Gun Control Article (opens in a new window)
Great article, with statistic sources cited.
Here is one thing that I wanted to copy and share:
“…there isn’t another country in the world with as many guns as the U.S. The U.S. comprises 5 percent of the world’s population, but owns between 35 and 50 percent of the world’s civilian firearms. The rate of about 97 guns per 100 people is tops in the world, with only the unstable Persian Gulf nation of Yemen (90 per 100) coming even close [source: Small Arms Survey].
So let’s reframe the question. Are there countries with relatively high gun-ownership rates — 50 or more per 100 inhabitants — and low crime rates? Yes. Finland, which has 69 guns per 100 people, and Switzerland, which has 61 per 100 people [source: Small Arms Survey]. Finland had just 14 gun homicides in 2010, a rate of 0.26 per 100,000 people. In Switzerland, with 40 gun killings in 2010, had a slightly higher rate of 0.52 per 100,000 [source: Gunpolicy.org].”
Another statistic in the attached article (which I didn’t copy) was the following: in the U.S., 20% of the population own approximately 65% of the firearms. [i.e., the 80/20 rule]
