Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Arm them!

Iraq needs more guns. So does Iran. And North Korea. And Sudan. Lots of other places, too.

Sound crazy? Tell that to the fifty workers kidnapped by "insurgents" in Baghdad this morning. It's a distressingly common pratice. Sometimes they are released, or ransomed. Often they are murdered and dumped somewhere, to be discovered later. And it would never happen if they were armed.

How many Rwandan Tutsi and moderate Hutus of the nearly one million killed during the worst part of the genocide would be alive today if they had been armed? Would you want to be an unarmed black non-Muslim in Darfur, Sudan?

But aren't these places already awash in guns? Yes. And those guns aren't going away any time soon. Local governments and international know-nothings are suprisingly effective at disarming the victims of the muderers, rapists, kidnappers, etc., thus paving the way for further and greater crimes, but completely useless when it comes to disarming the criminals. In many cases, the local governments are the criminals, or are closely allied with criminal groups.

If you really want the world to be a better place, here's what we should do. Take every dime now being spent on the U.N. and instead manufacture simple, reliable single-shot handguns and distribute them to every adult on the planet who wants one. Make ammunition freely available. Make it widely know that if you use your modern-day Peacemaker, you are going to be held accountable and will have to explain your actions or face prosecution. Make it a crime to misuse these guns or disarm anyone without due process, with serious penalties for violations.

This isn't a perfect world, and it's never going to be. It could, however, be a world where potential murderers, rapists and kidnappers know that there are no easy victims. A world where monsters are met with strength and determination - where every potential victim has a way to defend themselves. And we should make it so.

3 Comments:

At 12:34 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Arm victims of genocide (the still living ones, of course).

Gee, what a splendid idea! I thought I was a voice in the wilderness the past two years saying that very same thing in regards to Darfur.

Would arming the Darfurian black farmers be an effective policy? Don't ask me, but ask the Bosnian Muslims and Croatia. Smuggled arms built up the capabilities of both Croatia, and the Bosnian Muslims and Croats. When faced with organized, heavy gunfire, the Bosnian Serbs sued for peace. The Serbs didn't even have to be routed, they just needed to get the message. Diplomats call the result the "Dayton Accords," and give themselves credit for it, when -- in reality -- it belongs to those who fought back.

 
At 2:00 PM, Blogger Mister DA said...

And we even have a good idea of how to do this.

See, http://www.nfa.ca/nfafiles/cfjarchive/firearms/liberator.html

 
At 2:51 PM, Blogger Nancy Reyes said...

The problem is the willingness to use a handgun.
You need to see every intruder as "danger", hide the gun under your pillow, or place a "guard" in the front room with a gun...or even a machete, like we have to do here in the Philippines since private guns are illegal...
Alas, against really ruthless people, especially a gang, the odds are in their favor, since civilians hesitate or "freeze"...
It would work in countries where people are "uppity", like the US "red states". And probably in Iraq.
But in Bantu Africa, where people are taught to be passive, it would not work.

 

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