Got defriended by someone yesterday, and I have to presume its over my politics. *shrugs* Oh, well! It's not like my profile doesn't give people the basics. Usually I try not to get TOO political on here because this is one of my "fun zones", but there are exceptions. I'm sorry if that upsets anyone, but I'm fairly upfront on who I am - again, see profile. I leave most lifestyle discussions out because I figure that's between an individual and God, and I've got no right to judge. I'm willing to answer respectful questions, not attacks, and I try as hard as I can to stay polite. Abortion is one issue that I feel I have to speak out on because it involves two people, and one of them has no voice of their own. I am willing to be the voice of the silent one.

This next bit is the actual rant I planned on, and it IS political in nature, so feel free to pass. A politician made a comment that ticked me off and I went on a bit of a tear, and decided to post it. It's under the cut and it involves guns and violence, so again, feel free to skip.

Rep. Charlie Rangel on Guns: ‘Some of the Southern Areas Have Cultures that We Have to Overcome’ | CNS News.

I'm sorry? Excuse me?

"some of the southern areas have cultures that we have to overcome"?

While I will not deny that we've got violence down here, I'm insulted that someone would toss the gun issue into a "southern" thing.

Deadliest U.S. Shootings in the past 20 years:

1. Virginia Tech, Virginia - 32 innocents dead, as well as the shooter - took place in the south - in a gun-free zone.
2. Sandy Hook, Connecticut - 26 innocents dead, as well as the shooter - took place in the north - in a gun-free zone.
3. Luby's Cafeteria, Texas - 23 innocents dead, as well as the shooter - took place in the south - at the time of the shooting, citizens were prohibited from carrying a weapon in a public place - so it was in a gun-free zone.
4. Columbine High School, Colorado - 13 innocents dead, as well as the shooters - took place in the west - in a gun-free zone.
5. Immigration Services Center, Birmingham, New York - 13 innocents dead, as well as shooter - took place in the north - in a gun-free zone.
6. Fort Hood, Texas - 13 innocents dead - took place in the south - as of March 1993, military personnel were prohibited from carrying their personal weapons - so it was basically a gun-free zone.*
7. Movie Theater, Aurora, Colorado - 12 innocents dead - took place in the west - in a gun-free zone.
8. Geneva County, Alabama - 10 innocents dead, as well as the shooter - took place in the south - shooter moved from one place to another

*One of the wounded from Fort Hood was Mandy Foster's husband. He was scheduled for deployment to Afghanistan two months after the shooting. Mrs. Foster was asked by CNN anchor John Roberts about him still be scheduled to go. She responded, "At least he's safe there and can fire back, right?"

Of the above eight shootings, four of them did take place in the south, two in the north, and two in the west. Does this mean its "southern culture"? These are MASS shootings for the past TWENTY years. Yes, one is too many, but say I had stopped at the top five - two would be from the south, two from the north, and one from the west. Good thing I kept going, hmm?

Oh, and did you notice that all but ONE were in gun-free zones? Where the shooters were there illegally ANYWAY? Even before they fired a shot?

So, does this mean "southern culture" is too violent?

Let's look at a different set of numbers:

Violent Crime Rates (2009 numbers from U.S. Census Bureau - 2012 unavailable at this time) - numbers per 100,000 population

Top Ten cities (eleven when D.C. makes the cut)

For murder:

New Orleans, LA - 51.7 - south
St. Louis, MO - 40.3 - north
Detroit, MI - 40.0 - north
Baltimore, MD - 37.3 - north
Newark, NJ - 28.7 - north
Oakland, CA - 25.7 - west
Washington, DC - 24.0 - federal capital
Buffalo, NY - 22.3 - north
Kansas City, MO - 20.6 - north
Memphis, TN - 19.8 - south
Philadelphia, PA - 19.5 - north

Top murder cities - 2 south, 7 north, 1 west, plus DC

For forcible rape:

Minneapolis, MN - 107.9 - north
Anchorage, AK - 99.5 - west
Cleveland, OH - 88.5 - north
Colorado Springs, CO - 86.1 - west
Oakland, CA - 80.6 - west
Columbus, OH - 78.9 - north
Corpus Christi, TX - 73.7 - south
Cincinnati, OH - 72.2 - north
Wichita, KS - 71.3 - middle
St. Louis, MO - 70.4 - north

Top forcible rape cities - 1 south, 3 west, 5 north, 1 middle (List did not include Chicago, IL, because the methodology for reporting does not comply with Uniform Crime Reporting Program guidelines.)

For robbery (NOT burglary):

Cleveland, OH - 828 - north
St. Louis, MO - 766 - north
Oakland, CA - 716 - west
Cincinnati, OH - 681 - north
Washington, DC - 667 - federal capital
Detroit, MI - 661 - north
Memphis, TN - 620 - south
Buffalo, NY - 609 - north
Baltimore, MD - 580 - north
Chicago, IL - 557 - north
Milwaukee, WI - 525 - north

Top robbery (NOT burglary) cities - 1 south, 1 west, 8 north, and the federal capital

For aggravated assault:

Detroit, MI - 1254 - north
St. Louis, MO - 1193 - north
Memphis, TN - 1111 - south
Baltimore, MD - 871 - north
Oakland, CA - 857 - west
Kansas City, MO - 816 - north
Stockton, CA - 797 - west
Buffalo, NY - 775 - north
Nashville, TN - 762 - south
Tulsa, OK - 742 - middle

Top aggravated assault cities - 2 south, 2 west, 5 north, 1 middle

Cities that made all four top lists:

Oakland, CA - west
St. Louis, MO - north

Cities ranked highest overall in violent crime:

St. Louis, MO - 2070 - north
Detroit, MI - 1992 - north
Memphis, TN - 1809 - south
Oakland, CA - 1679 - west
Baltimore, MD - 1513 - north
Buffalo, NY - 1459 - north
Cleveland, OH - 1396 - north
Kansas City, MO - 1300 - north
Stockton, CA - 1267 - west
Washington, DC - 1265 - federal capital
Philadelphia, PA - 1238 - north

Top overall violent cities - 1 south, 2 west, 7 north, and the federal capital. (Again, numbers may be off due to above mentioned problem with Chicago's reporting of forcible rape.)

How about the numbers of people with guns...percentage wise of the state population. (To be comparable with the violence numbers, I'm using the 2007 percentages.)

Highest:

Wyoming - 59.7% - west
Alaska - 57.8% - west
Montana - 57.7% - west
South Dakota - 56.6% - middle
West Virginia - 55.4% - north
Mississippi - 55.3% - south
Idaho - 55.3% - west
Arkansas - 55.3% - south
Alabama - 51.7% - south
North Dakota - 50.7% - middle

So, 3 south, 2 middle, 1 north, and 4 west - Alabama (south) had one of the mass shootings, and Alaska (west) showed up under the forcible rape list...none of the other states made either group.

Lowest:

Florida - 24.5% - south
California - 21.3% - west
Maryland - 21.3% - north
Illinois - 20.2% - north
New York - 18% - north
Connecticut - 16.7% - north
Rhode Island - 12.8% - north
Massachusetts - 12.6% - north
New Jersey - 12.3% - north
Hawaii - 6.7% - west

1 south, 2 west, and 7 north - California (west) showed up five times on the violent lists, Maryland (north) showed up three times, Illinois (north) showed up once, New York (north) showed up three times, Connecticut (north) had a mass shooting, New Jersey (north) showed up once, while Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Hawaii didn't show up in either set of lists.

Of the 10 most violent cities, here's the percentage of gun ownership for the state (Missouri & California both made the list twice - only reported below once).

Missouri - north - 41.7%
Michigan - north - 38.4%
Tennessee - south - 43.9%
California - west - 21.3%
Maryland - north - 21.3%
New York - north - 18%
Ohio - north - 32.4%
Pennsylvania - north - 34.7%

So, how is it California, Maryland, and New York are in the lowest ranks for gun ownership but pop up in the highest ranks for violence? Taking guns away from private citizens is obviously not going to curb their problems.

Yes, Rangel obviously pushed a hot button. This is not about "southern culture" - he needs to explain his state's culture of violence before he begins looking down his nose at those of us living under southern culture.

And just for the record:

Have you heard media reports on -

2002 Appalachian Law School (Virginia) shooting - stopped when a student retrieved a gun from his car and confronted the shooter?
1997 Pearl High School (Mississippi) shooting stopped when the school's vice principal took a gun from his truck and ran to the scene?
2007 Utah mall shooting stopped when an armed off-duty police officer stepped in?
2010 Central High School (Tennessee) shooting stopped when the school's armed security guard stepped in?

Funny, three of these are southern too...but they were stopped - by people with guns.


*sighs*

Rant over and off my chest. Now hopefully the rest of the day I can be less witchy.