Stephan:   Several readers wrote me asking for a comparison of the gun laws in the U.S. compared to other developed nations. That seemed an important and sensible question to me so I went looking for actual data. Here's what I found. I don't know how else to say this we are a dangerous homicidal nation -- look at the chart below - 92 a day, 644 a week, 33,000 a year. We are also the most heavily armed nation in the developed world; and there is a notable correlation between guns being or not being present in a house and the prevalence of gun death and wounds. On the basis of data increasing arms and permitting people to routinely walk around armed will cause an increase in gun death and injuries. Here is what the American Journal of Epidemiology has to say about this: "Data from a US mortality follow-back survey were analyzed to determine whether having a firearm in the home increases the risk of a violent death in the home and whether risk varies by storage practice, type of gun, or number of guns in the home. Those persons with guns in the home were at greater risk than those without guns in the home of dying from a homicide in the home (adjusted odds ratio = 1.9, 95% confidence interval: 1.1, 3.4). They were also at greater risk of dying from a firearm homicide, but risk varied by age and whether the person was living with others at the time of death. The risk of dying from a suicide in the home was greater for males in homes with guns than for males without guns in the home (adjusted odds ratio = 10.4, 95% confidence interval: 5.8, 18.9). Persons with guns in the home were also more likely to have died from suicide committed with a firearm than from one committed by using a different method (adjusted odds ratio = 31.1, 95% confidence interval: 19.5, 49.6). Results show that regardless of storage practice, type of gun, or number of firearms in the home, having a gun in the home was associated with an increased risk of firearm homicide and firearm suicide in the home. "