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Graphic Truth: The North American gun divide
Gun ownership rates have been rising in both the US and Canada, despite the two countries having drastically different firearms regulations. In the US, there are some federal protections, such as mandatory background checks for firearm purchases from licensed dealers, and restrictions on machine gun and suppressor ownership, as well as rules barring convicted felons and the mentally ill from owning guns. But the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms, coupled with lax gun laws in some states, and a cultural emphasis on personal protection, has enabled gun ownership to become widespread.
In Canada, however, guns are primarily viewed as tools for hunting or for sport, and ownership is subject to strict regulations, including certified coursework and background checks. Moreover, nearly 200 types of assault-style firearms are banned. As a result, the US far surpasses Canada in personal firearm ownership. There are 120 guns per 100 people in the US – yes, more than one per person – compared to 35 per 100 people in Canada.
But guns in the two countries are also deeply connected. Relaxed restrictions on buying firearms in many states along the US-Canada border have fueled a surge in illegal gun smuggling into Canada. From 2022-24, Canadian border security saw a 44% increase in firearms illegally entering from the US. The issue is under renewed scrutiny as the Trump administration imposes tariffs on Canada, pressuring it to curb fentanyl trafficking. Many Canadians argue that the illegal flow of US firearms poses an equally serious threat to public safety.
The U.S. Supreme Court is seen in Washington, U.S., June 27, 2024.
Please approach the bench! What’s on the Supreme Court's docket this season?
On Monday, the US Supreme Court took the bench again for a session where it will hear 40 cases, including some potentially landmark rulings on a Tennessee law outlawing hormone treatments for transgender minors; the Biden administration’s effort to ban “ghost guns,” which are assembled from kits purchased untraceably over the internet; and an Oklahoma capital punishment case where the state attorneys general have concluded the prosecutors hid evidence that could have led to an acquittal. All of these speak to culture war issues over which Americans are deeply divided – and at a time when faith in the Supreme Court is at its lowest.
What’s not on the docket? A case that could provide an answer on whether state abortion bans may conflict with federal law. The court decided not to rule on a case in Texas where the Biden administration invoked the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which requires federally funded hospitals to provide stabilizing care to emergency room patients regardless of their ability to pay. The administration argues this act preempts more restrictive state regulations on providing emergency abortion services.
The decision not to take up the case leaves the Texas court’s decision stopping the federal government from enforcing its mandate on emergency abortions in the state in place. It has been criticized by abortion-rights activists and physicians but also by Justices Samuel Alito and Ketanji Brown Jackson, two judges on opposite ends of the political spectrum.
And the election looms. Although the court’s caseload features fewer blockbuster cases than last year, when it ruled on presidential immunity, it does have one potentially huge looming responsibility: to potentially shape the outcome of the US election. Before the vote, SCOTUS could be asked to resolve last-minute disputes over ballot access or vote-counting rules. And after Nov. 5, it could be called upon to decide a winner if there is a serious dispute over the results.
Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, and his wife Melissa Cohen Biden and U.S. first lady Jill Biden leave the federal court after the jury finds him guilty on all three counts in his trial on criminal gun charges, in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., June 11, 2024.
Hunter Biden convicted in gun trial
Hunter Biden was convicted on Tuesday of three felony charges related to a 2018 gun purchase, capping a high-profile trial that could impact the 2024 presidential election.
A federal jury found President Joe Biden’s son guilty of making false statements on paperwork to acquire a handgun while struggling with drug addiction and of illegal possession of a firearm. The verdict followed testimony from several of Hunter’s romantic partners and his daughter Naomi about his substance abuse issues around the time of the purchase.
With a potential appeal looming, Hunter’s sentencing hearing is likely to take place in about four months. He could face up to 25 years in jail on these charges, though legal experts think it’s unlikely he will face more than a few months, if any. He is also set for trial in September on separate tax evasion charges.
Republicans have signaled they will seize on the conviction to portray the Bidens as corrupt, though the president has pledged to let the judicial process play out and ruled out pardoning his son. But the verdict also provides Democrats a counterpoint to Republican claims of a politically motivated Justice Department: A Trump-appointed prosecutor charged Hunter.
Gang member in carrying gun in Haiti
The very bad thing that is going from Florida to Haiti
As Haiti sinks ever deeper into a maelstrom of gang violence, state failure, and vigilantism, US authorities are trying to cut off one big aggravating factor: US guns.
Agents of the DHS are targeting port facilities in South Florida, where traffickers take advantage of loopholes in US customs rules that all allow them to hide powerful weapons in containers of commercial goods or humanitarian aid.
Once in Haiti, smugglers find a thriving market – a UN report from 2023 says a pistol purchased for $400-500 at a US gun show can fetch as much as $10,000 on the streets of Port-au-Prince. Higher-powered rifles favored by gangs cost even more.
This is part of a wider problem of the so-called “iron river” of weapons flowing southward from US states with lax gun laws into the hands of Latin American criminals. According to Washington, half of all “crime guns” in the region come from the US, and the figure is as high as 80% in the Caribbean.
Last month, a US judge ruled that Mexico, for example, could proceed with a lawsuit against Arizona-based gun dealers, which accuses them of trafficking weapons to Mexican drug cartels. If and when Haiti is ever in a condition to press similar charges, the beleaguered nation may have quite a case of its own.
Anti-gun protestor.
Hard Numbers: Mexico takes on US gunmakers, NATO shells out to Ukraine, Putin critic enters Russia’s presidential race, EU sanctions firms linked to Sudan violence
1.2 billion: On Tuesday, NATO announced a deal worth $1.2 billion to buy artillery shells for Ukraine. It’s not clear how much the new ammo will really narrow the margin in a war in which, according to EU estimates, Ukraine has been able to fire just one-third the number of artillery shells that Russia continues to launch into Ukraine.
100,000: Russian politician Boris Nadezhdin, who demands an end to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, got the 100,000 signatures needed to register as a candidate to take on Vladimir Putin in Russia’s March 17 presidential election. Will he be allowed to run? Will he be allowed to speak?
6: The European Council has imposed sanctions on six companies accused of financing and arming the warring Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The US issued similar sanctions last June.
US midterms: Biden, Trump, or abortion/guns/race?
US midterm elections have traditionally been a referendum on the president, now Joe Biden. That's one option, Ian Bremmer explains in a special episode of GZERO World in front of a live studio audience.
Yet, even Biden wants the vote to be all about his predecessor, Donald Trump, who still dominates the GOP. Option No. 2.
There's a third option: culture wars. Yes, things like abortion rights or CRT.
Whatever the midterms are all about this time around, one thing is clear: the result will have global ripple effects. On US relations with Russia, China, and American democracy itself.
Watch the GZERO World episode: US votes as democracy is under attack
Podcast: An active US Supreme Court overturns "settled law" on abortion. What's next?
Listen: Americans now live in a much more divided country — as has been on full display after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and removed the constitutional right to an abortion, while the rest of the world - including largely Catholic countries in Latin America and Europe - is moving in the opposite direction. But the SCOTUS ruling is already making waves around the world.
On the GZERO World podcast, Ian Bremmer speaks to New York Times columnist and senior research fellow at Yale Law School, Emily Bazelon, who knows a thing or two about abortion law.
Hours after the bombshell ruling dropped on June 24, Bazelon analyzed what abortion rights will soon look like across different US states; why SCOTUS upheld the constitutional right to carry guns but not to get an abortion; the next steps by the Biden administration and Congress; and why the battle over abortion pills is likely headed to the same court that got rid of Roe.
Subscribe to the GZERO World Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.