(Article) US most heavily armed society in the world

 
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agate
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 1:16 pm    Post subject: (Article) US most heavily armed society in the world Reply with quote

From http://www.reuters.com:



Quote:
U.S. most armed country with 90 guns per 100 people

Tue Aug 28, 2007 1:57PM EDT
By Laura MacInnis

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has 90 guns for every 100 citizens, making it the most heavily armed society in the world, a report released on Tuesday said.

U.S. citizens own 270 million of the world's 875 million known firearms, according to the Small Arms Survey 2007 by the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International Studies.

About 4.5 million of the 8 million new guns manufactured worldwide each year are purchased in the United States, it said.

"There is roughly one firearm for every seven people worldwide. Without the United States, though, this drops to about one firearm per 10 people," it said.

India had the world's second-largest civilian gun arsenal, with an estimated 46 million firearms outside law enforcement and the military, though this represented just four guns per 100 people there. China, ranked third with 40 million privately held guns, had 3 firearms per 100 people.

Germany, France, Pakistan, Mexico, Brazil and Russia were next in the ranking of country's overall civilian gun arsenals.

On a per-capita basis, Yemen had the second most heavily armed citizenry behind the United States, with 61 guns per 100 people, followed by Finland with 56, Switzerland with 46, Iraq with 39 and Serbia with 38.

France, Canada, Sweden, Austria and Germany were next, each with about 30 guns per 100 people, while many poorer countries often associated with violence ranked much lower. Nigeria, for instance, had just one gun per 100 people.

"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," Small Arms Survey director Keith Krause said.

"Weapons ownership may be correlated with rising levels of wealth, and that means we need to think about future demand in parts of the world where economic growth is giving people larger disposable income," he told a Geneva news conference.

The report, which relied on government data, surveys and media reports to estimate the size of world arsenals, estimated there were 650 million civilian firearms worldwide, and 225 million held by law enforcement and military forces.

Five years ago, the Small Arms Survey had estimated there were a total of just 640 million firearms globally.

"Civilian holdings of weapons worldwide are much larger than we previously believed," Krause said, attributing the increase largely to better research and more data on weapon distribution networks.

Only about 12 percent of civilian weapons are thought to be registered with authorities.






Guess we shouldn't be surprised when somebody goes berserk and shoots a bunch of people at random. With that many guns floating around, some of them will be in trigger-happy hands.
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Mr Natural



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PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 7:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

No surprise to me. Michael Moore's Bowling For Columbine kinda detailed that several years ago. It blows my mind that those imbeciles in the GOP defend that archaic amendment about "the right to keep and bear arms. That was written back in the days of muzzle-loaders, our founding fathers had no concept of automatic weapons like UZI's, & AK47's. Or, driveby shootings (they had no concept of CARS, fercrissakes!). The Republican congress was wrong to overturn Clinton's assault weapons ban. It's no wonder that the rest of the world sees as a violent society...just look at this wannabe cowboy we have as a president.
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 8:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

--And we even have a wannabe cowboy as Vice President--"Buckshot" Cheney, fastest gun in the west.
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lady_express_44



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PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 8:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

"France, Canada, Sweden, Austria and Germany were next, each with about 30 guns per 100 people, while many poorer countries often associated with violence ranked much lower. Nigeria, for instance, had just one gun per 100 people."

I am a bit surprised about that stat for Canada, but I guess it includes hunting guns too. There are many hunters (even hobby shooters), and lots of wilderness here.

That also brings to mind though . . . with that much access to weapons, why don't we have more shootings? Perhaps it is because we don't use handguns much. scratch

Cherie
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agate
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 8:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Maybe Canadians are just less inclined to erupt into spells of road rage or whatever it is that takes possession of some people in the US and causes them to reach for their guns.
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Matt



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PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 1:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

lady_express_44 wrote:
"France, Canada, Sweden, Austria and Germany were next, each with about 30 guns per 100 people, while many poorer countries often associated with violence ranked much lower. Nigeria, for instance, had just one gun per 100 people."

I am a bit surprised about that stat for Canada, but I guess it includes hunting guns too. There are many hunters (even hobby shooters), and lots of wilderness here.

That also brings to mind though . . . with that much access to weapons, why don't we have more shootings? Perhaps it is because we don't use handguns much. scratch

Cherie


Oh, there are some sections in Toronto where handguns get used a lot. They are imported illegally.

I'm not clear on why there is less violence overall in Canada. Gun regulations might have a lot to do with it. I bet there are also fewer people living beneath the poverty line.
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lady_express_44



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PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 4:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, I imagine there are, Matt. That is true in Vancouver too.

Just that the stat was so high, comparitively, I was thinking the majority must be hunting guns. The illegal ones probably aren't even counted. geek (j/k)

Yeah, I agree less poverty probably helps.

Cherie
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Mr Natural



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PostPosted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 7:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes there is Matt & Cheri. Watch Moore's movie if you haven't yet. I forget what year the statistics were pulled from, but when America had about 15,000 gun homicides, Canada was next with about 300 (no comma)...three hundred! The next one had a little over a hundred and most of the countries you mentioned, were LESS THAN 100!
There is indeed a problem with America's obsession with violence. Even the orient, where most of these violent videogames originate was less than 100 per capita. Yeah, there's a problem alright.

I attribute that to the NRA "defending our "rights"
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Mr Natural



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PostPosted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 8:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

To Cheri's point, about handguns, THAT'S where I think much of America's problem lies. It's not like you can conceal a shotgun or some hunting rifle, and stroll into a 7-11 gunning down the clerk for a six-pack.

Well, that and this ignorant NRA defending our "rights" to own and carry an assault weapon (like any "sportsman" needs to hunt animals with it). If they do, they must be a terrible shot and shouldn't be shooting a lethal weapon anyway.

We need to reinstate that assault weapons ban ... and then...handguns.
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