Unsurprising Headlines of the Day

Everyone is familiar with stories of dumb criminals, like the person who calls an Uber for a bank robbery getaway car, but in fact most criminals are like everyone else: they respond rationally to calculations of risk and reward. And with current attack on policing advancing relentlessly, does it take a rocket scientist to know what message this sends to criminals?

As such why is this a front-page headline:

Homicide Spike Hits Most U.S. Cities

A sharp rise in homicides this year is hitting large U.S. cities across the country, signaling a new public-safety risk unleashed during the coronavirus pandemic, and amid recession and a national backlash against police tactics.

The murder rate is still low compared with previous decades, and other types of serious crime have dropped in the past few months. But researchers, police and some residents fear the homicide spike, if not tamed, could threaten an urban renaissance spurred in part by more than two decades of declining crime.

A Wall Street Journal analysis of crime statistics among the nation’s 50 largest cities found that reported homicides were up 24% so far this year, to 3,612. Shootings and gun violence also rose, even though many other violent crimes such as robbery fell.

Well of course robbery fell, because for the moment looting is much more efficient, available, and unpunished.

Citizen are also not stupid, so this headline follows a night follows day:

July Breaks Gun Sales Record

One of the country’s leading gun makers saw earnings triple as gun sales once again shattered previous records for the month of July.

July 2020 saw an estimated 1,795,602 gun sales—a new record and an increase of 133% over July 2019, according to a Washington Free Beacon analysis of FBI data. July is the fifth consecutive month to set a gun sales record. Chris Killoy, chief executive officer of Sturm, Ruger & Company, said the current spike in sales is unlike anything he has ever seen. The buying spree shows no signs of slowing down and heavy demand will “sustain itself” into the fall, Killoy predicted. . .

The spike in FBI background checks and coinciding earnings at the gun-industry giant indicate an explosion of new gun ownership as Americans deal with the coronavirus outbreak and national unrest. FBI background checks indicate 2020 has now seen at least 10 million guns sold—many to first-time buyers and minorities

Consider all this a preview of life under a Biden Administration.

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