It's always humorous when national politicians take credit for crime trends. Whoever happens to be sitting in the Oval Office at any given time has almost zero impact on homicide rates.

Thanks CATDOG, I enjoyed that one. It really is a joke to believe that gun control will ever make a significant difference in Homicide rates. As if those who perpetrate homicides have any regard for laws whatsoever.

I keep saying we should skip all the fluff and get straight to the point. Just make it illegal to actually kill someone with a gun. Oh wait ... ... ..it already is.

So, many say, we just need stronger background checks annd red flag laws. And to those people I say, I could outfit a small militia with one rock and. Trip to an apartment complex. Guns are everywhere, and there is no way to keep them out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill. They do not, will not and have. Ever followed your rules.

I'm a bit tired so unable to engage too much but I will throw out a few half baked ideas.

1) Pass (and enforce) laws that require legal gun owners to keep their guns from falling into the wrong hands. This means no leaving guns in vehicles, unlocked cars or other places where they can be easily stolen, and locked up in a manner that savvy teens can't get to them either.. Biometric safes and locking devices are well within the realm of current technology. If my truck can open its door when a touch it, we can certainly find ways to use that to keep guns out of unauthorized hands.

Sure, that means there are still many, many guns out there in the hands of legal gun owners, but that would knock out SO many of the guns used in crimes. I am fully aware that mass shootings often involve legally purchased guns, however, mass shootings are a very small percentage of homicides overall, so that is not my focus here.

2) Decriminalize cannabis nationwide, and contemplate other changes in the way we fight the "war on drugs". The majority of homicides are tied to the illegal drug trade, and/or the culture of violence that springs from it. We need to "cancel" "artists" who glamorize drugs, misogyny and violence, and perpetuate attitudes of hopelessness and victimhood. We need to boost the influence of positive role models who show kids the path to success and empowerment is through education or learning a trade, not becoming a rap star or professional athlete.

3) Face misogyny head on. SO many homicides trace back to a simple problem. A man, who believes he is entitled to the attention (if not outright ownership) of a woman. If said man is rejected by a woman, he seeks revenge on the unjust world by killing said woman, or her family, or a man who looked at her in a bar, or simply random strangers. This is a common thread running between mass shooters , domestic violence killings, bar parking lot massacres, AND even the drug related homicides.

I don't have all the stats in front of me and I'm not going to bicker over numbers. I sat across the table from HUNDREDS of killers, even more victims families, talked with them, and this is what I learned.

"So, why, then, did Pres-elect Trump seem to run on, among other things, being tough on crime?"

Because that is what his base wants to hear. Simple enough?

Crime rates peaked in the late 80's, early 90's, a direct result of the Crack Cocaine epidemic, and they fall as that epidemic waned. Every politician, federal, state and local, since then has tried to take credit for falling crime rates.

#17 I know of no states that prohibit guns from being stored in unattended vehicles. In my experience, that is where a HUGE number of guns used in crimes come from. Auto burglaries. Any kid with a rock can get his hands on a gun in minutes. A group of kids with rocks can get enough guns to arm the whole gang in one apartment complex parking lot inside of an hour.. some of them won't even have to bust a window, because idiots leave cars unlocked with guns in the glove box all the time.

There is no "end all solution". It is the human factors we need to fix. There is (and always will be) a small percentage of people that either actively want to kill other people, or lack the inhibition, compassion or respect for human life that prevents the rest of us from crossing that line.

The murder rate in the US waxes and wanes with various societal factors. It is actually lower now than it was 100 years ago, so maybe we are actually becoming more civilized.