Beyond the convention, what can other countries teach us about gun violence?

When the mothers of victims of gun violence took the stage at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night, you could hear a pin drop. Regardless of party affiliation, it is impossible not to be in awe of the bravery it took for them to stand before such a large gathering and address a very loaded subject, but one that is on the minds of Americans and international viewers: guns.

{mosads}The convention takes place in the shadow of recent gun sprees from Orlando, Florida to Munich. Each killing, regardless of motive, adds another dot on the global map of anxiety over guns.

At times, it feels as though America is alone in this battle to stem the tide of gun deaths. But it is important to understand that America isn’t alone in our gun violence. Other nations struggle to contain gun violence and provide models of how to approach it.

When you look around the world, you find examples of where strict gun control works, with the caveat that laws don’t provide a 100 percent guarantee that a deranged killer might not commit an act of murder.

Germany has strict gun laws and prohibits the use of guns for civilian protection. (Those under the age of 25 have to go through extensive background checks and psychological tests to own a gun.) But sadly, Germany, like America, experienced the tragic loss of life last week at the hands of a young man who needed treatment, not trigger practice. Germany’s concern is that, despite its laws, the country has many guns in circulation inside the country, increasingly from foreigners who smuggle them in through porous borders. Many of the guns in Germany have been purchased illegally on the black market. Laws work — if you cn contain the access to weapons.

Japan is another country which recently experienced violence, although not by guns. (This week, a knife-wielding man stabbed 19 people to death at a care home for people with disabilities.) But if you look at gun deaths in Japan, the figures are startling: Last year, there were 13,000 gun deaths in America. In Japan, there was 1. One death by gun. And that is down from 2013, when there were 12 deaths by guns.

Japan has a lot of practice with a culture of gun-free living. Guns have been controlled in Japan since the late 16t-century and although hunting is allowed, it can only be done with training, testing, purchasing of a permit, payment of a high tax and exhaustive background checks. Police carry guns, but rarely use them. The notion of citizens protecting themselves with guns is, well, foreign.

Whereas the rate of homicides by firearms in the United States is among the highest in the world, Japan has the second lowest. That might explain why a record number of Americans are moving there. According to Japan’s Justice Ministry, at the end of 2015, there were nearly half a million U.S. citizens in Japan beyond the diplomatic and military community: 100,000 more than a decade ago.

What Germany and Japan teach us is that you need three things to lower gun deaths: good laws, low quantities of available weapons and a culture that encourages non-ownership of guns, beyond sport. That doesn’t sound hard.

At a time of global uncertainty, and American unease, we must look for answers on how to make America more secure and less loaded — with guns. If nothing else, the mothers were a breath of fresh air in a very hot week.

Sonenshine is a former undersecretary of State for public diplomacy and public affairs and a frequent contributor to The Hill.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.