Two West Virginia National Guard members were shot on the afternoon of November 26 just blocks away from the White House, in what Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser called a targeted attack. Both are hospitalized in critical condition, according to Bowser and FBI Director Kash Patel.
The shooting came the day before Thanksgiving, amid ongoing debate over the deployment of National Guard troops in the nation’s capital and other cities. Authorities identified the suspect as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who arrived in the United States in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome.
So far in 2025 there have been 453 mass shootings in the US alone. As the nation grapples with this ongoing crisis, it’s worth looking beyond its borders to see how other countries regulate firearms and what impact those regulations have on public safety.
Read on to learn more about gun policies, mass shootings, and their relationships in countries around the world.