NationMaster - Discussion - Crime > Murders with firearms

Aoife 9th November 2009	Any statistics on gun crime in Ireland, Republic, North and whole? Particularly that not involving the I.R.A.?
Ian (Manchester UK) 23rd August 2008	I am certain the UK figure is wrong, there were at least 20 firearms murders in Manchester alone last year, and even more in London and Birmingham
Gordon Ramel (Greece) 23rd August 2008	This data is seriously flawed, at least three countries, South Africa, Thailand and The Philippines have more murders with firearms, than murders in total, which is obviously not possible. Perhaps this reflects the fact that no data is supplied for time periods relating to these crimes. Are they since history began or are they per year? And if they are per year why not tell us which year they are from, or which decade etc? As it stands this data is meaningless and perhaps dangerously misleading. Finally I have now entered the protection code exactly as it is printed and had my submission rejected, a comment perhaps or the competance of this site.
Tim (Portland) 3rd July 2008	"I've read that for every intruder shot dead by an armed homeowner, eighteen people use guns to commit suicide." What kind of argument is that? well I can tell you what kind, stupid. Guns didn't make those people commit suicide. If not a gun, then a bridge. ", it remains an indisputable fact that countries which restrict private ownership of firearms also suffer the lowest number of gun-related deaths." False. Please present some thought out arguments before stepping up to the big person table, mkay?
rhardwi@makro.co.za (South Africa) 6th March 2008	Good day, I see that South Africa is #1 for Murders (most recent) with a firearm 31918 and yet is second to Total murders with a total of 21995. How is this possible? Rob Hardwick
drs (United Kingdom) 8th January 2008	"However anecdotal these may be, it remains an indisputable fact that countries which restrict private ownership of firearms also suffer the lowest number of gun-related deaths." Yup. So what? Firearm deaths aren't different than any other type of death (they're still dead), nor would restricting firearms actually reduce the total death rate. Google "substitution effect". You really should be looking at the total murder rate and the total suicide rate, not myopically focusing on firearms. There is no evidence that restricting guns would reduce either the total suicide rate or the total murder rate, and that's what matters. http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_gun_vio_hom_ove_hom_rat_per_100_pop-rate-per-100-000-pop http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_sui_rat_mal-health-suicide-rate-males Go do some research. Don't go polluting this site with your agenda.
Puff Master B 16th June 2007	The statistics for Thailand are wrong. 20,000 is the number of illegal guns found per year, not the number of gun murders. There are roughly 5,000 murders per year in Thailand, there are no statistics on the percent that is from guns. In the link at the bottom which shows crime stats from a couple years ago, section 2.1 is the number of murders per year, 5.1 is the number of illegal guns. The last 2 numbers on a line are yearly incidents, and the number of people arrested. http://ftp.police.go.th/statistic/stat/cy48_total.pdf
Chris (Colorado, USA) 21st April 2007	Of course having a firearm in your home makes you safer. You are 5x more likely to confront a home intruder in the UK than the US. You have to look at the whole picture not just murders with firearms. Murders with firearms per capita will paint a different picture. Looking at total murders per capita will be really enlightening. All murder is bad whether it happens with a firearm, knife, bare-hands You can't just look at murders with firearms. Murders still happen in gun-free countries. They just take place by other means. You have to look at the per capita statistics for it to mean anything. The US has a significantly higher total population than most of the other countries listed so of course total murders with firearms will be higher. If you don't know anything about statistics then you don't have a very valid opinion on the subject. You have to look at all types of crime statistics in order to determine if you are actually safer in different countries. The murder rate in the US is typically 2x that of most of Western Europe but Europe has higher rates of other types of crime, such as home break-ins. Having a 5x higher chance of a confronting a home-intruder isn't exactly wonderul either.
Zach 18th April 2007	Mr. Crow thank you for sharing your complete and utter stupidity with us. It boggles my mind that people like you believe the way you do. It's a known fact the the crime rate in states with the higher amount of guns have the lower crime rate. Washington D.C. which has the strictest gun control laws has the highest crime rate in the country. As for accidental deaths in 2003 notice where firearms are on the list... Accidental Deaths in the U.S. for 2003 41,650 deaths related to motor vehicle accidents, 17,229 in falls at home and on the job, 3,306 from water in drowning, 19,457 from poisoning, in the same year, 3,369 due to fire or burns, 3,200 due to choking, and 900 from guns Note that the top category of vehicle accidents is 45 times greater than the bottom category of guns. So yes statistically you are safer keeping an armed weapon in your home.
Lou (USA) 18th April 2007	Just a little FYI: Even though the UK has banned firearms in the private sector, every other violent crime is HIGHER than in the US. Yes, gun-related deaths ARE indeed LOWER, but MORE VIOLENT CRIME? Ths US citis with the highest firearms crime rates are cities that have enacted firearms bans (Washington D.C., the US murder capital, and NYC to name 2). Also, of all firearms in a country with gun-control laws, nearly all are illegal, meaning that those that do own them, law-abiding or not, are committing a crime simply by owning it, nefarious purposes aside. Included are various websites and even one statement from an Aussie policeman. Enjoy the reading! Please read the following, from the website: http://www.westernslopelp.org/gun_laws.htm Subject: to have guns or not to have guns ...you decide.... By: Ed Chenel, A police officer in Australia Hi Yanks, I thought you all would like to see the real figures from Down Under. It has now been 12 months since gun owners in Australia were forced by a new law to surrender 640,381 personal firearms to be destroyed by our own government, a program costing Australia taxpayers more than $500 million dollars. The first year results are now in: Australia-wide, homicides are up 3.2 percent, Australia-wide, assaults are up 8.6 percent; Australia-wide, armed robberies are up 44 percent (yes, 44 percent)! In the state of Victoria alone, homicides with firearms are now up 300 percent. (Note that while the law-abiding citizens turned them in, the criminals did not ! and criminals still possess their guns!) While figures over the previous 25 years showed a steady decrease in armed robbery with firearms, this has changed drastically upward in the past 12 months, since the criminals now are guaranteed that their prey is unarmed. There has also been a dramatic increase in break-ins and assaults of the elderly. Australian politicians are at a loss to explain how public safety has decreased, after such monumental effort and expense was expended in "successfully ridding Australian society of guns." You won't see this on the American evening news or hear your governor or members of the state Assembly disseminating this information. The Australian experience proves it. Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun-control laws affect only the law-abiding citizens. Take note Americans, before it's to late! As everyone's "favorite" German said: "This year will go down in history. For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun registration. Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead into the future." http://www.alphecca.com/mt_alphecca_archives/001619.html http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a39171442616c.htm http://constitutionalistnc.tripod.com/hitler-leftist/id14.html http://www.usiap.org/Viewpoints/Nation/Freedom/GunControlAndFreedom.html
Daniel (California, US) 24th February 2007	please, firearms restrictions have no effect on the number of murders. in my state of california we have the most restrictive firearms laws in the US (licensing of handgun owners and registration of handguns, 1 handgun a month limit, banning firearms by appearance, restriction of magazine capacity to 10 rounds for all firearms, 11 day waiting periods), yet we still top over 3,000 firearm murders a year, among the top 10 in the nation. go to statemaster.com, and you'll see that over 70% of all homicides in my state are commited by firearms. look at the bottom of the same list, and #'s 35 to 50, (with the exception of 43-45), all those states have less than 53% of all homicides commited by firearms, yet they all have way more relaxed gun laws than my state.
Alex (RI USA) 25th September 2006	I'm from america and usually proud of it, but thats a different debate. I am strongly pro gun rights. While some people point out that places with gun bans have less gun related crimes, the simple fact is if you ban guns, only criminals will be armed. As for suicide related to guns, any person who truly wants to take there life, they will find a way. I believe that gun ownership should be encouraged by all healthy minded citezens. Any premeditated crime will be severely discouraged or shut down by a well secured homeowner. Oh, and by the way, any tool that helps me defend my family is most definately beloved. And if anybody has a problem with that, don't get a gun. Don't take away protection from me to give criminals an added edge.
John 17th July 2006	99% of crimes in SA are committed by blacks. Very sad. Well considering that 79 percent of South Africas population are black of course blacks are going to committ most of the crimes and also considering that the blacks are the most impoverished ethnic group of people in South Africa that makes them more likely to committ crime.
Majase (Johannesburg) 19th May 2006	Hey Matt, where did you get that 99% figure from? Uranus?
Heheh 26th February 2006	Well South Africa doesn't have a higher gun murder rate than Colombia and I've said this a number of times now. Those SA figures are very, very wrong and three times as many as the real figure, which is consistently around 11,000. I'm wondering if Nationmaster got their figures from one of these disgruntled white South Africans. They're well known for their exaggerating and inflating of the murder statistics.
DBall 7th February 2006	Yeah, just like Switzerland where it's required that you maintain a working firearm and store ammunition for civil defense. Look at that, 40 firearms related murders. Just look at that! Moron. Guns don't kill people, people do.
Jeff 5th January 2006	I just love listening to people that believe in a gun controlled utopia. As I looked over some of the stats, it appears, at least to me, that the U.S. fell pretty much in the middle as far as murder goes. The middle being average I would estimate. Does it really matter how the person was killed? Do you really believe that if the guns were removed the murder rate would suddenly become miniscule? Apparently not if you consider the country showing the highest murder rate does not have the highest rate with firearms. I suppose you consider being killed by stabbing, bludgeoning, suffocation, etc. to be preferable ways to die. The way I see it, dead is dead and how the victim got that way is not nearly as important as correcting the thought process of the persons that would seek to take a life because I really don't believe they care exactly how they take it. Of course this boils down to one thing. Taking guns away from people is a measurable action plan and we all know how the political bean counters need quantifiable statistics to work with. Changing a public belief system and moral fiber is not readily measurable. It’s fluid concept, like chasing a ghost, and who has the patience or foresight enough for that, even though it is the only real solution. Politicians, lobbyists, Special Interest Groups, they want something tangible, something they can sink their teeth into, something to rally for or against, and something they can measure the results of.
Ryan C. 12th December 2005	Contrary to popular belief, chairs kill more people per year in the United States than handguns. Swimming pools kill even more. Perhaps instead of watching documentaries and thinking about the extreme, you should think of the more common sense approach. You would think in a country where handguns are illegal (Canada) would have zero handgun crime. As these figures well indicate, that isn't the case. Furthermore, being that we know that banning things and making them illegal makes people not use them or do such forbidden acts (you know, like drugs, prostitutes, and speeding) you can understand how futile banning these things are. Fact of the matter is that every despot in history, in one shape or another, introduced gun control and a mass disarmament of the people before committing atrocities. Pol Pot introduced "common sense" (verbatim) gun control laws before he systematically slaughtered 1 million Cambodians. The simple fact that the rest of the world cannot comprehend about the United States and why this is not debatable in the least is because it is not viewed as a privileged in this country, it's a right. It's specifically outlined in our body of government that the government may not pass any law infringing upon the citizen's right to bear arms, hence why you cannot ban weapons here no matter what the cause or logic you deem as appropriate. By the way, did it ever occur to you Aonghas, that possibly, just possibly, if someone wanted to commit suicide, the use of a firearm might just be a formality? I would venture to say that if one makes the decision that they don't want to live anymore, they're going to take their own life by any means necessary, a gun just happened to be what they grabbed.
shawna 5th December 2005	I'm doing an essay on gun control and the "lack there of" in the united states and being Canadian (and so very close to my trigger happy neighbors) am shocked at the rates of gun related murders in the US compared to my country Not that Canada restriction's gun ownership that is not the case what we do is register all guns and there owners which makes particle sense i would like to know if a similar system is in place for the US I'm having a lot of trouble sorting out the laws and the concept of individual states making there own laws about fire-arms is confusing should there not be a uniform system are all the States not one country?
Andrew 17th November 2005	How up to date are the crime statistics (20,000+) for Thailand? Also, why is the Philippines not listed? They have a very high homicide rate.
Crystal Roberts 15th November 2005	I need all of the deaths using firearms in 2004 in Columbus,Ohio.
Aonghas Crowe 15th October 2005	Many Americans, when it comes to their beloved guns, gleefully throw all logic out the window. It boggles my mind how anyone can believe that keeping an armed weapon in their home will make them safer. I've read that for every intruder shot dead by an armed homeowner, eighteen people use guns to commit suicide. So much for self-protection! A few months ago while watching a documentary on a trauma unit at a hospital in Florida, the ER doctor interviewed commented that most of the people he was treating for gunshot wounds had the holes put into them by someone they knew, namely, angry husbands, jealous girlfriends, drunk neighbors, and so on. However anecdotal these may be, it remains an indisputable fact that countries which restrict private ownership of firearms also suffer the lowest number of gun-related deaths.
Vitor Amazonas 3rd October 2005	I need a full statistic of deaths using firearms around the world. A ranking with the up to five most violent country in the world of this information in 2004 or higher. My e-mail is vitor.amazonas@gmail.com
Timmeh 29th August 2005	Wildfire, People in Switzerland are not required to have a machine gun in their homes at all. By law people have to spend time in the military or civil service. Those that do military service have the option of keeping their service weapon after their forced time in the military is complete
sk8rls 10th August 2005	wasnt Micheal Moore saying U.S. had the biggest gun murder rate in the world?
Southrider 1st July 2005	adrent student - switzerland has little diversity? switzerland has communities speaking french, italian, german and was between two facist states during the greatest war in the history of man. wildfire's comment was as emotional as a spreadsheet. you are the one with on an emotional jag.
emmanuel 27th June 2005	Why are the numbers of "murders with firearms" greater than total murders in South Africa? Are the numbers transposed?
ardent student 11th June 2005	Wildfire with all due respect, you seem to be comparing apples and oranges here. Comparing Italy and Switzerland, countries with very little diversity, and non-existent histories of racial tensions and hatreds, to the U.S, or even South Africa, is misleading. Dude, have you seen your local news lately? No wonder we are so paranoid. You can't compare Switzerland with L.A or Chicago for christ's sakes. The histories, ethnic compositions and/or demographics, societies, and politics are glaringly different. In the U.S, I dare say areas with lax gun control, are almost always inhabited by whites; I am talking suburbia, the rural south , midwest, etc. That is the reason I venture to say that the issue is the inter-cultural interraction. Remember the old adage, 'where black and white met, there was bound to be a lot of pain'. I wish we would all get along, but that is a painful cliche'.Unfortunately, the diversity stirs up suspicions,paranoia, hatreds, and attitudes, all a recipe for trouble. Under the circumstances, we are faring better than anyone in the world would. Please let's be objective and consider all the arguments for once instead of emoting.
palen321 7th June 2005	Why only 50 countries? not all the world as with other stats? Might someone's preconcieved notations be upset?
Wildfire 2nd June 2005	Interestingly while the USA had a listed 8,259 (1999) gun murders; South Africa where guns are banned has a listed 31,918 (2000) gun murders, Mexico also with a TOTAL ban on private ownership of guns or even bullets there were 3,589 (2000) gun murders listed, yet Switzerland where each home is REQUIRED to have a MACHINEGUN there were only 40 (2000) gun murders. In 1994, the homicide rate in Switzerland was 1.32 per 100,000 in the population. Of those, 0.58 (44 percent) involved firearms. Compare this to Italy 2.25 (1.66 firearms), France 1.12 (0.44), and Germany 1.17 (0.22). In my humble opinion, this gives the appearance that disarming the law-abiding only makes victimization by criminals easier, while restricting and penalizing the law-abiding for the TOOLS used by criminals to commit their criminal acts has had little effect on stopping the criminals.
Heheh 29th April 2005	I've been coming to this site for a while and I still can't understand why South Africa's stats haven't been corrected. There were 10,854 murders with firearms in S.A. (2000), not 31,918 (where did you get this figure from?????).
Ian Graham Staff Editor 2nd March 2005	In the United States in 2001, firearms were used in 63 percent of murders, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics National Crime Victimization Survey . The FBI reported that there were 15,980 murders and non-negligent homicides in the United States that year, so about 10,000 people were murdered with guns. Seventy-six percent of murder victims and 90 percent of murderers were male. In cases where the relationship between the perpetrator and the victim was known, only 24 percent of the murders were committed by a stranger. The most commonly cited circumstance leading to murder is an argument, which was reported in 28 percent of homicides. Seventeen percent of the time, murders occurred in connection with another felony, such as a robbery or a drug deal.
Gomu 7th February 2005	How come the number of "murders with firearms" is more than number of "murders" in South Africa ?
Dean 4th December 2004	Do you have 2003 statistic for U.S. homicides, suicides, and gun injuries? Thank you.

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