[lit-ideas] Re: Nigerian gun control as an example for us

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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