In America, about 9,000 people a year are killed by guns.
In the United Kingdom the number is about 40.
In the United States, every year about 300,000 violent crimes are committed with guns.
In Japan, in 2008 there were 11 homicides by gun. Eleven.
In America the number was 11,000. Eleven thousand.
Here's a chart:
Gun deaths per 100,000 population (for the year indicated):
| Homicide | Suicide | Other (inc Accident) | |
| USA (2001) | 3.98 | 5.92 | 0.36 |
| Italy (1997) | 0.81 | 1.1 | 0.07 |
| Switzerland (1998) | 0.50 | 5.8 | 0.10 |
| Canada (2002) | 0.4 | 2.0 | 0.04 |
| Finland (2003) | 0.35 | 4.45 | 0.10 |
| Australia (2001) | 0.24 | 1.34 | 0.10 |
| France (2001) | 0.21 | 3.4 | 0.49 |
| England/Wales (2002) | 0.15 | 0.2 | 0.03 |
| Scotland (2002) | 0.06 | 0.2 | 0.02 |
| Japan (2002) | 0.02 | 0.04 | 0 |
In the midst of this crappy weekend, we simply don't understand how people can continue to say gun control is not the answer. People with guns sometimes shoot other people. People with semi-automatic military rifles (apparently a legal and desirable accessory in a suburban connecticut household) sometimes shoot a lot of people. People without guns do not accidentally shoot themselves or other people. People in affluent suburbs do not need guns. If you're that paranoid about escapees from the local prison, build yourself one of those safe rooms inside your house.
We'd meant to write about fermented carrots and cooperative housing today, but bigger things loom. The Burmese Prince, who can hardly believe he lives in a country where "school shooting" is a normal part of the vocabulary, is just about ready to catch the next ship home.
Perhaps if nothing else we have another reason not to send our kid to school. But mostly this weekend we feel like we have a whole lot of nothing.