# What's your biggest worry? Terrorism, Gun violence, or Police brutality? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 8, 2015, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-biggest-worry-terrorism-gun-violence-or-police-brutality/739755 "2015-12-08T00:12:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-biggest-worry-terrorism-gun-violence-or-police-brutality/739755/41 "2015-12-08T16:17:23Z")
I guess it’s taken as given that “worry” only means estimating our own personal risk, not considering harm to others or to society. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-biggest-worry-terrorism-gun-violence-or-police-brutality/739755/42 "2015-12-08T16:24:03Z")
None of those are things I worry about. I do think they are things that we, as a society, should be taking steps to correct, but I also think that we have a tendency to vastly overestimate dramatic risks like terrorism and vastly underestimate other less dramatic ones, like health issues related to poor diet and exercise, car accidents, etc. Terrorism is something I don’t worry about at all, precisely because that’s exactly what terrorists want. If I let them instill fear in me, then they’ve accomplished their goal and that fear may very well affect my judgment in the beliefs or behaviors or voting patterns I take. Realistically, of all of those things, I’m less likely to be affected by terrorism than any of the rest, and I sure as hell don’t want my rights infringed more for that than the others, despite it being the lowest risk. For gun violence, it’s similar. Gun violence includes gang activity, suicides, etc. I’m extremely unlikely to be affected by any of that, which leaves me potentially being involved in a mass shooting, which is somewhat more likely than the general population because I where I live and work but, again, I see the risk of that on the same level of terrorism. I’m not going to not go to a movie or work or wherever else I might in fear of the minute chance some nutjob decides to go on a spree. Sure, I have my views about how to reduce that sort of stuff, and I talk about it to with people and vote accordingly, but I’m not personally worried about it. And of the three, the one I’m actually most likely to be a victim of is police brutality, despite the fact that I’m a white male and live in an upper middle class neighborhood. And I say that because I’ve been physically assaulted by police more than once, and I’ve been harassed and threatened on several other occasions too; every single time I had either done nothing. Admittedly, all of that was well before the recent rash of concern over police brutality and, interestingly enough, it largely stopped once I got a little older and started driving a nicer car. Regardless, again, this is a big issue that I think society needs to work on, but I don’t worry about this sort of stuff, especially not these days, despite my history. What I do worry about, that I think is a far greater risk not just to me but to everyone, is exactly the meta-topic here, that we are worried about things like these so excessively, and not worried about other risks, that we’re empowering the government to take excessive steps that curb our freedoms and hinder our ability to go about our lives and impede on our privacy. Every time I see a new story about a terrorist attack, mass shooting, police brutality, I see people begging the government to do something, usually something I feel will do little or nothing to prevent it from happening again in the future, but often is a huge concession on our part… out of fear. ---
**Author:** ![Ispolkom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47774/32.png) [@Ispolkom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ispolkom)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-biggest-worry-terrorism-gun-violence-or-police-brutality/739755/43 "2015-12-08T16:40:59Z")
I’m a middle-aged white guy, so none of those particularly worry me. My worries mostly consist of a slow, painful death from cancer or heart disease, or a descent into dementia. Getting shot? I’m sure it’s unpleasant, but it’s vanishingly unlikely, and no more unpleasant than the death I’ll most likely face. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-biggest-worry-terrorism-gun-violence-or-police-brutality/739755/44 "2015-12-08T16:48:59Z")
The biggest risk here is malaria. The last terrorist incident was in 2010 and the only guns you see here are in a parade, and I suspect they don’t work anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-biggest-worry-terrorism-gun-violence-or-police-brutality/739755/45 "2015-12-08T16:52:01Z")
I got my concealed carry permit not because I fear terrorism or violent crime. I got it because I don’t trust a police officer to not arbitrarily arrest or cite me because I wasn’t properly transporting a gun. I don’t fear police brutality so much in that sense…but the main reason I got the permit was because I’m more likely to have a conversation with a police officer than any of the other cases and I don’t want him deciding that my newly purchased AR lower in the box in the passenger seat is ‘technically’ a gun so I’m off to the pokey for carrying concealed without a permit. (other examples may apply) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-biggest-worry-terrorism-gun-violence-or-police-brutality/739755/46 "2015-12-08T17:01:17Z")
Gun violence, just because it’s most likely to affect me. But I’m certainly not losing sleep over any of these things. ---
**Author:** ![Nefario](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/59ef9b/32.png) [@Nefario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefario)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-biggest-worry-terrorism-gun-violence-or-police-brutality/739755/47 "2015-12-08T17:28:08Z")
> [@Blaster\_Master](#): > > And of the three, the one I’m actually most likely to be a victim of is police brutality, despite the fact that I’m a white male and live in an upper middle class neighborhood. And I say that because I’ve been physically assaulted by police more than once, and I’ve been harassed and threatened on several other occasions too; every single time I had either done nothing. I’m in the same boat. Over the past few years I’ve come to see cops as predators that perform certain necessary functions when called on through appropriate channels. I’ve had a few positive experiences with cops but I fear being stopped by some testosterone charged 30-something cowboy that believes the TV shows. I suppose this is what modern policing is very pleased to achieve. Most people don’t realize how much power any cop has to disrupt your life without remedy, with very little effort and the total backing of the state. I’ve told my kids NOT to ask cops for car help because the only available response is towing to “clear the traffic hazard”. At 28 I was arrested falsely which cost me a professional job. Three years ago I did a U-turn to get out of a traffic snarl at an arena and was immediately chased down (rather than helped) by a 30-something hotshot with his hand on his gun; he was eventually distracted by a radio call. Two years ago I passed a state cop parked 20’ off the roadway – well beyond the paved shoulder – with his lights on but doing nothing but waiting for victims. The total experience cost me ~$400 and the county traffic judge seemed satisfied. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-biggest-worry-terrorism-gun-violence-or-police-brutality/739755/48 "2015-12-08T23:11:06Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > If I was surrounded by the wildlife you guys have, I wouldn’t be worried about humans either. Oh, absolutely that’s the primary worry for those in the outlying regions susceptible to bushfires. Which is quite a hefty amount of the population, really. And it’s very real and tangible, while gun violence is nebulous and far off. Sometimes they predict a 90% likelihood of fires occurring. Our worst bushfire day, [a few years ago](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Saturday_bushfires), was predicted as being so a week ahead of time. We were heavily warned, and it all came true. We may have a bad bushfire season this year, too, judging by the weather of the last few weeks. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-biggest-worry-terrorism-gun-violence-or-police-brutality/739755/49 "2015-12-09T11:45:28Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > The Times had a column comparing gun homicides (not injury or suicide) to other countries, and show what cause of death in the US was the same as gun homicide in that country. > > Gun homicides in the US are 31.2 a million, roughly the same as dying in a car accident. Airplane crashes are 1.6 a million, roughly the chance of dying from a gun homicide in China. Gun homicides in Japan are as likely as getting hit by lightning in the US. > > I said gun violence, but I was just comparing the 3 things. > > El Salvador and Mexico are worse than us, by the way. While the statistic is probably sound, the risk of gun violence isn’t nearly as uniform from place to place as the risk of a fatal car accident. If you took the 50 cities with the highest number of gun homicides, what percentage of total US gun homicides would they account for? A pretty large percentage to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-biggest-worry-terrorism-gun-violence-or-police-brutality/739755/50 "2015-12-09T12:05:52Z")
I live in Beijing, China. My biggest worry, just like it was when I lived in South Korea, when I lived in Germany, and when I lived the other places where I lived, is bad drivers. The bad drivers have racked up a more impressive body count than the others listed in the OP’s poll. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-biggest-worry-terrorism-gun-violence-or-police-brutality/739755/51 "2015-12-09T13:10:20Z")
Deer. I hit another one just about two weeks ago. Bastards are out to get me. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-biggest-worry-terrorism-gun-violence-or-police-brutality/739755/52 "2015-12-09T13:11:38Z")
I voted other as well. Count me in with the fearing a car crash people. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-biggest-worry-terrorism-gun-violence-or-police-brutality/739755/53 "2015-12-09T15:11:11Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > While the statistic is probably sound, the risk of gun violence isn’t nearly as uniform from place to place as the risk of a fatal car accident. If you took the 50 cities with the highest number of gun homicides, what percentage of total US gun homicides would they account for? A pretty large percentage to be sure. Homicides are higher in cities, yes. But gun deaths are actually identical in rural and urban areas, and for the young and old, higher in rural areas. The cities have more gun deaths only in the young adult stage (and we know from other studies that most of those are young men.) > [@](#): > > The risk of firearm-related death showed no difference across the rural-urban spectrum for the population as a whole, but varied when divided up by age — firearm deaths were significantly higher for children and people ages 45 and older [in rural areas], while for people ages 20 to 44, the risk of firearm deaths were much higher in urban areas. > **[In Town vs. Country, It Turns Out That Cities Are the Safest Places to Live |...](https://science.time.com/2013/07/23/in-town-versus-country-it-turns-out-that-cities-are-the-safest-places-to-live/)** > > A generation of movies have made us think that the American city is an inherently dangerous place. But a new study shows that you're more likely to die violently in the quiet countryside ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-biggest-worry-terrorism-gun-violence-or-police-brutality/739755/54 "2015-12-09T15:14:37Z")
Biggest worries are the economy and how can I get less fat. I’m also far more concerned with government overreach than I am with any of the above poll answers. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-biggest-worry-terrorism-gun-violence-or-police-brutality/739755/55 "2015-12-09T20:27:16Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Probably my biggest fear is being killed in a car accident caused by bad weather or a house fire. Both of these are hundreds of times more likely to harm me than terrorism, gun violence, or police brutality. +1 ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-biggest-worry-terrorism-gun-violence-or-police-brutality/739755/56 "2015-12-09T23:00:27Z")
Other: for some reason lately my fear is that my house will burn down while I’m not home and my dogs and cats will die in the fire. It’s not rational, but most of my worries aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-biggest-worry-terrorism-gun-violence-or-police-brutality/739755/57 "2015-12-09T23:47:05Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Homicides are higher in cities, yes. But gun deaths are actually identical in rural and urban areas This is not possible. You realize there are entire rural states with less than 15 murders of any type at all a year, right? NH had 5 gun murders in 2010 with 1.3 million people: 1 in 260,000. Texas has 25 million with 805 gun murders: 1 in 31,236. That’s over 8 times higher odds of being killed by a gun in Texas than New Hampshire. TX might not be urban enough. How about DC? 601,723 people, or less than half of NH’s population. Murders? 99. That’s 1 in 6,078. Or, almost 43 times higher odds of being killed by a gun in DC than New Hampshire. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-biggest-worry-terrorism-gun-violence-or-police-brutality/739755/58 "2015-12-10T00:03:04Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > This is not possible. You realize there are entire rural states with less than 15 murders of any type at all a year, right? NH had 5 gun murders in 2010 with 1.3 million people: 1 in 260,000. Texas has 25 million with 805 gun murders: 1 in 31,236. That’s over 8 times higher odds of being killed by a gun in Texas than New Hampshire. TX might not be urban enough. How about DC? > 601,723 people, or less than half of NH’s population. Murders? 99. That’s 1 in 6,078. Or, almost 43 times higher odds of being killed by a gun in DC than New Hampshire. The numbers are in this study, if you want to buy it: [http://www.annemergmed.com/article/S0196-0644(13)00520-9/abstract](http://www.annemergmed.com/article/S0196-0644(13)00520-9/abstract) It was widely reported on; I’m sure someone would have mentioned if the numbers were screwy. In fact,[this article](http://www.governing.com/news/local/mct-new-study-shows-cities-safer-than-rural-areas.html) (about the same study) seems to suggest that rural firearm deaths are actually higher than urban: “Firearm death rates **were not much higher** in rural than urban counties, but again, age mattered. Among ages 45 to 64, the chance of fatal gunshot injuries steadily rose with the degree of remoteness.” (bolding mine) ---
**Author:** ![Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fool_in_the_Rain)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-biggest-worry-terrorism-gun-violence-or-police-brutality/739755/59 "2015-12-10T18:00:49Z")
As others have said, those are things that you may fear, but not necessarily worry over too much, or even in the forefront of your mind. Right now my biggest ‘worry’ is my daughter finishing college and finding her way into the adult world, and just bought the new house, and at first worried money would be an issue, but soon realized I was just focused on the big number instead of the much more manageable monthly number. . ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-biggest-worry-terrorism-gun-violence-or-police-brutality/739755/60 "2015-12-11T10:28:09Z")
I picked other. Several websites say where I am living now, car accidents are the leading cause of early death, despite only 50% of the population being allowed to drive. While I’m here I - and millions of other expats - are unlikely to die of age-related illnesses so I suppose there is some truth there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-biggest-worry-terrorism-gun-violence-or-police-brutality/739755.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-biggest-worry-terrorism-gun-violence-or-police-brutality/739755.md?page=4)