“The nation is not safer with guns”!

A new study proves that countries with lower gun ownership are safer, compared to those with higher gun ownership. Researchers examined potential relations between gun ownership rates, mental illness and death. The discovery is published in The American Journal of Medicine. It is considered that easy access to guns represents a problem, because of its potential relation with mental illness. The examinations were made by Sripal Bangalore, MD, MHA, of NYU Langone Medical Center and Franz H. Messerli, MD, of St. Luke`s Roosevelt Hospital, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York. “The gun ownership rate was a strong and independent predictor of firearm-related death”, says Bangalore. Says Messerli and Bangalore, "Although correlation is not the same as causation, it seems conceivable that abundant gun availability facilitates firearm-related deaths. Conversely, high crime rates may instigate widespread anxiety and fear, thereby motivating people to arm themselves and give rise to increased gun ownership, which, in turn, increases availability. The resulting vicious cycle could, bit by bit, lead to the polarized status that is now the case with the US." They conclude that, "Regardless of exact cause and effect, the current study debunks the widely quoted hypothesis that countries with higher gun ownership are safer than those with low gun ownership."