[jimmythegeek]

I'm about a year into gun ownership and exposure to what a lot of gun owners are thinking. I see a lot of gun owners say things are getting worse, and I have to wonder why people are more afraid than they used to be. Violent crime stats are down around the level of the late 1950s. There's been a steady decline for decades.

I won't argue with any individual's risk assessment: you can mitigate an unlikely threat by carrying, and if the cost is worth it to you, by all means! You absolutely have the right to manage your risks as you see fit. And maybe I'm the nut for figuring a Leave it to Beaver level of crime presents such a low level of risk I'm not doing much to get around it. I know Col. Cooper was concerned enough to start on the problem even before the boom in violent crime started. It's still perfectly rational to say "with crime rates still at or above X/100,000, I'm still going to carry and wear body armor." But it's not rational to say "Crime is going down so therefore I'm going to take additional measures." Of course, if you live in Detroit, it is NOT going down. But just about anywhere else in the country, it is.

If you think things are getting worse, what is it making you think that? Is it that every highly publicized incident ratchets up your risk assessment, and nothing ever lowers it? My take is that on the news, for *ever* it's been, "If it bleeds, it leads" and so we get stories of the Missing Young Attractive (White) Woman from across the country disappearing in another country - on the local news! Day after day, year in, year out. I imagine a serving police officer encounters the worst of what still goes on, and that would certainly affect my thinking.

I really don't intend to be a smart-ass or belittle anyone's approach to the safety of themselves and their families. I hope I made that clear and if I didn't, I apologize. OP asked for thoughts, you got mine, such as they are.