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Violent Crime and the Victim’s Marital Status
The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) keeps track of the victim’s marital status. There are several possible values for it: These are mostly self-explanatory. However, an essential point is that “Never married” does not mean single. Another critical item is that this value has no relationship to the offender. It simply is the victim’s marital…
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The Intentional Measurement Swindle
This post has a long introduction – please be patient. After the introduction, I’ll show how it relates to gun rights and self-defense. However, you need to understand the methodology detailed in the introduction. Introduction I have a technology background. The term “balloon effect” is used when a fix is made to a complex system,…
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Preventative Medical Scans
As a follow-up to my last post on fact boxes…. A recent article in the New Yorker on Full Body MRI Scans shows some of the complexities with too much information. Here is a quote, but I urge you to read the article in its entirety. There were no visible problems in my lungs, liver,…
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Self-defense: Strategy, Context, and Tactics
In my book, I used the “fact box” to discuss the benefits and harms of concealed carry. The fact box was created by the Harding Center for Risk Literacy. I first read about them in the book Risk Savvy by Gerd Gigerenzer. They were developed to help people determine the risk of specific health tests,…
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Scammers
I recently gave a presentation about online / phone scammers. If you have elderly friends and family, this presentation may be a good one to share. There are two versions – a color and a black & white. Enjoy! Here is the color one. Here is the black & white one, in case you want…
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Memes
I like memes! For a wide variety of reasons, when I am traveling, I carry a 1911 in condition 3, which means I have to rack the slide to shoot. I’m an ordinary civilian with a normal threat level. I’m mostly concerned to minimize opportunities for negligent discharges and being able to easily separate my…
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A Popular Topic
In the March/April 2024 Combat Handguns magazine, we have another article called “What To Say To The Police” by the vetran Massad Ayoob. Ayoob writes great thought provoking articles and his experience provides him great insight. I’ve written about this topic in the past here and here, so I’ll try and focus on a couple…
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Traffic & Methodology
In my book, I chose to start off with the topic of Perceptions. Violent crime is not as common as property crime or crimes involving drugs and alcohol. We find out about violent crime via the television, social media, or news websites. Due to the Engagement Bias, much of what we “know” about violent crime…
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UCR 2022 & NIBRS – The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
I created a PDF document that describes the UCR and NIBRS. Going forward, the NIBRS will be used exclusively for yearly violent crime details.
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Complex Problems and the Myth of the Simple Cause
In the Nov/Dec 2023 issue of Tactical Life magazine, there is an article entitled “GUNS or DRUGS?” by Lee Williams. The main thrust at the end of the article is a call to conduct further research on Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), a class of anti-depressants, and links to mass shootings. I certainly have no…
Got any book recommendations?