Richard Harwood

While the United States has similar crime rates to those of other developed nations, it has much higher incidents of homicide. More than twenty thousand people are murdered in the United States every year. In the following viewpoint, Richard Harwood examines why the United States faces such an epidemic of violence. While the ultimate reasons for America’s high levels of violence remain a mystery, an obvious contributing factor in his view is the 50 to 70 million handguns found in the United States—a much higher number than in other countries.The easy availability of handguns may help escalate disputes and confrontations into fatal incidents. Richard Harwood is a columnist for the Washington Post newspaper.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. How many people have been murdered in the United States...