Homicide
Homicide is defined as the intentional and illegal death caused by one individual on another and in this case with a firearm. In a recent study by the UN, it was found that firearms cause an average 60% of all homicides. In 2010 USA homicides, guns are the weapon of choice, especially for multiple homicides.
The homicide statistics listed below are for "intentional homicide", which is "death deliberately inflicted on a person by another person", including justifiable homicide and criminal homicide.
The statistics simply list the answers to a questionnaire. The web page advises great caution in interpreting the figures and says they "cannot take into account the differences that exist between the legal definitions of offences in various countries, of the different methods of tallying, etc. In particular, to use the figures as a basis for comparison between different countries is highly problematic as is comparing data from different years among different countries."
| Country | Year | % homicides with firearms | Firearm homicide rate per 100,000 pop. |
Non-firearm homicide rate per 100,000 pop. |
Overall homicide rate per 100,000 |
Right to bear arms guaranteed by law. | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 20 | 0.31 | 1.26 | 1.57 | No | ||
| Azerbaijan | 8 | 0.22 | 2.59 | 2.81 | No | ||
| Barbados | 40 | 3.00 | 4.49 | 7.49 | No | ||
| Belarus | 33 | 3.31 | 6.82 | 10.13 | No | ||
| Bulgaria | 19 | 0.77 | 3.30 | 4.07 | No | ||
| Canada | 34 | 0.54 | 1.04 | 1.58 | No | ||
| Chile | 12 | 0.18 | 1.37 | 1.55 | Yes | ||
| Colombia | 83 | 51.77 | 10.97 | 62.74 | Yes | ||
| Costa Rica | 51 | 3.38 | 3.19 | 6.57 | No | ||
| Denmark | 24 | 0.26 | 0.83 | 1.09 | Yes | ||
| England & Wales | 8 | 0.12 | 1.33 | 1.45 | No | ||
| Estonia | 15 | 1.53 | 8.92 | 10.45 | No | ||
| Finland | 20 | 0.43 | 1.76 | 2.19 | No | ||
| Germany | 37 | 0.47 | 0.70 | 1.17 | Yes | ||
| Guatemala | 73 | 18.50 | 6.97 | 25.47 | Yes | ||
| Hong Kong, China (SAR) | 2 | 0.01 | 0.55 | 0.56 | No | ||
| Hungary | 21 | 0.44 | 1.61 | 2.05 | Yes | ||
| India | 25 | 0.93 | 2.79 | 3.72 | No | ||
| Ireland | 29 | 0.32 | 0.78 | 1.10 | No | ||
| Latvia | 13 | 1.26 | 8.77 | 10.03 | No | ||
| Lithuania | 22 | 2.25 | 7.76 | 10.01 | Yes | ||
| Macedonia | 27 | 0.64 | 1.02 | 2.31 | No | ||
| Mexico | 26 | 3.66 | 10.45 | 14.11 | Yes | ||
| Moldova, Republic of | 6 | 0.47 | 7.66 | 8.13 | Yes | ||
| New Zealand | 15 | 0.18 | 0.99 | 1.17 | No | ||
| Paraguay | 61 | 7.35 | 4.70 | 12.05 | Yes | ||
| Poland | 8 | 0.43 | 5.18 | 5.61 | Yes | ||
| Portugal | 34 | 0.84 | 1.63 | 2.47 | Yes | ||
| Qatar | 34 | 0.18 | 0.35 | 0.53 | Yes | ||
| Singapore | 2 | 0.02 | 0.90 | 0.92 | No | ||
| Slovakia | 82 | 2.17 | 0.48 | 2.65 | Yes | ||
| Slovenia | 33 | 0.60 | 1.21 | 1.81 | Yes | ||
| Spain | 20 | 0.25 | 1.00 | 1.25 | No | ||
| Switzerland | 58 | 0.56 | 0.40 | 0.96 | Yes | ||
| Ukraine | 4 | 0.35 | 8.58 | 8.93 | Yes | ||
| United States | 65 | 2.97 | 1.58 | 4.55 | Yes | ||
| Uruguay | 55 | 2.52 | 2.09 | 4.61 | Yes | ||
| Zimbabwe | 66 | 4.75 | 2.49 | 7.24 | No |
Figures up to 2010 are available.
Read more about this topic: Gun Violence
Famous quotes containing the word homicide:
“Life and language are alike sacred. Homicide and verbicide—that is, violent treatment of a word with fatal results to its legitimate meaning, which is its life—are alike forbidden.”
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894)