OK, how about this:
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According to a 1992 review of the scientific literature, most studies find that gun density is positively associated with the murder rate. (7). The National Institute of Justice, for example, reports a study of U.S. cities which found a positive correlation between gun ownership levels and felony gun use and felony murder. (8)
How about other violent crimes, like rape and assault? The NIJ report says: "Greater gun availability increases the rates of murder and felony gun use, but does not appear to affect general violence levels." In other words, we generally have a constant level of violence in our society, but guns allow a greater portion of that violence to become deadly. "The fact that the United States is a violent society does not have much to do with guns," writes researcher Philip Cook. "The fact that our violent crime is so deadly has much to do with guns." (9) This coheres with the above philosophy that only a certain percentage of the population experiences the impulse to commit murder, and is prevented only by its lack of ability and feasibility.
Here's a closer look at the numbers:
In 1991, there were 211 million privately-owned firearms in the U.S., which then had a population of 252 million people. Of these firearms, about 71 million were handguns.(10) The long-term trend in both handgun production and criminal use has been away from manual revolvers and towards rapid-firing, semi-automatic pistols. (10) The domestic production of pistols has doubled since 1980, while domestic production of rifles has fallen 40 percent, and shotguns 14 percent. In 1980, pistols made up less than 15 percent of total firearm production in the U.S.; by 1993, they had climbed to 40 percent.(12)
The following chart shows the general climb of both the murder rate and firearm sales in the U.S.:
Murder rate (per 100,000) and firearm sales (millions of constant
dollars, CPI-U)(13)
Murder Firearm
Year Rate Sales
----------------------
1985 7.9 $1,548
1986 8.6 1,647
1987 8.3 1,667
1988 8.4 1,810
1989 8.7 1,777
1990 9.4 1,602
1991 9.8 1,859
1992 9.3 1,829
1993 9.5 2,095
Since 1989, manufacturers and importers introduced an average of 3.5 million new guns into the U.S. market each year. By contrast, the U.S. resident population has grown an average of 2.7 million a year. That's roughly 800,000 extra guns a year. (14)
In 1993, about 1.3 million Americans faced an assailant armed with a firearm. Of those, 86 percent (or 1.1 million) of the incidents involved a handgun. (15)
Here is the breakdown for all the weapons or methods used to commit murder from 1980 to 1993. Notice the trend for guns and handguns:
Murder method or weapons used; 1980-1993 (16)
Weapon or Method 1980 1993
-----------------------------------
Guns (all types) 62.4% 69.6%
Handguns 45.8 56.9
Cutting or stabbing 19.3 12.7
Blunt objects 5.0 4.4
Personal weapons 5.9 5.0
Strangulations,
Asphyxiations 2.3 1.9
Fire 1.3 0.9
All others 3.8 5.5
And here are the circumstances surrounding murders for 1993. ("Arguments" include those over money, property, romantic triangles, etc. "Felonies" include robbery, narcotics, rape etc.)
Circumstances surrounding murder, 1993 (17)
Circumstances 1993
---------------------
Argument 30.8%
Unknown 27.7
Other Motives 21.7
Felonies 19.1
For murders in 1994, almost half of the victims were either related to (12 percent) or acquainted with (35 percent) their killers. Only 13 percent were killed by total strangers. Of female victims, 28 percent were killed by their husbands or boyfriends. (18)
Types of Firearm deaths, 1993 (19)
Suicide 18,940
Firearm homicide 18,571
Handgun homicide 13,980
Justifiable homicide 251
Accidental 1,521
Undetermined 563
--------------------------------
Total 39,595
In 1993, the FBI counted 24,526 murders (13,980 by handguns), yet only 251 of these were justifiable homicides by civilians using handguns.(20) This is only one percent of all murders! However, "justifiable homicide" is a narrowly-defined legal term, meaning the killing of an assailant in self-defense, and as a last resort. For example, shooting someone for stealing your car is not considered justifiable homicide (unless your life is in danger). More on this below.
And then there are the international statistics, which also show a clear correlation between handgun ownership and murder rates. (Note: the first two statistics are for handguns, not guns in general.)
Percent of households with a handgun, 1991 (21)
United States 29%
Switzerland 14
Finland 7
Germany 7
Belgium 6
France 6
Canada 5
Norway 4
Europe 4
Australia 2
Netherlands 2
United Kingdom 1
Handgun murders (1992) (22)
Handgun 1992 Handgun Murder
Country Murders Population Rate (per 100,000)
-----------------------------------------------------------
United States 13,429 254,521,000 5.28
Switzerland 97 6,828,023 1.42
Canada 128 27,351,509 0.47
Sweden 36 8,602,157 0.42
Australia 13 17,576,354 0.07
United Kingdom 33 57,797,514 0.06
Japan 60 124,460,481 0.05
As for overall firearm possession, the U.S. again comes in first, with half of all households owning a firearm. Canada is also near the top of the possession list, with a 29 percent ownership rate. Not surprisingly, they lead the list in murder rates:
Murders per 100,000 of population, 1991 (21)
United States 8.40
Canada 5.45
Denmark 5.17
France 4.60
Portugal 4.50
Australia 4.48
Germany 4.20
Belgium 2.80
Spain 2.28
Switzerland 2.25
Italy 2.18
Norway 1.99
United Kingdom 1.97
Austria 1.80
Greece 1.76
Sweden 1.73
Turkey 1.45
Japan 1.20
Ireland 0.96
Finland 0.70 |
