Healthline: Daniel J. Flannery, the Semi J. and Ruth W. Begun Professor and director of the Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education, noted that in 2018, the U.S. was ranked as having the 20th-highest firearms death rate in the world.
“The international comparison studies that have been done show that after controlling for things like rates of mental illness, demographics (poverty rates), levels of education, and money spent on the mental health and education, the only thing that makes the U.S. stand out with its extremely high rates of homicide is the sheer number of firearms available,” he said.