{"id":91284,"date":"2015-06-22T20:30:34","date_gmt":"2015-06-22T18:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=91284"},"modified":"2015-06-23T08:10:38","modified_gmt":"2015-06-23T06:10:38","slug":"south-africa-is-the-second-worst-country-for-gun-deaths-in-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/91284\/south-africa-is-the-second-worst-country-for-gun-deaths-in-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa is the second worst country in the world for gun deaths"},"content":{"rendered":"

A recent shooting incident in the USA has once again highlighted a glaring gun control problem in the country – but closer to home, South Africa faces problems of its own.<\/p>\n

A study<\/a> conducted by American medical professionals using data from the World Health organisation<\/a> and Cambridge University’s Small Arms Survey<\/a>, found the top countries with the most guns per 100 people and total firearm-related deaths per 100,000.<\/p>\n

The key focus of the study was on the USA, and its hotly contested debate surrounding gun control, using data from 2010-2012.<\/p>\n

South Africa has the second highest rate of gun-related deaths in the world<\/div>\n

A more alarming finding for South Africans is that the country was found to have the second highest rate of gun-related deaths in the world at 9.4 deaths per 100,000 people.<\/p>\n

That statistic is made worse by the finding that South Africa only has the 16th highest number of guns per 100 people at 12.7.<\/p>\n

Sitting at the top of both lists is the USA, with 88.8 guns per 100 people, and a prevalence of 10.2 fire-arm related deaths per 100,000 people.<\/p>\n

In 2013, this figure climbed to 10.4 deaths per 100,000.<\/p>\n

Countries with the highest gun-related deaths (2012)<\/h3>\n
\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
#<\/th>\nCountry<\/th>\nGun deaths per 100,000 population<\/th>\nGuns per 100 population<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/td>\nUnited States<\/td>\n10.20<\/td>\n88.8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\nSouth Africa<\/td>\n9.41<\/td>\n12.7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\nSwitzerland<\/td>\n3.84<\/td>\n45.7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\nFinland<\/td>\n3.64<\/td>\n45.3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/td>\nFrance<\/td>\n3.00<\/td>\n31.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/td>\nAustria<\/td>\n2.94<\/td>\n30.4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/td>\nNew Zealand<\/td>\n2.66<\/td>\n22.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/td>\nCanada<\/td>\n2.44<\/td>\n30.8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9<\/td>\nBelgium<\/td>\n2.43<\/td>\n17.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/td>\nMalta<\/td>\n2.16<\/td>\n11.9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11<\/td>\nIsrael<\/td>\n1.86<\/td>\n7.3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12<\/td>\nLuxembourg<\/td>\n1.81<\/td>\n15.3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
13<\/td>\nNorway<\/td>\n1.78<\/td>\n31.3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
14<\/td>\nPortugal<\/td>\n1.77<\/td>\n8.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
15<\/td>\nGreece<\/td>\n1.50<\/td>\n22.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

South Africa was recently rated as the 8th most violent country in the world, with a violent murder rate of 31 per 100,000 people.<\/p>\n

Read:\u00a0South Africa is one of the most violent and unsafe countries in the world<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

According to the Small Arms Survey, since 1994, homicide rates in South Africa have remained among the highest in the world despite a consistent decline.<\/p>\n

The group found that there is a positive correlation between the partial implementation of the Firearms Control Act (FCA) of 2000 and a reduction in firearm homicides.<\/p>\n

“(But) better implementation of the law could further reduce levels of firearm homicides,” it said.<\/p>\n

According to the SAPS and the Institute for Security Studies,\u00a0homicides decreased from 66.9 per 100,000 in 1994 to 30.9 in 2011\u201312.<\/p>\n

However, rates above 30 per 100,000 are typically observed in countries at war or with serious ongoing crises.<\/p>\n

\"SA<\/a>

SA murder rate<\/p><\/div>\n

In 2000, the SAPS stopped providing data on the percentage of homicides committed with firearms, but pre-2007 data, as well as information from other sources, have corroborated the information published in the study.<\/p>\n

These other sources include data on fatal injuries from medico-legal laboratories and state forensic laboratories from The National Injury Mortality Surveillance System (NIMSS).<\/p>\n

One\u00a0caveat to the data on gun ownership\u00a0is the unreliability of countries’ capacity to keep\u00a0record of illegal guns, but the researchers noted that their findings were “reasonably” on\u00a0par with previous research.<\/p>\n

\"Firearm<\/a>

SA Firearm deaths<\/p><\/div>\n

Seeking the roots of South Africa’s high levels of gun-related violence, the Small Arms survey identified challenges in several sectors<\/a>, namely:<\/p>\n