canadacorriendo785 t1_j5udng1 wrote on January 25, 2023 at 5:10 PM

Reply to comment by scottieducati in My high school in Wilbraham, MA, got the 'Saturday Night Live' treatment due to lighting issue. The school has a server to control the lights with no manual override. The server got hacked and the school hasn't been able to turn off lights since 2021. Still not fixed. by The_Sloth_Racer

Total deaths related to firearms is a much better measure of the effectiveness of gun laws than some vague notions of criminality. "Crimes committed with a firearm per capita" isn't a statisitic that has been kept since 1993.

Besides, the violent crime rate in Mass is significantly below the national average and other states with strict gun laws like Connecticut, New Jersey, Rhode Island have some of the lowest violent crime rates in the country.

The highest rates of violent crime are overwhelmingly in states with less restrictions on guns. Alaska, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana etc.

Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire are the exceptions not the rule.

scottieducati t1_j5uf3oj wrote on January 25, 2023 at 5:19 PM

Weird how all our neighbors have different policies but less issues. They’re much closer peers than any state you mention, maybe regional culture is a thing?

canadacorriendo785 t1_j5ujzlm wrote on January 25, 2023 at 5:49 PM

I think you're overestimating the difference in violent crime levels between Massachusetts and its neighbors. The rates fluctuate year to year and Mass is consistently well below the national average.

There's also a difference between Eastern and Western Mass. The rate is much higher in the western part of the state, and it's not just Springfield. Pittsfield, North Adams, Greenfield, Turners Falls, Ware all consistently have some of the highest violent crime rates in the State.

I moved to Vermont and trust me there's a lot more crime up here than you think there is. I won't be surprised at all if there was more crime per capita in Vermont in 2022 than in Mass.