, roughly 40% of the U.S. population live in a household where is at least one firearm present.

Guns in the United States are as much a part of the culture as the Old West and the Declaration of Independence. They were written into our Bill of Rights, to be used as a tool to protect us from government overreach and tyranny. They were as any essential tool in the exploration and settlement of this country. We still use them to hunt and for sport. Guns are as much as part of the American character as our belief in individualism and our sense of freedom.

In terms of the demographics of gun ownership, it should come as no surprise that males own 40% of the firearms compared to women who own about 25%. Those living in the country or in rural locations comprise 47% of gun owners. Those who live in suburbia make up some 30% while those living in urban areas are about 20%.

When it comes to age, older Americans, those 50 and up, are the mostly likely to own a firearm at 46% followed by those 30 to 49 at 42%.  The least likely was those individuals between 18 and 29. Only around 32% of them own any sort of firearm. The number one reason for gun ownership---72%---was for personal protection. An average of 31% said it was for hunting and target shooting. 15% said they were simply gun collectors, and just 7% said it was required as part of their job.

Academically, 47% of those with at least some college are most likely to have a gun. Next are those education extends up to high school. About 43% of them own a firearm of some sort. About 40% of college graduates are gunowners while just 30% of those with post graduate degrees are.

When it comes to race, the majority of gun owners---38%---are White. 24% are Black while 20% are Hispanic, and 10% are of Asian heritage. No data was available for Native Americans or Pacific Islanders. Another interesting statistic is political registration.

According to the survey, 45% of Republicans own at least one firearm while just 20% of Democrats own one or more guns. The survey, conducted by Pew, ignores Independents, the nations largest political demographic, so it has to be “presumed” that the 35% difference between Republican and Democrat ownership must be Independents. Unfortunately, a rare case of poor statistics gathering by Pew.

In 2023 there were over 46,000 deaths due to gun violence. Contrary to popular opinion, most of these weren’t the result of a crime, but rather the result of suicide or other self-inflicted injury (there were 26,700 gun related suicides in 2023). Gun related deaths are the leading cause of children ages 1 through 17, largely to a failure to properly secure the weapons and in the case of older kids, a lack of adequate gun safety training. The graphic violence is often portrayed and glorified in video games and in movie are also a significant factor. Unfortunately, there’s no reset button to push in real life.

In terms of gun safety, 58% of those surveyed said they supported tighter gun safety laws. 26% said that the current level of gun laws were about right and 15% thought they were too strict. 88% of Republicans and 89% of Democrats support restrictions on those with known mental illnesses from owning a firearm. 69% of Republicans would like to see the age requirement to own a gun of any sort raised to 21 across the board. 90% of Democrats agree. Mandatory gun safety and care training is also strongly recommended.

So where are the gun related deaths the worse? According to a 2022 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”), which keeps track of these figures, Texas had the most gun related deaths at 4,630. California had 3,484, while Florida was next with 3,232 deaths. Georgia had 2,163. Other states with a high number of gun related deaths included Pennsylvania with 1,941, Illinois at 1,798, and North Carolina reporting 1,831, matching Ohio.

Indiana had 1,211 gun related deaths with the majority being in Gary and Indianapolis. Tennessee had 1,480, mostly stemming from Memphis and Nashville. Kentucky had 840 with Louisville leading the way. The District of Columbia, the nation’s capital, had 154. Meanwhile, Vermont experienced only 84 deaths. Hawaii had 66, and in  Rhode Island there were only 37 gun related deaths.  

It bears mentioning that while the United States is usually portrayed as the gun related death capitol of the world, there are countries far worse than the U.S.  According to a report by World Population Review for 2025, the overall death rate by gun in the United States is 4.42 deaths per 100,000, but first, who are among the lowest?  

In Jordon, despite being surrounded by violence coming from neighboring Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Iraq, the number of civilian gun related deaths is just 0.3 per 100k. In Australia, it’s 0.09 and 0.02 in Oman.  In Spain and Algeria, the figure is 0.11. In Switzerland where gun ownership is mandatory, gun deaths are only 0.14 per 100,000. As impressive as those numbers are, the nation with the lowest number of gun related fatalities is African nation of Zimbabwe which reported a remarkable 0.01 deaths by firearm.  

The countries with the highest deaths rates due to firearms include Ecuador, where it’s 39.5 per 100k, nearly ten times higher than the U.S. In neighboring, Mexico it’s 17.2% despite all the drug cartel reported killings. Nevertheless, the nation at the top of the corpse strewn mound is Jamacia. Once known for its tourism, Jamacia now has the dubious honor of having the most gun related deaths with a whooping 42 per 100k.

Will stricter laws reduce the number of violence crimes by gun? Perhaps. It will certainly make it tougher for law abiding citizens. Criminals, of course, will have no difficulty getting their hands on gun any time they want, but that doesn’t account for knife attacks with are on the rise.

Knives, not guns, were what took the lives of Iryna Zarutska and Dr. Julia Gard Schnuelle for instance. They were the third most often used weapon in 2023. Random attacks, particularly involving “sucker punches” (aka “coward punches”) are responsible for many of the assaults on the elderly and handicapped along with weapons of opportunity.

So, are we going to impose bans on knives or other sharp objects along with guns? What about bricks, rocks, or pointy sticks? Then too, how do we combat the rise in race based attacks, often brought on by vile racist rhetoric which serves only to promote the violence without violating the 1^st Amendment? Unless civility can be restored, the violence will only continue and grow. We are facing dangerous times not seen since the late 1850’s. We are at the point where any act, no matter how benign or unintentional, could potentially be the spark to set this nation on fire and neither side, regardless of the bravado, is prepared for the consequences. 

 

 Thank you for reading "Another Opinion", the Op/Ed blog page for the "militant middle".  Here at "A/O" we truly value our readers. At A/O we seek the facts as they exist, not partisan talking points.  We hope you find our articles informative and engaging. Comments are welcome, provided they are not vulgar, insulting or demeaning.  Another Opinion is offered without charge and is directed toward all independent and free-thinking individuals. We ask, however, that you "like" us on whatever platform you found us on in order to keep our articles available for free to others. Lastly, in order to keep costs down, we depend on passive marketing, and therefore, depend on our readers to please forward our posts along. Below you will find links to the sources we used in writing this article. Thank you. 

 

How many rape kits are awaiting testing in the US? See databy state.

America tested 100,000 forgotten rape kits. But justiceremains elusive.

End The Rape Kit Backlog

FBI: 2019 Crime in the United States

WPR: Gun Deaths per Country 2025

Gun deaths and violence in the United States by state

 

Tulsi Gabbard and Leaving the "Cowardly Woke" Democratic Party

Tulsi Gabbard has left the Democrat Party. A move which, according to Ms. Gabbard, was long overdue.  For those unfamiliar with Ms. Gabbard, she has a very impressive resume. She was a U.S. Army Reserve Officer, having served in a medical unit for a year in Iraq. She later served a tour of duty in Kuwait, was military police officer, and ultimately assigned to the Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command. She finished up her military service as a Lt. Colonel in 2021.

Ms. Gabbard served in the Hawaii State Legislature from 2002 to 2004, the Honolulu City Council from 2011 through 2012, and finally as the U.S. Representative from Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District from 2013 through 2021.  She was the first Samoan-American and Hindu ever elected to Congress. 

As  Congresswoman, Ms. Gabbard served on several key committees, including Homeland Security, Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, and Financial Services. She  was also one of two women combat veterans in Congress at the time. In 2020, she ran unsuccessfully for President.

She served as Vice Chairperson of the Democrat Party under Debbie Wasserman Schultz. However, she resigned after it became apparent that the party leadership, which was suppose to be neutral in the primary, was blatantly supporting Hillary Clinton and rigged the nomination process against Bernie Saunders (Ms. Schultz was later fired, but was hired the next day by the Clinton campaign).

Ms. Wasserman-Schultz's replacement, Donna Brazille, was fired for providing Hillary Clinton, by then the Democrat nominee for President, with a copy of some confidential questions which were to be asked in a televised president debate between her and Donald Trump.

Ms. Gabbard cited several reasons for her departure from the Democratic Party. She said it was "now under complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers, driven by cowardly wokeness". She accused the party of promoting a "anti-white racism" and of being "contemptuous of religion, law enforcement, and "driving the country toward nuclear war".  That's some powerful accusations.

She added that she considered herself a "independent minded" person throughout her political career and thought of herself as mostly conservative. Well, she's much more than that now.  Because of her resignation, Ms. Gabbard has become part of America's political majority---the Independents.

Americans are sick and tired of being sick and tired of an intentionally corrupt political system which serves solely the interests of a oligarchy. Ever since Citizens United, corporations have controlled both political parties. They don't even pretend to hide it anymore, and why bother? They've all but eliminated the average voter from participation in the political process. 

They've made political campaigns to expensive for most Americans. They've rigged districts through gerrymandering in order to keep partisan control. The absence of term limits means that an incumbent can stay in office for virtually as long as they want.  They've ensured that big money donors (which are typically corporations and multi-millionaires) don't give money to "unapproved" candidates.

As an aside, that's one of the main reasons the establishment media and both parties went after Donald Trump from the beginning. He was not a "approved "candidate. He wasn't properly "vetted" by the political gatekeepers, and he was largely self funded. That meant he couldn't be controlled or beholden to anyone or any agenda. To the elites, that's dangerous.

Part of the ongoing vendetta against Trump is to ensure that no one ever again attempts to do what he did; that no financially independent or "unapproved" candidate runs for president just like when Ross Perot ran for president on the Reform Party ticket in the 1980's.

Perot was largely self-funded and did such a good job in the televised debates that both parties came together to form the Commission for Presidential Debates to order to keep future "Ross Perot" types out of the debates and out of the public spotlight as much as possible (the debates were previously held by the League of Women Voters who refused to amend the rules to keep third parties and Independent candidates out. As a result, the LWV was dropped).   

 At the local level, state legislatures have made it near impossible for anyone other than a Democrat or Republican to get on the ballot by requiring them to jump through hoops the other two are exempted from. In 24 states, like Kentucky and New York, citizens are even prohibited from introducing ballot initiatives and referendums! Why? It's all about control and keeping it from the voters.

So what does Tulsi Gabbard's decision to leave the Democrats tell us? First, it's not unusual for politicians to leave their party, particularly when the political winds are shifting.  Ronald Reagan was once a Democrat, as were most individuals involved in movies or radio back in the day. Reagan changed to Republican after famously saying that he "didn't leave the Democratic Party. The party left me".

Democratic icon, Hillary Clinton, was once a Republican, and not just any ole Republican. She was once a member of the so-called "Goldwater Girls", who were avid backers of Senator Barry Goldwater, the scion of the conservative and libertarian movement in America.

Senator Elizabeth Warren started her political career as a pro-business Republican before becoming a liberal stalwart and part time Native American. Leon Panetta (aka "Darth Vader")  was originally a Nixon Republican before switching parties in 1971 over Nixon's stance on Civil Rights.

Of course, perhaps the most famous party jumper was the Teddy Roosevelt. We went from a trust busting moderate Republican to a Progressive "Bull Moose", before later switching back to his moderate GOP roots.

One can't fault Ms. Gabbard for her decision. More Americans are abandoning the two corporate than ever before. The majority of voters these days are Independent. In fact, about 43% are Independents (30% are Republicans and 24% are Democrats).Pollsters like to claim that Independents are actually closet partisans, which is about as far from the truth as it gets.

Since the late 1970's, the Democrats and Republicans began a slow but steady purge of moderates from their midst. Republicans called them "RINOs" (or "Republican in Name Only") while the Democrats referred to conservative members of their party as "DINOs" ("Democrat in Name Only"). Unfortunately for both parties, their respective "purity" litmus test proved too much and so they left.  It's been a proverbial hemorrhage of membership ever since.

So, what does it mean to be an Independent and is there a price to be paid? As stated above, the majority of Independents are mostly moderate or centrists. That means they lean conservative on some issues (usually fiscal, foreign policy, and some domestic issues) and liberal on others  with some occasional overlaps.  I prefer the term "pragmatic".

Independents tend to be non-dogmatic and examine each issued based on its own merits, which means doing a lot of their own research. They pay little or no attention to media endorsements (the media's job is to provide fair, honest, and balanced reporting, not promote political agendas). They are strong individualists and generally have a "live and let live" attitude.  Another thing about most Independents is that they tend to believe in equal opportunities, but not equal outcomes. That's up to the individual.

They prefer decision making at the local level as much as possible. They tend to oppose Citizens United and the notion of "corporate personhood", not to mention partisan gerrymandering, while supporting term limits and citizen referendums and ballot initiatives.

Individuals like Tulsi Gabbard are a like sign posts. They point to a new direction for the nation. The two corporate parties have put Americans on a never-ending marry-go-round.  Each blaming the other for what they both are doing and the establishment media providing the finger pointing.

We all know what's happening. We know, mostly, who is to blame. Many of us have glimpsed those pulling the levers "behind the curtain" to borrow from the "Wizard of Oz".  Politics has become a millionaires game and we're mere pawns at best. But their time is quickly coming to an end.

If we're to restore our democratic or Constitutional Republic, it's time we put aside the partisan politics and its manufactured divisions and come together once again as a single people united in liberty for all.

It's time we demand a balanced budget and line item veto amendments at the local, state, and national levels to ensure government doesn't spend more than it takes it and to eliminate pay-to-play pork projects. Corporate lobbyists should not write legislation. That's the job of the legislature.

We need to end partisan gerrymandering. Districts should be drawn along natural boundaries and by non-partisan entities such as local universities or colleges on a rotating basis. Term limits are a must. If the President can be limited to two 4 year terms, so should Congress and the Judicial system (actually a limit of 12 years---three 4 years terms---should be ample).

Rank Choice Voting is also a better way to elect candidates. Candidates are ranked by order of preference regardless of their political affiliation (or lack thereof).  The highest rank candidate wins. Referendums and ballot initiatives are our right as citizens. We don't need corporate controlled politicians acting as gatekeepers on issues we want to vote on.

While we're at it, shouldn't politicians be require to formally resign from their political party when elected? In our "winner-take-all" system, those on the losing end have no representation for however long the other side has that seat. Winners should represent everyone, not just one side.

Speaking of voting, citizens should decide on whether to approve a tax or other increase along with any changes in the salaries of elected or appointed officials. We all know politicians aren't good with money, especially ours! We need to serious overhaul our tax code and eliminate Citizens United too. Corporations are not people. They are legal fictions. They do not vote. Money is not "free speech". 

We need a level playing field when comes to running for office. Nowadays, Independents and third parties have to jump through obstacles the other two parties don't. If a Democrat or Republican wants to run for office, they may need only three or so signatures to get on the ballot while a Independent or third party candidate may need as much as a hundred. That's not right (and I doubt even legal).  

It took a lot of courage for Tulsi Gabbard to do what she did, but already a lot of Americans---if fact, the majority---have shown a similar courage by leaving the two corporate owned parties. So kudos to Ms. Gabbard for leaving the "dark side of the Empire", and joining the American People who want their government and their country back.

 

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Tulsi Gabbard leaves Democratic Party, denounces it as 'elitist cabal' 

 

Tulsi Gabbard leaving 'elitist" Democratic Party, blast 'cowardly wokeness'

Political positions of Tulsi Gabbard

Gallup: Party Affiliation

States without initiative or referendum

Commission on Presidential Debates

10 famous people who switched political parties

List of United States senators who switched parties