Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
In a recent video, urban gun enthusiast Colion Noir delves into a paradox about guns in America that he believes isn’t discussed enough. He starts by highlighting a staggering statistic:
“America, bold and free, is home to almost half the world’s civilian firearms,” Noir states. Despite this, the U.S. doesn’t top the charts in gun violence or deaths per capita.
Noir goes on to explain, “While we make up less than 5% of the global population, we Americans hold nearly 50% of civilian guns worldwide.”
This, he argues, is a staggering amount of firepower. Yet, when you dive into the statistics beyond the fear-inducing headlines, you find the U.S. doesn’t even crack the top ten globally for gun violence or deaths per capita.
SEE ALSO: Colion Noir Issues Challenge to David Hogg: Debate Me!
“Nations like Brazil, Venezuela, and South Africa face far greater challenges,” he adds.
The video further reveals that gun violence in America is highly concentrated. “Most gun violence in our nation isn’t scattered randomly across the vast landscape of America; it’s concentrated in just 2% of our counties,” Noir explains.
These areas, often struggling with severe poverty and limited economic opportunities, see over half of all murders in the country.
Noir emphasizes that these communities aren’t just spots on a map.
“These are communities where people grapple with severe poverty, where dreams are deferred due to scarce economic opportunities, and schools lack the resources to offer a way out,” he says.
In these areas, law enforcement and community services are stretched thin, allowing violence to take root where minor disputes can tragically spiral into deadly confrontations.
Another crucial point Noir makes is about the nature of gun-related deaths. “Over half of our gun-related deaths in this country are from suicides, not homicides,” he notes.
This highlights a deeper issue of personal crises rather than violent crime. Noir stresses that, despite America’s high rate of gun ownership, the country does not lead the world in suicides.
SEE ALSO: American-Made Scopes from Steiner — NRA 2024
“Look at Japan, look at South Korea—countries with strict gun laws and lower gun ownership rates, yet their struggles with suicide surpass ours,” he points out.
Noir argues that this issue is not just about guns but a reminder of deeply human and profoundly complex challenges.
He calls for solutions that address mental health, economic despair, and community breakdown, rather than focusing on gun control.
“This isn’t just about advocating for the right to bear arms; it’s about advocating for the right to live in a society that tackles the root causes of its problems with the courage and compassion necessary to solve them,” he says.
Colion Noir’s video challenges common perceptions about gun ownership in America, urging viewers to consider the deeper societal issues at play and to seek more comprehensive solutions.
What do you think of Noir’s analysis?
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I haven’t read the article yet, but to answer the question in the title:
It’s because we are not a “third world country”(or whatever you call them nowadays.)
So yes, it’s true that we don’t have the most gun deaths per capita in the world. But it’s also true that among “industrialized”, “modern”, “first world nations,” the U.S. is a clear outlier when it comes to gun violence in all forms.
I’m not saying that we should have more gun control or anything like that, I’m just adding the relevant context(assuming it’s not already in the article that I haven’t read yet. Lol.)
The author should have named the counties. I know that Chaigo and surrounding area has to be one. Where are the others, Washington DC,,Bew Hersey, Penelvanua, Kis Angeles?
Yeah, i don’t get that. Nearly half of the country’s homicides are in just two counties? I’m highly skeptical of that claim.
Also, violence/gun violence is concentrated in specific areas in EVERY country. That doesn’t change the fact that the numbers are staggeringly, unacceptably high, both in our country and other countries.
These statistics/facts have been around for a few years at least. The problem, overall, is money. It always is. Our government, our leaders, have decided to pour money into other countries rather than to enhance American citizens’ potential. The military was shrunk down, and THAT took many opportunities for our poor and underprivileged to obtain job training and better their circumstances, both initially and for their futures. (For me, it was also FANTASTIC to start eating three meals a day, as much as I wanted each meal!! Not a small thing…) Much of our national debt came from our leaders manipulating the interest rates, instead of allowing the tides and consequences of a free market to dictate which business survive and which don’t. America’s leaders keep bailing out their incompetent buddies in the banking business and tell us it’s for everyone’s welfare. Nope. Putting the broken bank’s officials in a prison cell would put a quick stop to their greed-based stupidity, and THAT would work out best for everyone in the long run. America sends money to other countries every time they have an earthquake, tornado, war, etc., but NOBODY, as far as I am aware, bothers to help Americans when we face a challenge like this. We should be engaging in reworking our national infrastructure, revamping our military (and our prison system) and thereby broadening our job pool — that way we don’t have to worry about people trying to survive by merely flipping burgers!
I find Noir’s analysis very intentionally misleading. Comparing gun violence in 3rd world and drug trafficking countries is not analogous. Neither is suicides that don’t involve guns in a country that is the most oppressive dictatorship on the planet (North Korea), or a country that is simply very different culturally. In Japan, there is honorable suicide. And most of them are by the elderly. A poor attempt to minimize the true problems our nation faces IMO.
Collin,
Please stop saying, “gun violence”. Until people start using “knife violence” and “fist violence” to differentiate violence, it is a meaningless and disparaging term that we should leave to the freedom-haters.
Gun violence is in a league of it’s own Colin. People can run from and/or survive “knife/fist violence. How many mass deaths do you hear about from knives/fists? It is also oh so easy to pull a trigger compared to being arms distance away. You don’t need to be a freedom hater to see that, just rational.
Noir omits the fact that suicide is more acceptable in some countries.
There are three kinds of truth; facts, evidence, and statistics according to Benjamin Disreali. Colion Noir’s arguments range from comparisons of apples and potatoes to culturally insensitive assumptions
Noir uses per capita figures to argue that the United States, with a population topping 300 million, has less gun violence per capita than smaller Latin American nations being roiled by near civil war levels of violence and rampant criminal activity, conditions that he claims only occurs in 2% of American counties. This is a statistic that he fails to cite his source for, and for which I am unable to find corroboration. What he pointedly fails to do is to compare our gun death statistics to nations far more similar to our own in terms of education, employment, and overall development. We far exceed the annual death and violence figures in European nations and Canada, and certainly hold the world record for mass shooting juveniles.
As for his take on suicide, his arguments are ignorant of the long history suicide has played in the very nations he chooses to make his argument. Japan has a well known acceptance of suicide, even elevating it to a soldier’s ideal during the Second World War.
Even so, he is correct that the solution to gun violence lies in changing our own society and addressing matters of poverty and privilege. Gun ownership, in far too many cases, is the result of a fear of the very situations that need addressed. There is nothing harder to ride than a vicious cycle.
If you were to watch the video instead of relying solely on the article, he does state his sources. The first publicized study a few decades ago was conducted by Amsterdam because our confusion why there violence in the country when they decriminalized all vices. Their findings were, as a rate, they were one of the most violent countries. The US was thirteenth. Liberals want to use true population when discussing this subject which makes the problem appear worse than it is. This country has five percent of the world’s population only surpassed by China and India’s populations in the world’s largest populations.
List the nations that you believe Noir should have compared with the US.
Noir made the point that suicides, which are in fact non-criminal homicides, justifiable homicides, criminal homides are combiled to calculate the death toll in the US. Do you see a potential statistcal problem here? Do you agree that all US firearm related deaths should NOT be combined with criminal homicides? Do you will acknowlege Noir’s main point that there should be a more precise catagories of gun related deaths?
If you believe that “Japan has a well known acceptance of suicide” and therefore should be treated with cultural understanding then should the same should be held for the suicides throughout the world?
I suspect that the actual words you are attributing to Benjamin Disraeli are that there are “Lies, damned lies, and statistics.”
we should own all the guns!
I like that 💯