FBI data show surge in murders in 2020

[ancianita]

11. Another correlation: the huge increase in gun purchases. Guns are also classified as durable goods.

My theory is that gun murders reflect the 'replacement theory,' along with shooters gambling on not getting caught. Old stats show that only 1-2 murders are adjudicated, there are just too many, and so armed nazis could be playing the odds. Any pretext -- climate disaster or covid spikes -- is a good cover for racism, especially if more blacks are murdered than whites. This could be a slow roll runup to a race war.

In the longer term, though, the massive increase in gun purchases will likely translate into more gun violence: The research consistently shows that where there are more guns, there are more gun deaths.

The logic is straightforward: People all over the world, since the beginning of time, have gotten into arguments, feuds, and fights. When there’s a gun around, though, it’s simply much easier for those fights to escalate into deadly violence.

This is one of the primary reasons America, which has the highest rate of civilian gun ownership in the world, has more gun deaths than any other developed nation. A 2018 study in JAMA found the US’s civilian gun death rate is nearly four times that of Switzerland, five times that of Canada, 35 times that of the United Kingdom, and 53 times that of Japan. Based on the research, the high rates of civilian gun ownership are a primary cause.

The fears around coronavirus, then, stand to make America’s gun problem even worse.

https://www.vox.com/2020/4/2/21203487/coronavirus-pandemic-guns-mass-shootings