[lit-ideas] Re: Nigerian gun control as an example for us
- From: "Andreas Ramos" <andreas@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2007 11:22:19 -0700
The gun issue is not about crime or crazed Nigerians.
Let's be clear about what has been going on in the USA with handguns.
Starting in the 70s and 80s, there was talk of gun control. A good way to prevent a ban is
to make the item ubiquitous. If it's cheap and plentiful, it'll be harder to ban. So handgun
manufacturers flooded the USA with handguns.
Although the USA is no longer a farming-and-hunting society, the number of weapons has
tripled in the last 30 years.
There are some 65 million handguns in the USA. There is no reason whatsoever for handguns in
hunting (and I know; I've gone hunting hundreds of times). Handguns are for shooting people.
In one year, firearms killed no children in Japan, 19 in Great Britain, 57 in Germany, 109
in France, 153 in Canada, and 5,285 children in the USA.
Handguns are sold for "self-protection". To encourage the need for self-protection, the gun
lobby swamps the media with stories about brave homeowners who fended off criminals. Just to
be sure, the gun lobby also includes stories about weakling unarmed liberals killed by
criminals. The "self-defense" and "criminals-climbing-into-the-house" stories are just
marketing. Gunmakers create a sense of danger, and lo!, offer a product to solve that
danger.
But is an armed house a safe house? No. Studies show that more people are killed (and
wounded) by guns due to accidents (handguns can fire if dropped), family arguments, or
suicide than criminals-in-the-home.
About 1,000 women are shot to death each year. Add it up. Two or three decades of unlimited
gun sales has produced a hell of a body count in dead women. Why did these women die? For
the gunmakers' profits.
50% of US homes have handguns which are cynically sold for "self-protection" (and guns are
used for self-defense in only 1% of crimes), but guns are used most often for self-inflicted
shootings (accident, suicide, argument).
People have pointed out that other countries have more guns (e.g., Swiss citizens are armed)
yet have less shootings than the US. Or other countries have banned guns, yet have more
shootings. The problem isn't guns; it's American culture. America glorifies violence in
movies, TV, video games, and politics. If the US bans guns, Americans will beat their women
and children to death with beer bottles. Americans are violent and the gunmakers take
advantage of that to sell more guns and make money.
This isn't only a problem for the USA. Guns gotta be sold. US gunmakers are flooding the
market around the world with handguns.
yrs,
andreas
www.andreas.com
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