Gun homicides 22 times more frequent in U.S. than European Union

The day after six people died in a mass shooting at a Chesapeake, Virginia, Walmart, Del. Cliff Hayes Jr., D-Chesapeake, said the nation must discuss why it has so many "homicides and handgun killings."

"When you compare us here in this country to the European Union, we’re something like 23 times more likely for these incidents to occur here," he said during a Nov. 23 interview on CNN.

We fact-checked Hayes’ statistic and found it’s essentially correct. He was referring to a May 2022 report published by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.  

The institute compared the 2019 homicide rates from firearms — not just handguns, as Hayes said — between countries across the globe. Among the findings is that the firearm homicide rate in the U.S. was 22 times larger than in the European Union as a whole. (The institute does not calculate worldwide homicides from handguns, and we were unable to find such figures).

The U.S. firearm homicide rate in 2019 was 4.11 people per 100,000, compared with 0.19 in the 27-nation European Union. Bulgaria had the EU’s highest firearms homicide rate 0.56 per 100,000 — more than seven times lower than the U.S. 

Romania had the EU’s lowest firearm homicide rate at 0.06 per 100,000 — 65 times lower than the U.S. Romanians are restricted to owning handguns manufactured before 1945, but can only collect and not carry them.

Here are the firearm homicide rates of several other EU nations and how they compare with the United States, according to the institute:

• Italy: 0.35 per 100,000, 1/12th of the U.S.

• France: 0.32 per 100,000, 1/13th  of the U.S.

• Sweden: 0.25 per 100,000, 1/16th of the U.S,

• Spain: 0.13 per 100,000, 1/32nd of the U.S.

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• Germany: 0.08 per 100,000, 1/51st of the U.S. 

Although a number of statistical studies have focused on the high rate of firearm homicides in the U.S. compared to other countries, less research has been devoted to the reasons why, according to William A. Pridemore, a criminal justice professor at the State University of New York at Albany. 

An obvious reason, Pridemore and many other academics say, is the high availability of firearms in the United States, where gun ownership is considered a constitutional right.  "The U.S. is exceptional in per capita firearm ownership," Pridemore said.

In 2017, there were 393.3 million firearms held by civilians in the U.S., according to a Small Arms Survey report by the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. That broke down to about 1.2 guns per resident, the highest rate among 56 nations and territories surveyed. Yemen had the second highest rate at 0.53 guns per resident — less than half the rate of the U.S.

"No doubt we have other social factors that play a role in high gun homicide rates, but more guns and lax regulations are major contributors," said Daniel Webster, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions.

The National Rifle Association and other pro-gun advocates contend that firearms protect innocent people from harm and that more firearms would make the U.S. safer.

We should note that Hayes’ statement also suggested that the overall homicide rate in the U.S. — from firearms and other methods — was about 23 times higher than the EU. The institute found that in 2019, 5.6 people per 100,000 were killed in the U.S. compared with 0.9 in the EU. In other words, the overall homicide rate in the U.S. was 6.2 times higher than the EU.

Hayes said that when the U.S. is compared with the European Union, "we're something like 23 times more likely" to have homicides and handgun killings.

The University of Washington research he cites shows the 2019 homicide rate from firearms — not just handguns as Hayes said — was 22 times higher in the U.S. than in the EU. The report did not contain worldwide homicide rates from handguns, and we have been unable to find that data. 

Although there’s a slight error in Hayes’ language, his eye-popping gist about the preponderance of gun homicides in the U.S. compared with the EU holds up.

We rate his statement Mostly True.