there's no way to discuss this one.....as usual

I was talking to my dad two days ago and once again, he managed to surprise and horrify me. He lives in Columbia, SC most of the year and goes up to Ohio for the summers. He frequently asks me inane questions like "How do you get to work", to which I've had the same response for 7 years. He still thinks NYC is the most dangerous, crime infested place a person could be. When I pointed out to him that statistically speaking, it's far more dangerous in Columbia than in NYC (see crime stats below), he proffered up this tidbit:

Dad: "Well, that's why I never leave the house without my 9mm."
Me: "What??!!"
Dad: "It's completely legal. I have a concealed weapons permit."
Me: "Jesus Christ, Dad. Is that really necessary?"
Dad: "Well, one time I was just about a mile from the house and I pulled up to a 4 way stop. There was a van and a bunch of people got out and started flashing their gang signs, you know, challenges to each other. Well, I wasn't sure what was going to happen so I stepped on the gas and gunned it. If they hadn't jumped out of the way, I'd have run them all down. And ever since then I don't leave the house without my 9mm."

So that apparently is all it takes to make an already paranoid, nightmare having Vietnam vet tote a loaded weapon around under his shirt. Unbelievable.

Stats courtesy of www.city-data.com.

Crime in Columbia by Year
Type	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Murders	14	12	15	10	15	18	15	7
per 100,000	12.4	10.7	12.7	8.4	12.7	15.2	12.7	5.9
Rapes	74	40	62	83	58	74	56	56
per 100,000	65.8	35.5	52.7	69.7	48.9	62.3	47.5	47.1
Robberies	510	493	442	497	461	464	381	375
per 100,000	453.2	438.1	375.4	417.5	388.9	390.6	323.1	315.4
Assaults	860	955	781	949	808	961	859	852
per 100,000	764.2	848.6	663.2	797.2	681.6	808.9	728.5	716.5
Burglaries	1,290	1,209	1,426	1,639	1,395	1,703	1,332	1,254
per 100,000	1146.3	1074.3	1211.0	1376.9	1176.9	1433.5	1129.7	1054.6
Thefts	N/A	6,508	6,863	6,213	5,907	6,750	5,513	5,086
per 100,000	N/A	5782.9	5828.2	5219.4	4983.3	5681.9	4675.6	4277.2
Auto thefts	748	750	985	916	825	819	837	654
per 100,000	664.7	666.4	836.5	769.5	696.0	689.4	709.9	550.0
Arson	51	47	29	N/A	15	27	26	27
per 100,000	45.3	41.8	24.6	N/A	12.7	22.7	22.1	22.7
City-data.com crime index (higher means more crime, U.S. average = 280.8)	N/A	710.7	697.7	724.0	654.8	741.9	629.0	576.3

Crime in New York by Year
Type	1999	2000	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Murders	671	673	587	597	570	539	596
per 100,000	9.0	8.7	7.3	7.4	7.0	6.6	7.3
Rapes	1,702	1,630	1,689	1,609	1,428	1,412	1,071
per 100,000	22.9	21.0	20.9	19.9	17.6	17.4	13.1
Robberies	36,100	32,562	27,229	25,989	24,373	24,722	23,511
per 100,000	485.9	420.3	336.8	320.9	300.9	304.6	287.9
Assaults	40,511	40,880	34,334	31,253	29,317	27,950	26,908
per 100,000	545.3	527.7	424.7	385.9	361.9	344.4	329.6
Burglaries	40,469	37,112	30,102	28,293	26,100	23,210	22,137
per 100,000	544.7	479.1	372.3	349.4	322.2	286.0	271.1
Thefts	140,377	139,664	129,655	124,846	124,016	120,918	115,363
per 100,000	1889.5	1802.9	1603.7	1541.7	1530.8	1489.9	1412.9
Auto thefts	39,693	35,847	27,034	23,628	21,072	18,381	15,936
per 100,000	534.3	462.8	334.4	291.8	260.1	226.5	195.2
City-data.com crime index (higher means more crime, U.S. average = 281.9)	447.7	408.5	334.2	313.6	295.4	285.2	268.5

And just because the ratio seemed so narrow to me, I've included this pleasant statistic. Welcome to South Carolina folks:

"According to our research there were 677 registered sex offenders living in Columbia, South Carolina in early 2007.
The ratio of number of residents in Columbia to the number of sex offenders is 177 to 1."

It probably isn't fair to include that, since I can't find a comparable stat for NYC, but whatever.