Jan 16, 2019
Americans are pretty concerned about violent crime—particularly crimes committed with guns, “assault weapons” most specifically. This concern, statistically speaking, is fairly irrational. You are far more likely to be killed by being beaten or stabbed than you are to be killed by any kind of rifle, “assault” or otherwise. So why are so many people so tied up in knots about it? Join James Harrigan and Antony Davies as they discuss this and more on this week’s episode of Words and Numbers.
Quick hits
Corona brewing replaces plastic six-pack rings
Illegal immigrants and Social Security numbers
The economic case for immigration
W&N episode #51: America relies on immigrants
Foolishness of the week
Being morally right vs being factually correct
Topic of the week: Reality and Perception of Crime
Pew report on violent crime data
Bureau of Justice Statistics crime data
Gallup polls on perception of crime trends
Firearm homicide and suicide rates by city
2% of US counties account for 50% of US homicides
Feinstein introduces assault weapons ban
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