In 2017 Japan had one of the lowest rates of death by gun violence in the world, 0.04 per 100,000 people. In the same year the rate of death by gun violence in the United States was 4.43 per 100,000 people. The data excluded deaths in armed conflict and by self harm.
Japan, among several other countries, has a higher per capita spending rate on video games than the United States.
In 2012:
Ten-country comparison suggests there’s little or no link between video games and gun murders
By Max Fisher
December 17, 2012
…video game consumption, based on international data, does not seem to correlate at all with an increase in gun violence. That countries where video games are popular also tend to be some of the world’s safest (probably because these countries are stable and developed, not because they have video games). And we also have learned, once again, that America’s rate of firearm-related homicides is extremely high for the developed world…
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r) [2016 file photo].
A statement from Representative Vicky Hartzler (r):
Hartzler Statement on Weekend Shootings
August 5, 2019 Press Release
“The murders in Texas and Ohio this weekend are symptoms of a culture of violence and anger that is gripping America. From entertainment and video games that consume the attention of our young people to murder in our cities, violence is pervasive in America and must be addressed. We cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the glorification of violence and murder in our society today, and our efforts to address mental health issues have just begun. My husband and I are deeply saddened at the loss of life and grieve for the families of the victims.”
“…From entertainment and video games that consume the attention of our young people to murder in our cities, violence is pervasive in America and must be addressed…”
Nope, it’s not video games. What could it be?
In a study published in 2000 (using data from 1993 and 1994):
Firearm Availability and Homicide Rates across 26 High Income Countries [pdf]
David Hemenway, PhD, and Matthew Miller, MD, MPH, ScD
Of all developed nations, the United States has the most privately owned guns, and the highest rates of homicide. Approximately two thirds of murder victims in the United States are killed with a gun.
[….]
Table 1 Homicide Rates for 26 High-Income Countries
Country Year Population (in thousands) Total Homicide Rate per 100,000 Suicides with a Firearm (%)
United States 1993 257,783 9.93 60.9
[….]
Japan 1994 124,069 0.62 0.2
[….]
…Results from our simple regressions of 26 developed nations show a highly significant positive correlation between total homicide rates and both proxies for gun availability…
…In our analysis, we find, for industrialized countries, a very strong and highly significant association between gun availability levels and total homicide rates. The relationship holds even though the number of observations is fairly small (n = 26) and the measures of gun availability are only proxies. The relationship does not seem to be attributable entirely to the United States—which has more guns and more homicides than other developed nations—because the results often hold when the United States is excluded from the analysis. More guns are associated with more homicides across industrialized countries.
“…We cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the glorification of violence and murder in our society today…”
There’s glorification going on all right. Take a look at the NRA.
Try again.
