August 28, 2007
political violence linked to gun ownership
Well, surprise, surprise. Reuters reports today on the Small Arms Survey by Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International Studies, which found that some of the worlds most violent hot-spots have the lowest per-capita ownership of firearms. At the bottom of the list are nations like Nigeria (1 per 100 people). Totalitarian Communist regimes like China had only 3 per 100 people.
But the civilized nations of Europe are packing heat (30-60 per 100). The US has 90 firearms per 100 people.
Small Arms Survey director Keith Krause says, "Firearms are very unevenly distributed around the world. The image we have of certain regions such as Africa or Latin America being awash with weapons -- these images are certainly misleading."
Could it be the 1-3 guns per 100 people in those poorer, more violent countries corresponds to the percentage of people in those nations who will use firearms without moral compunction? What would happen if the percentage of firearms were large enough that large numbers of decent, law-abiding people owned a weapon?
Source: Reuters
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