Rising Gun Violence Prompts Multiple Nations to Issue Travel Advisories for Visiting the US

Amid the near daily and weekly gun violence in this country, a growing number of countries have issued travel advisories about visiting the United States.

A report from Yahoo news, the contents of which were independently confirmed by the fact-checking site Verify, says about seven countries currently have advisories in place for their citizens who are considering visiting the U.S.

Two of the countries that fall into this category are among the United States’ most important allies: Canada and the United Kingdom. Additional countries that have advisories of one form or another include Australia, New Zealand, Venezuela, and Uruguay.

In several cases, the countries have “urged precaution” for travelers when visiting the United States and often link such warnings to gun violence.

Gun-related deaths in the country make news on a near daily basis. In just the first weekend of May, eight people were killed in a Dallas-area mall and seven others were wounded. One weekend before, in Oklahoma, a man shot and killed his wife, her three children, and and two of their friends. Two days before that, a man shot and killed five neighbors, including a boy who was just nine-years old, simply because the family had asked him to stop firing rounds in the air while their baby was trying to sleep.

These shootings followed weeks of still more random gun violence including a young boy was shot in the head and arm after simply ringing the doorbell of the wrong home, where he thought he was supposed to pick up his siblings. And a 20-year-old college student was shot and killed after her friends turned into the wrong driveway in rural upstate New York, when looking for a friend’s home.

The website Gun Violence Archive shows that there have been more than 200 mass shootings in the United States during just the first few months of 2023. A mass shooting is defined as an incident in which four or more people are injured or killed, not including the perpetrator. Each year since 2018, the number of mass shootings in this country has increased by nearly 100 annually. For each of the past three years, there have been about two shootings each day.

Yahoo also reported that the U.S. is the only nation in the world in which there are more guns than people. There’s 120 guns to 100 people, according to the Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey.

“If people perceive they are not safe in the U.S. they will not visit,” Simon Hudson, a professor of tourism at the University of South Carolina, told Yahoo News. According to the 2022 Global Peace Index, which measures the peacefulness of countries, the U.S. lands at 129th out of 163 countries around the world.

Here’s a closer look at the U.S. travel advisories that have been issued by country:

Canada
Canada’s advice for travel to the United States currently outlines the following: “The rate of firearm possession in the US is high. It’s legal in many states for US citizens to openly carry firearms in public. Incidences of mass shootings occur, resulting most often in casualties. Although tourists are rarely involved, there is a risk of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

United Kingdom
The UK’s foreign travel advice for the United States currently says: “Violent crime, including gun crime, rarely involves tourists, but you should take care when traveling in unfamiliar areas. Avoid walking through less travelled areas alone, especially at night. You can find public advisories and information about recent incidents on the websites of local law enforcement authorities.”

New Zealand
New Zealand has raised its alert for the United States to a level 2, which means individuals visiting this country should use increased caution. The country’s advisory goes on to state that: “the United States remains a target of terrorist interest, both from international terror groups and from domestic-based extremists.”

Australia
Australia also warns its citizens about gun violence in the U.S. stating: “Violent crime is more common than in Australia. Gun crime is also prevalent. If you live in the US, learn and practice active shooter drills.”

Venezuela
In the case of Venezuela, the warning has been in place since 2019 and was triggered by what that country described as “a “proliferation of acts of violence and indiscriminate hate crimes.”

Uruguay
Uruguay’s government advises its citizens about traveling to the U.S. “in the face of growing indiscriminate violence, mostly due to hate crimes, including racism and discrimination.”

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