Why So Much Gun Violence?

At a recent Friday morning discussion at Ocean Hills Country Club, we discussed the topic of violence in America.  The question was, "Why are there so many mass murders in the U.S.? "  Of course there is no easy answer to this, but it did get me thinking.  In order to discuss this and any other topic where facts and figures are pertinent, it's necessary to know the discussion questions in advance, so people can get their facts together.  One woman said that there were many other countries that had more guns than the US, but they didn't have the mass murders that we did.  Most of us questioned her statement, but since no one knew the topics before we arrived at the discussion group, no one was really prepared with facts and figures.  I did a little research after the meeting and here's what I discovered.

The United States has more gun ownership by civilians than any other country.  270,000,000 guns are owned by civilians, almost one per person.  We have over 9,900 homicides per year by guns, and 67% of homicides are committed by guns.  We are number one in the world!  That's not a statistic to be proud of.  By comparison, England and Wales is 88th in the world, with 6.6% of homicides committed by guns.  Other countries with very little gun violence are Japan (164th  with 1.8% of homicides committed by guns),  Hungary (6%), South Korea (1.7%) and France 9.5).

On the other hand, there are smaller, less developed countries that have a high percentage of gun violence by civilians.  Venezuela, Brazil, Paraguay, El Salvador, Jamaica, West Bank and Gaza, Sierra Leone and Honduras are just some of the countries that have more than 65% of their homicides committed by guns.

The question is how to interpret this data.  It's difficult to draw conclusions, because industrialized nations like Italy and Switzerland have higher homicide rates than you would think.  ( both over 65% of homicides from guns.)  Bahrain, where 25% of civilians own a gun has 0 homicides from guns, yet Equador, where 1.8% of the people own guns, has 66.7% of their homicides committed by guns.  The statistical table from which I got this information was published in the Washington Post.

Most mass homicides are committed by men with some form of mental illness.  That is true in the U.S., and I suspect it is true elsewhere.  It seems to follow that we need to keep guns out of the hands of citizens with mental illness.  In shooting after shooting it is discovered that the shooter had a history of mental illness.  We need to pass laws to prohibit their ability to purchase guns.  This won't end mass murders, but it will make it more difficult for those that shouldn't have guns to get them.  Is anyone listening? I wrote this several weeks before the latest mass murder in Oregon.