That rate placed us at number 59. Honduras led the pack in that survey, at an alarming 67.19 firearm-related homicides per 100,000 in population — nearly 25 times the U.S. rate.
On the other hand, Honduras came in at number 88 for gun ownership — a paltry 6.2 privately-owned guns per 100 people." -Newsmax
Response:
These comparisons ignore the fact that middle- and low-income countries tend to be more violent regardless of their gun laws, meaning that a truly honest comparison would only involve high-income countries.
As Politifact noted regarding a similar comparison of Honduras to Switzerland, "There’s really no point in comparing the challenges of Honduras, a lower middle-income country in Central America beleaguered by corruption and violence from the drug trade and gangs, to Switzerland, an affluent country nestled in western Europe." Similarly, Hepburn & Hemenway (2004) noted that, "Generally, an important first step is to compare likes to likes...For international studies, that means comparing high-income countries to high-income countries, thus helping to hold constant many socioeconomic variables."
Among high-income countries, the US is clearly exceptional in terms of our rate of firearm homicides (25 times higher than average), as well as overall homicides (7 times higher than average) (Grinshteyn & Hemenway 2016). Another study found a strong positive effect of gun availability on homicide rates among 36 countries (Hoskin 2001). In 1993, Martin Killias found a strong positive association between gun ownership and homicide among 14 developed countries (including the US), but no negative association between gun ownership and non-gun homicide. This indicates that no method substitution occurred, and that increases in gun ownership cause increases in both gun and overall homicide rates (Killias 1993). More recent evidence also indicates that "...a country’s homicide rate reflects, to a large extent, the tendency of its offenders to use firearms" (Felson et al. 2014).
References:
Felson et al. 2014
Grinshteyn & Hemenway 2016
Hepburn & Hemenway 2004
Hoskin 2001
Killias 1993
Further reading:
Webster et al. 2012
Politifact 2015
Response:
These comparisons ignore the fact that middle- and low-income countries tend to be more violent regardless of their gun laws, meaning that a truly honest comparison would only involve high-income countries.
As Politifact noted regarding a similar comparison of Honduras to Switzerland, "There’s really no point in comparing the challenges of Honduras, a lower middle-income country in Central America beleaguered by corruption and violence from the drug trade and gangs, to Switzerland, an affluent country nestled in western Europe." Similarly, Hepburn & Hemenway (2004) noted that, "Generally, an important first step is to compare likes to likes...For international studies, that means comparing high-income countries to high-income countries, thus helping to hold constant many socioeconomic variables."
Among high-income countries, the US is clearly exceptional in terms of our rate of firearm homicides (25 times higher than average), as well as overall homicides (7 times higher than average) (Grinshteyn & Hemenway 2016). Another study found a strong positive effect of gun availability on homicide rates among 36 countries (Hoskin 2001). In 1993, Martin Killias found a strong positive association between gun ownership and homicide among 14 developed countries (including the US), but no negative association between gun ownership and non-gun homicide. This indicates that no method substitution occurred, and that increases in gun ownership cause increases in both gun and overall homicide rates (Killias 1993). More recent evidence also indicates that "...a country’s homicide rate reflects, to a large extent, the tendency of its offenders to use firearms" (Felson et al. 2014).
References:
Felson et al. 2014
Grinshteyn & Hemenway 2016
Hepburn & Hemenway 2004
Hoskin 2001
Killias 1993
Further reading:
Webster et al. 2012
Politifact 2015
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