1. In 2004, Congress decided to allow assault weapons back into circulation after they were banned in 1994. Former president Bill Clinton signed a crime related bill back in 1994 banning 19 different types of semi-automatic firearms. Within those 10 years, crime rate held steady, yet was not solely accredited to the use of assault-style guns. This ban was one of the larger reasons that the Democratic party split, possibly causing them to lose power to the Republicans, who unanimously voted against the ban.

2. 85% of Americans support expanded background checks- both  Democrats and Republicans. Sandy Hook, The Pulse Nightclub, and the Las Vegas Shooting may all be reasons that some of the white house representatives are joining hands in hopes for expanded background checks when purchasing an assault rifle. 88% of Democrats are in favor of this change, with 79% of Republicans following in their footsteps. This bipartisan effort is also in support of laws to prevent the mentally ill from purchasing guns and the federal government creating a database in which the guns can be tracked after their purchase.

3. Out of 195 countries in the world with gun deaths, the US ranks 31st. The United States stands high on the list of first world countries because of its socioeconomic standpoint. When in line with other first-world countries, the United States 373,000 more gun-related deaths per year. The Institute for Health Merits and Evaluation calculated that from our standpoint, the US should only have 79,000 gun related homicides per year.

4. There have been more than 1,600 mass shootings since Sandy Hook. In order for a shooting to be considered a mass shooting there needs to be at least four people injured. This had happened more than 1,600 times since December of 2012. Those stats alone equate to about 267 mass shootings every year.

5. The US only has 4.4% of the world’s population, yet owns almost half of the world’s guns. A total of 325.7 million people live in the United States alone, yet out of the 7.4 billion on the entire planet, the US only makes up less than 5% of its population. Even with its small population, the residents of the United States own 44% of the entire world’s civilian-owned guns.