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

[Marnie]

lol Good one.

[Axxman]

I love these threads...

People starting talking about how they own guns to fight back against the gov't..lol. As if. Whatever happened to "God is in control." There is no gov't established that God hasn't set up for His purpose...and you guys are gonna start capping people if the gov't becomes corrupt? What gives you that authority, scripturally?

And while I'm sure that living in a third world country and being harrassed by a "warlord" is just awful...I can't seem to square that with the 30,000-35,000 deaths that occur in the "land of the Free" each year. Dying by gunshot in a third world country run by a warlord kinda makes sense...but when I can't even go Christmas shooping at a mall without wondering...or go a whole year without some wacko threatening to burst into my church...or secure against home invasions (which are rapidly on the rise)...or just wondering if that guy I unintentionally upset has a gun....there is a problem in America.

Gun violence in New York City is hundreds of times higher than in the entire country of Great Britain. America, the bastion of freeedom, leads the world in gun violence...thats a flaw, not a cause for celebration. Part of the reason for that flaw is the number of guns in the country.

[zoltanz]

Even though the U.S. has a ton of guns. Still, most of those guns belong to our army and the only reason we have so many is because the army is so well financed.

And about the other guns, A lot of people in other countries would want guns if they could afford them, so even though people in america have more guns, it doesn't necesarily mean they're more violent, I mean look at all those countries in the middle east or Africa. Their homocide rates are through the roof.

Personally I hate guns in civilian hands. The whole point of a gun is to shoot something, and most of the time, thats a person or animal. So we really should ban them because without guns, homocide and accident rates would go down.

[Axxman]

No, the reason is that when people use a gun in the wrong way, they are not held responsible for it, and they are not severely punished enough. I know what the gun control whacks say, and would like us to believe. "Get rid of the guns and crime will just magically go away." Yeah, I believe that. Not. A gun is useless without a person to use it. The problem isn't with the guns, the problem is with a society that is taught that every time you do something wrong, you can blame it on someone or something else. If you think guns cause crime and violence, and you want to outlaw them, better make sure you outlaw things like knives, pipes and bricks at the same time. Better add rocks too. The problem isn't guns, the problem is people.

Thats a fair enough analysis. Americans are violent (and whack.) Which is all the more reason that having 275 million guns in the country may not be a good idea.

[redwing]

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.

REUTERS

i'm sure glad the american people had firearms in 1776.seems like we had alittle dispute with somebody. god ,guns and guts made this country great!

[redwing]

I can just imagine the reaction I would get if I applied for a gun licence stating I wanted to be prepared for the muslum take over

If I wanted to be "armed " I think I would be better off with knives and bows than with guns that need bullets ...if the country is taken over by these warlords I am not too sure that they would be willing to let me buy bullets to resist them

They'd probably say, well, maybe you would like to see what I have on the bottom shelf. Do you want duel sub-machine guns or one M60?

it's a good idea to stock pile componets: bullets, powder, case's, primers,( large pistol, small pistol,shotgun,ect) and a good reloading system.

there are those that call us "gun nuts" but ted kennedys car has killed more people than my guns.

Edited December 19, 2007 by redwing

[sweetycakes]

Up until a couple of years ago, I was a 'gun nut' myself.

I was always fascinated with guns.

But not anymore. After seeing what guns do to people.

Guns (of all kinds) are responsible for the deaths of millions.

It would have been better if they had never been invented, IMO.

Still, this is the real world. And I don't begrudge sensible, law-abiding citizens from owning a gun and defending themselves from evil and cruel criminals.

And if that means using a gun on them.....so be it!

The bad guys should not be allowed to win or rule over the peace loving citizenry of a country.

[redwing]

Up until a couple of years ago, I was a 'gun nut' myself.

I was always fascinated with guns.

But not anymore. After seeing what guns do to people.

Guns (of all kinds) are responsible for the deaths of millions.

It would have been better if they had never been invented, IMO.

Still, this is the real world. And I don't begrudge sensible, law-abiding citizens from owning a gun and defending themselves from evil and cruel criminals.

And if that means using a gun on them.....so be it!

The bad guys should not be allowed to win or rule over the peace loving citizenry of a country.

it's a shame we need firearms to protect our familys and property. remember katrina? need i say more?jp