CNN has provided a nice world map of gun related crime. What is interesting is that the gun related crime doesn’t seem to be strongly correlated with lawful gun ownership. For example, the USA has some of the least restrictive gun laws in the world, and has a “medium” level of gun crime, while Brazil has some rather strict gun laws, but has a high level of gun related crime. Similarly, Norway and Finland have a high rate of gun ownership, but a “low” rate of gun related crime, while Russia has restrictive gun laws but a “high” rate of gun crime. Despite what the anti gun groups say, guns, in and of themselves just don’t cause crime. Instead, the intentional actions of criminals are to blame, and it is likely that socioeconomic considerations also play an important role in crime rates.
My thanks to Anders for pointing out this map
I believe this map is very biased, why? Brazil and Russia or similar countries are messed up countries with a lot of political and legal issues an can't be compared to a top of the chart country like U.S
just have a look at this site http://www.gun-crime.com it reports that there has been over 120 counts of gun related death among civilians in normal neighborhood in U.S.A since 11 march 2009
i dont think the map is correct from a statistical point of view.
Bobby,
I respectfully disagree with your assertions:
Firstly, the definition of a "messed up" country seems to be quite subjective, and therefore not a good foundation upon which to build an argument. Your use of the term "normal neighborhood" has similar problems. You really can't use such subjective and undefined terms while trying to make a statistical argument.
Secondly, and more importantly, even if you are correct, your assertions seem to show the futility of gun control. Whether in the USA, Brazil, Mexico, or Russia, criminals who want guns will get them. In the USA, just look at Chicago, where handguns have been banned since before I was born, yet it is a rare day when someone is not shot or killed by a criminal who ignores the handgun ban. Or, consider the various school shootings, which all happened in "gun free zones," showing that criminals don't care about breaking gun control laws.
Finally, your counter argument ignores the European countries such as Norway and Finland, where guns are much more widely available than the USA, yet gun misuse is much less common than the USA.