Iceland has a population of roughly 330,000 — with 90,000 residents who own guns. [1]
That’s more than one-third of the population that owns a firearm, according to GunPolicy.org,[2] a website run by the University of Sydney that compiles data from around the world.
READ MORE: U.S. teens share what they’ll miss with #IfIDieInASchoolShooting[3]
According to 2015 research[4] from the Flemish Peace Institute, the country has one of the highest rates of household gun ownership in Europe.
But it hasn’t had a murder caused by shooting since 2007.
So what makes it different than the United States?
According to a 2017 Pew Research Institute survey, three-in-10 U.S. adults own a gun, and another 11 per cent live with someone who does.
WATCH: Gun violence in America by the numbers
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In 2018 alone, the Gun Violence Archive[5] reports firearms have caused 5,743 deaths in the U.S.
A recent NBC News article[6] took a look at the two countries — their mutual fondness of guns, but very different ways of handling the weapons.
In an interview with the news network, one gunsmith from Iceland defended guns as being the problem.
READ MORE: Australia banned semi-automatic weapons after a mass murder[7]
“There’s nothing wrong with the gun,” said Jóhann Vilhjálmsson. “The gun kills nothing, you know? It’s the person who is holding onto the gun.”
It’s an argument similar to one that gun owners in the U.S., and especially the National Rifle Association, often make.
Iceland training for gun owners
But perhaps the difference lies in how residents acquire a gun. In the U.S., a firearm can be bought at a store within minutes.
