Guns in the US - Separating myth from truth



Guns in the US and Austria

Some numbers to start off with . . .

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Source:

A) Look at the statements below and decide it they are true or simply myths.

| |Most Americans own a gun. |

| |The US has a long history and tradition of gun ownership. |

| |Guns are "a male thing". |

| |The right of the individual to own a gun is protected in the constitution. |

| |Gun manufacturers must comply with strict safety regulations just like the |

| |producers of all other consumer goods. |

| |The NRA is the strongest pro-gun lobby. |

| |A ten year old child can legally own a gun. |

| |There are no restrictions or waiting periods for buying a gun in the States. |

| |It is legal to form your own private – armed! – military force in the US. |

| |Having a gun in the house makes a person safer. |

B) What aspects of the gun debate are addressed in the cartoon below.

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C) Optional extra work: Use the internet to try to find answers to the following questions (To help you out, I have included some links):

1. Find out what percentage of Americans owns a gun.

See: 2006 National Gun Policy Survey –

)

2. Find the amendment in the constitution that deals with gun ownership and write out the exact text.

See: The U.S. Constitution Online ( )

3. Find out what lobbies exist for gun rights and for gun control. How much money did they donate in the last presidential election campaign (2000) and to whom?

See: [pic] ( )

4. Find out which health and safety regulations exist for firearms.

(See: )

5. What is the "Brady" Law?

See: [pic] ( )

6. What is meant by the "gun show loophole"?

7. Find a listing of firearms manufacturers that produce for consumers. Check those companies that produce guns of a type not suited for hunters or collectors.

Just try browsing through Yahoo for “firearms”.

D) Now what about Austria? Below are two very different viewpoints on the situation with guns here in Austria. The first is from the NRA, the second is from an organization working for more gun control. Compare them and answer the questions below:

1. How do their statistics for Austria differ and which do you find more realistic (or reliable?)

2. How does Austria compare in terms of gun ownership and gun-related deaths to other European countries?

3. Do these statistics surprise you in any way?

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

A look at Austrian and German gun laws

From Handguns Magazine, an article by attorney Don Kates on German and Austrian gun laws:

For generations, anti-gun fanatics have been claiming that Europe has highly restrictive gun control and low murder rates. Well, the latter is true, but European gun laws are not necessarily stricter than ours (or even as restrictive). They are just different.

German and Austrian murder rates are generally the lowest in Europe--about 50 percent lower than those of gun-banning England. So let's compare German and Austrian gun laws to ours.

...

So it is true that there are many differences between the gun laws of the U.S. and those of Germany and Austria, but the latter are not more restrictive. Indeed, sometimes they are less so. To legally possess a gun may involve more red tape. But having a handgun for self-defense is no more impossible.

And getting a permit to carry is far easier than in most of our most populous states. Austria, for instance, has three times more carry licenses than California with its 4.5 times greater population.

Moreover, the U.S. has literally thousands of felonies, many of them for relatively harmless behavior--anti-trust violations, cheating on your taxes, embezzlement or growing pot, for example--and a person convicted of any of them is barred from gun ownership for life. In Austria or Germany they would not be barred at all or, in more serious matters, for no more than 10 years.

Article here. ( )



Access to Small Arms/Firearms and death rates 

• The link between accessibility to firearms and death rates has been suggested in a number of studies. One study which examined the link between gun ownership rates and firearm deaths within Canadian provinces, the United States, England/Wales and Australia concluded that 92% of the variance in death rates was explained by access to firearms in those areas. Another review of 13 countries showed that there was a strong correlation between gun ownership and homicide rates and suicide rates. No evidence of substitution was found.

• In another study based on a standardized survey of victimization in fifty-four countries, gun ownership was significantly related to both the level of robberies and the level of sexual assaults. The relationship between levels of gun ownership and threats/assaults with a gun is also strong.

• This is underscored by comparisons of the United States and Canada. The costs of firearms death and injury in the two countries have been compared and estimated to be $495 (US) per resident in the United States compared to $195 per resident in Canada. Canada has always had stronger firearms regulation than the United States, particularly with respect to handguns. As a result, Canada has roughly 1 million handguns while the United States has more than 77 million. While there are other factors affecting murder, suicide and unintentional injury rates, a comparison of data in Canada and the United States suggests that access to handguns may play a role. While the murder rate without guns in the US is roughly equivalent (1.3 times) that of Canada, the murder rate with handguns is 15 times the Canadian rate.

|Table 1 - International Firearms Regulation, Access and Death |

Country |Licensing of gun owners? |Registration of firearms? |Other |Households with firearms (%) |Gun Homicide (per 100,000) |Gun Suicide (per 100,000) |Total Intentional Gun Death Rate per 100,000 | |Japan |Yes |Yes |Prohibits handguns with few exceptions |0.6 |0.03 |0.04 |0.07 | |Singapore |Yes |Yes |Most handguns and rifles prohibited |0.01 (795 in the country) |0.07 |0.17 |0.24 | |Taiwan |N/A |N/A | |N/A |0.15 |0.12 |0.27 | |Kuwait |N/A |N/A | |N/A |0.34 |0.03 |0.37 | |England/ Wales |Yes |Yes |Prohibits handguns |4.0 |0.07 |0.33 |0.4 | |Scotland |Yes |Yes |Same as England and Wales |4.0 |0.19 |0.30 |0.49 | |Netherlands |Yes |Yes |  |1.9 |0.27 |0.28 |0.55 | |Spain |Yes |Yes |Some handguns and rifles are prohibited |13.1 |0.19 |0.55 |0.74 | |Ireland |Yes |Yes | |N/A |0.30 |0.94 |1.24 | |Germany |Yes |Yes |  |8.9 |0.21 |1.23 |1.44 | |Italy |Yes |Yes | |N/A |1.16 |1.11 |2.27 | |Sweden |Yes |Yes |Restrictions in some regions |20 |0.18 |2.09 |2.27 | |Denmark |Yes |Long guns only | |8 |0.23 |2.25 |2.48 | |Israel |Yes |Yes | |N/A |0.72 |1.84 |2.56 | |New Zealand |Yes |Handguns. Proposed for long guns |  |20 |0.22 |2.45 |2.67 | |Australia |Yes |Yes |Banned semiautomatics unless good reason  |16.0 |0.56 |2.38 |2.94 | |Belgium |Some |Yes |Some rifles are prohibited |16.6 |0.87 |2.45 |3.32 | |Canada |by 2001 |All guns by 2003 |Assault weapons and some handguns |26 |0.60 |3.35 |3.95 | |Norway |Yes |Unknown | |32 |0.36 |3.87 |4.23 | |Austria |Yes |Yes |Some handguns and rifles are prohibited |16-18% |0.42 |4.06 |4.48 | |Northern Ireland |Yes |Yes |UK legislation applies |8.4 |3.55 |1.18 |4.72 | |France |Yes |Yes, except  sporting rifles |  |22.6 |0.55 |4.93 |5.48 | |Switzerland |Yes |Yes |  |27.2 |0.46 |5.74 |6.2 | |Finland |Yes |Yes |No prohibitions |50 |0.87 |5.78 |6.65 | |USA |in some states |Handguns in some states |Some weapons in some states |41 |6.24 |7.23 |13.47 | |Source: W. Cukier, Firearms Regulation: Canada in the International Context, Chronic Diseases in Canada, April, 1998 (statistics updated to reflect most recent figures, January 2001)

An Artist's Statement on Guns

The following picture is part of a series called "Running the Numbers: An American Self-portrait" by photographer Chris Jordan. (You can see the whole collection at: - it is really good!)

Handguns, 2007

60x92"

Depicts 29,569 handguns, equal to the number of gun-related deaths in the US in 2004.

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Partial zoom:

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Detail at actual size:

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