rc135
Member
THE WILD FRONTIER
(www.strategypage.com/htmw/htmurph/articles/20080227.aspx ) February 27, 2008: The Organization of American States (OAS) recently issued a study reporting that there 80 million privately owned firearms in Latin America. For a region with 550 million people, that's a lot of firepower. There were 90,000 attacks using firearms last year, which is about 16 per 100,000 population. The murder rate in the Western hemisphere (about 8 per 100,000 people/year) is much higher than in Europe, where it is about 3-4. Middle Eastern nations have rates of between 5-10. The United States is often regarded, at least by Europeans, as a wild, gun happy place. But the national murder rate is only 6 per 100,000. While firearms make it easier to kill, they are not necessary for a high murder rate. Parts of Asia, Latin America and Africa have murder rates of over 10 (or much more) per 100,000, without the presence of many firearms. To lower the murder rate, something has to be done about anger management, more so than weapons control. Criminals can always get banned weapons, and in some parts of the world, the anger issues are much worse. Corrupt and ineffective government are the most common cause of anger, and this has been a problem that is difficult to deal with.
(www.strategypage.com/htmw/htmurph/articles/20080227.aspx ) February 27, 2008: The Organization of American States (OAS) recently issued a study reporting that there 80 million privately owned firearms in Latin America. For a region with 550 million people, that's a lot of firepower. There were 90,000 attacks using firearms last year, which is about 16 per 100,000 population. The murder rate in the Western hemisphere (about 8 per 100,000 people/year) is much higher than in Europe, where it is about 3-4. Middle Eastern nations have rates of between 5-10. The United States is often regarded, at least by Europeans, as a wild, gun happy place. But the national murder rate is only 6 per 100,000. While firearms make it easier to kill, they are not necessary for a high murder rate. Parts of Asia, Latin America and Africa have murder rates of over 10 (or much more) per 100,000, without the presence of many firearms. To lower the murder rate, something has to be done about anger management, more so than weapons control. Criminals can always get banned weapons, and in some parts of the world, the anger issues are much worse. Corrupt and ineffective government are the most common cause of anger, and this has been a problem that is difficult to deal with.
