I'm trying to understand the problem with defining rural and urban areas at a county level. Aren't they looking at per capita fatality rates? Obviously urban centers massively out populate rural ones. I don't really see how rural land around an urban center is poisoning the results here. Ultimately, the authors found that gun violence per capita isn't significantly greater in urban counties than in rural ones.
I don't know what sort of answer you're looking for. I've lived in California my entire life, and saying all parts of Contra Costa or Los Angeles or Alameda counties are equally prone to gun violence is a statistical slight of hand that bears little resemblance to reality. Anyone who lives here knows that.
Unfortunately, in 2021, dense minority-dominated districts tend to be high in gun crime. If you don't live in one of those area, it's like a European country, in terms of living standards and crimes rates.
