Our gun rights

I'm interested in discussing this topic. May I assume you're talking about gun control in the United States? Whether or not you believe gun control is the answer, it is difficult to deny that the US has a gun problem. The United States has the highest gun-related homicide rate of any major Western nation, at 3.6 per 100,000 per year. This compares very poorly with other industrialized nations, such as Canada (0.50), Germany (0.20), Australia (0.13), and the UK (0.04). It also has one of the highest rates accidental gun-related death rates in the world at 0.30 per 100,000 per year, and the third highest gun-related suicide rate in the world at 6.30 per 100,000 per year. These consistently high numbers serve to remind us that it's not just crime that's the problem in the US, it's guns. The US has only the 105th highest murder rate in the word (4.7 per 100,000 per year), which breaks significantly from the trend of high rates of gun-related violence. You'll note that over 75% of murders in the US are committed with firearms, as compared to ~31% in Canada, ~25% in Germany, ~13% in Australia and ~33% in the UK. Taken together, these data suggest one aspect of the problem: the proliferation of firearms in the US. American citizens own 0.94 firearms per capita, that is, almost one per person. That is more firearms per capita than any other country in the world. The runners up come from two camps: notorious dangerous countries such as Serbia (0.58) and Yemen (0.55), and "socialist" European nations with strong gun control legislation and low firearm-related death rates, such as Switzerland (0.46) and Finland (0.45). Gun control legislation in the United States is sporadic, disorganized, poorly-enforced, and generally useless. There are countless examples of individuals purchasing firearms despite a history of violence, crime, and/or mental health problems, such as the recent "navy yard" shooting in Washington DC, in which the perpetrator had been arrested previously on firearms charges, but was still able to purchase firearms before the shooting. Of course, guns are not the only cause of the problem. The American media are notorious for glorifying the perpetrators of mass shootings and other crimes. The faces and names of the perpetrators are spread far and wide on television and other media, while the names of the victims are forgotten or ignored entirely. It has been suggested that this obsession with the perpetrators causes many, especially those with mental health problems, to consider a shooting spree as a good way to "go out with a bang," although I'm not aware of any research to support this hypothesis. This trend stems in part from the American obsession with punishment over rehabilitation: the US incarcerates more of its citizens than any other nation in the world, with approximately 2.5 million people incarcerated in total. Despite the demonstrated efficacy of rehabilitative incarceration (see nations such as Sweden or Norway), and the demonstrated inefficacy of punitive incarceration, Americans would still rather punish crimes than prevent them or aid the victims. Contrary to oft-cited popular opinion, violent video games have been shown not to encourage violent behavior. There is, however, a lot of conflicting evidence, with studies supporting both sides of the argument. Finally, of course, there is the issue of mental health. The relationship between mental health and violent crime is exceedingly complex, and it is difficult to sum it up with one or two references. Some studies show there is no correlation between mental health and aggressive tendencies, while others show that there is. Regardless of what someone believes about the relationship between mental illness and violent crime, most can agree that the US does a lousy job of caring for its mentally ill. Whether improved access to health care, employment, and resources can reduce violence is unclear. The United States has a violence fetish, a heroism complex, and an itchy trigger finger. The militaristic attitude of the American people is mirrored by the policies of its government, whose "defense" expenditures amount to almost 40% of the world total. I could go on, but I'm interested in hearing your thoughts. Sources below. Firearm statistics: http://en.wikipedia.org..., http://en.wikipedia.org... Homicide statistics: http://en.wikipedia.org... Incarceration statistics: http://en.wikipedia.org... Video games: http://psychcentral.com..., http://journalistsresource.org...# Mental health resources: http://psychcentral.com..., http://www.cmha.ca..., http://promoteacceptance.samhsa.gov..., Military expenditures: http://en.wikipedia.org...