Brazil is one of those countries where trying to fight crime, limiting the circulation of civilian weapons. However, the experience of the last Olympics that the media even prior to its completion called the most criminal, once again showed the futility of this path. .ru decided to analyze whether the number of weapons owned by citizens, with the number of killings.
We relied on data from the UN office on drugs and crime (UNODC), homicide in more than 200 countries, open data, crime statistics, United Nations statistics on the number of firearms (legal and illegal) from the population of 175 countries, the open statistics and gun laws the most “armed” countries.
Criminal Rio
Brazil is not a leader of armed citizens, but one of the clear leaders in the number of murders: 25 per 100 thousand inhabitants per year. This is two times more than the average. And even robbery, rape, theft… petty theft Statistics are generally not published. The largest cities of the country — Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo — are consistently included in lists of the most dangerous cities in the world.
Every 100 people in modern Brazil accounts for only 8 firearms. For comparison: in Russia — 8.9 per barrel for 100 people, and a little over 9 murders in the USA — 120 guns per 100 people and less than five murders per 100 thousand population.
Photo: Baz Ratner / Reuters
At the end of the last century, Brazilian officials decided that one of the reasons for the high crime — plenty of weapons for ordinary Brazilians, and began to deal with it. The decree of the Ministry of defence, 17 October 1980, has restricted the minimum age of gun owners (21 years) and the number of guns that could be purchased by one person: two pistol or revolver plus two units of rifled and smooth-bore long-barreled weapons (rifles, carbines, rifles). However, from 1980 to 2002, the number of murders increased almost three times: from 11.4 to 28.4 per 100 thousand people.
The Brazilian authorities again took up citizens act of 2003 increased the age of the buyers of weapons from 21 to 25 years. Wishing to arm themselves now had to prove their integrity by providing certificates of no criminal record from the courts, military and other government agencies, to confirm the availability of permanent housing and a legal source of income, certification from a psychologist in the police and special courses.
But most importantly, the new law banned residents of the country wear their weapons. An exception was made for members of the judiciary, heads of security companies and Bank guards and rural residents (20 percent of the population) if they can prove a hazard for yourself or your family.
Luxuriously decorated Kalashnikov seized from drug trafficker in Ciudad juárez (Mexico).
Photo: Henry Romero / Reuters
The leadership of the country wanted to prohibit the sale of weapons and ammunition — the bill was put to a referendum in 2005, but 63 percent of participants in the plebiscite voted against it.
After the tightening of gun laws, the number of legal guns in the hands of citizens, according to expert estimates, has declined significantly, and the number of murders as of 2012 decreased by only 11 percent. The secret is simple: most crimes in Latin America (85 percent) are committed with illegal weapons.
Armed kill less
Statistics shows that in the “armed” countries, people kill each other much less frequently than in “unarmed”, and bans on civilian guns often not only reduce the number of violent crimes, but also lead to its growth. Thus, of the 28 States where per 100 inhabitants account for more than 20 weapons, only two — Panama (there are a lot of illegal guns) and Uruguay is more than 5 murders per 100 thousand people per year, and in 24 countries, this figure does not hold up to three. Even in the United States, where more weapons than citizens, murders committed by less than half in the relatively unarmed Russia.
According to the newspaper “Washington post”, from 1996 to 2013, the number of legal shotguns, rifles and pistols in the hands of the Americans rose from 242 million to 357 million units.
The number of murders the whole time was decreased (from 7.3 per hundred thousand people in 1996 to 4.7 in 2012), and in 2013-2014, the country recorded the minimum, since the 60-ies of the last century, the homicide rate with weapons. This is despite high-profile cases of mass shootings that the media served as a wave of violence that swept the United States.
Demonstration of devices to prevent the unauthorised use of semi-automatic weapons. Jerusalem, July 2016.
Photo: Ronen Zvulun / Reuters
Most of the traditional European democracies and parliamentary monarchies support the arming of its citizens. In Norway, Sweden, Austria, France, Germany, Finland per 100 inhabitants account for more than 30 stems, if this is not done more than two murders per hundred thousand people per year.
In the quiet Switzerland, where people don’t kill each other, the government not only allows, but instructs the citizens to have military weapons. The country’s army is formed according to the police, and reservists in the service of the house hold assault rifles, pistols, grenades. After retirement (at age 60) Swiss may buy your machine — assuming that he’s going to change in a semi-automatic carbine. In the end, the country of cheese and chocolate almost 46 guns for every hundred people — this is the first place in Europe.
The owner of the gun shop in Orlando (Florida)
Photo: George Frey / Getty Images
The former Eastern bloc countries and the Baltic States also have very liberal gun laws. Citizens are allowed to buy long rifles and handguns for hunting, sport and self-defense.
In Estonia, the arm can be 15 years. In the Czech Republic since 15 years, we can have guns for sport, and 16 years for hunting. The Bulgarian Parliament in 2007 approved a ban on the possession of automatic weapons, but in some cases, the interior Ministry allowed citizens to buy guns. In Moldova is allowed guns with a caliber of 9 millimeters, the law permits concealed and open carrying of weapons. In most of these countries the murder rate is small — no more than three hundred thousand people, and in Moldova the legalization of blunderbuss helped to fight street crime.
Hello, my brother, a Somali pirate!
Permanent civil war, stories about Somali pirates, video and photos of black natives in loincloths with worn guns, or even children playing “Kalash”, creating the impression that the African continent is literally littered with weapons. In fact, weapons in the so-called “black Africa” is not enough. In Uganda, Tanzania, Lesotho, Ethiopia — less than three units per one hundred people. In Rwanda and the Congo, where each year are killed respectively 28 and 23 people out of every hundred thousand, per hundred persons of 0.6 and 2.7 trunk.
Just they are distributed very unevenly: the bad guys “Kalash” is, and all the rest of it is not. However, in respect to the armed African countries — South Africa (12.7 per barrel per hundred people), Equatorial Guinea (20 guns per hundred people), the homicide rate still remains high. Allocation institutions available here are Kalashnikovs, R4 and FN FAL around the same as in Rwanda and the Congo.
Members of the Karo tribe with Kalashnikovs, South Ethiopia.
Photo: Vnoucek, F. / Arco Images GmbH / Globallookpress.com
Oh yeah, in Somalia, the number of weapons in relative terms is almost the same as in Russia: nine units of a hundred people.
<thead>
<th>№</th>
<th>Country</th>
<th>number of guns per 100 people.</th>
<th>number of murders on 100 thousand persons/year</th>
</thead>
<tbody>
</tbody>
1
USA
120
4,7
2
Serbia
76
1,2
3
Yemen
54,8
4,8
4
Switzerland
45,7
0,6
5
Cyprus
36,4
2
6
Saudi Arabia
35
0,8
7
Uruguay
31,8
7,9
8
Sweden
31,6
0,7
9
Norway
31,6
2,2
10
France
31,2
1
11
Canada
30,8
1,6
12
Austria
30,4
0,9
13
Iceland
30,3
0,3
14
Germany
30,3
0,8
15
Finland
27,5
1,6
And yet the statistics are inexorable: the most dangerous country with the highest number of murders the vast majority of disarmed. Of the 22 States, which killed more than 20 people for every hundred thousand, only two — Ecuador and Equatorial Guinea — about 20 guns per one hundred residents; in 14 poor countries — less than ten. The leader among troubled countries — Honduras: 90 kills and only 6.2 per barrel on a hundred people.
Of course, it’s not just guns. Britain — a country with one of the toughest gun laws (6.6 per barrel for one person). Revolvers and pistols there may be only members of shooting clubs, gun — only hunters, and of self-legislation is described by the formula “run while you can”. That is, if you broke into his house the robber, call the police, and then retreat, hide and beg for mercy.
Photo: ipsc.org
Known curious cases — for example, one middle-aged woman, detained at home two robbers with a toy gun, was charged with the threat of weapons. Supposedly, the robbers are people too, and it is his threat caused them moral injury. However, according to the UN, it takes only one murder per hundred thousand people per year.
In wealthy Japan and South Korea of arms even less than in England — about one gun to a hundred people, and the homicide rates tend to zero. Experts explain this phenomenon, civilizational and cultural characteristics that shape the people are not aggressive and self-injurious behavior: aggression in the case of, say, a nervous breakdown is directed at yourself, not at others, as a consequence, the high rate of suicide in these countries. Practiced mass suicide and even the so-called suicide by arrangement when two people or more agree to commit suicide at the same time. The lack of firearms does not prevent people to settle scores with life.
