Guns & Crime
Crime Stats - Top 18 countries (Source - http://www.nationmaster.com). Click for source interactive graph.
Anglo-Saxon systems
Interestingly, UK and USA, two countries with Anglo-Saxon system of jurisprudence, have the highest crime incidence.
But the surprise element is India.
India – with the largest number of poor people. More than in sub-Saharan Africa. With also the largest arsenal of firearms outside the US. Most of these guns are unlicensed – and logically, a number of these guns are with the poor. Another newspaper reported that the cost of these illegal firearms is less than US$100 or Rs.4500.
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. (via U.S. most armed country with 90 guns per 100 people | Reuters).
Iceberg ahoy
India with the lowest police-to-population ratio and the highest police-to-illegal-guns ratio. Either crime levels must be high, or imprisonment levels have to be stratospheric.
Strangely, none of these ‘logical’ things are happening. Crime is at low-to-average levels, imprisonment is at a global low, police force is seriously undermanned – and firearms are common.
What gives?
Related articles
- Listing Gun Owners Might Help Criminals (economix.blogs.nytimes.com)
- The headache that is Pakistan (quicktake.wordpress.com)
- Soldiers find 88 guns in former Mexican mayor’s home (guardian.co.uk)
- Mexico wants to sue U.S. gun makers (cbsnews.com)
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Who’s amung us
The answer is Hinduism, the concept of Dharma (righteousness) and the way these two infuse the lifeblood of all Indians. India has historically been a low crime rate country, so much so that in the Gupta Era (300 AD), the Greek writer Megasthenese noted that Hindus never used to lock the doors of their houses because crime and theft were unheard of.