Putting gun violence and gun control in the US into perspective

Gun laws in other countries

When discussing gun violence and gun laws in the US, you might find it useful to compare the situation in the US with other English-speaking countries.

According to statistics shared by the BBC, gun-related deaths in Canada and Australia are much more rare than in the US. In Canada, 30% of 2015 murders were caused by guns. In Australia, 13% of murders were gun-related in 2013-2014. By comparison, gun-related murders made up over 64% of total homicides in the US in 2017.

In Canada, the licensing and registration of firearms is compulsory. As of 2018, new gun control measures were proposed, meant to make it harder to buy and use handguns and assault weapons. This is mainly because gun-related crimes have been increasing and gun violence in Canada is higher than in Europe, although it is considerably lower than in the US. Like in the US, gun control in Canada has often led to divisive debates.

Because of relaxed gun legislation, Australia used to have similar problems to the US, including mass...