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NYC is like a different world


vito

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Illinois is not my favorite state and I could easily list all the things I dislike about living here. But I do appreciate the fact that I can legally carry a firearm for my own protection and the protection of any family members that are with me. Today a had a Zoom meeting with a few relatives, all of whom other than myself still live in NYC and the surrounding counties, and the difference between how they live and how I live really struck me. The conversation included one relative expressing real concern about the "protesters" and how they are being left pretty much unregulated by the city authorities and the police in their disruption of public places, and even when damaging public and private property, and how nothing short of serious violent crime seems to result in the police getting involved. This relative said how he is trying hard to avoid being outside of his home, even now when the pandemic has really eased up in that city, and that he really worries for his grand kids who live in NYC and are getting out more and more as the summer progresses. I mentioned that while we have had little of that violence here in Rockford, IL where I live, there has been some but that since I never leave the house unarmed I feel less concerned with my safety than I would if I were forced to remain unarmed. The group from NYC went into a stunned silence at first, and then one of my cousins asked "you mean you actually walk around with a loaded gun? Don't you worry about being stopped by the police? Aren't you worried that the gun might go off and kill some innocent person or injure yourself?" I'll admit I laughed first and then said, "no, I am not worried about the police because my carrying a gun is perfectly legal as long as I don't go into a prohibited place, and no, I am not at all worried that my gun will suddenly start shooting all by itself as it it has a mind of its own". My nephew seemed incredulous and said that he could not even imagine owning a gun of any kind, let alone carrying a loaded gun during normal life. He said owning a gun would put his teenage kids at risk, and "what if I had a big fight with my wife and got really made at her?". I answered that if getting mad really scares him as to what he might do, I hope he has no knives or other potential weapons in his house. He said he doesn't worry like that, but "if it were a gun in the house, well then.....". As this Zoom call ended I found that I was truly grateful that I live where I do, at least from the viewpoint of being able to address my own safety and security, and not still living where I grew up, in a city where normal, average, law abiding people have no choice other than to be vulnerable and pretty much defenseless.

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I take it the NYC relatives wouldn't even think about leaving the confines of civilization...i.e. east of the Hudson river and close enough to the sea to smell the ocean. It's a pity no one ever told them they don't need a visa or passport to visit the rest of America.

 

Invite the family out to see the midwest, a few at a time. Opening their eyes might be enjoyable, if not entertaining. If nothing else, take them to a range some Sunday, and be sure to take pictures......or not.

 

You're right, Illinois isn't perfect, but it's a few steps up the ladder of sensibility above New York and NYC.

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Growing up in Brooklyn, NY I understand the sensibilities of people who live there. They truly believe that they are at the center of the universe, and most cannot even imagine living anywhere else. Even those that are world travelers, rarely do they ever reach the conclusion that maybe life elsewhere would be worthwhile. I was one of those people for the first 22 years of my life. I turned down a major job opportunity when I was graduating college, as one of three who were offered a position in a management training program (they started by interviewing over 800 college seniors at various colleges in the NY area and offered the job to three of us). But when I found out that the job meant relocating to Cincinnati for at least three years I turned the job down. It was literally inconceivable that I would have to live outside NYC. But a year later my obligated military service began, with the Army sending me as a new Lieutenant, to El Paso, TX. While it seemed that this was the literal end of the earth at the time, after awhile I started to see the light. After three years in El Paso I not only decided to stay longer in the military, but had decided that there truly was quality life outside NYC. Most of my family could not comprehend at the time that I was both choosing to not return to NY and choosing to make a career in the military. Now, those still in NY think of me as the crazy uncle that lives in IL, owns guns, supports Trump, and most astounding of all to most of these relatives, is a Life member of the NRA (they think the NRA is some type of evil entity affiliated with the devil, personally). When I tell them that my few visits to NYC feel like I am leaving America and entering a foreign, and hostile country, they look at me as if I were already lost to humanity.

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A friend from NYC is going through cognitive dissonance now. For many years he was known saying that the rest of NY State was nothing without NYC. Of course he had no concept that the rest of NY state sees Gotham City as a crime-infested monster that demands constant feeding.

 

This year, the behavior of AOC, DiBlasio, Cuomo, and Schumer have him eating crow. But he can't leave for fly-over country without the wife and grand kids agreeing.

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I have no desire to live in New York City, but I googled the murder rate for St. Louis and Chicago and found the rate for other cities of 100k, or more and once site said the rate for NYC was now less than the national average, according to one website's findings. Which is about 5 homicides per 100,000. Chicago is 24 per 100,000. NYC has really dropped apparently unless someone is fudging on the numbers. St. Louis is something like 96 per 100K.

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I have no desire to live in New York City, but I googled the murder rate for St. Louis and Chicago and found the rate for other cities of 100k, or more and once site said the rate for NYC was now less than the national average, according to one website's findings. Which is about 5 homicides per 100,000. Chicago is 24 per 100,000. NYC has really dropped apparently unless someone is fudging on the numbers. St. Louis is something like 96 per 100K.

 

Rates that you found do not reflect 2020 data, and might not even reflect 2019 data. The news said that the murder rate in 2020 has increased almost 400% over 2019 for NYC.

 

Ironically, NYC had the highest rate of violent crime in the nation in the 1970's and '80's and voters seemed to be totally fed up with the Democrats running that city. They elected a Republican, Rudy Guliani in 1994 and he began the successful effort to clean up the crime ridden city. He served until 2001 when the voters apparently took the now safe condition of the city for granted, and went back to electing liberal Democrats. Guliani's methods and ideas have been ended, for the most part, and decried as racist and "unfair" and now NYC is becoming a shithole again. Maybe voters will get so fed up with Diblasio that they will actually turn to a Republican again, but I doubt it. The mentality of people in NYC is hard to fathom. Just recently, AOC received over 70% of the primary vote for her seat in Congress when running against a slightly less radical Democrat for the nomination for that office. If the voters like AOC, I can understand why they seem to think Diblasio is a good mayor.

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A friend from NYC is going through cognitive dissonance now. For many years he was known saying that the rest of NY State was nothing without NYC. Of course he had no concept that the rest of NY state sees Gotham City as a crime-infested monster that demands constant feeding..........

 

Hmmm, sounds like some folks from a large metro area in this state.......

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This is probably the story that stated the 400% increase: https://www.newsday.com/long-island/nypd-shootings-increase-1.46044819

 

One week may be overstating the actual problem but crime in NYC has certainly increased significantly.

 

My opinion is that the increase in Chicago, NYC and elsewhere is a combination of the huge early release of prisoners, the automatic catch and release of people arrested this year,the usual gang disputes over drug territory, and the large amount of stolen goods on the street from the looting that is giving rise to disputes during sales transactions.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Saw this article today

https://a.msn.com/r/2/BB16GtDW

New York, New Jersey and Connecticut banded together last month to ask visitors from states deemed to be coronavirus hotspots to quarantine for 14 days.

 

Cuomo put some more teeth in that standard on Monday, saying he'd sign an executive order for out-of-state travelers to provide contact information upon entering New York. Travelers not providing that contact information could face a fine of $2,000.

The party that flips out about voter registration/ID and immigration checkpoints wants out of town travelers to provide all their personal info and itinerary under penalty of a huge fine.
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The internet does not forget:

 

Cuomo threatens to sue RI over new policy to find New Yorkers in the state
BY J. EDWARD MORENO - 03/28/20 08:21 PM EDT
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said Saturday that if Rhode Island does not roll back its new policy of stopping vehicles with New York license plates and collecting information about New Yorkers who have entered the Ocean State, he would sue.
“If they uphold that policy, I’m going to sue,” he told CNN on Saturday, adding that the two governors would likely work it out “amicably.”
Rhode Island's governor, Gina Raimondo (D), issued an order Friday enacting new measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
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Cuomo put some more teeth in that standard on Monday, saying he'd sign an executive order for out-of-state travelers to provide contact information upon entering New York. Travelers not providing that contact information could face a fine of $2,000.

 

Q - Who were you in contact with?

 

A - Just my lawyer, here's his number. Have a nice day!

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NY state is a dangerous place as a taxpayer. I grew up in NYC and filed for a couple of years while I was still there, but stopped after I left for military service and established Texas as my legal state of residence. NY state tried to come after me for a few years, saying that they did not believe my intention was to be a Texas resident but that I would return to NY someday, which of course I denied. I was advised by a tax attorney that if I ever returned to reside in that state, even 20, 30 or more years later, it was more than likely that the State would come after me, claiming that my return even after all those years proved that I never truly renounced my residency in NY state, and that I would be liable for back taxes for all the intervening years. He said that if I bought property they well might seize that property and hold it until the case was resolved in the courts. For this and many other reasons I never would live in that awful state again. Parts of the state are beautiful, but between their tax laws and their total hostility to the 2nd Amendment I would never, ever be a New York resident again.

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NY state is a dangerous place as a taxpayer. I grew up in NYC and filed for a couple of years while I was still there, but stopped after I left for military service and established Texas as my legal state of residence. NY state tried to come after me for a few years, saying that they did not believe my intention was to be a Texas resident but that I would return to NY someday, which of course I denied. I was advised by a tax attorney that if I ever returned to reside in that state, even 20, 30 or more years later, it was more than likely that the State would come after me, claiming that my return even after all those years proved that I never truly renounced my residency in NY state, and that I would be liable for back taxes for all the intervening years. He said that if I bought property they well might seize that property and hold it until the case was resolved in the courts. For this and many other reasons I never would live in that awful state again. Parts of the state are beautiful, but between their tax laws and their total hostility to the 2nd Amendment I would never, ever be a New York resident again.

 

Thanks for the warning. I love many things about western NY, but can never forgive the heartless way they seized my grandfather's property, then squandered his last remaining years doing nothing with it. The state and NYC also moved criminals into small towns upstate where gang crimes and drug deaths are spiking, and police are overwhelmed.

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I think this is the most illuminating into their illogical, projective and emotional driven thinking (and brainwashing).

 

 

 

"what if I had a big fight with my wife and got really made at her?". I answered that if getting mad really scares him as to what he might do, I hope he has no knives or other potential weapons in his house. He said he doesn't worry like that, but "if it were a gun in the house, well then....."

 

It says more about him, than about guns. Yea, if he is worried that he might get so mad that he might kill his wife, ONLY if it can be done with as little passion (as stabbing wouldn't be) and work, then yes, he probably shouldn't own a firearm. Worse, it displays 2 traits of the modern left, i.e. if they feel this way EVERYONE must, and the complete inability to see the world in anything BUT black and white binary terms. They think with(zero nuance. I.e.. If you believe BLMs stated propaganda, that it's about Police brutality against blacks then you must believe all cops are bad, and can't support them. No allowance for We need Police, it's a tough job that needs our support AND we need to look at ways to be able to get rid of bad cops when identified. That is just one example. This kind of thinking PERMEATES the modern left and particularly their youngest members. I do blame the modern Media and schools for this, mostly. But Politicians certainly are to blame as well. But then the modern left seems to have a much larger percentage of extremists and those that pander to them than it used to. And extremists, by definition think this way.

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"what if I had a big fight with my wife and got really made at her?". I answered that if getting mad really scares him as to what he might do, I hope he has no knives or other potential weapons in his house. He said he doesn't worry like that, but "if it were a gun in the house, well then....."

It says more about him, than about guns.

Always a good time to repost this for anyone that hasn’t read this

http://jpfo.org/filegen-n-z/ragingagainstselfdefense.htm

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"what if I had a big fight with my wife and got really made at her?". I answered that if getting mad really scares him as to what he might do, I hope he has no knives or other potential weapons in his house. He said he doesn't worry like that, but "if it were a gun in the house, well then....."

It says more about him, than about guns.

Always a good time to repost this for anyone that hasn’t read this

http://jpfo.org/filegen-n-z/ragingagainstselfdefense.htm

 

 

I have actually tried to get some anti-gun relatives to read this article. Not one would even agree to read it. They "KNOW" that guns are bad, and that having a gun makes one more likely to do bad things, etc, etc. and NOTHING will change their mind. I have learned a long time ago that arguing with someone that is irrational is a waste of time. I am constantly posting pro gun memes or articles on social media for my anti-gun relatives to see and to become angry about. I know I can't change their minds, but its fun to infuriate them.

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"what if I had a big fight with my wife and got really made at her?". I answered that if getting mad really scares him as to what he might do, I hope he has no knives or other potential weapons in his house. He said he doesn't worry like that, but "if it were a gun in the house, well then....."

It says more about him, than about guns.

Always a good time to repost this for anyone that hasn’t read this

http://jpfo.org/filegen-n-z/ragingagainstselfdefense.htm

 

 

I was just about to post a link to that. The example the writer uses in that article is exactly like what the OP's relative said. To wit:

 

The author, who chose to remain anonymous, insisted that people have no right to carry firearms because he didn’t want to be murdered if one of his neighbors had a "bad day".

 

How does my correspondent "know" that his neighbors would murder him if they had guns? He doesn’t. What he was really saying was that if he had a gun, he might murder his neighbors if he had a bad day . . .

 

That says far more about the person who believes that than it does any firearm owner, because if you are of the mind that if you had a gun, you would "snap" and use it to kill someone if they made you mad, then you're by definition mentally unstable, likely mentally ill, and therefore you should not only not own firearms, you should be put into a mental institution for the safety of those around you and yourself.

 

I think that anyone who says that sort of thing should be reported, and have one of the Red Flag legal abominations that they support filed on them, and used as a weapon against their idiocy.

 

In fact, the next time I hear someone say something like what the OP relates, I am going to file against them. I'm not going to take any chances that someone who, by their own words, is so bereft of impulse control that the mere presence of an inanimate object could be the tipping point for them to engage in murderous violence.

 

Let them reap what they sow.

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