If gun ownership breeds higher gun violence, then countries with higher gun ownership should have higher gun violence, right? Well, it certainly seems to be the case with the United States. They have the highest civilian gun ownership rate in the world and one of the highest firearm homicide rates.
But it’s not that easy.
Take Iraq, for example. They have the highest firearm homicide rate in the world, but they’re 7th for gun ownership. Uruguay is 3rd for homicide but 8th for ownership. Finland, Cyprus, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, and UK come in 4th, 5th, 6th, 10th, and 11th for ownership but don’t even make the top 12 for homicide.
But what about Canada? They have lots of gun control and are pretty safe, right? Well, that’s where it gets interesting.
Canada ranks higher in homicide than it does in ownership. They are the first country to buck the trend. Even the US ranks lower on homicide than it does on ownership. Canada has the 5th highest gun homicide rate in the world despite coming in 9th place for ownership.
But that’s not all.
France doesn’t even make the top 14 countries in gun ownership, but it is 6th in gun homicide. Kuwait is 12th in ownership but 7th in homicide. New Zealand is 8th in homicide, but 14th in ownership. Germany is at 11th place in ownership but 9th in homicide.
In fact, out of the 14 countries with the highest gun ownership rate, only Iceland ranks equally in ownership and homicide, and 12th place.
Gun ownership isn’t the problem. And gun control, obviously, isn’t the solution.
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