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There's no other country that comes close to the American culture of gun ownership though. Wikipedia's stats say that there's an estimated 120.5 firearms per 10

by Hamuko 4y ago

There's no other country that comes close to the American culture of gun ownership though. Wikipedia's stats say that there's an estimated 120.5 firearms per 100 persons in the US, when the second place in the list, Falkland Islands, comes at 62.1 firearms/100 persons. Even Canada, which is culturally very close to the US, has like 30% the gun ownership of the US. The stats on Wikipedia are from 2017, so they might be a bit out of date. AFAIK, Americans rush out to buy more guns whenever there's a big mass shooting and since 2017, there's been Stoneman Douglas, Santa Fe, Pittsburgh synagogue, Thousand Oaks, Virginia Beach, El Paso, Boulder, Buffalo and Uvalde.

moistly 4y ago
In most cases, one can not use more than two guns at one time, and usually only one, so after reaching a 100fa/100ppl average further gun purchases are moot. It’s not the number of guns, it’s the number of emotionally-stunted crazy people. Number of households with guns is a more sensible measure. A household with 100 guns is probably not 100x the risk.
rayiner 4y ago
> There's no other country that comes close to the American culture of gun ownership though. Yes and no. In the 1960s, over 60% of American households owned a gun. Today, less than a third of households own a gun. Back when America was more rural, it was much more common for kids to have access to a gun because they were more widely owned. But mass shootings were rare to non-existent back when more households had a gun. The trend of decreasing gun ownership is international. Our percentage of households with a gun today in the US is similar to what it was in Canada, France, or Norway in the mid to late 20th century. But homicide rates in the U.S. are still vastly higher than what they were in those countries decades ago. In fact, homicide rates in the U.S. have always been vastly higher than those in Western Europe, since long before the advent of modern gun laws.

by Hamuko 4y ago

moistly 4y ago

In most cases, one can not use more than two guns at one time, and usually only one, so after reaching a 100fa/100ppl average further gun purchases are moot. It’s not the number of guns, it’s the number of emotionally-stunted crazy people. Number of households with guns is a more sensible measure. A household with 100 guns is probably not 100x the risk.

rayiner 4y ago

> There's no other country that comes close to the American culture of gun ownership though. Yes and no. In the 1960s, over 60% of American households owned a gun. Today, less than a third of households own a gun. Back when America was more rural, it was much more common for kids to have access to a gun because they were more widely owned. But mass shootings were rare to non-existent back when more households had a gun. The trend of decreasing gun ownership is international. Our percentage of households with a gun today in the US is similar to what it was in Canada, France, or Norway in the mid to late 20th century. But homicide rates in the U.S. are still vastly higher than what they were in those countries decades ago. In fact, homicide rates in the U.S. have always been vastly higher than those in Western Europe, since long before the advent of modern gun laws.