Does America Have a Gun Problem?

Question - Does America have a gun problem?

Answer - Yes

This can be demonstrated in 2 ways, these being homicide rates and the number of annual firearm fatalities.

1. Homicide rates 

The following chart represents the intentional homicide rate of the 20 most highly developed countries based on their Human Development Index (HDI).


[i] Knoema World Data Atlas – Rankings crime statistics Homicide rate 2017. Retrieved from https://knoema.com/atlas/ranks/Homicide-rate

As can be seen in the chart above the United States intentional homicide rate is significantly higher than any of the other peer countries The United States rate of 5.3 is over 6 times greater than the average of the other 19 countries listed above and nearly 3 times the rate of the 2nd highest country Canada which has an intentional homicide rate of 1.8. 

The main factor behind the higher homicide rate in the US becomes obvious when looking at the next chart.

ii] Gun Policy.Org – Gun Homicides, Liechtenstein 2016, Hong Kong 2017, Singapore 2015, Japan 2015, United Kingdom 2015, Norway 2015, Germany 2015, Austria 2016, Australia 2018, Switzerland 2018, Netherlands 2016, Finland 2016, Denmark 2015, New Zealand 2016, Belgium 2015, Iceland 2016, Ireland 2014, Sweden 2017, Canada 2018, United States 2017. Retrieved from https://www.gunpolicy.org/

The United States intentional firearm homicide rate of 4.46 per 100,000 residents is over 25 times greater than the average of the other 19 countries listed above and over 6 times the rate of the 2nd highest country Canada which has an intentional firearm homicide rate of 0.67 per 100,000 residents.

Clearly, it is the incidence of firearm-related homicides which results in the United States having overall homicide rates much greater than the other highly developed countries.

2. Firearm Fatalities in the United States

[iii] USA Facts, Firearm Deaths by Type 2018. Retrieved from https://usafacts.org/data/topics/security-safety/crime-and-justice/firearms/firearm-deaths/


As can be seen, total firearm deaths have steadily increased since 2010 and are forecast to exceed 40,000 in 2020. Particularly concerning is that the age profile of these deaths is much younger than those of most other leading causes of death and indeed gun violence is the leading cause of death for young men.

One final statistic which should convince doubters that there is a gun problem in America is the fact that a study has found that guns kill 1,300 and wound around 5,800 American children under the age of 17 every year. This is something that no other highly developed country would tolerate.

[iv] BBC News US & Canada (2017, June 19). Guns kill 1,300 US children every year, study finds. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40336048






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