Violence in the U.S., Violence in Spain

This morning I read an article in our local newspaper about a moderate increase in crime in the province of Malaga in 2016. This got me thinking about violence and how it compares between the US and Spain overall. It occurred to me that the simplest, and perhaps most indicative, comparison would be the homicide per 100,000 rate. So that's what I looked up. Well, as it turns out, I couldn't find definitive statistics for 2016, so I went back to 2014. In the US, the rate was 4.5/100,00, the lowest rate since 1963. (That's according to the FBI.) For Spain, the rate for 2014 was 0.7/100,000. That's a very big difference. And for some historical perspective, note that for the U.S., the 4.5 rate marks a historic low, while a comparable rate in Spain would be considered scandalously high! Spain is, indeed, a generally peaceful place. The Institute for Economics and Peace ranks Spain as the 25th most peaceful country in the world on its Global Peace Index for 2016, well ahead of the U.S., which ranks 103rd (out of 163 countries studied). It's strange, isn't it?, how so many American politicians love to refer to the U.S. as the "greatest country in the world!" It baffles the mind how a reasonable person could reconcile such a low standing with regards to violence with status as the world's "greatest country".

I do not believe Americans and Spaniards are particularly different with regards to violence generally. Our educational outcomes are similar, as are many other social, economic, and cultural dynamics. The obvious difference is that the U.S. is drowning in firearms. In terms of gun ownership, the U.S. is, yes, without a doubt, the greatest country in the world. No other country can remotely compete when it comes to our insaciable obsession with possessing instruments of death. The rate in the U.S. is estimated at 112 firearms per 100 inhabitants. Over one gun per person!  (And most of the people I know don't own any guns, so just imagine...) Spain ranks 59th in the world, with an estimated rate of 10.4 firearms per 100 inhabitants. In sum, gun ownership in the U.S. is approximately ten times what it is in Spain. No need to think this one too hard: the homicide rate in the U.S. is much higher than it is in Spain because in moments of rage it is so much more likely that an American can simply grab a gun and fire away. That is far less likely to happen here.
The relative rarity of gun violence in Spain has obvious benefits in terms of general well being. People have many worries, many troubles, but being randomly shot at is certainly not one of them. And imagine how this impacts policing! Spaniards do not fear the police, in large part because Spanish police are not trained to fear being shot at, and as a result their general demeanor is tremendously more relaxed than that of the typical American cop. And of course, there is the whole issue of the militarization of American policing, with the military style gear that results in great intimidation of the citizenry and constant aggressive posturing. The image above is simply not part of the Spanish landscape. It's a true shame Americans have accepted this.