The United States stands out among developed nations in both the high number of guns it has in circulation and the number of its people that are killed in gun-related homicides each year. The number of firearms in circulation in the United States has increased from about 54 million in 1950 to 192 million in 1998, according to U.S.News & World Report. In 1996, almost 36,000 Americans were killed with firearms in homicides, accidents, and suicides. A 1997 study published in the Journal of American History stated that the number of people in Western Europe killed with guns in a year is less than the number of Americans killed in a week.

Some people believe that the prevalence of guns in America and America’s high numbers of gun fatalities are directly related, and ascribe the comparatively low rates of violence in countries in Europe and...