California sees lowest number of firearm-related deaths since 1968, new data shows

Can't wait for all the cars in CA to be EVs.

Ah yes, Iowa. The cultural mecca we all wish we could live in... /s I live in the midwest in a state that is only marginally better than Iowa, thanks to some larger cities. It honestly feels like the midwest is an experiment to see how little our local/state governments can give us in exchange for our compulsory tax dollars.

if you have to drive more than twice as far to everything in Iowa, how does that save you money?

Correct. The shift has gone from violent crime to "quality of life crimes." Which, to be fair, are important. Sure you're not likely to get shot anymore, but if you're walking through blocks of garbage and drug users then things aren't exactly peachy.

Even 'c****' range ammo is too expensive.

The removal of lead has had global benefits for decreasing violence but it will be some time before the last of the lead-damaged die off 

Eating crayons became frowned upon.

Ripples of Roe v Wade also

Bro the mental health part is surprisingly the best part and never gets the lime light. in this California has pretty great access to therapy clinics and treatment relative to everyone else. Nobody ever likes bringing this up but it's the most data driven response to crime rates.

Less youths out in public leading to.... Less youths running with the wrong crowd/gangs Less racial tension and violence among the youth. Therefore they no longer feel the "need" to join gangs for self defense reasons More entertainment options at home. Why go out and cause trouble when you can stay home and go online?

I think the drop in alcohol consumption is huge. Very few people are committing murders sober.

Cocaine epidemic gone? Nah, but the distribution systems are now fully in place. Cocaine is *everywhere*

I’m 50 and I remember my dad going on about the led ban. He even bought led additives for a while. Back then the carburetor was still common, breathing gas fumes was part of the driving experience

"I’d wager most violent crimes are done by people in their 20s and 30s" It has been a while since I looked up the numbers, but yes, it is men in their late teens to 40s

> Took the lead out of gasoline Still a 'correlation does not necessarily equal causation' scenario. Other significant societal changes have occurred at the same time, while TEL had been in fuel since the 1920's. There are also arguments for lower poverty, Roe V Wade etc.. (fewer unwanted children being born into a life of crime).

I fully agree with this I work with people in the system we have fewer lashing out at the world types with no where to go that we used to get back in the day. Fewer violent homeless people as well the number of homeless is still high but it seems there are enough services available There is no statistic for it but what I have noticed is a stark increase of family related homicide namely spoiled kids whose parents waited too long to say no leading to death and adults so dependent on other people that the state has to flip the bill on them now.

We're not really "richer," because the velocity of money (how much you can buy) has decreased faster than it's inflationary value (how much it's worth). Healthcare, housing, transportation and food prices have all increased at rates *beyond* inflation, etc. California likely has seen a reduction mostly because of pushes towards education, but also expanded social safety nets that other states lack - like MediCal. While these things don't eliminate poverty, they can help provide a "floor" for how bad it effectively is to *be* in poverty, which in turn means that there's (roughly) a floor for intersectional violence that's related to poverty.

Piggybacking to drop [this link](https://web.archive.org/web/20230401052143/https://zachmortensen.net/2018/02/20/your-gun-control-ideas-wont-work-this-one-will/).

True, but gun *deaths* are mostly suicides, and gun suicide has a strong correlation with gun ownership. There's enough of a correlation between gun ownership and gun suicide that gun suicide is used as a proxy for gun ownership numbers. Per the article: >California has achieved something historic with the lowest rates of firearm deaths, suicides and homicides on record So, unless this is specifically talking about gun accidents/gun murders, it's probably just a decrease in gun ownership/gun suicides. And yes, gun crime, and in fact most crime, correlates significantly with poverty, which is why I'm a *progressive* gun owner, not part of the empty head red-hat brigade. [edit] Checking through the release, this actually seems to be more than just a suicide reduction, which is definitely good news. >This data confirms that in 2024, California achieved the state’s lowest firearm death, firearm suicide, and firearm homicide rates on record in CDC data collected since 1968. Historic reductions in firearm homicide also drove California’s overall homicide rate to its lowest level on record in CDC data. In addition, it was found that California was one of three states that achieved record low firearm homicide rates in 2024, after reducing statewide firearm homicide rates by 35% in three years. >As recently as 2010, a child under 18 was more likely to die from bullet wounds in California than in the rest of the U.S. on average. By 2024, a child in the rest of the nation was nearly three times as likely to die from bullet wounds as a child in California. >Drive transformational reductions in firearm homicide, with many California cities recording record low homicide rates and over 50% reductions in homicide since 2021. >Cut firearm homicide rates by more than half (52%) for young Hispanic men from 2021 to 2024, and by 48% for young Black men. >Cut firearm death rates for children under 18 to about one-third the rate recorded in the rest of the U.S. on average. >Open a record large safety gap between California and the rest of the U.S. for rates of firearm death, firearm suicide, and firearm homicide.

That last one is an excellent point. I hadn't really thought of that. Endless entertainment, distraction.

> drive to de-mystify mental health help Should probably put widespread adoption of antidepressants and other psychological medications in general in that list too.

Yeah, the last one is a big part of it. People do a lot less of everything now because they spend so much time staring at their phone.

Another great point. Thanks!

This doesn't explain the decrease in violent crime across all 50 of the states in the last 30 years though.

what about the strict gun laws in Chicago?

It's expensive everywhere my guy. Prices spiked during COVID and then never came back down.  Same thing that happened with a bunch of industries. 

Ahh I love when states restrict rights away from the poor.

Cars have been getting bigger and bigger as years go on, and without a proper increase in safe infrastructure to combat this, it's just a matter of bigger vehicles = bigger impact. Safer for the occupants, way more dangerous for people outside. Also, bigger vehicles have bigger blind spots (see the increase in front-overs)

> They already passed a law requiring background checks for barrels, So now you need a background check to purchase pipe at the hardware store?