Crikey, where did that come from?? 
Thinking I need to re-assess my plans to tour in the US.... certainly in Nevada at least.
Nevada and the rest of the Great Basin is where you want to be in the US. This is where people are most friendly. Lots of murders, but mostly between people who know one another. Guns are everywhere, and when people get drunk and start to fight, out come the guns and someone dies. If you stay away from that crowd, you will face little danger from criminals. Almost anyone who wants can get a concealed carry license for a handgun in Nevada and lots of people do. There are guns everywhere and the law both in theory and practice looks favorably on shooting criminals, whether to avoid injury or simply to protect property. The government here has funding problems, but they'll cut the schools and healthcare before they cut police and prisons. All things considered, it's not a hospitable environment for petty criminals, so those who want to make a living stealing bikes move to Oregon or California.
Nevada is actually a paradise for bicyclists, if you like wide open spaces. Read some of my trip reports. Little traffic, few fences, vast network of dirt roads. Just make sure you tour in Sept/Oct, with Sep 15 to Oct 15 being ideal. Nov is possible, but keep a close eye on the weather. Temps of 0°F (-18°C) with strong winds are not uncommon in Nov. Summer is too hot and sunny for me, and winds in the spring can be ferocious.
The really vicious people in the United States are mainly in what we call the south, or the former slave states. I grew up there. Not only is the culture vicious, but there is little provision for bicyclists in road planning, and because the area is much more heavily populated than the great Basin, there is more traffic, more congestion, more people in a rush and hence ready to lose their temper and go on the rampage become a bicycle is blocking their way, etc. Lots of guns, and a VERY tolerant attitude towards shooting criminals, so not a lot of petty theft, at least not in the rural areas, but I'm not sure this single advantage outweighs all the negatives from a bicycle tourists point of view.
There is supposedly a southern culture element in southern California and southern Arizona, but they seem to be fading away. I've never felt unsafe in the deserts of southern California.
Viciousness is not confined to the United States. I've read about bicyclists being deliberately run off the road in northeast Australia, for example. When I was hiking the Pennine Way in Britain and about to cross a peaceful little country road, some lout in a car came racing around a curve, way over the speed limit, and I'm sure wouldn't have hesitated to run me down if I had been in his way. And don't get me started on how cheap life is in the developing world.
I'm not saying clown clothes are wrong. But I am acutely aware of how vulnerable I am on a bike. The best policy is thus to keep a low profile, so that if I do encounter really vicious people, they will not be attracted to me as their victim.
