1. Gun control
By Samantha Heagerty

2. Classification & definition
Firearms are generally classified into three broad types: handguns, rifles, and shotguns. Rifles and shotguns are both considered "long guns.“
A semi-automatic firearm fires one bullet each time the trigger is pulled, ejects the shell of the fired bullet, and automatically loads another bullet for the next pull of the trigger. A fully automatic firearm (sometimes called a "machine gun") fires multiple bullets with the single pull of the trigger.

3. Facts about the US
In the US there are about 88.8 guns per 100 people, which is about 270 million.
This is the highest total per capita in the world!
Wyoming is the state with the most guns per person (195.7 per 1,000 people).
New York is the state with the least guns per person (3.3 per 1,000 people).
Alaska is the state has the most deaths by firearms.
22% own one or more guns.

5. More gun control!
There were 464,033 total gun deaths between 1999 and 2013
Guns were the leading cause of death by homicide (66.6% of all homicides) and by suicide (52.2% of all suicides).
Firearms were the 12th leading cause of all deaths, topping liver disease, hypertension, and Parkinson’s disease, as well as deaths from fires, drowning, and machinery accidents.
About 200 Americans go to emergency rooms every day with gunshot wounds.

8. Mass shootings
An investigation found that high-capacity magazines were used in at least 50% of the 62 mass shootings between 1982 and 2012.
When high-capacity magazines were used in mass shootings, the death rate rose 63% and the injury rate rose 156%.

9. Women
Five women are murdered with guns every day in the United States.
A woman's risk of being murdered increases 500% if a gun is present during a domestic dispute.
A 2003 study of 23 populous high-income countries found that 86% of women killed by firearms were in the United States.
American women are 11.4 times more likely to be the victims of gun homicides 57% of mass shootings involved domestic violence.
31 states do not ban convicted misdemeanor stalkers from owning guns and 41 states do not force convicted domestic abusers from relinquishing guns they already own.

11. Other Nations
Both Switzerland and Finland require gun owners to acquire licenses and pass background checks that include mental and criminal records, among other restrictions and requirements.
In 2007 Switzerland ranked number 3 in international gun ownership rates with guns per 100 people.
In 2009 Switzerland had 24 gun homicides and 253 gun suicides per 100,000 people.
Finland ranked fourth in international gun ownership rates with 45.3 guns per 100 people.
In 2007 Finland had 23 gun homicides and 172 gun suicides per 100,000 people.
The United States, ranked first in international gun ownership rates with guns per 100 people.
In 2007 the United States had 12,632 gun homicides (4.19 deaths per 100,000 people) and 17,352 gun suicides (5.76 deaths per 100,000 people).

13. More gun control, fewer suicides
Between 1999 and 2013 there were 270,237 firearm suicides in the United States, accounting for about 52% of all suicides during those years.
2014 study published in the International Review of Law and Economics, when gun ownership went down in the United States, overall suicide rates went down.

14. Facts
The US General Accounting Office (GAO) estimated that 100% of deaths per year in which a child under 6 years old shoots and kills him/herself or another child could be prevented by automatic child- proof safety locks
Buyers that purchase firearms through private sales in the U.S. don't have to pass a background check before obtaining possession of the weapon. This includes sales to criminals, felons, and people with a history of severe mental illness.
Five women a day are killed by guns in America. A woman's risk of being murdered increases 500% if a gun is present during a domestic dispute.
Approximately 20% of gun owners own 65% of the guns.
In America, there are approximately 270 million firearms possessed by civilians, and only 897,000 carried by police.

15. The End