Comparing U.S. to Cherry-Picked Countries on Guns Fools No One but the Ignorant

This is what emulating other countries on “gun laws”
look like. (United Nations)

by David Codrea: “These 4 countries have nearly eliminated gun deaths — here’s what the US can learn,” senior innovation reporter Chris Weller presumes to instruct in a Wednesday Business Insider apologia for global citizen disarmament. “Some countries have figured out how to curb gun violence through targeted strategies.”

Those countries are Japan, Australia, Norway, and the United Kingdom, and Weller claims they “may all offer insight.” If the goal is to abandon the Constitution and Bill of Rights and embrace citizen disarmament, he has a point.

Starting with Australia, he lauds the effectiveness of the government’s ban on ownership of semi-automatic firearms and pump action shotguns, and its subsequent mandatory (and misnamed) “buyback” and destruction ofsurrendered guns, fantasizing that the same could be accomplished here.

Economist and author John Lott has compellingly challenged the validity of many of the claims about the crime reduction that supposedly resulted from the Aussie gun-grab. As for compliance, this year marked the fourth attempt at a “buyback” amnesty since 1987 in an attempt to account for massive noncompliance with registration. And last, but certainly not least, a good many of us are just not going to surrender our guns. Ain’t gonna happen.

“Japan seldom has more than 10 shooting deaths a year in a population of 127 million people, due to its strict laws for obtaining firearms,” Weller assures us next. Really? He’s sure that’s the reason?

It couldn’t be that Japan is essentially a homogeneous and traditional culture that has not allowed the conditions that breed generational violent lawlessness, as exist in U.S. urban areas under “progressive” rule? Because if it’s the guns, explain why the five million members of the NRA – arguably the most heavily-armed civilian population on the planet – are every bit as peaceable — more so, actually — as “law-abiding” Japanese. Don’t forget to add in Japan’s much higher suicide rate than the U.S. has. And you might also want to consider the just-caught serial killer who beheaded nine young people. As for Japan’s comparatively low murder rate and numbers, the city where I live has a much lower rate (as in non-existent), and talking to my neighbors it’s evident we have plenty of guns.

Our next stop is Norway (not that I mean for this to sound like one of those travelogues from the 50s). And Weller declares that “Norway exemplifies the power of social cohesion and trust … through measures like community policing.”

Give the globalist-manufactured refugee “crisis” time to percolate on that “social cohesion” bit, although it looks like somebody may be waking up to that with “[t]he number of asylum seekers … plummet[ing] by 95 per cent since the start of this year as the country continues strict border checks and financial incentives for migrants to leave voluntarily.”

As for trust in the police and the desirability of adopting Norwegian gun laws, let me quote the first paragraph of one of my GUNS Magazine “Rights Watch” columns from 2011:“A maniac disguised as a policeman went on a bombing and shooting spree in Norway, unopposed by responding law enforcement for a full 90 minutes. At this writing, eight people were killed by a car bomb explosion in Oslo, and less than two hours later, 69 people were shot and killed at a youth camp on Utoya Island. Per Radar Online, it was ‘the deadliest attack by a single gunman in history.’”I’m just not seeing the “insight” being offered here on “how to curb gun violence through targeted strategies.”

Last up, the UK. They “took a multi-pronged approach,” meaning they banned handguns, semi-auto and pump action firearms, required shotgun registration, held their own “buybacks,” and destroyed surrendered firearms and ammunition. And again, the comparison between the UK and the U.S. is meaningless without factoring in key population differences.

Intent on changing that through insane European “immigration” policies, we now see headlines like “22 Dead, 120 Injured, Youngest Victim Eight Years Old After ‘Suicide Bomb’ at UK Ariana Grande Concert.” And give it a few years, because my prediction is “When It Comes to ‘Gun Violence,’ the UK Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet.”

If you’re starting to get the feeling that Weller had an assignment to fill and access to gun-grabber talking points, you’re probably not far off the mark. Because another article came out just last week by someone who does his own research, attorney David Kopel, who scored op ed space in The Washington Post of all places, and who demonstrates:“The global history of mass shootings demonstrates that the vast majority of these crimes are perpetrated in places where citizen firearms ownership is close to nil. While people can argue about cause and effect, the facts are indisputable.”Let’s see: Listen to Weller and emulate foreign nations by renouncing our guns and turning our backs on the Second Amendment, or reject that subversive call and respond to surrender demands like men who intend to win?
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David Codrea blogs at The War on Guns and writes for other orgaizations including Oath Keepers.

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