by Jason L. Riley
Wall Street Journal
January 10, 2023

… Cost-benefit analyses of addressing violent crime deserve more attention than they usually receive. Beyond the loss of lives that can’t be replaced, there is the matter of treating the wounded and repairing the carnage. Between 2010 and 2020, hospital costs for shooting victims alone in New York City totaled $469 million, according to a December report from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Some 70% of that bill was footed not only by local taxpayers but also through federal taxes, via Medicaid and Medicare. A researcher at John Jay told the New York Post: “People should not delude themselves into thinking that if they live in a rural farm community, they don’t have to worry about urban gun violence—because they are paying for that.”

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