How countries like the UK have quelled gun violence (2024)

FAQs

How does gun violence in the UK compare to the US? ›

The U.S. has the 28th-highest rate of deaths from gun violence in the world: 4.31 deaths per 100,000 people in 2021. That was more than seven times as high as the rate in Canada, which had 0.57 deaths per 100,000 people — and about 340 times higher than in the United Kingdom, which had 0.013 deaths per 100,000.

Among the 40 largest countries in the world in 2019, the United States ranked fourth after Colombia, Brazil and Mexico in terms of having the highest rate of deaths due to firearms. From 2014 to 2020, gun-related deaths in the U.S. rose 35%, according to nonpartisan data center USAFacts.

During 2023, England & Wales's police forces received 52,859 crime reports about possession of weapons. This is an increase of 9% from 2022's figure of 48,564 reports of possession of weapons, giving an overall crime rate of 0.94 per 1,000 people in 2023 and a rate of 0.87 per 1,000 people for 2022.

Most handguns have been banned in Great Britain since the Dunblane school massacre in 1996. Handguns are permitted in Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man which have their own applicable laws. Scotland imposes its own additional licensing requirements for airguns.

From 2013 to 2019, the United States had a gun homicide rate of 4.38 per 100,000 residents, the most out of any other G7 country. In comparison, Canada had a gun homicide rate of 0.67 per 100,000 residents while France had a gun homicide rate of 0.4 per 100,000 residents.

Levels of firearms crime in the UK remain amongst the lowest in the world; however, criminals continue to engage in firearms enabled crime. Firearms crime is currently lower than the long term trend. There were 5,750 firearms offences recorded in England and Wales in the year ending March 2022.

Last updated October 31, 2023. Among 65 high-income countries and territories, the United States stands out for its high levels of gun violence. The US ranks seventh out of 65 for homicides by firearm (age-adjusted). ​Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, two US territories, rank first and fourth on that list.

Based upon various metrics alongside calculations over the course of multiple years, Singapore has the lowest firearm-related death rate in the world, and El Salvador used to have the highest, until very recently.

Many countries are awash with guns. Among the nations with the most firearms are Serbia, Yemen, Switzerland, and Saudi Arabia. But there are only three countries that have a constitutional right to keep and bear arms: Mexico, Guatemala, and the United States.

Birmingham is now the gun capital of Britain following a huge explosion in gang violence, official figures reveal. Firearms offences in the region have rocketed by 86% – with West Midlands police recording 1,089 gun crimes in the 12 months to March, up from 584 the previous year.

Why is crime increasing in the UK? ›

What is driving the increase in crimes in the UK? The sharp increase in crimes in recent years which came after significant reductions almost certainly has multiple causes, but one of the main factors is likely the cuts to public services imposed across the UK when the government was implementing austerity measures.

Violent crimes in England and Wales increased to more than 2.11 million offences in 2022/23, according to police recorded crime statistics, a huge increase of more than 1.5 million when compared with 2012/13, when there were just 601,141 violent crime offences.

Which country has the strictest gun laws? According to Wikipedia North Korea has the most restrictive gun laws. Private ownership carry and usage not ordered by the state punishable by death.

Those who wish to own guns must obtain a license from the police. The police conduct several checks to ensure the applicant has good reason to own a gun, is fit to own a gun and can safely own the gun. Firearms license holders are required to follow license conditions specified by the police.

Handguns were banned in the UK in 1997 following the 1996 Dunblane school shooting, which killed 16 children and their teacher. A man named Thomas Hamilton invaded Dunblane Primary School in Scotland, killing 17 and injuring 13 other children and three adults.

The main difference between the rules in the US and in the UK is that people in the UK do not have a fundamental right to have a gun. A person has to have a very good reason to have one - and the police have to agree with it.

We show that the incidence of serious violent crime per capita is between 3.6 and 6.5 times as high in the United States as it is in England and Wales (Table 8.1).

Rates of firearm homicides among high-income countries with populations over 10 million, 2021. Age-adjusted firearm homicide rates in the US are 19 times greater than they are in France, and 77 times greater than in Germany. The US has 33 times the rate of firearm homicide seen in Australia.

Knife crime covers a lot in the UK, the vast majority of it is for simply possessing an illegal knife in a public place. In terms of fatal stabbings, it's 7.5 times more likely to happen in the US; there's 0.08 knife deaths in the UK per 100,000 people, in the US that number is 0.6 per 100,000 people.