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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAmerica is a Violent Country
Assault deaths per 100k population over time. The U.S. is the bottom right corner.
Note: I do not think easy availability of guns alone can explain the discrepancy between the US and other OECD countries.
Source: http://crookedtimber.org/2012/07/20/america-is-a-violent-country
2on2u
(1,843 posts)left there..... good on them.
salvorhardin
(9,995 posts)It's middle of the pack at #22 with 22.6 guns per hundred residents. The US, of course, is at #1 with 88.8 guns per hundred residents. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_of_guns_per_capita_by_country
mattclearing
(10,091 posts)I went to use it in an argument the other day, then realized it's kind of a piece of crap, statistically speaking.
flamingdem
(39,313 posts)as a way to justify liberal gun laws.
Let's hope they see this chart. The comparison says everything, we are the extremists of the world in terms of gun violence.
fascisthunter
(29,381 posts)that's why we describe them as "gun Nuts".
salvorhardin
(9,995 posts)This is assault deaths per 100K. That includes anyone who died as a result of interpersonal violence, not just guns.
flamingdem
(39,313 posts)and similar for the rest of Europe.
We are the extreme.
salvorhardin
(9,995 posts)But my point is that we're extreme across the board, and gun ownership alone can't explain it. And I am not for liberal gun laws by any measure. I know you weren't implying that. I just wanted to clarify my position.
flamingdem
(39,313 posts)People have been using justifications on DU with charts that take away from the reality of gun violence here. It's true it's not just guns.
hack89
(39,171 posts)our murder rate has been cut in half since 1992.
Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)salvorhardin
(9,995 posts)Do you know of any?
bhikkhu
(10,718 posts)would be one good question. We do, of course, as per the constitution and the supreme court's history of rulings on gun law - so for the most part there's not much we can do about it at this point.
On the other hand, Switzerland has a gun ownership rate almost as high as ours, and their homicide rate is just a fraction. So perhaps gun laws themselves don't lead to violence, and there are other ways to live as peaceful people?
Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)The reason why gun ownership is high in Switzerland is because the government gives you a gun as a part of military commitments. Furthermore the government knows exactly where those guns are because all are registered. Obtaining a permit to carry a gun in public is practically impossible unless you're in some sort of profession that requires it. Just to buy a gun(other than certain specialty guns like antiques), you are required to have a permit issued by the state even if you are just buying it from your neighbor.
bhikkhu
(10,718 posts)I'm sure it varies quite a bit here, as there are plenty of responsible owners, but I know a bunch of people myself who stockpiled guns and massive amounts of ammunition after listening to beck & co ramping up the fear and hate on one cock-eyed theory after another...
We'd probably agree that if we're stuck with gun ownership because of our history (in the same way that Switzerland is), there is a culture of education and maturity that should go with it; and without some stronger sense of unity and a basic sense of the value of people themselves these things will keep happening. Its not just guns, its the unity and maturity of the culture itself (or the lack thereof, in our case).
Democracyinkind
(4,015 posts)post is the first time that I see the topic of gun ownership in Switzerland honestly and accurately portrayed. So much thanks for that. Isn't it funny that most gun nuts think that Switzerland somehow proves that guns aren't dangerous?
Thank you for your post!
eridani
(51,907 posts)Why are they so different from Norway and Sweden?
Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)eridani
(51,907 posts)Until you look at stuff like heart disease and suicide rates. In countries that far north, there is some correlation with long nights, but all these countries are at similar latitudes.
hack89
(39,171 posts)we have cut our murder rate in half since 1992.
Tejas
(4,759 posts)They're lying to us?
edit; stats
hack89
(39,171 posts)we have cut the number of deaths due to murder and manslaughter in half in the same period.
And those rates and numbers continue to decline.
B2G
(9,766 posts)can be attributed to the war on drugs. It would be interesting to see those stats bumped up against each country's drug laws.
salvorhardin
(9,995 posts)I'm not sure how you could codify national drug laws. There'd be a large subjective element in any case, I think. Any ideas? Maybe somebody has already done that work?
salvorhardin
(9,995 posts)Last edited Sat Jul 21, 2012, 04:06 PM - Edit history (1)
Interactive map here: http://www.openheatmap.com/view.html?map=DismemberingKuldaExtraperitoneal
Data here: http://www.census.gov/statab/ranks/rank21.html
eridani
(51,907 posts)--of their small populations, for which one really bad year skews the average a lot. Just as a small hospital is likely to deviate more from the typical ~ 1/1 ratio of male to female births than a large hospital.
valerief
(53,235 posts)Add to that the War For Drugs and the government's policies that promote unemployment and you've got America.
salvorhardin
(9,995 posts)But there's so much that contributes to the problem, IMHO. Another big aspect: wealth and income inequality.
valerief
(53,235 posts)Brickbat
(19,339 posts)I'm interested to see what happens to that drop, however -- whether it continues, levels off or rises again.
B2G
(9,766 posts)It's really pretty simple.
Tejas
(4,759 posts)MooseTrax
(62 posts)A 12 gauge shotgun
A 30 30 saddle rifle
A .38 S&W revolver
The basic problem isn't ordinary gun ownership. When a kooky bastard can legally own an assault rifle with a 300 round clip and legally buy 6000 rounds of ammunition and enough chemicals and explosives to booby trap an apartment....the goddam laws are way past time for change. What goes on in America is unadulterated insanity.
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)to be a rationale for LOLing...interesting, but hardly surprising in the cult of penile compensation.
The US claims membership in the exclusive "club" of advanced, industrialized nations charted on this graph.
Obviously, the study does not include Mexican figures, nor figures from any other "under-developed" nation.
Ironic that the US should be included in the "advanced" group.
Its sad record of uncontrolled violence clearly indicates that it belongs in the ranks of the "under-developed", read backward and retrograde.
(For what its worth, I'm an American living in Europe. All too often, I find myself obliged to attempt a justification of American firearms insanity, incomprehensible to most rational Euorpeans.)
Tejas
(4,759 posts)Tejas
(4,759 posts)Response to Surya Gayatri (Reply #29)
HuckleB This message was self-deleted by its author.
Tsiyu
(18,186 posts)FOX News, Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck ...
they stoke the fires of racism and right wing fanatacism and hatred.
For $$$$$$$$$$$ they feed the violence like a hungry beast, so they can get more $$$$$$$ and convince the Right Wing fanatics to let them have it.
Look at Glen Beck's radio promos: "Kill Nancy Pelosi! Liberals MUST DIE!!!!" These were his words broadcast on 1510 AM in Nashville.
When some of us alerted the FCC, we were told it was a "free speech issue"
With all of that stochastic terrorism broadcast by Clear Channel and CUmulus and FOX News added to the War on Drugs, it's a great recipe for a bloodthirsty society with no regard for human life - human life that doesn't meet one's political or drug-free standards, that is.