Kearney crime: does it matter?

So today the class had a debate about the concealed weapon law in Kearney. Apparently there's a state law that allows weapons, but Kearney had a city law the outlawed them. Now the state is saying the city law doesn't apply, which makes concealed weapons legal again. Some people are happy that they can carry concealed weapons, while other people are angry that the state is basically pushing the city's laws aside.

As for me personally, I don't really care. I was never aware it was an issue, and I don't like guns. I would never carry one myself because they scare me, and the thought of a bunch of people carrying them around makes me nervous. But that's not the point of this post.

The point is that one girl in class asked why people in Kearney even care about carrying guns. Her basic argument was that she is from Omaha, a relatively dangerous city, and the crime in Kearney doesn't even compare. Actually, she was almost arguing that any crime that happens in Kearney is basically insignificant, so people don't need guns here.

I will admit that yes, Omaha crime is much more prevalent than Kearney crime, as this graph shows:

I realize the graph is small, but it shows that Omaha's overall crime rate is 198 while Kearney's is 80. The average for Nebraska is 96, while the national average is 100.
(info from clrsearch.com)

But just because Kearney doesn't come close to Omaha in terms of crime rate doesn't mean that crime doesn't happen here. Otherwise, obviously, we'd have a crime rate of 0. Zero. Zip. Zilch.

In October, one of my best friends was mugged at gun point in an alley downtown. There's one gun problem for you. Also, according to the City of Kearney's Police Department, 11 of the last 13 months had reports of shots fired in district 3 (which includes downtown) - and that's not even counting districts 1 and 2.

True, Kearney might not be Omaha, but that doesn't mean nothing happens here.

It's also naive to think that small towns don't have crime. Here's an article about the crime surge in small towns, and here's another that explains how small towns are fighting the crime surge with big city tactics. Granted, these articles are 5-7 years old, but that doesn't make them any less relevant.

And some quick notes before I end: The picture for my post, the book In Cold Blood, is about the true story of a family that was massacred in small town Kansas.

Also, here's Kelcey Fike. She was brutally murdered in Kearney, and the police are still looking for her killer. It's a terribly sad story that I hope will come to a conclusion sooner than later.