GUNSNorway and Finland Have Levels of Gun Ownership Similar to the U.S., but Far Less Gun Crime
The number of children killed by guns is 36.5 times higher in the U.S. compared to many other high-income countries. But in terms of the level of gun crimes more broadly – measured by examining the relationship between gun-ownership rates and gun violence — the U.S. is ranked 20th in the world, although all the countries ahead of it are much poorer and more conflicted. European societies similar to the U.S. in terms of gun owners per 100,000 people (but with hunting rifles and shotguns rather than handguns), such as Finland and Norway, are among the safest societies in Europe. Gun researchers now focus increasingly upon wider “gun control regimes” which have a big part to play in increasing or reducing levels of gun violence.
In the wake of the most recent U.S. mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 pupils and two teachers were killed by an 18-year-old armed with an assault rifle, a comparison considering how the U.S. compares with other countries on children’s deaths caused by guns is compelling.
As the independent non-profit U.S. organization the Children’s Defense Fund has pointed out, gun violence is now the leading cause of U.S. children’s deaths. It reported that there are nine fatal shootings of children per day, that’s one killing every two hours and thirty-six minutes. A minority of these killings involve school or mass shootings, the majority are killings of individual children and link to routine crime and gang violence, and overwhelmingly result in the deaths of African-American and minority children.
The U.S. stands as an extreme outlier among high income countries. The number of children killed by guns is 36.5 times higher in the U.S., compared to many other high-income countries including Austria, Australia, Sweden, England and Wales, according to analysis recently published by the New England Journal of Medicine. In recent years international research has also proven conclusively that greater levels of gun ownership are closely associated with higher rates of gun violence.
An audit by the Democrat-leaning policy and research organization the Center for American Progress of all 50 U.S. states found a close correlation between the states with the toughest gun laws and states with the lowest gun crime rates. Meanwhile, international research [see: Peter Squires, Gun Crime in Global Contexts, 2014] has compared national gun laws, rates of firearm ownership and gun violence rates. The results are striking [if we measure the rate of firearm homicide by 100,000 population, the United States ranks No. 20, following, in descending order: Honduras, El Salvador, Jamaica, Venezuela, Ivory Coast, Belize, Guatemala, U.S. Virgin Islands*, Colombia, South Africa, Zambia, Uganda, Lesotho, Malawi, Congo, Central Africa Republic, Puerto Rico*, Ethiopia, and Brazil. *Gun ownership laws in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico are identical to U.S. laws].
Interestingly, European societies that come close to U.S. rates of gun ownership, in terms of gun owners per 100,000 people (but with hunting rifles and shotguns rather than handguns), such as Finland and Norway, are among the safest societies internationally with regards to gun violence.
