The safest state to live

[nice hat dude!]

I am going to post something that I am sure will ruffle some feathers, but think of it as an example of how many ways this issue can be interpreted.

Perhaps this discussion is really just deciding the states in which people do the least to keep safe.

While the crime rate may show how many incedents occur, it does not show what actions the victim took to either prevent or encourage the crime.

If the crime was a violent assault following an attempted drug deal then if I am watching TV in my house a few blocks away I am not in danger from the thug that looks like he is selling drugs so he can mug guys who go into his neighborhood.

The thread was about the safest states not necessarily cities,the only info we can have for a list is from the internet or the news so I was only quoting what Yahoo had printed,suffice it to say that if I had to live in a large city LA,NewYork,Chicagoect.the first thing I'd do would be buy a handgun legal or not!!!

 

[nice hat dude!]

That may be the safest for you, but someone from an area where they are not familiar with guns and has friends or family who are not safe around guns might do better in a congested area with less guns and more police. Even though there are more crimes comitted that person might be better at avoiding trouble in that environment.

I won't disagree with that but if you look at it mathematically if you have 1000 people your chances of having problems are definitely going to be less than if you have 10000 people,IMHO and as far as people and guns go educate,educate,educate.

 

[kiwilrdg]

suffice it to say that if I had to live in a large city LA,NewYork,Chicagoect.the first thing I'd do would be buy a handgun legal or not!!!

Excellent point, If you defend yourself by killing a thug with an illegal pistol the stats go up in several areas of crime. The net result is less criminals on the street so things are safer because of the increase in crime. The stats are not enough to determine if a state is safe.

 

[kiwilrdg]

I won't disagree with that but if you look at it mathematically if you have 1000 people your chances of having problems are definitely going to be less than if you have 10000 people,

You need to look at the per capita rate. It you have 5X the crime in the more populated example you have half the chance of being the victim.

I don't feel guns are the issue. I am very much pro gun but not everyone wants a gun. I don't think a gun will stop a problem, but if you can't avoid a problem a gun is a useful tool to stop the problem in your favor.

 

[nice hat dude!]

I'm only going to add one thing and this is the god's honest truth as it was said directly to me,I was driving truck in LA looking for an address just off of Alameda Ave. if you know the area it's not where most folks go for any reason,anyway I'm stopped in the middle of the street looking at my map,same time a police officer(white) droveby with his window down so I yelled at him he stopped asked me what I wanted,I told him I was looking for Riteway Meats right in this area,he told me that he worked in that area for 12 years and he don't stop down here,no this wasn't in the middle of thenight it was at 10:00am so if you think the answer is more police good luck with that.Just so you know I was a half a block from the address and he didn't know where it was.Honestly a true story.

 

[kiwilrdg]

if you know the area it's not where most folks go for any reason,

The folks who do live there may not feel safe in the area that you live.

so if you think the answer is more police good luck with that.

I never said there was an answer. I feel that there is no single answer. there is some danger everywhere and an area where one person is safer may not be safer for others. I spend more time in the hood working with troubled youth than many officers so I have developed an amount of street smarts that I understand that some people prefer the inner city even though I do not feel safer.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The stats are not enough to determine if a state is safe.

The cabbie who was held up at knifepoint on my street last week, the single women who've had their homes broken into in broad daylight in recent weeks, the targets of the home-invasion rapist who was never caught, the pharmacists who are robbed on what seems to be a regular monthly schedule, and the residents of the apartment house they call The Salt Flats because of the prevalence of bath-salts users in the neighborhood would not agree that Maine is an especially safe state. And the majority of this crime is drug-related -- not just the buying and selling of drugs, but the bizarre and violent rampages gone on by people who use drugs, which for some reason aren't considered "major crimes" around here, perhaps because the area is so saturated in them that it'd make the numbers look bad.

 

[kiwilrdg]

not just the buying and selling of drugs, but the bizarre and violent rampages gone on by people who use drugs, which for some reason aren't considered "major crimes" around here, perhaps because the area is so saturated in them that it'd make the numbers look bad.

Lies, damn lies, and statistics.
There is no way to say what is safest. I know of one city that a few years ago reported the number of people arrested that were residents of the city so they could not count unsolved crimes plus homless people and tourists were not in their numbers. It looked great until the murders were hitting the news a little too much.

Whatever the stats for the state are, if I were the only shooting victim I would still feel I was not safe.

 

[Feraud]

The thread was about the safest states not necessarily cities,the only info we can have for a list is from the internet or the news so I was only quoting what Yahoo had printed,suffice it to say that if I had to live in a large city LA,NewYork,Chicagoect.the first thing I'd do would be buy a handgun legal or not!!!

You do not need a firearm (and especially an illegal one) to live safely in NY.

Based on comments from real people who live in various parts of the U.S. and not some Yahoo quote I feel safer in a big city than a small one.

 

[Edward]

I feel safer in a big city than a small one.

I've always been the same. My sense of security drops significantly when I'm out in a countrified area where I don't know the lie of the land, and where the local authorities are much less likely to be available twenty-four hours a day. A bustling city always feels safer to me than somewhere where there is no-one else around - even given the likelihood that no-one would dare intervene. I've been fortunate enough never to have been mugged (or the victim of an attempted mugging) anywhere I've ever been in the world. Mind you, unless they're only interested in doing harm, I'd have the same approach to any mugger who demanded my wallet at gun or knife point - hand it over and call the credit card company. After a certain point stuff is just stuff and not worth being stabbed or shot or shooting someone else over. [huh]

 

[jamespowers]

Based on comments from real people who live in various parts of the U.S. and not some Yahoo quote I feel safer in a big city than a small one.

But in the country you can see trouble coming from a long way away and prepare for it.

 

[Feraud]

But in the country you can see trouble coming from a long way away and prepare for it.

Haha, I see your point! Even in a city you keep your eyes open and avoid trouble.
I've lived in Queens, N.Y. all my life and went to school, work, and socialized in NYC since my teens and experienced very little trouble. It's not that crime didn't happen but you learn to keep your eyes open. A bit of luck helps too. Some neighborhoods benefit from gentrification.

 

[jamespowers]

Haha, I see your point! Even in a city you keep your eyes open and avoid trouble.
I've lived in Queens, N.Y. all my life and went to school, work, and socialized in NYC since my teens and experienced very little trouble. It's not that crime didn't happen but you learn to keep your eyes open. A bit of luck helps too. Some neighborhoods benefit from gentrification.

As I see it, a city is good if you can run fast. The country is good if you can shoot straight.

 

[sheeplady]

I've always been the same. My sense of security drops significantly when I'm out in a countrified area where I don't know the lie of the land, and where the local authorities are much less likely to be available twenty-four hours a day. A bustling city always feels safer to me than somewhere where there is no-one else around - even given the likelihood that no-one would dare intervene. I've been fortunate enough never to have been mugged (or the victim of an attempted mugging) anywhere I've ever been in the world. Mind you, unless they're only interested in doing harm, I'd have the same approach to any mugger who demanded my wallet at gun or knife point - hand it over and call the credit card company. After a certain point stuff is just stuff and not worth being stabbed or shot or shooting someone else over. [huh]

Here the university has a saying that they print on all their safety brochures: "Lose your stuff, not your life." We have maybe 8 or 9 muggings with weapons during a school year here where students are the victims. Most of the time if the student hands over their stuff, they walk away ok. Although there have been a few violent rapes and severe beatings associated with the muggings, most of the time, if you hand over your stuff, they leave you alone. There is other violence here too (there's been a couple of abductions/ gang rapes) but those types of extreme events only occur once a year at most.

Although, one semester we had two criminals who were holding up students on campus with a gun (as opposed to just off campus or on the edge), and it was happening once or twice a week the entire fall semester. I have to admit, that's the first time in my life I ever felt really unsafe on campus. They eventually caught the criminals when they did a home invasion against a group of students living off campus- it turned into a hostage situation but everybody made it out physically ok.

 

[jamespowers]

Here the university has a saying that they print on all their safety brochures: "Lose your stuff, not your life." We have maybe 8 or 9 muggings with weapons during a school year here where students are the victims. Most of the time if the student hands over their stuff, they walk away ok. Although there have been a few violent rapes and severe beatings associated with the muggings, most of the time, if you hand over your stuff, they leave you alone. There is other violence here too (there's been a couple of abductions/ gang rapes) but those types of extreme events only occur once a year at most.

Although, one semester we had two criminals who were holding up students on campus with a gun (as opposed to just off campus or on the edge), and it was happening once or twice a week the entire fall semester. I have to admit, that's the first time in my life I ever felt really unsafe on campus. They eventually caught the criminals when they did a home invasion against a group of students living off campus- it turned into a hostage situation but everybody made it out physically ok.

Holy Crimony! :faint:

 

[nice hat dude!]

My point was never to condone the use of illegal handguns but if all our law enforcement agencies could be counted on to keep us safe we wouldn't even be having this discussion would we?If you feel safe by doing so that it is your god given right,personally I would just like to have an equal playing field.Again you don't need to be in New York or Chicago to get in trouble you can get your ass killed in Hicktown Canada as well but if you're ever faced with that situation wouldn't you feel a little safer by having a gun with you?

 

[sheeplady]

Holy Crimony! :faint:

It's the addicts who come because the drug dealers invade the nearby public housing every night to sell their wares. Students are considered easy pickings- they are likely to have cash, a nice cell phone, and possibly a laptop/ tablet and unlikely to be armed or dangerous to the mugger.

 

[jamespowers]

It's the addicts who come because the drug dealers invade the nearby public housing every night to sell their wares. Students are considered easy pickings- they are likely to have cash, a nice cell phone, and possibly a laptop/ tablet and unlikely to be armed or dangerous to the mugger.

I'll call in Chuck Norris to pose as a student. They won't think that ever again. lol lol

 

[1961MJS]

It's the addicts who come because the drug dealers invade the nearby public housing every night to sell their wares. Students are considered easy pickings- they are likely to have cash, a nice cell phone, and possibly a laptop/ tablet and unlikely to be armed or dangerous to the mugger.

Hi

In general, our supposed brightest and best (college students) can't be trusted with firearms. Those who can at best hope to keep a job at 711 for the rest of their life can be trusted at 21, but not college students on campus. Go figure. I haven't been on that many college campus's, but all of them I've been to are weapon free zones.

Later

 

[nice hat dude!]

Lets see if I got this right hand over your stuff,get raped and beaten by some punks that do this 8 or 9 times a year or shoot the S.O.B. yea I can see me allow them to take my sister your sister anyone's sister and have themselves a party on my money,not where I live Maam.It's always ok when it's somebody else's problem just
as long as it doesn't effect us personally.