Norwegian police only used their guns twice last year — and they missed both times

Norwegian police only used their guns twice in 2014, and both times they missed the suspect they were shooting at, The Washington Post reports. It was the 10th time in 12 years that not a single person was killed in Norway by police gunfire.

While gun ownership is common in the Scandinavian nation, Norwegian cops rarely carry firearms on their person. Even in 2011, when terrorist Anders Behring Breivik murdered 69 at a youth camp, police only fired their guns once, injuring one — and Breivik himself surrendered to the police without them firing their weapons.

The comparison to the United States is stark, even considering the differences in population — 318 million, as compared to Norway's five million. As of July 7, 585 individuals have been killed by police in the United States since the start of 2015, according to numbers kept by the watchdog organization Killed By Police. The Washington Post's count is currently 487.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up