Spencer Platt/Getty Images(NEW YORK This report is a part of "Rethinking Gun Violence," an ABC News series examining the level of gun violence in the U.S.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images(NEW YORK This report is a part of "Rethinking Gun Violence," an ABC News series examining the level of gun violence in the U.S.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images(NEW YORK This report is a part of "Rethinking Gun Violence," an ABC News series examining the level of gun violence in the U.S. and what can be done about it. The United States has a gun violence epidemic, and it's not one shared by its peers. The nation that by one estimate has more guns than people has the highest rate of firearm deaths compared with other high-income countries. Mass shootings, an all-too-common occurrence in the U.S., are also exceedingly rare in peer countries where governments have often been quick to pass gun reform in the wake of such tragedies. "Compared to the other peer countries, basically what we have is lots and lots of guns, particularly handguns, and we have by far the weakest gun laws. Not surprisingly, we have huge gun problems," David Hemenway, director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center, told ABC News. "I think if we had basically the gun laws of any other developed country, we