The most armed country in the world
Earlier this week, I saw a reference to a story about the most armed countries in the world and so I went Googling to find the source. Sure enough, there it was in a Reuters story from three-and-a-half years ago.
It seems that the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International Studies had completed a Small Arms Survey of the world and had found that U.S. citizens owned 270 million of the world's 875 million known firearms. This made the United States far and away the most armed country in the world. That worked out to 90 guns for every 100 people.
That was 2007. During much of the time since then, some Americans have been in a frenzy of gun-buying. I feel sure that if a survey were done now, it would show us even more out in front in the arms race - maybe 95 guns per 100 people would be more like it.
Yemen was the second most heavily armed country on a per capita basis. They had 61 guns per 100 citizens. Slackers!
Falling even farther behind were countries like Finland (56 guns per 100 people), Switzerland (46), Iraq (39 - Iraq, for heaven's sake!), and Serbia (38).
This country also has one of the highest rates of homicides by gun of any country in the world and most of those are committed with handguns. In 2005, for example, there were 10,100 gun-related homicides, 75% of which were committed with handguns.
Since the murders in Tucson last Saturday, Bloomberg News reports that there has been a run on Glocks in Arizona. It seems that everybody and his sister wants to own one of the guns that killed six people including a Federal judge and a nine-year-old child and almost killed a sitting Congresswoman. Allegedly, they are anxious to buy the guns now because they are afraid Congress will ban them!
They should have no fears. This Congress would never have the courage to stand up to the NRA and do something as sensible as banning semi-automatic handguns whose sole purpose is to kill a lot of people quickly.
Where do you suppose the next mass murder by handgun will be?
It seems that the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International Studies had completed a Small Arms Survey of the world and had found that U.S. citizens owned 270 million of the world's 875 million known firearms. This made the United States far and away the most armed country in the world. That worked out to 90 guns for every 100 people.
That was 2007. During much of the time since then, some Americans have been in a frenzy of gun-buying. I feel sure that if a survey were done now, it would show us even more out in front in the arms race - maybe 95 guns per 100 people would be more like it.
Yemen was the second most heavily armed country on a per capita basis. They had 61 guns per 100 citizens. Slackers!
Falling even farther behind were countries like Finland (56 guns per 100 people), Switzerland (46), Iraq (39 - Iraq, for heaven's sake!), and Serbia (38).
This country also has one of the highest rates of homicides by gun of any country in the world and most of those are committed with handguns. In 2005, for example, there were 10,100 gun-related homicides, 75% of which were committed with handguns.
Since the murders in Tucson last Saturday, Bloomberg News reports that there has been a run on Glocks in Arizona. It seems that everybody and his sister wants to own one of the guns that killed six people including a Federal judge and a nine-year-old child and almost killed a sitting Congresswoman. Allegedly, they are anxious to buy the guns now because they are afraid Congress will ban them!
They should have no fears. This Congress would never have the courage to stand up to the NRA and do something as sensible as banning semi-automatic handguns whose sole purpose is to kill a lot of people quickly.
Where do you suppose the next mass murder by handgun will be?
Of course liberals want to ignore the constitution.
ReplyDeleteI suppose you are enjoying playing with your semi-automatic handgun, Anonymous. I seriously doubt that Thomas Jefferson or Benjamin Franklin would approve and I know John Adams wouldn't, but heaven forbid that we should interfere with your fun.
ReplyDeleteyou need to check you'r numbers
ReplyDeleteyemen has 61 million peace of weapon that's nearly 3 for aperson since the number of populating is 22 million thats puuting it ahead of the us
people in yemen are the most armed nation in the world. Not only that, they are most heavily armed nations in the world. Poeple in Yemen can get any kind of weapons; from a hand gun to an anti-warplane machine guns.
ReplyDeletePeople of the USA are afforded the right to bear arms to protect themselves from a tyrannical Gov...Thus insuring the rest of the afforded rights of the Constitution...America is heavily underarmed...It's in the Constitution...Anyone who tries to take it away should be tried by jury for tyrannical behavior such as treason...
ReplyDeleteIf you really believe that your arms protect you from a tyrannical government that has overwhelming firepower, I've got some bridge investments I'd like to talk to you about. This is not the 18th century in case you haven't noticed and we are not made safer by a trigger-happy populace carrying automatic or semi-automatic weapons. Ask the people of Aurora, Colorado.
DeleteTo Birdwoman, you may be right that we are either under protected or are in tyranny. Thomas Jefferson said, "When the government fears the people there is liberty, when the people fear the government there is tyranny." I fear the government every tax day. Try to not pay your tax that was imposed in 1913 and see if your government won't imprison you.
DeleteThe USA had just come out of tyranny from a government that was said to be able to crush their opponents but we must remember who won that war above all odds. No government can stand against a people if they desire to have freedom.
Please read this article on gun confiscation as it will prove the need to be armed as a nation.
http://rense.com/general81/ligun.htm
One last thing...the armed militia was to be formed by the states not the national government with good reason to stop invasion from foreign and domestic enemies, this kept the federal government at bay. We MUST remember that if the federal government is given too much power THEY BECOME THE ENEMY!!! Right now they are suckering in people with candy (entitlements), only to rob and steal them of pride and dignity, and to take them away like a pervert who entices a child only to molest them.
I would say that if untrained civilians are given too much power - and too many guns - they become the enemy and are the greatest danger to the common welfare and freedom of our citizens. Some 80 people died in this country today from gun violence. Their freedom is gone. The peace of mind of their families and those who loved them is shattered. Tomorrow, 80 more people will die and so on and so on... It seems we do not have the will to stop this carnage.
DeleteAs for taxes, the fact is that the United States is one of the lowest taxed of the industrialized countries in the world. I don't begrudge paying my taxes. I consider it my patriotic duty and part of the social contract that binds us all and the price that I pay for all the goods and services I receive.
Moreover, I don't think the citizens of Boston begrudged the way their taxes were used this week. I don't think the people of West, Texas will reject the "candy" that the federal government will provide them in order to aid their recovery from the horrific tragedy they suffered this week.
The Founders of our country put our government in place in order to "form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity." It's worked pretty damn well for 237, in spite of the wackos who from time to time try to tear it down. It's not perfect but it's better than any of the alternatives.
US military had a hard time beating afghanis using korean war era weapons, it would have a much tougher time fighting the US population, especially in class III states.
ReplyDeleteYou are speaking of a conflict with Afghanis fighting in their own country on well-known ground to which they are acclimated and comparing it to Americans fighting Americans on their home turf, and, believe me, it would be a vanishingly small number of Americans, those advocating treason and armed insurrection. The vast majority of Americans would be aiding their sons and daughters in the military.
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