The murder rate is falling again, and mass shootings have been absent so far this year.
This is good news, but it's also a bit confusing. Why is the murder rate dropping after several years of increasing? Is the same effect happening with mass shootings? Does the data show the two are connected?
That's why we've got data analyst Jeff Asher back on the show. He runs AH Datalytics and collects his own crime statistics. He joined us last year when his crime data suggested 2023 would see a huge downturn in murder across the country. He was right.
This year, he's seeing an even larger decline. Mass shootings are down, too. Whatever definition you use for the awful phenomenon, and we discuss the pros and cons of the different ones out there, the downtrend is interesting--especially since it now appears to track with overall murder.
Jeff does his best to explain why these trends are happening and look forward, though he emphasizes the future is impossible to predict.