Global Impact of Gun Violence “The death toll from small arms dwarfs that of all other weapons systems — and in most years greatly exceeds the toll of the atomic bombs that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In terms of the carnage they cause, small arms, indeed, could well be described as ‘weapons of mass destruction’.” — Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General, March 20001 Small arms, commonly known as firearms or guns,2 are used to kill as many as 1,000 people each day.3 4 Millions more are wounded, or their lives upended when access to development aid, markets, health, education and human rights is disrupted by people with guns.5 There are more than 875 million firearms in the world, 75 per cent of them in the hands of civilians.6 Guns outnumber passenger vehicles by 253 million, or 29 per cent.7 Each year about eight million new small arms, plus 10 to 15 billion rounds of ammunition are manufactured — enough bullets to shoot every person in the world not once, but twice.8 9 10 The authorised international trade in small arms and ammunition exceeds US$7.1 billion each year.11 GunPolicy.org publishes evidence from hundreds of jurisdictions, allowing country-by-country comparisons of armed violence and firearm regulation around the world. These pages confirm that many, and probably most small arms are not misused, and that legitimate reasons exist for gun ownership. They also document the injury, death and suffering of gun violence, and show how all states monitor and control firearms to protect the citizen's right to safety, public health and human security. For more information on armed violence and gun control in each country and territory, please use the search tools in the left hand column.