Chrissy Teigen Just Made A Good Point About The Sad State Of Gun Violence In America

Chrissy Teigen Just Made A Good Point About The Sad State Of Gun Violence In America

As a shooting unfolded near Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, on Wednesday, supermodel Chrissy Teigen took to Twitter to make a good point about gun violence in the United States.

Teigen, who is known for her unapologetic, unfiltered tweets, noted active shooting situations seem to be more common in America than Canada:

When people didn't seem to grasp Teigen's commentary, she apologized that some people "don't understand," but didn't shy away from the comments:

Teigen again tried to clarify her comments after Twitter users accused her of criticizing Canada:

Teigen has a point. A chart published by The Washington Post in 2012 shows that the U.S. "has the highest gun ownership rate in the world and the highest per capita rate of firearm-related murders of all developed countries."

NPR reported on a study looking at guns, violence and mental health in Sept. 2013:

The United States had the highest rate of civilian gun ownership, at almost 90 guns per 100 people. The next two countries on the list were Switzerland and Finland, with about 45 guns per 100 people. Japan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom had the lowest gun numbers, ranging from less than one gun per 100 in Japan to six in the U.K.

The countries with more civilian guns also had the highest rates of firearms deaths, with the United States leading the list at 10 deaths per 100,000, based on an international mortality database.

Gun ownership was strongly associated with firearms deaths. The only outlier was South Africa, which had 13 guns per 100 people, but a firearms death rate almost as high as in the U.S.

And yet, U.S. lawmakers remain unwilling to take action on gun control. After the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children and six educators were killed, the debate over gun control was reignited. But in the years since the shooting, Congress has passed zero gun control laws.

President Barack Obama made a point similar to Teigen's after a school shooting in June 2014, slamming members of Congress for not taking action on gun control.

"We're the only developed country on earth where this happens," Obama said. "And it happens now once a week. And it's a one-day story. There's no place else like this."

But Teigen and Obama aren't the only ones who recognize gun violence in the U.S. is a problem. In the 2014 National Poll on Children's Health, school violence and gun-related injuries were two of the top ten biggest health concerns adults had for their children.

Other celebrities have jumped into the conversation, too. In June, "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart ripped the American public's apathy toward mass shootings.

"It's like America has a dog that's always shitting inside the house, and we solved the problem by getting a brown rug," Stewart said.

For more information on the shooting in Canada, visit The WorldPost.

Before You Go

US-MET MUSEUM-COSTUME INSTITUTE-BENEFIT

Chrissy Teigen

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot