Check out this link by the National Rifle Association:
http://www.nraila.org/Issues/FactSheets/Read.aspx?ID=78
The first 3 paragraphs:
A recent report for Congress notes, "All countries have some form of
firearms regulation, ranging from the very strictly regulated countries
like Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Sweden to
the less stringently controlled uses in the jurisdictions of Mexico
and Switzerland, where the right to bear arms continues as a part of
the national heritage up to the present time." However, "From available
statistics, among (the 27) countries surveyed, it is difficult to find
a correlation between the existence of strict firearms regulations and
a lower incidence of gun-related crimes. . . . (I)n Canada a dramatic
increase in the percentage of handguns used in all homicides was
reported during a period in which handguns were most strictly
regulated. And in strictly regulated Germany, gun-related crime is much
higher than in countries such as Switzerland and Israel, that have
simpler and/or less restrictive legislation." (Library of Congress,
"Firearms Regulations in Various Foreign Countries, May 1998.")
Many foreign countries have less restrictive firearms laws, and lower
crime rates, than parts of the U.S. that have more restrictions. And
many have low crime rates, despite having very different firearms laws.
Switzerland and Japan "stand out as intriguing models. . . . (T)hey
have crime rates that are among the lowest in the industrialized world,
and yet they have diametrically opposite gun policies." (Nicholas D.
Kristof, "One Nation Bars, The Other Requires," New York Times,
3/10/96.) Swiss citizens are issued fully-automatic rifles to keep at
home for national defense purposes, yet "abuse of military weapons is
rare." The Swiss own two million firearms, including handguns and semi-
automatic rifles, they shoot about 60 million rounds of ammunition per
year, and "the rate of violent gun abuse is low." (Stephen P. Halbrook,
Target Switzerland; Library of Congress, pp. 183-184.) In Japan,
rifles and handguns are prohibited; shotguns are very strictly
regulated. Japan`s Olympic shooters have had to practice out of the
country because of their country`s gun laws. Yet, crime has been rising
for about the last 15 years and the number of shooting crimes more
than doubled between 1997-1998. Organized crime is on the rise and 12
people were killed and 5,500 injured in a nerve gas attack in a
Japanese subway system in 1995. (Kristof, "Family and Peer Pressure
Help Keep Crime Levels down in Japan," New York Times, 5/14/95.) Mostly
without firearms, Japan`s suicide rate is at a record high, about 90
per day. (Stephanie Strom, "In Japan, Mired in Recession, Suicides
Soar," New York Times, p. 1, 7/15/99.)
U.S. crime trends have been better than those in countries with
restrictive firearms laws. Since 1991, with what HCI calls "weak gun
laws" (Sarah Brady, "Our Country`s Claim to Shame," 5/5/97), the number
of privately owned firearms has risen by perhaps 50 million. Americans
bought 37 million new firearms in the 1993-1999 time frame alone.
(BATF, Crime Gun Trace Reports, 1999, National Report, 11/00.)
Meanwhile, America`s violent crime rate has decreased every year and is
now at a 23- year low (FBI). In addition to Japan, other restrictive
countries have experienced increases in crime:
