But the suicide rate in the East was 25.8, much higher than 15.8 in the West. Overly severe laws may be counterproductive as well as oppressive. Israel and Switzerland, where most adult males keep military-type guns at home, have low homicide rates, so easy access to guns cannot be the key factor in homicide. Japanese immigrants bring something with them that inhibits homicide and is transmitted to their children and grandchildren. It may be self-control or love of education, but it has nothing to do with laws.
Cultural factors are clearly important.
To study the effect of gun laws, statisticians would first have to correct for all the cultural differences between various nations. Not enough is known to do this. In these cases, little effect of gun laws is seen. In telling Americans, especially young ones, that they live in the most violent nation on earth, we are slandering our country. In addition, we may be inadvertently increasing the violence.