TITLE: Chart: The U.S. has far more gun-related killings than any other developed country (2012)
SOURCE: Washington Post
AUTHOR: Max Fisher
LINK: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2012/12/14/chart-the-u-s-has-far-more-gun-related-killings-than-any-other-developed-country/
IMAGE: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/files/2012/12/firearm-OECD-UN-data3.jpg
TITLE: Gun Utopias? Firearm Access & Ownership in Israel & Switzerland (2011)
SOURCE: Journal of Public Health Policy (JPHP)
AUTHOR(S): Janet Rosenbaum
LINK: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3267868/
RESEARCH QUESTION: Gun advocates claim that mass-casualty events are mitigated & deterred with three policies: (1) permissive gun laws, (2) widespread gun ownership, (3) encouragement of armed civilians who can intercept shooters, & cite Switzerland & Israel as exemplars; is it true?
FINDINGS: Compared with the US, Switzerland & Israel have lower gun ownership & stricter gun laws, & their policies discourage personal gun ownership. The Swiss federal government requires gun permit applicants to demonstrate need for protection against a specific risk & pass weapons safety & firearm use regulation tests. Permit holders may own only one handgun for 6 months, after which they must renew their permit every 3 months. Israel rejects about 40% of gun permit applicants, more than any country in the western world. Israel requires all guns to have an Interior Ministry permit & an identifying mark for tracing, & limits which citizens may apply for a permit, based on their residence, occupation, or role in national defense. Applicants are excluded if they take psychotropic drugs or have been arrested for drug use or domestic violence (even if not convicted), & must also pass a Hebrew language test. Permit holders may own only one handgun & must renew their permit annually or whenever their residence, occupation, or national defense role changes. Switzerland gun owners report higher gun-violence victimization rates than non-gun owners. Israel only 81st out of 179 countries in rate of gun ownership. Only 2% of Swiss military members keep their gun post-service. Israel bans use of personal guns for terrorism or crime prevention.
IMAGES: Reason for owning gun, Switzerland v USA: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3267868/figure/F2/
Proportion of households with gun, Switzerland v USA: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3267868/figure/F1/
TAGS: Israel, Switzerland, Ownership rates, gun culture, myths, comparative policies, international
TWEETS: https://twitter.com/hospiceman/status/304656940154363904
TITLE: Comparing international trends in recorded violent crime (2006)
SOURCE: Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), Crime facts info no. 115
LINK: http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/cfi/101-120/cfi115.html
NOTES: (1) The way in which crime is recorded is not necessarily an accurate indicator of differences in actual levels of crime. (2) Rather than indicating a sharp rise in actual violence in England/Wales, the post-1998 increase is largely the direct result of major changes to the way crime data are recorded. First in 1998 and then again in 2002, amendments were introduced to include a broader range of offenses…and to take a more victim-led approach.
This source debunks sources such as Slack (2009): http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1196941/The-violent-country-Europe-Britain-worse-South-Africa-U-S.html
TITLE: Firearm availability & homicide rates across 26 high-income countries (2000).
ABSTRACT: http://1.usa.gov/Ycl5EQ
http://jonathanstray.com/papers/FirearmAvailabilityVsHomicideRates.pdf
BITLY WEB STATS: http://bit.ly/11WxSlb+
AUTHOR(S): David Hemenway & Matthew Miller
FINDINGS: Nations offering easiest access to guns also have most gun violence. Among developed nations, the United States has the highest rate of civilian gun ownership, & the highest homicide rate. There’s a strong & statistically significant association between gun availability & homicide rates; where guns are more available, there are more homicides.
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