Gun control advocates cite Australia as a model for how the United States can address gun violence. But for four reasons, the countries are not comparable.

“To save the greatest number of lives,” write several Guardian reporters in a long, data-heavy article, “it’s the everyday violence – not just the mass shootings – that we need to prevent.”

For starters, “America’s gun problem is dramatically larger in scale than Australia’s was”:

In the US, more than 10,000 Americans will likely be killed in gun murders this year. Another 20,000 will likely be lost to gun suicide. The total number of gun deaths and violent injuries will…