Thing is a lot of the time (most of the time?) you here about shit like this it ends up that the "victims" were actually pretty shady themselves or at least in deep with shady characters.
some drug dealer and his crack hoes or some gang affiliated retaliation killings or turf war etc.
Very rarely is just some random guy targeted for murder. Criminals know that cops will just write off degenerates killing degenerates and they will write off muggings and car jackings but if some working joe or upstanding citizen gets murdered its a whole different ball game.
And the idea that this sort of stuff is a new occurrence is simply untrue.
Its just that we have the internet and cable news 24/7 so you hear about shit like this and it makes it seem more common.
I have my C&C permit but its not because I am afraid of crime but because it makes me feel like a big man/tough guy.