Now that some time has passed since the latest surge of debate regarding gun regulations, I thought it might be time to look at some of the relevant facts. We keep hearing how there are more civilian owned guns in the USA than any other country. We also get told that there are more mass shootings here. To hear the gun control people tell it, the USA is the world's combination shooting gallery and killing grounds. But is that correct?
In order to determine the answer to that question, it's worth looking at more than the rate of gun ownership. After all, supposedly the point of gun regulations is to stop murder not possession of guns. So how does the USA rate when comparing the rate of murder in countries around the world? (We need to look at the rate rather than the number of murders since a country with hundreds of millions of people obviously has more murders than a country with ten million people.)
Here is a way to test your expectations:
Listed below are twelve countries from around the world. Which one do you think has the highest murder rate.
1. Mexico
2. Canada
3. USA
4. Argentina
5. Brazil
6. South Africa
7. North Korea
8. Israel
9. Russia
10. Estonia
11. Pakistan
12. France
Now, from the same list, pick the six countries with the highest murder rates.
The answers are quite revealing. The highest murder rate among these six countries according to United Nations statistics is South Africa. It's worth noting that South Africa is not the highest in the world, just the highest on this list. The six countries with the highest murder rates are South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, Pakistan and Argentina. The USA did not even make the to the top half. In fact, even among the six with the lowest murder rate, America is not the highest. Both Estonia and North Korea have higher murder rates according to the UN figures.
What does this tell us? First of all, despite the constant barrage of claims about how guns are the cause of murders, that does not seem to be true. In Israel, there are a great many citizens who are armed for defense. The murder rate there (by guns or otherwise) is extremely low. In North Korea, no one other than government forces is allowed to own guns. The murder rate there is significantly higher than it is in the USA. It is not the prevalence of guns that cause the murders.
We still need to apply common sense to the sale of guns in the USA. We ought stop some of the more hysterical rhetoric on the subject, however. Remember that next time someone starts discussing the subject.
In order to determine the answer to that question, it's worth looking at more than the rate of gun ownership. After all, supposedly the point of gun regulations is to stop murder not possession of guns. So how does the USA rate when comparing the rate of murder in countries around the world? (We need to look at the rate rather than the number of murders since a country with hundreds of millions of people obviously has more murders than a country with ten million people.)
Here is a way to test your expectations:
Listed below are twelve countries from around the world. Which one do you think has the highest murder rate.
1. Mexico
2. Canada
3. USA
4. Argentina
5. Brazil
6. South Africa
7. North Korea
8. Israel
9. Russia
10. Estonia
11. Pakistan
12. France
Now, from the same list, pick the six countries with the highest murder rates.
The answers are quite revealing. The highest murder rate among these six countries according to United Nations statistics is South Africa. It's worth noting that South Africa is not the highest in the world, just the highest on this list. The six countries with the highest murder rates are South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, Pakistan and Argentina. The USA did not even make the to the top half. In fact, even among the six with the lowest murder rate, America is not the highest. Both Estonia and North Korea have higher murder rates according to the UN figures.
What does this tell us? First of all, despite the constant barrage of claims about how guns are the cause of murders, that does not seem to be true. In Israel, there are a great many citizens who are armed for defense. The murder rate there (by guns or otherwise) is extremely low. In North Korea, no one other than government forces is allowed to own guns. The murder rate there is significantly higher than it is in the USA. It is not the prevalence of guns that cause the murders.
We still need to apply common sense to the sale of guns in the USA. We ought stop some of the more hysterical rhetoric on the subject, however. Remember that next time someone starts discussing the subject.
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