The American Journal of Medicine published a study concering gun ownership and public safety and it looks as if it debunks many of the propagandistic misnomers we've receive from pro-gun advocates within the US.
Generally speaking, developed countries with the most gun ownership are far less safer than those with the least amount of ownership within the developed countries -- South Africa being the exception. Regarding gun ownership and crime, they found that there was no significant correlation between guns per capita per country and the decreased crime rate, invalidating the claim that more guns translates into less crime. Conversely, the authors also stated that "high crime rates may instigate widespread anxiety and fear, thereby motivating people to arm themselves and give rise to increased gun ownership, which, in turn, increases availability. The resulting vicious cycle could, bit-by-bit, lead to the polarized status that is now the case with the US. Regardless of exact cause and effect, however, the current study debunks the widely quoted hypothesis purporting to show that countries with the higher gun ownership are safer than those with low gun ownership"
On the issue of mental illness and gun related deaths, they've determined that there does exist a correlation between the two but it was of borderline significance.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/18/gun-ownership-gun-deaths-study
Study: http://www.amjmed.com/webfiles/images/journals/ajm/AJM12080.pdf
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