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Geoff332 · Mar 4, 2004, 10:34 pm

<blockquote>Quote:<hr size="1" />Originally Posted by
Ever think about how large and populated America is compared to the vast majority of countries out there?<hr size="1" /></blockquote>
Well, the EU is geographically smaller than US (about half the land area) and larger in terms of population (about 100 million more people). This makes the population density of the EU something like four times the that of the US (in 2002, the EU had a population density of 303.4 people per square mile; the US 77.7). The EU has comparable (albeit not identical) judicial and legislative and executive systems. They are exposed to similar cultural influences.

In 1999, the US had a murder rate of 5.70 per 100,000 -- 3.72/100,000 were firearm related. Northern Ireland had a rate of 6.09 overall and 5.24 (in 1994 -- if you know your history, you will realise that this was time of virtual civil war in Northern Ireland). Finland had a rate of 3.2 over all and 0.86 for gun murders. The rest of the EU are less than 3 over all and 1.5 for gun murders. The average murder rate for the entire EU is 1.42 per 100,000; 0.53 for gun murders. What is perhaps most interesting is the rate of non-firearm related murders in the US (2.02) is greater than the total murder rate for the EU. To put that another way. There are 100 million more people in the EU than there are in the US, yet there are less than one third the total number of murders.

Everywhere in the world murder rates per capita generally increase as population denisity increases. Most EU nations have far higher population density than the US and far lower murder rates per capita. The fact that the US with significantly lower population density has such a high murder rate is something that cannot be explained by either simple demographics or the nature of the legislative or political system.

This is neither an argument for nor against gun control. The US has a higher non-gun murder rate than most EU contries total murder rates. The stats I have quoted are accurate -- largely drawn from official sources, such as the FBI crime reports and EU or UN sources.
<blockquote>Quote:<hr size="1" />Originally Posted by
Think, people.<hr size="1" /></blockquote>Good advice...

Mar 4, 2004, 10:34 pm	#94 (permalink) (top)
Geoff332 Igneous Magma Location: New Zealand Posts: 309	</span><blockquote><span class="smallfont">Quote:</span><hr size="1" />Originally Posted by Ever think about how large and populated America is compared to the vast majority of countries out there?<hr size="1" /></blockquote><span class='postcolor'> Well, the EU is geographically smaller than US (about half the land area) and larger in terms of population (about 100 million more people). This makes the population density of the EU something like four times the that of the US (in 2002, the EU had a population density of 303.4 people per square mile; the US 77.7). The EU has comparable (albeit not identical) judicial and legislative and executive systems. They are exposed to similar cultural influences. In 1999, the US had a murder rate of 5.70 per 100,000 -- 3.72/100,000 were firearm related. Northern Ireland had a rate of 6.09 overall and 5.24 (in 1994 -- if you know your history, you will realise that this was time of virtual civil war in Northern Ireland). Finland had a rate of 3.2 over all and 0.86 for gun murders. The rest of the EU are less than 3 over all and 1.5 for gun murders. The average murder rate for the entire EU is 1.42 per 100,000; 0.53 for gun murders. What is perhaps most interesting is the rate of non-firearm related murders in the US (2.02) is greater than the total murder rate for the EU. To put that another way. There are 100 million more people in the EU than there are in the US, yet there are less than one third the total number of murders. Everywhere in the world murder rates per capita generally increase as population denisity increases. Most EU nations have far higher population density than the US and far lower murder rates per capita. The fact that the US with significantly lower population density has such a high murder rate is something that cannot be explained by either simple demographics or the nature of the legislative or political system. This is neither an argument for nor against gun control. The US has a higher non-gun murder rate than most EU contries total murder rates. The stats I have quoted are accurate -- largely drawn from official sources, such as the FBI crime reports and EU or UN sources. </span><blockquote><span class="smallfont">Quote:</span><hr size="1" />Originally Posted by Think, people.<hr size="1" /></blockquote><span class='postcolor'>Good advice...