Title: Homicide, Suicide, & Unintentional Firearm Fatality: Comparing the U.S. With Other High-Income Countries, 2003

Publication Date: June 2010

What does it say?

Firearm deaths in 23 populous high-income countries were compared for 2003, based on data from the international World Health Organization.  Consistent with past research, the United States had far higher rates of firearm deaths compared with the combined rates of 22 other high-income countries.

The United States has more firearms per capita than the other countries, more handguns per capita, and has the most permissive gun control laws of all the countries.

Remarkably, among the 23 countries studied, 80% of all firearm deaths occurred in the United States; 86 % of women killed by firearms were U.S. women, and 87% of all children aged 0 to 14 killed by firearms were U.S. children.

U.S. homicide rates were 6.9 times higher than rates in the other high-income countries, despite similar non-lethal crime and violence rates (as reported in other studies).  The firearm homicide rate in the U.S. was 19.5 times higher.  

The researchers conclude that “Whatever our basic level of violence, the empirical evidence from ecological, case-control, and other studies indicate that readily accessible firearms - by making killing easy, efficient, and somewhat impersonal - increase the lethality of violence” (p. 5).

U.S. suicide rates overall were 30 percent lower than the other countries, but the U.S. firearm suicide rate was 5.8 times higher.  The researchers concluded based on existing research on U.S. gun suicides, “…it is probable that the United States would have an even lower rate of suicide relative to these other countries if firearms were not so readily available.”

The U.S. unintentional firearm death rate was 5.2 times higher than that of the other high-income countries combined.  

Other key statistics included:

• For 15-year olds to 24-year olds, firearm homicide rates in the United States were 42.7 times higher than in the other countries.
• For U.S. males, firearm homicide rates were 22.0 times higher, and for U.S. females, firearm homicide rates were 11.4 times higher.

How can I use it?

Use the results of this study to urge elected officials to enact common sense effective gun laws that will make it harder for dangerous people, including criminals, the dangerously mentally ill, and children, to gain access to guns.  Requiring background checks for all gun sales, including those at gun shows, is an important first step, along with strengthening law enforcement's efforts to stop the illegal gun market. 

Citation

Richardson, Erin G., and David Hemenway, “Homicide, Suicide, and Unintentional Firearm Fatality: Comparing the United States With Other High-Income Countries, 2003,” Journal of Trauma, Injury, Infection, and Critical Care, published online ahead of print, June 2010

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