I don't think the high crime rates in the US have much to do with having a big population. Because if that were true, then people in Japan would be getting shot all the time, but they aren't, and Japan has over 125 Million people squashed into a really small country.
The U.S. rate for gun deaths in 1994 was 14.24 per 100,000 people.
Japan had a rate of .05 per 100,000.
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