Comment by AndrewUnmuted | Hacker News Reader

Comment by AndrewUnmuted | Hacker News Reader

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> Guns in NYC are fairly rare

What, are you kidding? This is a crazy statement to make. Guns are everywhere here in NYC and everyone who lives in an actual NYC neighborhood knows this.

I've lived in NYC my whole life. I always knew kids that had handguns, I knew people that sold them, I knew people that would buy them every chance one came on their radar.

I was at my local deli today and heard a 45 year old gentleman telling another older person about the new Smith & Wesson they had for sale.

> that crime rate is dropping lower and lower

That's not really the "crime rate" that is dropping lower, but rather the number of crimes booked by police officers. Police spent months not responding to, nor intervening in, basically any crimes committed in NYC in 2020. The incidence of crimes committed against innocent citizens in NYC - as well as the gun crimes - all are rising dramatically, as anyone who lives here would be quick to tell you.

I am impressed with the amount of disinformation in this post, given how few words you actually wrote.

I have also lived in Brooklyn my whole life. I have never seen a gun outside of a person's home or a gun store.

When I was a when I was maybe 15 I was on the roof of a building when someone reported a visible gun. With 15 minutes my friends and I were surrounded by police and questioned as they looked for the gun. They did find the person about 10 minutes later.

I also had a kid in my school shoot himself in the leg by accident because he thought he'd be cool and tuck it in his pants. The closest I ever come to an active shooting.

I stick by my statement that guns are extremely rare in NYC. They are not non-existent, but they aren't at all common place.

The nypd downplaying crimes is a significant real issue, that is true. But that only fuels the the thesis that what is proposed may work here.

Are you a Stuyvesant kid?

What you are saying boggles my mind.

I grew up right outside of NYC, spent A LOT of time there. I then lived in NYC for about 8 years. I never saw, heard of or experienced what you described. Nor have I ever communicated with anyone that shared a similar experience.

Can you be more specific about what 'neighborhoods' you refer to?

You can't go more than five minutes in NYC without seeing a gun on the streets.

Only because the police themselves are open-carry.

Right - people openly carrying guns every day on every street corner. It's madness, but people don't give it a second thought. Why do they need to be armed to the teeth like this? How did this become accepted by the public?

While I believe cops could suppress reporting of a wide variety of crimes, I find it a bit difficult to believe they could do much to suppress reporting of violent gun crimes. When people show up at hospitals with bullet holes, certainly that triggers the creation of a paper trail no matter how badly the cops want to ignore it.

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