NCJ Number
160198
Date Published
1992
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Although other countries have much lower gun homicide rates than the United States, this circumstance cannot be solely attributed to their gun-control measures; various social and cultural factors must also be considered.
Abstract
Comparisons of United States crime rates with those of other countries fail to consider the vast historical, social, legal, and cultural factors that contribute to the differences in crime rates. In an article that examined Japanese gun laws and crime rates, for example, David B. Kopel asserts that "Gun control has little, if anything, to do with Japan's low crime rates. Japan's lack of crime is more the result of the very extensive powers of the Japanese police and the distinctive relation of the Japanese citizenry to authority." Besides the police and the military in Japan, only hunters are allowed to possess guns, and that possession is strictly limited; hunters must store their rifles or shotguns in a locker when not hunting. Civilians are forbidden to possess handguns, and even the possession of a starter's pistol is allowed only under certain detailed conditions. However in Switzerland, where high-powered guns are readily available and citizens are encouraged to have firearms in their homes, the murder rate is a fraction of that in the United States. After reviewing Switzerland's stable, integrated community structures and the many factors that contribute to the intergenerational harmony that exists in Switzerland to inhibit age separation, alienation, and growth of a separate youth culture, David B. Kopel and Stephen D'Andrilli conclude: "Guns in themselves are not a cause of crime; if they were, everyone in Switzerland would long ago have been shot in a domestic quarrel. Cultural conditions, not gun laws, are the most important factors in a nation's crime rate." Thus, in the absence of controlling for the historical, legal, social, and cultural differences in international comparisons of gun-related violence, any inference that crime-rate differences are attributable to differences in firearm availability is gratuitous.