Are Foreign Gun Control Laws Right for America?

Are Foreign Gun Control Laws Right for America?
Donald Canaday


“In 1990, handguns killed 22 people in Great Britain . . . and 10,567 in the United States. God Bless America.” – Handgun Control, Inc. pamphlet1

There have been many widely reported school shootings in recent years that have thrust the issue of gun control onto the front pages of newspapers all across the country. Although violence in the US has actually decreased in recent years, the shocking and tragic nature of incidents like what happened in Columbine high school in Colorado has caused many Americans to question the American tradition of gun ownership. There are numerous arguments on both sides of this issue, but invariably the United States gets compared to other countries with lower crime rates and more gun restrictions. To criticize US gun laws from this angle, one needs to be very selective about which countries to compare to. Almost always, the same three countries are used. These are Ca...