For our research project we have taken the UN Development Goal number 16, which stands for Peace, Justice and strong institutions. One of the goals of Peace, Justice and strong institutions is to reduce every kind of violence everywhere. Firearm violence is a problem in many countries, especially in the Americas. In this project we focus on the USA due to data availability and consistency. The United States is also the most armed country in the World. In the USA around 37'000 people die every year (2016) from firearms, which is more than the population Zug, Switzerland! Despite this high number of gun casualties and frequent mass shootings, few changes have been made to the liberal firearm regulation in the United States. There are two main issues: The first is the Second Ammendment to the US Constitution, which enshrines in base law of the land the Right to Bear Arms, which frustrates firearm regulation. The second issue are various pro-gun interest and advocacy groups, spearheaded by the powerful, industry backed, National Rifle Association (NRA). However, the public debate and issue of firearm regulation remains one of the central political and societal questions in the USA. One must wonder, why is it so, that a nation which aspires to be the beacon of freedom and democracy in the World, is beset by such high firearm violence at home.

Documentary video: Mapping global gun violence

While the USA is not at the top of the world in firearm violence statistics, it still represents an outlier. There are many countries in the world where private gun ownership is abundant, for example Switzerland or Canada. Yet, such countries do not have close to similar death rates. Still there remains the question why in a country like the United States the issue of gun violence is very high. Therefore, a lot of guns in private hands cannot be the only explanation for the occurring violence. For this reason, we want to compare different societal factors with firearm related death incidence in the different States of the USA, and quantify the relation between these factors.

Documentary video: What does gun violence in America look like?

Gun related violence remains a controversial and traumatic part of US society. Often in the public attention are mass shootings (3+ victims), which have been more common lately. Such tragedies serve as a jolt to the public attention and discussion and bring forth many advocacy groups and standpoints; both pro and contra gun ownership. However, there seems to be a discrepancy between public expectations for legislation and the actual effects of this legislation, and the debate only becomes more entangled. This video provides an excellent summary of the absolute state of gun related violence and discussion about it in the USA.