If you ask people outside of the US what they make of America's gun policy. Chances are they'll tell you that America is kinda gun crazy and completely isolated in its amount of gun related violence.
In 2015, some 13,286 people were shot and killed in the United States. Another 26,819 were injured. Whether you agree with Obama's stance on gun control or not, he is unequivocally right about one thing: Mass shootings do not occur in other industrialised nations with the same frequency as they do in the United States.
How The US Compares.
Switzerland is often referred to as an example of a working gun culture. With an estimated 4 million guns distributed among a population of roughly 8 million, the Swiss are indeed one neutral gun toting nation. Compared to the US however, Switzerland has seen very little gun related incidents involving multiple victims by a lone shooter. The countries only mass shooting in recent history occurred on September 27, 2001. When Friedrich Leibacher opened fire in a Swiss parliament killing 14 people. By comparison, in the past 50 years the United States has seen a total of 126 mass shootings in which 4 or more people were fatally injured. A total of 869 victims of which 144 were children and teenagers.
Don't Push Me, I'm Close To The Edge.
As one of the most privatised and socially stratified societies in the developed world, the US is still home to the wealthiest people on the planet. It simultaneously has an estimated homeless population of 565,000, a median household income of $54,462 (2015) and the largest prison population in the world. Recent studies suggest that America seems to be far better at creating income inequality than any other developed country. A person living in any society that suffers from massive inequality is likely to, at some point, experience the severe psychological neurosis associated with living in such an environment. When large scale socio-economic inequality converges with the highest gun per capita rate in the world the outcome could prove to be a rather volatile one.
We Need Guns, Lots Of Guns.
The notion among certain gun enthusiasts is that in order to establish a safer society we somehow need less gun free zones and more armed citizens. The idea that gun violence could decrease through the supply of more firearms seems, from an outsiders view, paradoxical to say the least. To assert this argument, gun fanatics are often quick to make a clear distinction between responsible gun owners and criminals. If we somehow have more good people with guns, the bad ones will be kept in check. This bold distinction between good and evil disregarding the complexity of human behaviour in relation to its environment could prove to be a very destructive way of reasoning. It seems highly unlikely to assume that fear and paranoia caused by an entrenched gun culture would somehow lead to the emergence of a more peaceful society. In case of the United States one must certainly conclude that it hasn't.
The Shape Of Things To Come.
Guns are tools, they are tools designed with specific purpose however they remain inanimate objects incapable of judgement or action without human intervention. Because of this, one can indeed ponder if an outright ban on guns would make all of America's problems vanish over night. For one, the increasing empowerment that information technology provides to its users will make it increasingly difficult for governments worldwide to contain the distribution of weapons. In 2013, Cody Wilson of Defense Distributed conceived the world's first 'Wiki Weapon', the Liberator. A fully functioning, 3D printed handgun. Interesting to note, is that 3D printing is a technology still very much in its infancy. As rapid prototyping and open source manufacturing improves, so will our ability to craft and design our own weapons. When one considers that 3D printing is merely the beginning of information paving its way into the physical world. The assumption that preventing easy access to firearms is a future proof concept able to keep us safe becomes more and more questionable.