On the Ecology of Gun Violence in America

[Cryozombie]

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/primate-diaries/2012/07/26/the-jokers-wild/

In a follow-up study in 2001 Kawachi looked specifically at firearm prevalence and social capital among U.S. states. The results showed that when social capital and community involvement declined, gun ownership increased (see Figure 3).

Kawachi points out that it is impossible to prove whether one factor caused the other, but the most reasonable interpretation is that people who don’t trust their neighbors are more likely to think guns will provide security. In this way the number of guns and the number of homicides both stem from the same root, suggesting that guns don’t cause murders anymore than cars cause fatal accidents. This was also the conclusion of a policy paper conducted by the London-based Centre for Economic Policy Research in 2005 that found no support for the argument that more guns cause more homicides.

In other words, a culture emphasizing less aggression and with closer bonds between individuals throughout the community formed the basis for a more egalitarian society

That second quote especially rings true with what I have said in the past about Neighborhoods needing to be Neighborhoods, rather than disparate houses full of people afraid to talk to their neighbor and the police... and I think it is one of the unintended/unconsidered consequences of Illegal immigration, and a VERY valid reason to look at Immigration reform as a means to help curb not just gun violence, but crime in general.