America's gun problem pt.2
This is a sightly edited version of a post I made to a short lived blog I started back in 2015. It's one of two posts I made on the issue of gun violence and control in America. I decided to re-post both of them here, because of the fact that the situation in America on the issue of gun control is practically the same as it was back in 2015. I think, I've developed a lot as a writer since then, and I think you will notice it. That being said, feel free to enjoy the ramblings of a 18-year-old boy, who was going through some changes in his life and was desperate to went out his frustration. Link to the other one here
First of all, I mean every single word I wrote in my previous post and you won't hear an apology over that. I'm only making this post because the original one didn't really come out like I planned it. Basically, I thought I had enough time to write it, before I had to leave for practice. (I train martial arts that's all you need to know)
Originally, I planned on making a post about the gun policy in the US, which would include statistics over the subject and comparing them with with statistics from, Finland. The statistics I'm going to use now are from 2013. (the information is in an article I found that is dated on the end of May 2014, I'll add the link in the end of this post) I did find statistics from 2014, but according to those, the gun ownership rates in Finland had halved in one year. I really don't think that's very accurate, even if the rates are actually dropping.
Let's start with the basics. We alredy know that the United States has the highest gun owning statistics in the world. According to the statistics I found, the US has 88.8 gun per every 100 people. Finland in other hand, was on the third place with 45.3 guns per 100 people. On the second place was Switzerland with 45.7. per 100 people. We already notice, that the US rates are almost double compared to the following countries.
Now comes the disturbing part: Finland has 0.45 firearm homicides per 100 000 people. This makes up about 19.8% of all homicides. In Switzerland there is 0.77 firearm homicides per 100 000 people, which is about 72.2% of all homicides. In US about 67.5% of homicides are committed with firearms, but this is only because of higher homicide rates. The US has 3.21 firearm homicides per 100 000! That is about 7.1 times bigger than Finland and 4.2 times larger than Switzerland! Not only that, The US only has about 5% of the worlds populations, but it also has from 35%-50% of all civilian owned firearms. There is something more to this than just the gun ownership rates. And that problem, is in the American gun policy.
Like I said in my previous post, the gun policy in Finland is strict. In order to have a firearm, first, you need to apply for a permit to buy one. In your application you have to prove that you have a legal reason for getting a firearm, which basically means either hunting or some form of shooting sport. Self defense is not a reason in any case. Criminal history, mental problems and drug abuse can prevent you from getting one. And even if you get your permit, you have six months to buy the gun you have a permit for, and after that the police will check it to make sure that you bought the right type on firearm. And even after this, you still have stuff to remember.
The statement that more Americans have died in gun related crimes than wars, is based on an article in a Finnish news magazine (only in Finnish). According to the article, 1.2 million Americans have died as a result of gun violence since the assasination of Martin Luthe King in 1968. This number includes the American civil war and both world wars. This is not acceptable.
What inspired me to do this post, were two youtube videos about the WDBJ shootings. I'll link them in the end of this post. They explain rest of the things I said in my previous post.
Here's the statistics about gun ownership
http://www.deseretnews.com/top/2519/13/Finland-15-nations-with-the-highest-gun-ownership.html
A video by youtuber The Amazing Atheist covering the shooting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bld_fV0Fp-c
Another video from The Amazing Atheist, covering the reations to the shooting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_hIs5_kIaQ
A video from the youtube channel Secular Talk about the shooting (note. contains both of the recordings about the shooting)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw7kmlPCmfE
First of all, I mean every single word I wrote in my previous post and you won't hear an apology over that. I'm only making this post because the original one didn't really come out like I planned it. Basically, I thought I had enough time to write it, before I had to leave for practice. (I train martial arts that's all you need to know)
Originally, I planned on making a post about the gun policy in the US, which would include statistics over the subject and comparing them with with statistics from, Finland. The statistics I'm going to use now are from 2013. (the information is in an article I found that is dated on the end of May 2014, I'll add the link in the end of this post) I did find statistics from 2014, but according to those, the gun ownership rates in Finland had halved in one year. I really don't think that's very accurate, even if the rates are actually dropping.
Let's start with the basics. We alredy know that the United States has the highest gun owning statistics in the world. According to the statistics I found, the US has 88.8 gun per every 100 people. Finland in other hand, was on the third place with 45.3 guns per 100 people. On the second place was Switzerland with 45.7. per 100 people. We already notice, that the US rates are almost double compared to the following countries.
Now comes the disturbing part: Finland has 0.45 firearm homicides per 100 000 people. This makes up about 19.8% of all homicides. In Switzerland there is 0.77 firearm homicides per 100 000 people, which is about 72.2% of all homicides. In US about 67.5% of homicides are committed with firearms, but this is only because of higher homicide rates. The US has 3.21 firearm homicides per 100 000! That is about 7.1 times bigger than Finland and 4.2 times larger than Switzerland! Not only that, The US only has about 5% of the worlds populations, but it also has from 35%-50% of all civilian owned firearms. There is something more to this than just the gun ownership rates. And that problem, is in the American gun policy.
Like I said in my previous post, the gun policy in Finland is strict. In order to have a firearm, first, you need to apply for a permit to buy one. In your application you have to prove that you have a legal reason for getting a firearm, which basically means either hunting or some form of shooting sport. Self defense is not a reason in any case. Criminal history, mental problems and drug abuse can prevent you from getting one. And even if you get your permit, you have six months to buy the gun you have a permit for, and after that the police will check it to make sure that you bought the right type on firearm. And even after this, you still have stuff to remember.
The statement that more Americans have died in gun related crimes than wars, is based on an article in a Finnish news magazine (only in Finnish). According to the article, 1.2 million Americans have died as a result of gun violence since the assasination of Martin Luthe King in 1968. This number includes the American civil war and both world wars. This is not acceptable.
What inspired me to do this post, were two youtube videos about the WDBJ shootings. I'll link them in the end of this post. They explain rest of the things I said in my previous post.
Here's the statistics about gun ownership
http://www.deseretnews.com/top/2519/13/Finland-15-nations-with-the-highest-gun-ownership.html
A video by youtuber The Amazing Atheist covering the shooting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bld_fV0Fp-c
Another video from The Amazing Atheist, covering the reations to the shooting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_hIs5_kIaQ
A video from the youtube channel Secular Talk about the shooting (note. contains both of the recordings about the shooting)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw7kmlPCmfE
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