Gunman fires into crowd in downtown detroit

[Peppermint Patty]

I was handed a new ass when I stated my anxieties about Detroit. Looks like my fears were not unfounded!

[aj3647]

What I find fascinating is Toronto has 2.5 million people and only averages 60-80 murders and an identical sized city like Chicago averages 450-500 murders a year. Toronto is also one of the most diverse cities in North America so you can't play the race card.

Yes, Toronto is diverse, but in a very different way than Chicago. Chicago is 32% white and 33% black. Toronto is nearly 53% white and only ~8% black. Half of Toronto's minority population is Chinese or South Asian. So Toronto's diversity is largely in the form of Chinese and Indian people.

In terms of racial demographics, the two cities are not at all comparable.

[coracle]

Yes, Toronto is diverse, but in a very different way than Chicago. Chicago is 32% white and 33% black. Toronto is nearly 53% white and only ~8% black. Half of Toronto's minority population is Chinese or South Asian. So Toronto's diversity is largely in the form of Chinese and Indian people.

In terms of racial demographics, the two cities are not at all comparable.

If your theory [[and Shollin's) is right the reason Detroit is number one at murder is because there is no diversity here and if we could induce a goodly number of Chinese and Indian people to move in we would reduce the murder rate. Sure it isn't because there's a lot more guns per person in cities where the rate is high?

[Shollin]

Uh, I didn't propose any theory and didn't compare Toronto to Detroit.

[superduperman]

Clearly you don't know how gun cases work here in Detroit or across the United States,most gun cases are picked up by the feds. No matter the crime,you have a gun[[simply carrying and you're felon),the feds are going to charge you after the state chooses to charge you or not, its been like that for years and it hasn't detered gun crime.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

I legally carry and feel much better when I go out, anywhere where it's legal to carry . I don't venture into Detroit often, but when I do, my weapon is with me. I would absolutely hate to ever have to pull it out in order to protect myself or one of my loved ones. I know that when it leaves the holster, I will have to hurt someone and I sure don't want that on my conscience; however, the person threatening me doesn't care about me and surely doesn't have a conscience and wouldn't hesitate to kill me, so there would be no alternatives left.
What a shame that the situation has become so bad that people have to arm themselves just to go to the store or even to mow their lawns....what a horrible way to have to live your life.

I couldn't have said that better myself.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Clearly you don't know how gun cases work here in Detroit or across the United States,most gun cases are picked up by the feds. No matter the crime,you have a gun[[simply carrying and you're felon),the feds are going to charge you after the state chooses to charge you or not, its been like that for years and it hasn't detered gun crime.

What happened to 1 will get you 2, as in 1 gun will get you 2 years in the pokey. Did they repel that law?

[LeannaM]

You have got to be kidding me. You think this happens in other cities as often or more often? No way. Detroit is the most dangerous big city in the country by far. Not trying to hate on the city, but you have to acknowledge the problem before you can fix it.

You see shootings in every big city. However, these shootings are rarely Downtown or in touristy areas. I think in most cities the shootings are usually confined to the bad neighborhoods in the city. They're still a problem of course, but people usually don't pay much attention when it's an area of the city they know to avoid. It looks worse when the shooting happens in an area of the city people actually visit. Honestly, if somebody gets shot in a bad area, most people don't pay that much attention, because they never go to that neighborhood.

[firstandten]

Clearly you don't know how gun cases work here in Detroit or across the United States,most gun cases are picked up by the feds. No matter the crime,you have a gun[[simply carrying and you're felon),the feds are going to charge you after the state chooses to charge you or not, its been like that for years and it hasn't detered gun crime.

So are you saying that all of the criminals who committed a crime with a gun thats in state prison will also do time in a federal prison once there state prison time is complete ?

[superduperman]

So are you saying that all of the criminals who committed a crime with a gun thats in state prison will also do time in a federal prison once there state prison time is complete ?

In most cases the feds will pick the case up or after they get done with their state time they are headed to a federal prison but alot of times is that they will will do their time concurrently, either in state prison or federal prison. I was released from federal prison last June and there are countless federal inmates doing time for simply getting caught carrying a gun from places all over the country. My point in all this is that there are already laws on the books that give out lengthy prison sentences and it hasn't detered shootings from happening.

[BEEAH]

I legally carry and feel much better when I go out, anywhere where it's legal to carry . I don't venture into Detroit often, but when I do, my weapon is with me. I would absolutely hate to ever have to pull it out in order to protect myself or one of my loved ones. I know that when it leaves the holster, I will have to hurt someone and I sure don't want that on my conscience; however, the person threatening me doesn't care about me and surely doesn't have a conscience and wouldn't hesitate to kill me, so there would be no alternatives left.
What a shame that the situation has become so bad that people have to arm themselves just to go to the store or even to mow their lawns....what a horrible way to have to live your life.

I look at it exactly the same. For me, I simply don't understand how people don't at least have some protection in their home. I challenge guys all the time with if someone broke into their house at night. The kids are in bed and the wife is next to you. They are in the house and you know it, what are you going to do? Have you even thought about something like that happening? Ask yourself right now, if 2 men are in your home, what is the plan? If you don't have an answer other than "Call 911", you will just be another person on the 5 o'clock news...

If you can't defend yourself and your family then how in the hell can you sleep at night? Really, these days, it's no different on the street.