I am interested in the thoughts of the people here who would like to see tighter restrictions or fewer guns. Why?
Would you be afraid to live in New Zealand? A million guns among 4 million people. Or Canada, which has nearly the gun ownership levels of the US? Or Switzerland? Which mandates citizens to own guns.
I don't think it's the guns. Both Mexico and Canada border the US. Mexico has strict gun laws, and Canada doesn't (comparatively). Why is Mexico so very much more violent than Canada and the US? It cannot be the proximity to the US that is the deciding factor.
The question isn't guns. It's violence. The Swiss trust their neighbors with machine guns. The British don't trust each other with kitchen knives.
In New Zealand:
- You have to pass a safety test and have a license to get a gun (involves background check). Your license must be renewed every few years.
- There is an additional special license that you need to apply for if you want to own a pistol, and it can only be used for competition shooting. You can't walk around with a loaded pistol (actually to transport a pistol at all it has to be kept in a locked container with ammunition stored separately).
- When transporting a firearm, it must be unloaded.
- The amount of ammunition that you can transport is limited.
- There are strict regulations related to firearm storage
In Canada:
- You have to pass a safety test and get a license to get a gun, and have to renew it every few years (licensing involves a background check)
- There are strict regulations related to firearm storage
- You're not allowed to carry a concealed weapon in Canada
- You typically can't carry a gun around with you unless it's unloaded (and then only for transport), or you are actively hunting.
- Carrying a hand gun requires permission which is difficult to get
- Owning a hand gun is difficult in Canada, and there are dramatically fewer handguns floating around as a result
In Switzerland:
- Firearm safety training is mandatory for most young men
- Strict regulations for firearm storage
- You need a license to own a gun
- It's illegal to carry a gun around with you except in rare work related circumstances (like if you're a security guard and having the gun is part of your job)
- All weapons are registered with the government.
Contrast with the US:
- No background check in most states to buy a gun from a private seller
- No safety training to buy a gun
- No gun registry
- No license for firearm ownership
- No regulations related to firearm storage
- The majority of states let you walk around with a loaded gun
The number of guns in a country doesn't directly correlate to safety, so maybe we should look at the different rules and regulations that make gun ownership so much safer in other countries with high gun ownership. Every country you mentioned that has a lot of guns has tighter restrictions on them than the US.