Time series showing rates of gun-related deaths per capita (all sources) in the US and Australia
According to GunPolicy.org, 75 percent of the world's 875 million guns are civilian controlled. Roughly half of these guns (48 percent) are in the United States, which has the highest rate of gun ownership in the world. Globally, millions are wounded and killed by the use of guns. Assault by firearm resulted in 180,000 deaths in 2013 up from 128,000 deaths in 1990. There were additionally 47,000 unintentional firearm-related deaths in 2013.
Levels of gun-related violence vary greatly among geographical regions, countries, and even subnationally.
Rates of violent deaths by firearm range from as low as 0.03 and 0.04
per 100,000 population in Singapore and Japan, to 59 and 67 per 100,000
in Honduras and Venezuela. The highest rates of violent deaths by firearm in the world occur in low-income South and Central American countries such as Honduras, Venezuela, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala and Jamaica.
The United States has the 11th highest rate of gun violence in the
world, and by far the largest of any large or highly developed nation,
having a gun homicide rate which is 25 times higher, an unintentional
gun death rate which is 6 times higher, a firearm suicide rate which is 8
times higher, and an overall firearm death rate which is 10 times
higher than the average respective rates of other high income nations. Compared to similarly wealthy nations with strict gun control laws, such as Japan, the United Kingdom, or South Korea, the United States has an overall rate of firearms death per capita, which is 50–100 times greater than many of its peers.
The high rates of gun violence in the United States, which has the
highest rate of gun-related deaths per capita among developed countries,
despite having the highest number of police officers, is sometimes
thought to be attributable to its extreme rate of gun ownership, as it
is the only nation in which guns exceed people. Nearly all studies have found a positive association between gun ownership and gun-related homicide and suicide rates.
According to the United Nations,
deaths from small firearms exceed that of all other weapons combined,
and more die each year from gun-related violence than did in the atomic
bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. The global death toll from use of guns may number as high as 1,000 dead each day.
Prevention
A number of ideas have been proposed on how to lessen the incidence of gun-related violence.
Some propose keeping a gun at home to keep one safer. Studies
show that guns in the home is associated with an increased risk of
violent death in the home.
According to the FBI, gun-related violence is linked to gun ownership
and is not a function or byproduct of crime. Their study indicates that
more than 90% of gun-related deaths were not part of a commission of a
crime, rather they were directly related to gun ownership. Mother Jones
reports that "[a] Philadelphia study found that the odds of an assault
victim being shot were 4.5 times greater if he carried a gun" and that
"[h]is odds of being killed were 4.2 times greater" when armed.
Others propose arming civilians to counter mass shootings. FBI research
shows that between 2000 and 2013, "In 5 incidents (3.1%), the shooting
ended after armed individuals who were not law enforcement personnel
exchanged gunfire with the shooters." Another proposal is to expand self defense
laws for cases where a person is being aggressed upon, although "those
policies have been linked to a 7 to 10% increase in homicides" (that is,
shootings where self-defense cannot be claimed).
Types
Suicide
There is a strong relationship between guns in the home, as well as
access to guns more generally, and suicide risk, the evidence for which
is strongest in the United States. A 1992 case-control study conducted in Tennessee and Washington
found that individuals in a firearm owning home are close to five times
more likely to commit suicide than those individuals who do not own
firearms.
A 2002 study found that access to guns in the home was associated with
an increased risk of suicide among middle-aged and older adults, even
after controlling for psychiatric illness.
As of 2008, there were 12 case-control studies that had been conducted
in the U.S., all of which had found that guns in the home were
associated with an increased risk of suicide. However, a 1996 New Zealand study found no significant relationship between household guns and suicide.
Assessing data from 14 developed countries where gun ownership levels
were known, the Harvard Injury Control Research Center found
statistically significant correlations between those levels and suicide
rates. However, the parallels were lost when data from additional
nations was included. A 2006 study found a significant effect of changes in gun ownership rates on gun suicide rates in multiple Western countries.
During the 1980s and 1990s, the rate of adolescent suicides with guns
caught up with adult rates, and the 75-and-older rate rose above all
others. The use of firearms in suicides ranges from less than 10 percent in Australia to 50 percent in the United States, where it is the most common method and where suicides outnumber homicides 2-to-1. Those who purchased a firearm where found to be high risk for suicide within a week of the purchase
The United States has both the highest number of Suicides and Gun
ownerships for a developed country and firearms are the most popular
method to commit suicide. In the United States when Gun ownerships rise
so too does suicide by firearm.
Suicide can be an impulsive act, 40% of those who survived a suicide
attempt said that they only considered suicide up to five minutes before
attempting the act. This impulsivity can lead to the use of a firearm
as it is seen as a quick and lethal method.
According to U.S. criminologist Gary Kleck, studies that try to link gun ownership to victimology often fail to account for the presence of guns owned by other people. Research by economists John Lott of the U.S. and John Whitley of Australia indicates that safe-storage laws do not appear to affect juvenile accidental gun-related deaths or suicides. In contrast, a 2004 study led by Daniel Webster
found that such laws were associated with slight reductions in suicide
rates among children. The same study criticized Lott and Whitley's study
on the subject for inappropriately using a Tobit model. A committee of the U.S. National Research Council
said ecological studies on violence and firearms ownership provide
contradictory evidence. The committee wrote: "[Existing] research
studies and data include a wealth of descriptive information on
homicide, suicide, and firearms, but, because of the limitations of
existing data and methods, do not credibly demonstrate a causal
relationship between the ownership of firearms and the causes or
prevention of criminal violence or suicide."
Intentional homicide
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) defines
intentional homicide as "acts in which the perpetrator intended to cause
death or serious injury by his or her actions." This excludes deaths:
related to conflicts (war); caused by recklessness or negligence; or
justifiable, such as in self-defense or by law enforcement in the line
of duty.
A 2009 report by the Geneva Declaration using UNODC data showed that
worldwide firearms were used in an average of 60 percent of all
homicides.
In the U.S. in 2011, 67 percent of homicide victims were killed by a
firearm: 66 percent of single-victim homicides and 79 percent of
multiple-victim homicides. In 2009, the United States' homicide rate was reported to be 5.0 per 100,000.
A 2016 Harvard study claims that in 2010 the homicide rate was about 7
times higher than that of other high-income countries, and that the US
gun homicide rate was 25.2 times higher.
Another Harvard study found that higher gun availability was strongly
correlated with higher homicide rates across 26 high-income countries. Access to guns is associated with an increased risk of being the victim of homicide.
Access to firearms is not the sole contributor to increased homicide
rates, however, as one study by the Southern Criminal Justice
Association in 2011 found. Equally important seems to be the particular
societal conditions in a given area, socio-culturally. These conditions
include, but are not limited to societal age structure, economic
inequality, cultural symbolism associated with firearms and the cultural
value of individual life.
Domestic violence
Some gun control advocates say that the strongest evidence linking availability of guns to death and injury is found in domestic violence studies, often referring to those by public health policy analyst Arthur Kellermann.
In response to suggestions by some that homeowners would be wise to
acquire firearms for protection from home invasions, Kellermann
investigated in-home homicides in three cities over five years. He found
that the risk of a homicide was in fact slightly higher in homes where a
handgun was present. The data showed that the risk of a crime of passion
or other domestic dispute ending in a fatal injury was higher when a
gun was readily available (essentially loaded and unlocked) compared to
when no gun was readily available. Kellerman said this increase in
mortality overshadowed any protection a gun might have deterring or
defending against burglaries or invasions. He also concluded that
further research of domestic violence causes and prevention are needed.
Critics of Kellermann's study say that it is more directly a
study of domestic violence than of gun ownership. Gary Kleck and others
dispute the work.
Kleck says that few of the homicides that Kellermann studied were
committed with guns belonging to the victim or members of his or her
household, and that it was implausible that victim household gun
ownership contributed to their homicide. Instead, according to Kleck,
the association that Kellermann found between gun ownership and
victimization reflected that people who live in more dangerous
circumstances are more likely to be murdered, but also were more likely
to have acquired guns for self-protection.
In studies of nonfatal gun use, it was found that guns can
contribute to coercive control, which can then escalate into chronic and
more severe violence. Guns can have a negative impact on victims even without being discharged.
Threats of gun use or showing a weapon can create damaging and
long-lasting fear and emotional stress in victims because they are aware
of the danger of having an abuser who has access to a gun.
Robbery and assault
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
defines robbery as the theft of property by force or threat of force.
Assault is defined as a physical attack against the body of another
person resulting in serious bodily injury. In the case of gun-related
violence, the definitions become more specific and include only robbery
and assault committed with the use of a firearm.
Firearms are used in this threatening capacity four to six times more
than firearms used as a means of protection in fighting crime.
Hemenway's figures are disputed by other academics, who assert there
are many more defensive uses of firearms than criminal uses. See John
Lott's "More Guns, Less Crime".
In terms of occurrence, developed countries have similar rates of
assaults and robberies with firearms, whereas the rates of homicides by
firearms vary greatly by country.
Accidental firearm deaths
From
1979 to 1997, almost 30,000 people in the United States alone died from
accidental firearm injuries. A disproportionately high number of these
deaths occurred in parts of the United States where firearms are more
prevalent.
Economic costs
The economic cost of gun-related violence in the United States is $229 billion a year,
meaning a single murder has average direct costs of almost $450,000,
from the police and ambulance at the scene, to the hospital, courts, and
prison for the murderer. A 2014 study found that from 2006 to 2010, gun-related injuries in the United States cost $88 billion.
Public health
Assault by firearm resulted in 180,000 deaths worldwide in 2013, up from 128,000 deaths worldwide in 1990. There were 47,000 unintentional firearm deaths worldwide in 2013.
Emergency medical care
is a major contributor to the monetary costs of such violence. It was
determined in a study that for every firearm death in the United States
for the year beginning 1 June 1992, an average of three firearm-related
injuries were treated in hospital emergency departments.
Psychological
Children
exposed to gun-related violence, whether they are victims,
perpetrators, or witnesses, can experience negative psychological
effects over the short and long terms. Psychological trauma also is
common among children who are exposed to high levels of violence in
their communities or through the media. Psychologist James Garbarino,
who studies children in the U.S. and internationally, found that
individuals who experience violence are prone to mental and other health
problems, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and sleep deprivation.
These problems increase for those who experience violence as children.
By country
Port Arthur
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The
Port Arthur massacre of 1996 horrified the Australian public. The
gunman opened fire on shop owners and tourists, killing 35 people and
wounding 23. This massacre, kick started Australia's laws against guns.
The Prime Minister at that time, John Howard, proposed a gun law that
prevented the public from having all semi-automatic rifles, all
semi-automatic and pump-action shotguns, in addition to a tightly
restrictive system of licensing and ownership controls.
The government also bought back guns from people. In 1996–2003 it
was estimated they bought back and destroyed nearly 1 million firearms.
By the end of 1996, whilst Australia was still reeling from the Port
Arthur massacre, the gun law was fully in place. Since then, the number
of deaths related to gun-related violence dwindled almost every year. In
1979 six hundred and eighty-five people
died due to gun violence, and in 1996 it was five hundred and sixteen.
The numbers continue to drop, however they were declining also before
the gun law was in place.
Sydney Siege
On the Australia's most mediated gun violence-related incident since Port Arthur, was the 2014 Sydney Hostage Crisis. On 15–16 December 2014, a lone gunman, Man Haron Monis,
held hostage 17 customers and employees of a Lindt chocolate café. The
perpetrator was on bail at the time, and had previously been convicted
of a range of offences.
The following year in August, the New South Wales Government
tightened the laws of bail and illegal firearms, creating a new offence
for the possession of a stolen firearm, with a maximum of 14 years
imprisonment.
Gun violence in Sweden
| Number of 2006-2017 gun homicides in Sweden | |
 | |
| Source: Police in Sweden | |
Sweden witnessed a steep increase in gun violence in males aged 15 to
29 in the two decades prior to 2018, in addition to a rising trend in
gun violence there was also a high rate of gun violence in Sweden
compared to other countries in Western Europe.
According to a report published by academic researchers in 2017,
shooting incidents with fatal outcomes are about 4 to 5 times as common
in Sweden compared to neighbouring countries such as Germany and Norway when taking population size into account. The city with the highest prevalence of shootings was Malmö. The grave violence in the studied period also changed character, from criminal motorcycle gangs to city suburbs.
According to researcher Amir Rostami at Stockholm University,
police statistics for January–November 2018 showed that the number of
shootings was at a continued high rate at 274, where up until the end of
November 42 people had been shot and killed and 129 wounded compared to
43 in 2017. Rostami also said there had been 100 hand grenade attacks
and 1500 shootings in Sweden since 2011, about 40 people are killed
annually and 500 had been wounded. Rostami also said that if this
violence had been attributed to some form of extremists, this would have
considered a form of civil war. Almost half (46%) of all shootings in 2018 happened in public spaces in vulnerable areas. Both victims and perpetrators are becoming younger.
According to police in 2018, at least nine people who were
innocent bystanders had been killed in cross-fire incidents in the last
few years and the risk to the law-abiding public was therefore rising.
Assassination of William McKinley in 1901; McKinley died eight days later from his wounds.
Gun violence in the United States results in tens of thousands of deaths and injuries annually. In 2013, there were 73,505 nonfatal firearm injuries (23.2 injuries per 100,000 U.S. citizens), and 33,636 deaths due to "injury by firearms" (10.6 deaths per 100,000 U.S. citizens). These deaths consisted of 11,208 homicides, 21,175 suicides,
505 deaths due to accidental or negligent discharge of a firearm, and
281 deaths due to firearms use with "undetermined intent". Of the 2,596,993 total deaths in the US in 2013, 1.3% were related to firearms. The ownership and control of guns are among the most widely debated issues in the country.
In 2010, 67% of all homicides in the U.S. were committed using a firearm. In 2012, there were 8,855 total firearm-related homicides in the US, with 6,371 of those attributed to handguns. In 2012, 64% of all gun-related deaths in the U.S. were suicides. In 2010, there were 19,392 firearm-related suicides, and 11,078 firearm-related homicides in the U.S. In 2010, 358 murders were reported involving a rifle while 6,009 were reported involving a handgun; another 1,939 were reported with an unspecified type of firearm.
Firearms were used to kill 13,286 people in the U.S. in 2015, excluding suicide. Approximately 1.4 million people have been killed using firearms in the U.S. between 1968 and 2011, equivalent to a top 10th largest U.S. city in 2016, falling between the populations of San Antonio and Dallas, Texas.
Compared to 22 other high-income nations, the U.S. gun-related murder rate is 25 times higher.
Although it has half the population of the other 22 nations combined,
the U.S. had 82 percent of all gun deaths, 90 percent of all women
killed with guns, 91 percent of children under 14 and 92 percent of
young people between ages 15 and 24 killed with guns. In 2010, gun violence cost U.S. taxpayers approximately $516 million in direct hospital costs.
Gun violence is most common in poor urban areas and frequently associated with gang violence, often involving male juveniles or young adult males. Although mass shootings have been covered extensively in the media, mass shootings in the US account for a small fraction of gun-related deaths and the frequency of these events steadily declined between 1994 and 2007, rising between 2007 and 2013.
Legislation at the federal,
state, and local levels has attempted to address gun violence through a
variety of methods, including restricting firearms purchases by youths
and other "at-risk" populations, setting waiting periods for firearm
purchases, establishing gun buyback programs,
law enforcement and policing strategies, stiff sentencing of gun law
violators, education programs for parents and children, and
community-outreach programs. Despite widespread concern about the
impacts of gun violence on public health, Congress has prohibited the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) from conducting research that advocates in favor of gun control.
The CDC has interpreted this ban to extend to all research on gun
violence prevention, and so has not funded any research on this subject
since 1996.
