7.11.

2021 14:20 America's gun culture in charts - BBC News

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America's gun culture in charts

8 April

Biden on US gun violence: 'This is an epidemic'

US president Joe Biden's announcement on gun control throws the spotlight

once again on Americans' attitudes to firearms.

Here is a selection of charts and maps on where America stands on the right to
bear arms.

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7.11.2021 14:20 America's gun culture in charts - BBC News

How does the US compare with other countries?

There were 14,400 gun-related homicides in 2019.

Killings involving a gun accounted for nearly three quarters of all homicides in
the US in that year.

That's a larger proportion of homicides than in Canada, Australia, England and

Wales, and many other countries.

Who owns the world's guns?

While it is difficult to know exactly how many guns civilians own around the
world, by every estimate the US, with more than 390 million, is far out in front.
The latest figures from the Small Arms Survey, a Swiss-based leading research
project, are for 2018.

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Switzerland and Finland are two of the European countries with the most guns
per person - they both have compulsory military service for all men over the
age of 18. The Finnish interior ministry says about 60% of gun permits are
granted for hunting - a popular pastime in Finland. Cyprus and Yemen also
have military service.

How do US gun deaths break down?

Figures from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show there
were a total of more than 38,300 deaths from guns in 2019 - of which more
than 23,900 were suicides.

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7.11.2021 14:20 America's gun culture in charts - BBC News

A 2016 study published in the American Journal of Public Health found there
was a strong relationship between higher levels of gun ownership in a state
and higher firearm suicide rates for both men and women.

The number of mass shootings fell last year during the pandemic.

According to investigative magazine Mother Jones, which has been tracking

such incidents since 1982, there were only two in the whole of 2020. Mother
Jones defines a mass shooting as three or more people shot dead.

It does not include violent crimes like robberies or gang-related violence in its
statistics.

Other figures from the Gun Violence Archive suggest mass shooting may have
risen last year. It uses a broader definition of shootings including those where
victims are shot and injured, as well as robberies.

Attacks in US become deadlier

The Las Vegas attack in 2017 was the worst mass shooting in recent US
history - and eight of the shootings with the highest number of casualties
happened within the past 10 years.

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7.11.2021 14:20 America's gun culture in charts - BBC News

Who supports gun control?

US public opinion on gun laws has fluctuated over recent years.

Opinion polling by Gallup suggests that a majority of Americans would like to

see the laws covering the sale of firearms made more strict.

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7.11.2021 14:20 America's gun culture in charts - BBC News

Some states have taken steps to ban or strictly regulate ownership of assault
weapons. Laws vary by state but California, for example, has banned
ownership of assault weapons with limited exceptions.

Some controls are widely supported by people across the political divide -
such as restricting the sale of guns to people who are mentally ill, or on
"watch" lists.

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Who opposes gun control?

The National Rifle Association (NRA) campaigns against all forms of gun
control in the US and argues that more guns make the country safer.

It is among the most powerful special interest lobby groups in the US, with a
substantial budget to influence members of Congress on gun policy.

Figures from the Center for Responsive Government suggest that groups
advocating stricter gun controls actually spent more than gun rights groups
like the NRA in 2018.

In January 2021, the NRA filed for bankruptcy as part of a fraud case against
some of its own senior staff.

The NRA said it would continue "confronting anti-Second Amendment

activities, promoting firearm safety and training, and advancing public
programs across the United States".

Related Topics

US gun laws United States Mass shootings

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7.11.2021 14:20 America's gun culture in charts - BBC News

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