A lot of guns

A recent study of world firearms ownership rates shows that there are 9 guns for every 10 Americans. My reaction to that would be “awesome”. What’s interesting about the study, conducted by a group based out of Geneva, is that 1) there are a lot more guns in civilian hands than previously believed; 2) there is no apparent correlation between high levels of gun ownership and high levels of crime.

That last bit will more than likely be completely ignored by the anti-gun crowd, because it doesn’t fit their definition of how things work. However, straight from the horses’ mouth:

“There’s no clear relationship between more guns and higher levels of violence,” Krause said, pointing to low ownership and high crime rates in Latin America.


Fascinating. Krause appears to work for a group called the Small Arms Survey which actually appears to be relatively neutral on the issue of personal gun ownership, a stark contrast to IANSA.

One of the major problems that the survey points out in the actual illegal traffic of firearms is corrupt government organizations.

The problem is worsened when members of government or police forces sell ammunition on the black market, Krause said.

In Rio de Janeiro, “a combination of factors suggest that state security forces — most notably the police — are the source of much of the assault rifle ammunition in the hands of criminal gangs,” the report said.

Fascinating. For whatever reason lately, it’s like all the bullshit that the anti-gun movement surrounds themselves in is just coming unraveled. Of course, I highly doubt that facts and reason will have any effect whatsoever on their efforts, if anything it will cause them to “try again, only harder” because their ideology simply cannot be wrong.