Accessibility to guns and other firearms vary greatly between countries around the world. When analysed every country around the world has a different set of rules and requirements for purchasing a firearm. The New York times wrote an article titled “How to Buy a Gun in 15 Countries” where true to its name it gives a list of steps potential gun owners have to take to purchase a gun in 15 countries. The most shocking part of this article is that it analyzes both developed and undeveloped countries but, despite being the one of the biggest world powers the United Stated dramatically falls short on regulating firearm purchases essentially matching it’s policy to that of Yemen in a two step process, find a gun and buy it, the only difference between the two counties is that the United States requires a instant background check. In contrast, the country with the most requirements to purchase a fire arm is Japan with a 13 step process. The rest of the countries have at least 6 precautions they all take before handing over firearms, with the exception of Great Britain that has five. In countries such as Japan, Germany, and Canada, legally purchasing a firearm requires multiple hurdles to be cleared ranging from presenting two references from former partners (Canada), “Pass a review of your criminal history, gun possession record, employment, involvement with organized crime groups, personal debt and relationships with friends, family and neighbors.”(Japan),Volunteering to be subject to random home inspections by police officers to verify they are keeping their gun in a safe place. These step, along with the general influence against guns in local culture, have become part of why gun-related mortality rates in most countries are so low compared to that of the U.S. In a CNN study measuring gun related homicides per million, Japan reportedly had zero, Canada had five and Germany had one, while the United States had a jaw dropping thirty six. Additionally, according to a Study presented by MSNBC the Unites States makes up about then 4.43% of the worlds population but owns 42% of the world’s civilian owned guns and perhaps that’s why the U.S is also responsible for 31% of the worlds mass shootings.
Mass Shootings 