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International Homicide Comparisons
[For international gun and non-gun homicide, suicide, and total violent death rates, see GunCite's International Violent Death Rates]

Arbitrary Comparisons Between Countries

The U.S. has a high gun murder rate, whereas a country like England with strict gun controls has almost no gun murders and a very low murder rate. Doesn't this show that gun control is effective in reducing murder rates? Not exactly. Prior to having any gun controls, England already had a homicide rate much lower than the United States (Guns, Murders, and the Constitution: A Realistic Assessment of Gun Control, Don B. Kates Jr.). Japan is another country typically cited (see Japanese Gun Control, by David B. Kopel). (Briefly discussing the difference in homicide rates between England and the U.S. is Clayton Cramer's, Variations in California Murder Rates: Does Gun Availability Cause High Murder Rates?)

Gun control opponents can play similar games. The Swiss with 7 million people have hundreds of thousands of fully-automatic rifles in their homes (see GunCite's "Swiss Gun Laws") and the Israelis, until recently, have had easy access to guns (brief summary of Israeli firearms regulations here). Both countries have low homicide rates. Likewise this doesn't mean more guns less crime.

The U.S. has a higher non-gun murder rate than many European country's total murder rates. On the other hand, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Mexico have non-gun murder rates in excess of our total murder rate.

Incidentally in 13th century Europe, several studies have estimated homicide rates in major cities to be around 60 per 100,000. (Even back then, the equivalent of coroners, kept records.)

There are many, many factors, some much more prominent than gun availability that influence homicide rates and crime in general. (See this excerpt from 1997 FBI Uniform Crime Report and GunCite's "Is Gun Ownership Correlated with Violent Deaths?")

Due to the many confounding factors that arise when attempting international comparisons, this approach would appear to hold little promise for determining the influence of gun levels (or handgun availability) on violence rates.

International Homicide Rate Table (Death rates are per 100,000)

Country Year Population Total Homicide Firearm Homicide Non-Gun Homicide % Households With Guns
South Africa 1995 41,465,000 75.30 26.60 48.70 n/a 
Colombia1 2005 43,000,000 36.53 29.59 6.94 n/a 
Estonia 1994 1,499,257 28.21 8.07 20.14 n/a 
Brazil 1993 160,737,000 19.04 10.58 8.46 n/a 
Mexico 1994 90,011,259 17.58 9.88 7.70 n/a 
Philippines 1996 72,000,000 16.20 3.50 12.70 n/a 
Taiwan2 1996 21,979,444 8.12 0.97 7.15 n/a 
N. Ireland 1994 1,641,711 6.09 5.24 0.85 8.4
United States3 1999 272,691,000 5.70 3.72 1.98 39.0
Argentina 1994 34,179,000 4.51 2.11 2.40 n/a 
Hungary 1994 10,245,677 3.53 0.23 3.30 n/a 
Finland4 1994 5,088,333 3.24 0.86 2.38 23.2
Portugal 1994 5,138,600 2.98 1.28 1.70 n/a 
Mauritius 1993 1,062,810 2.35 0 2.35 n/a 
Israel 1993 5,261,700 2.32 0.72 1.60 n/a 
Italy 1992 56,764,854 2.25 1.66 0.59 16.0
Scotland 1994 5,132,400 2.24 0.19 2.05 4.7
Canada 1992 28,120,065 2.16 0.76 1.40 29.1
Slovenia 1994 1,989,477 2.01 0.35 1.66 n/a 
Australia 1994 17,838,401 1.86 0.44 1.42 19.4
Singapore 1994 2,930,200 1.71 0.07 1.64 n/a 
South Korea 1994 44,453,179 1.62 0.04 1.58 n/a 
New Zealand 1993 3,458,850 1.47 0.17 1.30 22.3
Belgium 1990 9,967,387 1.41 0.60 0.81 16.6
England/Wales5 1997 51,429,000 1.41 0.11 1.30 4.7
Switzerland6 1994 7,021,000 1.32 0.58 0.74 27.2
Sweden 1993 8,718,571 1.30 0.18 1.12 15.1
Denmark 1993 5,189,378 1.21 0.23 0.98 n/a 
Austria 1994 8,029,717 1.17 0.42 0.75 n/a 
Germany7 1994 81,338,093 1.17 0.22 0.95 8.9
Greece 1994 10,426,289 1.14 0.59 0.55 n/a 
France 1994 57,915,450 1.12 0.44 0.68 22.6
Netherlands 1994 15,382,830 1.11 0.36 0.75 1.9
Kuwait 1995 1,684,529 1.01 0.36 0.65 n/a 
Norway 1993 4,324,815 0.97 0.30 0.67 32.0
Spain 1993 39,086,079 0.95 0.21 0.74 13.1
Japan 1994 124,069,000 0.62 0.02 0.60 n/a 
Ireland 1991 3,525,719 0.62 0.03 0.59 n/a 
Country Year Population Total Homicide Firearm Homicide Non-Gun Homicide % Households With Guns

Notes:

  1. Colombian homicide rates from Colombian Police, National Crime Report: 2005.
  2. Number of homicides: Ministry of Interior, National Police Administration (link not always active), Taiwan.

    Population: As of April 1999, Government Information Office, Taiwan.

    Gun Homicides: Central News Agency, Taipei, November 23, 1997.

  3. Total homicide rate and firearm homicide rates are from FBI Uniform Crime Report(1999).
  4. The United Nations International Study on Firearm Regulation reports Finland's gun ownership rate at 50% of households.
  5. Total homicides and gun homicides: Criminal Statistics, England and Wales, 1997.

    Population: 52.2 million in mid-1997, Office for National Statistics Monitor, press release.

  6. Percent households with guns includes all army personnel.

  7. Percent households with guns excludes East Germany.

Sources:

Homicide data for the Philippines and South Africa are from the United Nations International Study on Firearm Regulation .

Population figures for Colombia, Philippines, and South Africa are estimates based on UN data.

Data for the remainder of the countries, except as noted above: International Journal of Epidemiology 1998:27:216.

Column "% Households With Firearms": Can Med Assoc J, Killias, M (1993), except United States (Gallup [2000] and Harris [2001] polls.)

Note:
Argentina, Brazil, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Mexico, Mauritius, Slovenia, Portugal, and South Korea are classified as upper-middle-income countries by the World Bank. GunCite does not know the classification for Colombia, South Africa and the Philippines. The remainder are considered high-income countries.


Additonal International Homicide Tables and Information


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