Comment by asoneth

9 months ago

Agreed, that's why I said that while there is a basis for this concern, the overall gun homicide numbers don't tell the whole story with respect to tourist safety.

I couldn't find any specific numbers with regard to US tourist safety, though Australia's travel advisory does mention the high rates of gun crimes and about a month ago a couple Israeli tourists were shot in Miami Beach.

Again, gun violence would not be my primary concern if I were visiting the US as a tourist, I'm just pointing out that there exists a basis for this concern.

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asoneth

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ch4s3  9 months ago

It's vanishingly rare for tourists to be murdered in the US. Per FBI data 90+% of US murders are committed by an acquaintance of the victim. A large percentage of the remaining 10% is from altercations that escalate to shootings.

The European preoccupation with American gun violence as it relates to tourism is misplaced in my opinion as tourists are almost never involved. Compare that to the frequent truck/car ramming attacks in Germany which seemingly always kill tourists. Should I avoid visiting German Christmas markets?

  • asoneth  9 months ago

    > Compare that to the frequent truck/car ramming attacks in Germany which seemingly always kill tourists. Should I avoid visiting German Christmas markets?

    Personally I would find such a risk acceptable just as I find the risk of traveling to countries with a high homicide rate acceptable.

    But if a friend or family member expressed concern about visiting a German Christmas market due to prior cases of terrorists murdering tourists there I would not dismiss their concerns as irrational or unfounded as there exists a rational basis for this concern.

    • ch4s3  9 months ago

      I meant to contrast those things, you could be run over by a truck at a German Christmas market because it has happened a lot(relative to the size of Germany) of times but almost no tourists to the US are ever shot by strangers. You only hear about one of these things in the context of travel danger.