In this piece, we will take a look at guns per capita per country vs crime rate. If you want to skip our analysis of crime and gun statistics as well as the gun industry, head on over to Guns per Capita by Country Vs Crime Rate: Top 5 Countries.
Among the handful of issues that cause vibrant debate in America, gun ownership sits at the top. America is one of the most unique countries in the world in the form that its constitution explicitly allows the population to own firearms. Tracing its roots back to the American Revolution, which saw a rag tag army of rebels beat the world’s most well trained army at the time, owning guns, according to advocates, is what makes America, America.
Naturally, this also leads to a large number of guns in America, with the country having the highest number of guns per capita in the world. However, this statistic is misleading, since it does not accurately describe how many Americans actually own guns. As a simple example, imagine that there are ten people in America, and out of these, five own one thousand guns while the others don’t own a firearm. On a per capita basis, this would imply that the U.S. has 100 guns per person – which, in our example, is far from reality.
Therefore, it’s clear that gun ownership statistics merit a deeper look. On this front, a study from the Justice Department from 1997 shares more insight. Its data shows that only 25% of Americans had actually owned a gun, and 74% of all gun owners had more than one gun. In fact, the ratio of gun ownership is actually quite different from what intuition would suggest. Using data from the National Survey of Private Ownership of Firearms—NSPOF, the study shows that the top twenty percent of all gun owners actually owned 55% of the guns. In terms of absolute figures, ten million people owned 105 million guns – for an average of ten guns per person, and the remaining 87 million guns were owned by 34 million people – for an average of 2.6 guns per person. The population of the U.S. was 263 million in 1994 – indicating that only 16.7% of Americans had actually owned a weapon.
One major argument that surfaces in favor of gun ownership is that it allows people to defend themselves against crime and aggression. After all, criminals will find a way to buy guns on the black market even if they were outright banned; however, ordinary people often do not have access to these channels. Hence, the argument goes that potentially banning gun ownership in America carries the risk of leaving people more vulnerable to crime. Well, the Justice Department’s data shows that 3.1 million would have used guns for defensive purposes, with the total incidence of such uses estimated at 23 million. However, tightening the criteria of defensive gun use reduces the number of people to 1.5 million.
On the flip side though, the study admits that successful gun use to prevent crime ends up producing data that is inconsistent with crime statistics. For instance, while the data would suggest that guns enabled would be rape victims to fend off 322 attempts, the total number of rapes and attempted rapes in the comparable time period according to data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) was 316. The study concludes by providing more reasons to doubt figures of defensive gun use, by pointing out that not only can criminals either be deterred or use guns themselves when they know that their victims are packing, but people who report gun use to protect themselves might actually have been instigators in the first place.
As is the case with analyzing data, sweeping conclusions rarely point to the correct conclusions. For instance, just looking at the total crimes in the U.S., there were roughly 15 million crimes in America in 2021. However, nearly half of these were property crimes, which include crimes such as vandalism, shoplifting, and arson. At the same time, there were three million larcenies in America, and assuming that half of the property crimes involved a gun, then the number of total crimes that can be attributed to gun ownership actually reduces or at least becomes harder to quantify.
Finally, the demand for guns also creates supply, leading to large gun companies in America. Some of the biggest gun companies in the world are American, out of which the top three in terms of revenue are Vista Outdoor Inc. (NYSE:VSTO), Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPWH), and Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWBI). Cumulatively, these firms brought in roughly $5 billion in revenue in 2021, with the industry as a whole contributing $51.3 billion to the American economy in 2021. And, if you’re wondering about which gun company stocks hedge funds are interested in and have invested in, some of the top hedge fund gun company stock picks are Axon Enterprise, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXON), DICK’S Sporting Goods, Inc., and (NYSE:DKS), Olin Corporation (NYSE:OLN).
Focusing specifically on these companies to see what’s going on in the industry right now, like others, gun companies have also suffered from bloated inventories that have hurt their profits. For instance, Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWBI)’s revenue and net income dropped during its fiscal year 2023 as the excess inventory that it had shipped earlier continued to be digested. Axon Enterprise, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXON), on the other hand, is busy expanding its global footprint as the firm won a big contract in June that allowed it to supply the Maldivian police with a fresh batch of tasers. And like Smith & Wesson, business is tough these days for Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPWH), with the firm’s latest earnings report outlining that poor weather and high inflation caused a $42 million drop in its net sales for the thirteen weeks ending in April.
With these details in mind, let’s compare gun ownership per capita by country and compare it to crime rates to see which countries make it to our list.
Our Methodology
To compile our list of guns per capita by country vs crime rate, we first used data from Small Arms Survey (SAS) research institute to narrow down countries with the highest number of guns per capita. Then, we gathered data for home burglaries in countries all over the world courtesy of Budget Direct. Finally, the countries that were present on both lists were ranked through the number of guns per capita, with the statistics for burglaries per 100,000 provided for the reader’s comparison.
Guns per Capita by Country Vs Crime Rate: Top 20 Countries
20. Republic of Paraguay
Guns Per Capita: 0.16
Home Burglaries Per 100,000 people: 16.7
The Republic of Paraguay is a landlocked South American country. It has close to 17 guns per capita and a mere 16 burglaries per 100,000 households.
19. Hellenic Republic
Guns Per Capita: 0.176
Home Burglaries Per 100,000 people: 752
The Hellenic Republic, or Greece, is a Southeastern European nation. It has the fourth highest rate of burglaries in the world.
18. Commonwealth of The Bahamas
Guns Per Capita: 0.188
Home Burglaries Per 100,000 people: 29
The Commonwealth of The Bahamas is a West Indian island nation. A popular financial hub, it has a GDP per capita of $35,458.
17. Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
Guns Per Capita: 0.189
Home Burglaries Per 100,000 people: 575
Luxembourg is one of the most prosperous nations in the world with a GDP per capita of $135,046. It exports cars, industrial products, and other goods to earn its foreign exchange.
16. Principality of Monaco
Guns Per Capita: 0.196
Home Burglaries Per 100,000 people: 67
The Principality of Monaco is one of the smallest countries in the world, with an area of just two square kilometers. Despite this, there are 20 guns per person in the country.
15. Federal Republic of Germany
Guns Per Capita: 0.196
Home Burglaries Per 100,000 people: 105
The Federal Republic of Germany is a global economic and political powerhouse. Its auto industry is one of the biggest in the world, and there are roughly 20 guns per capita in Germany.
14. French Republic
Guns Per Capita: 0.196
Home Burglaries Per 100,000 people: 346
France is a highly developed nation and a global power in international politics. There are nearly 20 guns per capita in the country and 346 burglaries per 100,000 people.
13. Portuguese Republic
Guns Per Capita: 0.213
Home Burglaries Per 100,000 people: 107
The Portuguese Republic, or Portugal, is a Southern European country. A former colonial power, it has a $267 billion economy and mid level income equality.
12. Kingdom of Sweden
Guns Per Capita: 0.231
Home Burglaries Per 100,000 people: 736
Sweden is another Nordic country and one of the most prosperous and developed countries in the world. Sweden is also one of the few developed countries, yet, this doesn’t stop it from ranking rather high when it comes to the burglary rate. Sweden ranks fifth in the global ranking of burglaries, with 736 incidences per 100,000 people. There are approximately 23 guns per person in the country. It has a $599 billion economy and a GDP per capita of $55,395.
11. New Zealand
Guns Per Capita: 0.263
Home Burglaries Per 100,000 people: 131
New Zealand is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean. It relies on agriculture and services to fuel economic growth and is one of the few countries in the world with a significant portion of power generation through renewable sources.
10. Swiss Confederation
Guns Per Capita: 0.276
Home Burglaries Per 100,000 people: 356
The Swiss Confederation, or Switzerland is a developed European country with a strong financial system.
9. Republic of Malta
Guns Per Capita: 0.283
Home Burglaries Per 100,000 people: 197
The Republic of Malta is an island European nation that is one of the smallest countries in the world in terms of area since it covers a mere 316 square kilometers.
8. Kingdom of Norway
Guns Per Capita: 0.288
Home Burglaries Per 100,000 people: 33
The Kingdom of Norway is a Nordic European nation. It exports vast amounts of oil and its economy is dominated by the government which has stakes in some of its biggest companies that operate in the telecommunications, energy, and other sectors.
7. Principality of Liechtenstein
Guns Per Capita: 0.288
Home Burglaries Per 100,000 people: 278
Liechtenstein is one of the smallest countries in the world with an area of just 160 square kilometers. Its strong financial sector also lends it a GDP per capita of $180,000 – the highest in the world.
6. Republic of Austria
Guns Per Capita: 0.30
Home Burglaries Per 100,000 people: 119
The Republic of Austria is a landlocked European nation. It is one of the most developed countries in the world and has a $479 billion economy.
Click to continue reading and see Guns per Capita by Country Vs Crime Rate: Top 5 Countries.
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Disclosure: None. Guns per Capita by Country Vs Crime Rate is originally published on Insider Monkey.