The average murder rate among 100,000 population in 1999 of death penalty states was 5.5 while the rate of non-death penalty states was only 3.6. The Times reports that 10 of the 12 states without the death penalty have homicide rates below the national average. "I think Michigan made a wise decision 150 years ago," said the state's governor, John Engler, a Republican, referring to the state's abolition of the death penalty in 1846. "We're pretty proud of the fact that we .
don't have the death penalty." In fact, states without the death penalty have better record on homicide rates. Another evidence that also prove the ineffectiveness of the death penalty is the comparisons of the rate of death by handguns in eight industrialized countries. The United States stands out with a rate of death much higher than the rate of other countries, 35 over one million people were killed with handguns in 1996, while there were only 0.5 in Britain. The United States is also the only country of the eight to retain use of the death penalty. These evidences prove that murders are fearless of death penalty and most of them either do not expect to be caught or do not weigh the differences between a possible execution and life in prison before they act. Some murders premeditate their crimes and find way to escape from detection, arrest, and conviction; they never think of being arrested. Another reason is that most crimes are committed in the heat of the moment, it means during the moment of great emotional stress, anger, or under the influence of stimulants. General Jim Mattox, a former Texas Attorney who presided over many of Texas's executions, remarked, " It is my own experience that those executed in Texas were not deterred by the existence of the death penalty law. I think in most cases you'll find the murder was committed under severe drug and alcohol abuse." So, crimes are also caused by impulsive act, when logical thinking has been suspended.
