Why Do European Nations Have Many Fewer Deaths From Heart Disease?
The answer to that question is NOTHING IS WRONG WITH US. In fact, the reason we have so many deaths from heart disease is that our population is about .3.35 times larger than Germany, the largest European nation. The actual RATE of deaths from heart disease is nearly identical. Germany has 106.1 deaths per 100k population and the US has 106.5 deaths per 100k population. Both healthcare systems are likely doing a good job.
However, I was able to make the US look really bad by only citing raw numbers, not the population adjusted rate. Of course, any researcher who tried to use this argument would be laughed out of the room and likely out of a job. Raw numbers mean absolutely nothing. When comparing anything between two nations, you have to adjust for population differences.
Unfortunately, when gun control groups and politicians use public mass shootings to argue for gun control, they NEVER compare the population adjusted rates. Are you will to see what happens when you do compare population adjusted numbers? Are you willing to examine the notion that these tragic incidents only happen here?
Does The US Really Lead the World In Mass Shootings?
What Happens When You Actually Check?
Shouldn't we be doing at least as well as they are in Europe. Why did the US have 293,833 deaths from heart disease while the worst European nation had only 87,108? That's 3.35 times higher! We need socialized medicine. What is wrong with us?
The answer to that question is NOTHING IS WRONG WITH US. In fact, the reason we have so many deaths from heart disease is that our population is about .3.35 times larger than Germany, the largest European nation. The actual RATE of deaths from heart disease is nearly identical. Germany has 106.1 deaths per 100k population and the US has 106.5 deaths per 100k population. Both healthcare systems are likely doing a good job.
However, I was able to make the US look really bad by only citing raw numbers, not the population adjusted rate. Of course, any researcher who tried to use this argument would be laughed out of the room and likely out of a job. Raw numbers mean absolutely nothing. When comparing anything between two nations, you have to adjust for population differences.
Unfortunately, when gun control groups and politicians use public mass shootings to argue for gun control, they NEVER compare the population adjusted rates. Are you will to see what happens when you do compare population adjusted numbers? Are you willing to examine the notion that these tragic incidents only happen here?
Does The US Really Lead the World In Mass Shootings?
What Happens When You Actually Check?
What Happens When You Adjust For Population,
Instead Of Just Using Raw Numbers?
We will look at rates of mass shootings adjusted for population in a moment. First, let's disprove the notion that mass shootings "only happen here". Pres. Obama famously said that "This doesn't happen anywhere else." There is only one problem with that statement. IT IS COMPLETELY FALSE.
The worst public mass shootings ranked beginning with the worst death tolls are as follows (US incidents in bold):
1) Gamboru and Ngala in Borno State, Nigeria, May 5 and 6, 2014: 300 dead
2) Borno massacre, in Konduga, Borno State, on May 7, 2014: 200 dead
3) Mumbai, India, November 26th to 29th, 2008: 164 dead
4) Peshawar, Pakistan, December 16, 2014: 148 dead
5) University College Campus of Garissa, in northeastern Kenya, April 2, 2015: 147 dead
6) Paris, France, November 14, 2015: 130 dead***
7) Konduga, Borno State, Nigeria on February 14, 2014: 121 dead
8) Izghe, Borno State, Nigeria, February 15, 2014: 106 dead
9) Manili, Philippines, June 19, 1971: 70 dead
10) Utoya, Norway, July 22, 2011: 67 dead from gunfire
11) Nairobi, Kenya, September 21, 2013: 63 dead
12) Yobe State, Nigeria, February 25, 2014: 59 dead
13) Maguindanao, Mindanao, Philippines, November 23, 2009: 57 dead
14) Las Vegas, Nevada USA, October 1, 2017: 57 dead (as of this writing)
15) Ipil, Philippines, April 3, 1995: 53 dead
16) Gujba, Yobe State, Nigeria, September 29, 2013: 50 dead
17) Orlando, Florida, USA, June 12, 2016: 49 dead
18) Karachi, Pakistan, May 13, 2015: 45 dead
19) Mamudo, Yobe State, Nigeria, July 6, 2013: 42 dead
20) Parade Lane, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, December 4, 2009: 40 dead
21) Istanbul, Turkey, January 1, 2017: 39 dead
22) Sousse, Tunisia, June 26, 2015: 39 dead
23) Kobin, Nigeria, June 23, 2014: 38 dead
24) Kaduna State, Nigeria, June 23, 2014: 38 dead
25) Chittisinghpura, India, March 18, 2000: 36 dead
So, out of the 25 worst public mass shootings is modern history, only 2 took place in the US. Many are terrorist attacks - but so was at least one of the two US incidents. So much for "these things only happen here".
The standard comeback to stats like those above is to compare the US to Europe. Fine, let's do that - but let's do it right. Anyone who truly wants to seek the truth will immediately admit that to do a valid comparison the vast differences in population must be taken into account. After all the US population is 360 million plus. France? 67 million. The UK? 66 million. Norway? 5.3 million.
The standard comeback to stats like those above is to compare the US to Europe. Fine, let's do that - but let's do it right. Anyone who truly wants to seek the truth will immediately admit that to do a valid comparison the vast differences in population must be taken into account. After all the US population is 360 million plus. France? 67 million. The UK? 66 million. Norway? 5.3 million.
It should be clear to any thinking person that comparing the raw numbers of any negative incident would result in the US looking worse. After all, the US has many times the population of any European nation. So, what happens when the public mass shooting data is adjusted for population differences?
What are your chances of dying in a mass shooting here in "gun happy America"? Less than one in 10 million - less than half that in Norway. You are more likely to die in a public mass shooting in 10 European nations than in the USA. All of these nations have strict gun control.
Next, let's look at the frequency of mass shootings. Adjusted for population, how many mass shooting incidents happen in each nation?
Next, let's look at the frequency of mass shootings. Adjusted for population, how many mass shooting incidents happen in each nation?
So the USA has a lower rate of mass shootings than 11 European nations.
So, when we compare the US with European nations, and adjust for population, the US is not even in the top ten of either the rate of occurrence or the chances of being killed! Of course, it goes without saying that these nations all have much stricter gun control than the US.
So, when we compare the US with European nations, and adjust for population, the US is not even in the top ten of either the rate of occurrence or the chances of being killed! Of course, it goes without saying that these nations all have much stricter gun control than the US.
OK, how do things look if we compare the US and the EU? After all, the two entities are much closer in population.
First the US stats:
Here's the EU stats and the comparative totals:
So, looking at the number of fatalities, the EU leads 297 to 199 - however a great deal of this is explained by larger EU population. Looking at the the rate of fatalities, the US is only slightly higher than the EU. Looking at non-fatal injuries, the reverse is true. The EU actually leads the US by nearly 50%. In short, Europe, the place gun control advocates constantly point to as a shining example of gun control success, is certainly no better than the US and may actually be slightly worse.
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