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I sometimes think of visiting USA as tourist, but get reminded by these weekly news flashes that I might never return home if I did. Probably not a good idea to visit this third world shithole with a Gucci belt.
As disturbing as these mass shootings are, they're still very rare. The vast majority of Americans will never be in a mass shooting, let alone tourists who only visit occasionally.
It's telling that most American police officers go their entire career without shooting their guns except at the firing range.
But, it is a sign of US dysfunction that the problem is so obvious but there's zero chance of the problem being solved any time soon.
There are still a lot of gun homocides. Mass shootings are only part of the story.
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A lot compared to other countries, but not so many that a tourist would have to worry about it, especially if they stick to touristey areas.
If someone decided to go into certain neighbourhoods in certain cities, especially while looking like a tourist, they could get in trouble. But, not visiting the US because you're afraid of getting shot is like not being willing to swim anywhere in the Atlantic ocean because you're afraid of being bitten by a shark. In both cases, the danger is minimal unless you ignore the warning signs.
I mean, not that rare. I remember back in college I knew 5 different people who were in a mass school shooting as a kid - all from different states.
Just this week there have been 5 mass shootings.
The plural of anecdote is not data.
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So, you know some people who were in a mass shooting, but they lived. If they know some people who died in a mass shooting that's two degrees of separation between you and a mass shooting death.
As for the mass shootings this week, they include a convenience store robbery, something that seems to be a murder-suicide where someone killed their family, a shootout over a stolen car, shots at a house party. And, in only 2 of those cases (the 5 dead in a house, and the rampage in Maine) were more than 1 person killed. These all technically qualify as mass shootings, but the rampage in Maine is the only kind we really think of as being a typical mass shooting.
It's far too many. There's no question about that. It's also absurd how much more frequent it is in the US compared to other places. On the other hand, the US has a population of 330 million people. So, while the odds of dying in a mass shooting are higher in the US than any other developed country in the world, it's hardly a warzone. The vast majority of people in the US will not be in a mass shooting ever. Most people will never be shot in their lives. And tourists shouldn't avoid the US out of a fear of being involved in a mass shooting. Yes, it's much more likely in the US than in say Japan. But, the overall odds are low.
I think that depends where you go. I live in BC but go to Washington all the time and it feels pretty much just as safe.
It was in the news in the UK a few years ago that a doctor visited the US to see some of his family that lived there, and while he was asleep in bed a stray bullet hit him and he died. Obviously I'm sure these things are unlikely but it's still kind of scary. That and I find the idea of walking around and having deranged psychos all around me potentially having a gun and them being able to pull it out and end my life at any moment kind of... unpleasant.
and that right there is WHY they will never go away. You aren't Wrong, you dinged the bell of human nature. Name a creature who wouldn't want an advantage like that?
Its unfortunate that humans treat one another so poorly that iron turned to bronze turned to steel turned to bullets.
but, a history book need only tell you why americans arm up. The Spanish in the south and French in the north started americas fires, then the 13 colonies showed up a time later, further embellishing the need for a gun. the west, where life was worth but the cost of a bullet and has since, remained. Manifest Destiny was not to be a friendly acquisition nor was it. What I'm saying is America is built on the sword and blood of losers. No one here wants to be marginalized. civil forfeiture, Debt...what makes a human feel in control again? a gun...
Okay I guess. I personally like just being able to live my life without almost getting shot every couple of hours. I have a friend who basically sounds exactly like you and lives in Texas, he also told me that he hears gunshots around him like multiple times a day. Forgive me but that doesn't sound particularly appealing.
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Isn't having a crazy powerful military enough? The Spanish and French aren't about to set fires in the US anymore.
Now its domestic threats, The police gang, the black man, the rich man north of richmond, drug addicts, whatever 24hr news media is spinning up to keep numbers up. Combine it with internet echo chambers where the 1% think they are the 100, you got a nice stew for all kinds of horror.
Eh, it's safer now than it was 30 years ago, your odds of actually running into anyone with a gun are extremely low.
I love how people are mad that you're right. The only technicality I'd add is that concealed carry is a thing, so you likely walk past people carrying without knowing it, but that's the whole point of concealed carry in the first place.
Mass shooting events like this are a social problem that ends up being very complex when you start to actually try and figure out why they happen and how to prevent them. There is no short answer, but Angry White Men by Michael Kimmel is a good place to start.
I... think I am good. I will travel to any other country on earth where these risks practically do not exist. As an Indian, I know how bad it can get for me in specific white countries, considering some of the Indian refugees from Ukraine got beat up and injured on Poland border last year.
Go anyway, the western US is beautiful.
Maybe getting in one of the mass shooting crossfires by those domestic terrorists in your country will bring some empathy in the likes of you.