Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
U.S. Leads the World in Gun Deaths
> ATLANTA (AP) -- The United States has by far the highest
> rate of gun deaths -- murders, suicides and accidents --
> among the world's 36 richest nations, a government study
> found.
>
> The U.S. rate for gun deaths in 1994 was 14.24 per
> 100,000 people. Japan had the lowest rate, at .05 per
> 100,000.
>
> The study, done by the Centers for Disease Control and
> Prevention, is the first comprehensive international
> look at gun-related deaths. It was published Thursday in
> the International Journal of Epidemiology.
>
> The CDC would not speculate why the death rates varied,
> but other researchers said easy access to guns and
> society's acceptance of violence are part of the problem
> in the United States.
>
> ``If you have a country saturated with guns -- available
> to people when they are intoxicated, angry or depressed
> -- it's not unusual guns will be used more often,'' said
> Dr. Rebecca Peters, a Johns Hopkins University fellow
> specializing in gun violence. ``This has to be treated
> as a public health emergency.''
>
> The National Rifle Association called the study shoddy
> because it failed to examine all causes of violent
> deaths.
>
> ``What this shows is the CDC is after guns. They aren't
> concerned with violence. It's pretending that no
> homicide exists unless it's related to guns,'' said Dr.
> Paul Blackman, a research coordinator for the NRA in
> Fairfax, Va.
>
> The 36 countries chosen were listed as the richest in
> the World Bank's 1994 World Development Report, with the
> highest GNP per capita income.
>
> The study used 1994 statistics supplied by the 36
> countries. Of the 88,649 gun deaths reported by all the
> countries, the United States accounted for 45 percent,
> said Dr. Etienne Krug, a CDC researcher and co-author of
> the article.
>
> ``I was surprised by the magnitude of the difference
> between the U.S. and other countries,'' Krug said.
>
> Brazil ranked second with 12.95 deaths per 100,000,
> followed by Mexico with 12.69, Estonia with 12.26 and
> Argentina with 8.93.
>
> Japan, where very few people own guns, averages 124
> gun-related attacks a year, and less than 1 percent end
> in death. Police often raid the homes of those suspected
> of having weapons.
>
> Also at the bottom of the list were South Korea with .12
> per 100,000 people, followed by Hong Kong with .14,
> Mauritius with .19, Singapore with .21, Taiwan with .37
> and England and Wales with .41.
>
> The study found that gun-related deaths were five to six
> times higher in the Americas than in Europe or Australia
> and New Zealand and 95 times higher than in Asia.
--
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