Murder, Unincorporated

Lately, violent crime in Chicago has been a subject of national interest.  I can see why, since the number of murders in Chicago surpassed NYC's.  However, Chicago is NOT the murder capital of the US, nor is it particularly violent.  These are 2012 crime stats:

1: Flint, Michigan  64.9 murders for every 100,000 citizens
2: Detroit, Michigan   54.6 murders for every 100,000 citizens
3: New Orleans, Louisiana  53.5 murders for every 100,000 citizens
4: St. Louis, Missouri  35.5 murders for every 100,000 citizens
5: Baltimore, Maryland  35 murders for every 100,000
6: Birmingham, Alabama  33.7 murders for every 100,000 citizens
7: Newark, New Jersey  33.1 murders for every 100,000 citizens (NYC has its murders via the Holland tunnel)
7: Oakland, California  33.1 murders for every 100,000 citizens (Frisco has its murders across the bridge)
8: Baton Rouge, Louisiana  28.9 for every 100,000 citizens
9: Cleveland, Ohio  24.6 murders for every 100,000 citizens
10: Memphis, Tennessee  24.1 murders for every 100,000 citizens

People like David Letterman feel threatened by Chicago, and bash it.  Like the murder thing.  Because of his Indiana boyhood, he is afraid of Chicago.   It's bigger than he is, but smaller than NYC, which he now calls home.  NBC, because of falling ratings and the need for change, once threatened to move his show to Chicago, which frightened him.  So he bashes Chicago, as he did in a recent interview with Chicago's mayor..  But Chicago has stringent gun laws.  Most guns in the hands of the Gangster Disciples and Latin Kings come out of Indiana, David's home state, where you can get anything you want.  (And Chicago police have confiscated more guns on the street than New York and LA combined.)  So there, David!

Or maybe it's because of tourism interests in New York and LA, and because we have the best restaurants.