Despite being home to less than 5% of the world's population, the residents of the United States of America possess more than 30% of the world's firearms. A recent study by the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International Studies showed that with about 90 guns to every 100 people, the U.S. was the world's leader in firearm possession. India and China followed with four guns per 100 and three guns per 100 respectively.
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America’s constitutional framers realised that guaranteeing its citizens the freedom to own/possess firearms would prevent a tyrannical government from coming into power.
The citizen’s possess the means to stage an armed revolution should it become necessary to ensure its citizen’s personal freedoms are preserved. This was a thoughtful and purposeful constitutional design for the newly-formed American republic. Remember that guns cause crime like flies cause garbage.
America’s constitutional framers didn’t believe in maintaining a “Standing Professional Army”. This was to ensure that the US would never get involved in foreign “entanglements”. Instead they emphasized a “Citizen Militia”, that was “Well Regulated” and armed.
I haven’t seen many militias lately- especially well regulated ones.
In case you haven’t noticed our government is elected by us and possesses better armorments than most of us. So any notions of overthrowing anything more powerfull than the local Elks Club is highly unlikely.
In a democracy my vote trumps your gun.
When the time comes to defend my liberty- it won’t be from the government. It will be from self appointed “defenders of God and liberty” the facists with guns.
In the end any notions that our personal weapons protects our freedom in any meaningful way is an illusion purpetraited by heavily armed and mentally ill lunatics- who have spent way too much time watching TV and listening to Charlton Heston.
COMPLETELY MISLEADING… Because America has the largest military in the world, We are going to have the most guns of course, this artical is COMPLETLY MISLEADING. and only quotes PART of the study.
-Damn the liberal media
Hi Elijah,
China actually has the largest military in the world but their rate of guns per capita is a mere 4 per 100.
-Matt
As someone who lives in the nation’s capital, i am familiar with the relationship with between gun ownership and crime. Gun ownership has been prohibited in the District for decades, which is why we are the murder capital of the USA, next to New Orleans and Detroit.
China has done a great job of keeping it populace in poverty and slave wages for over 50 years; ever since the Communists prohibited private ownership of guns. Just like their Soviet comrades. The USA has been the world’s policeman since we buried a half a million of our men in Europe and all over the Pacific during WWII. It would be nice if the rest of the world lived up to their responsibilities, but why should they when we are there to bail them out of their own stupidity. Berlin Airlift, Korea, the Balkans, and dozens of other scenes of totalitarian nightmare are good examples. And of course the USA didn’t raise a single rifle in Rwanda in 1994. 800,000 men, women and children were hacked to death by machettes in three months. One of the biggest examples of genocide in human history and the USA just sat back and said “tsk, tsk”
Maybe we can build a Holocaust Museum annex for them someday in DC.
We could call it the “Remedial Wing for Those Who Don’t Know History.”
But don’t try packing any heat since the criminals might report you to the cops.
A study of the time period and the authors of the Constitution proves that the framers intended all persons to have the right to keep and bear arms for a number of reasons. It is an individual right as are the other nine included in the first ten without which the Constitution would not have been ratified.
What about Switzerland ? I have heard numerous times over the years, something to the effect that all Swiss males are required to serve in their Reserves and have guns at home. Is this true ?
As to Washington D.C. being the murder capital, murders in D.C. (though still very high) are around half what they were in the 1980s during the crack cocaine epidemic. And since Virginia, the most notorious gun-running state on the East Coast, is only one mile from D.C. and there are no border checks, then of course D.C. residents will bring in guns bought in Virginia. This is one problem of USA’s decentralized Federal system and its patchwork of different laws in each State.
The effect of the presence or absence of “guns in the home” is exaggerated. Probably gun accidents kill more than self protection. We need for owners to be more careful and guns to be kept out of the hands of children. BUT we need to protect our freedoms whatever they are. The power of the government is a greater danger than the guns regardless of how many guns there are, or how many are involved in accidents. Our government is probably the oldest government to have been in existence in the same (its original) form because the freedom of the citizens constrain the government to its constitutional functions for the most part.
The total crime rate in the DC area is not much different than it was during the “crack epidemic” if you include the massive growth of Prince Georges county in adjoining Maryland and the criminal element that has moved there from DC proper.
The vast majority of Virginians are law-abiding citizens, which is not the case in DC where crime is many times what it is Virginia. Virginians are not to blame for the criminal elements who import guns from all over the country. There is no reason to take away all of Virginians 2nd Amendment rights to punish the few who break the law. On that logic, the District should have all of its rights suspended given the rampant lawlessness of the town, which has included many home invasions by armed gangs robbing and killing using all kinds of weapons and not just guns.
Thank Heaven for the Second Amendment. Without it I would have been a cold corpse in my grave at age 12. We were on a family vacation when Dad overheard 3 men plotting to kidnap and kill me. He showed them what he had in his pocket – and the 3 troublemakers left the scene. Fast forward 9 years later and I saved my brother from being stabbed by a low-life merely by showing him the rifle in my hands. In both instances, it was not necessary to pull the trigger. Police officers cannot be everywhere, so law-abiding citizens need to be able to make private purchases of firearms. Gun registration is something the Nazis and other strangler governments love, so let’s not have that foolishness in this country. It does nothing to stop gun crimes. Criminals know where the black markets are. BTW, I wish California would repeal the stupid laws against nunchakus and other martial arts weapons. Not allowing law abiding karatekas to own them violates the Second Amendment. Also, lest anyone think I am some “right winger”, I am a moderate.
Guns don’t kill people. People do and if those “people” that kill were kept in jail
the problem would be solved.
Is this too simple???
India and china have the most guns after the US because of their huge populations. However, when you look at per capita rates of gun ownership, there are other countries that far surpass them. After the US, Yemen has the most guns per capita with 61 guns per 100 people, followed by Finland with 56, Switzerland with 46, Iraq with 39 and Serbia with 38.
I am a NRA member and believe that It is OUR RIGHT and DUTY as Americans of the United States to with hold our ground and PROTECT not just our family but our Country’s Rights.. As a US citizen, it is my Right that our Founders gave to Us when they wrote the Constitution. there for it’s not just our Goverments “JOB” or “MILITARY” to protect this country and our Family’s but OURS.. As ONE!!! With my gun I have been able to protect my Children and belongings. I am a Woman “little, standing at 4’9 weighting at 80lbs.” and my Gun helped me protect my family. Yes I believe You should target practice but Don’t take our Guns because you can.. It’s called POWER and People take it to there heads and forget about us :Little people”…
I am a resident of India and a gun owner. Gun licenses are very difficult to get in India and one has to go through many bureaucratic loopholes and show good reason for gun ownership. If, after that the police and local law enforcement feel you’re good to have a weapon they will grant you a license after a lot of examination and terms and conditions. The amount of ammo purchased is also regulated and controlled and one has to account for every bullet fired from the weapon. There aren’t many gun ranges where people can practice with their weapons as a hobby, so, the purpose of having a gun is highly limited to protection and self defense. Although heavily armed India has only 4 guns per 100 people and almost all 4 of them are owned by rich or influential people who rarely get into situations that mandate them to pull their weapons. This is primarily why gun violence is under wraps. Another very important reason is that the civil society is very close knit. Everyone knows what you’re doing and therefore indulgence in crime is not going to be a long term project. So, its not a very desirable profession risk wise and culturally. The low gun crime or crime rate of India is surprisingly low despite its desolate poverty and the steep gradient of income differential between the rich and the poor.