Statistical analysis of the relationship between gun owners and the murder rate in America, compared to other industrial nations.

Statistical analysis of the relationship between gun owners and the murder rate in America , compared to other industrial nations

Introduction

The issues regarding causes of gun violence have been a long standing debate for legislators and civil society groups in the United States Currently , America is one of the countries with the greatest rate of gun violence . It ranks first among its industrial peers in terms of crimes committed with the use of guns . There have been 220 violent events in American schools resulting in 253 deaths from 1994 - 1999 . Among these

br cases , 74 .5 involved the use of firearms with handguns causing almost 60 of death toll (Journal of American Medical Association 152

In 2003 , Americans for Gun Safety reported that 20 of the nation 's 22 national gun laws are not enforced . According to U .S . Department of Justice , only 2 of federal gun crimes were actually prosecuted Eighty-five percent of cases prosecuted relate to street criminals in possession of firearms . Laws that are intended to punish illegal gun trafficking , firearm theft , corrupt gun dealers , lying on a criminal background check form , obliterating firearm serial numbers , selling guns to minors and possessing a gun in a school zone are often ignored in litigations (Journal of American Medical Association 167 . According to a report by the Joshephson Institute of Ethics , 60 of high school and 31 of middle school boys said they could get a gun if they wanted to (2000 Report Card : Report 1 11 . At the moment , 47 million Americans own 198 million firearms , 72 million of which are handguns . Although there are enough guns to provide every U .S . adult with one , only 25 percent of adults actually own firearms 74 percent of gun owners possess two or more

This brings to mind the question of whether or not America 's lax policies in gun control are significant contributing factors to murder from gun violence . This seeks to determine through thorough statistical analysis , any such relationships between gun sales and murder from gun violence by taking into consideration pertinent data gathered from the United States vis-a-vis parallel data gathered from its industrial peers namely Great Britain , Germany , France , England , and Canada from year 2000 to 2005

Data gathered

Table 1 : Percent of Population owning guns

Year America Canada England France Germany Great Britain

2000 25 .20 24 .30 33 .00 32 .00 29 .80 26 .11

2001 27 .80 25 .20 33 .20 32 .40 30 .10 26 .50

2002 26 .25 26 .30 34 .30 33 .50 31 .20 27 .60

2003 29 .87 27 .98 35 .76 34 .29 32 .21 28 .27

2004 28 .52 28 .84 37 .18 35 .67 32 .57 28 .61

2005 27 .61 28 .98 37 .85 36 .74 32 .83 28 .62 Table 2 : Percentage of convenient stores that carry ammunition

Year America Canada England France Germany Great Britain

2000 85 87 92 90 90 80

2001 85 84 92 93 90 82

2002 85 90...