http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2007-08-28T175724Z_01_L28348938_RTRUKOC_0_US-WORLD-FIREARMS.xml

http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/files/sas/publications/year_b_pdf/2007/2007SAS_English_press_kit/2007SAS_cover%20sheet_en.pdf



US. most armed country with 90 guns per 100 people

By Laura MacInnis Tue Aug 28, 1:25 PM ET

GENEVA (Reuters) -



The United States has 90 guns for every 100 citizens, making it the most heavily armed society in the world, a report released on Tuesday said.

US. citizens own 270 million of the world's 875 million known firearms, according to the Small Arms Survey 2007 by the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International Studies.

About 4.5 million of the 8 million new guns manufactured worldwide each year are purchased in the United States, it said.

"There is roughly one firearm for every seven people worldwide. Without the United States, though, this drops to about one firearm per 10 people," it said.

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.

On a per-capita basis, Yemen had the second most heavily armed citizenry behind the United States, with 61 guns per 100 people, followed by Finland with 56, Switzerland with 46, Iraq with 39 and Serbia with 38.

France, Canada, Sweden, Austria and Germany were next, each with about 30 guns per 100 people, while many poorer countries often associated with violence ranked much lower. Nigeria, for instance, had just one gun per 100 people.

"Firearms are very unevenly distributed around the world. The image we have of certain regions such as Africa or Latin America being awash with weapons -- these images are certainly misleading," Small Arms Survey director Keith Krause said.

"Weapons ownership may be correlated with rising levels of wealth, and that means we need to think about future demand in parts of the world where economic growth is giving people larger disposable income," he told a Geneva news conference.

The report, which relied on government data, surveys and media reports to estimate the size of world arsenals, estimated there were 650 million civilian firearms worldwide, and 225 million held by law enforcement and military forces.

Five years ago, the Small Arms Survey had estimated there were a total of just 640 million firearms globally.

"Civilian holdings of weapons worldwide are much larger than we previously believed," Krause said, attributing the increase largely to better research and more data on weapon distribution networks.

Only about 12 percent of civilian weapons are thought to be registered with authorities.

people that dont know why they call nigeria people
the happiest people on earth should know the reason.
na man wey get charm go de boast of the charm.
america get am plenty that is why dem de find where dem go use am

Armed robbers in Nigeria would be a lot less brazen in their home invasion attacks if they knew that all citizens of the country over the age of 18 were entitled to keep guns at home and LEGALLY use them if need be to protect their families from attack.

"If guns are outlawed, then only outlaws will have guns".   So goes the saying often quoted by US pro-gun ownership lobby groups such as the NRA ( National Rifle Association ), in response to repeated attempts at imposing legislative restrictions on firearm ownership in the United States.   That same truism also applies to Nigeria where it is currently legal to own guns, but ILLEGAL to use them for the protection of one's family and home, creating a situation which tilts the balance of power in favor of armed robbery gangs who freely acquire military assault rifles without giving any thought to the legality of posessing such weaponry.

Only a person planning to break into American homes would ever need to get worried over the fact that 9 out of every 10 homes are likely to contain guns that can LEGALLY be used to repel house invaders.  American laws which stipulate the penalties for the use of guns in the commission of crimes are sufficient to dissuade MOST licenced gun owners from using firearms in a manner inconsistent with self defence, while equally harsh sanctions await any American gun owner found guilty of careless gun handling or unsafe weapon storage in homes where children are present.

A relaxing of Nigeria's firearm USAGE restrictions will go a long way towards making Nigerian homes and families safer from the attacks of armed robbers who currently operate without any concerns whatsoever about the possibility of return fire from their intended victims.

" A man's home is his castle " is another favourite sound bite amongst those who believe in the right of a home owner to use deadly force to protect loved ones, and if this philosophy has served and kept the peace for a few hundred years in America, then maybe it is a model worth emulating by Nigerian lawmakers.   Besides, people tend to be so much more polite and courteous when they know everyone they encounter may be armed with a licenced gun.

1.what kind of peace are you talking about in a country that has one of the highest reported cases of violent crimes in the world?

2.what kind of security is there in a country where an argument over a minor incident can lead to exchange of fire

3.what kind of security is there in a country where there has be repeated cases of unprovoked shootings in schools including high schools, kindergatens even in a peacful amish neighbourhood in pensylvania.

4. excessive possession of fire arms in the US has virtually given that country a militant attitude to life, little wonder they are fighting wars everywhere in every generation.

i'll feel safer in calabar than in new york anytime anyday. imagine if people had fire arms in a racist community. mbaaoo

what do I need a gun for?
Iwa omo ni mu omo je okigbe

Toshman you are right that there is quite a bit of illegal gun usage in America, but anyone found guilty of such crimes is either jailed for a good long stretch or made to face the death penalty, depending on the severity of the crime committed.  It also bears mention that gun violence sells newspapers and so gets front page coverage even when such incidents take place in relatively remote areas of the US, which is a very large country that takes 5 hours to cross by air.

In Nigeria, on the other hand, the news gathering resources available to media outlets are comparatively basic when measured against those of the media in the West, so one can only speculate about the actual number of innocent Nigerian home-owners who have been attacked, tortured and massacred by armed robbery gangs who literally take over entire residential neighborhoods to wreak uninterrupted terror for hours on end, both at night and incerasingly in broad daylight, while the police cower in their stations waiting for the smoke to clear before showing up to fire off a few rounds into the air and do the usual body count after the robbers have long departed the scene.

Crime is rampant in the US for sure, but I have yet to hear of a SINGLE incident in ANY US town or city where armed gangs have laid siege on an entire residential housing tract and then proceeded to loot each home in turn knowing the police will hide away in fright and home owners will meekly await their fate while uttering futile prayers, as is generally the case in Nigeria.    Such a gang of home invaders would never get far in an American town because of the ferocity of the armed response they would encounter in virtually every home even before the police and SWAT teams arrive to reinforce those defending their families,  and to haul away the dead and dying invaders.

Armed robbers in Nigeria remain so bold and care-free because they know there will be no return fire in any home they raid, and because they are also aware of the slow and timid response to be expected from the police.   Anyone foolhardy enough to attempt to breaking down my front door, either in Nigeria or in the US, will be blasted without warning through the closed door with generous multiple servings of double-O buckshot, and THEN the police will be notified to come and gather the lumps of flesh that result.

Excerpt from the Reuters story:Nigeria, for instance, had just one gun per 100 people. Ah!So Nigeria may be safer

The fewer arms there are. . . .the more violence.This is what really matters,not the quantity of guns but the frequency of its use

A few cliched sayings on the subject :

God created men, but it took Captain Colt, inventor of the Colt 6-gun, to make all men equal.

If guns are outlawed, then only outlaws would have guns.

Every man's home is his castle, to defend with deadly force in the protection of his family.

Murderers, and not guns alone, kill the innocent.

@jakumo

permit me to say that it may be an insult to compare nigeria to the US in terms of security and the rule of law. you should be comparing the US to the UK. In the UK people dont own guns as such. violent crime in the UK is very low compared to the states. gun violence is not very common here. save for occassional skirmishes in london, liverpool and manchester where many young people are following american trends.

if the UK were to allow guns to flow in the arms of civilians, trust me, violence will sky rocket. in nigeria for instance, armed robbers operate, but if we had efficient police, they wont operate with ease. but if civilians were to own arms freely in nigeria, what do you think will happen? you dont have to think too far, just look at our universities and guess. in my former school (unical) a little thing like argument over a girlfriend can lead to violence that can claim 10 lives. if you think i'm exaggerating, ask any unical student. it has happened many times whereup to 10 - 20 students died from violence related to some stupid reasons like girlfriend arguments

i do believe that if security is the issue, the best way is to fully aquip the security forces and imbibe law and order in the society. arming every tom dick and harry will increase the level of stupid violence.

it's just like nuclear armament, if every country in the world has nuclear weapon, so that the US(armed robber) wont be bullying other countries(civilians). but some rogue nations can use it to create havoc.

so disarmament is a good way to societal peace-with well armed and efficient security services

At the risk of sounding repetitive, Toshman, I must point out that if the legal penalties are severe enough to constitute an effective deterrent, people will NOT resort to the use of a gun in a manner that will guarantee them one-way ticket into jail or the execution chamber.  If this assertion were not true then there would be HOURLY news reports of Americans shooting it out over minor traffic disputes in the streets, with bodies piling up faster than they can be transported to the morgue.

The fear of incarceration or the death penalty is an EXTREMELY powerful motivating force that keeps the vast majority of Americans from acting out violent impulses whenever they feel provoked into anger by the mundane realities of everyday life.   In the context of the sheer the size of the weapons arsenal in the hands of American citizens, the number of civilians who do go over the edge and reach for a gun is still statistically lower than one would expect from such a vast population of heavily armed citizens, and again when all is said and done, the chances of your front door being kicked in by invaders at night are WAY higher in Lagos, Nigeria than they are in even the most run-down ghetto you care to mention in the USA, for the simple reason that American criminals regard private homes as HARD targets while Nigerian robbery gangs consider private residences to be SOFT targets and defenceless chicken coops to be plundered with impunity.

Jakumo:

when all is said and done, the chances of your front door being kicked in by invaders at night are WAY higher in Lagos, Nigeria than they are in even the most run-down ghetto you care to mention in the USA, for the simple reason that American criminals regard private homes as HARD targets while Nigerian robbery gangs consider private residences to be SOFT targets and defenceless chicken coops to be plundered with impunity.

there's really no basis for comparison between nigeria and the US. Nigerian homes are soft targets for armed robbers, not really because robbers know that the families are not likely to be armed and therefore would be unable to defend themselves, but because they know that the  the police are neither equipped nor motivated to protect the citizens. Many times it has turned out that the robbers preying on innocent citizens are actually policemen/ men of the nigerian army who moonlight as bandits whenever they are off-duty, this brings up two major differences between our society in Nigeria and the West:

1. the refusal of our government to discharge the most basic of their responsibilities to citizens, namely provision of security for life and property

2. the enormous, and continuously widening economic gulf that exists between the rich and the poor in nigeria.

Consider an uneducated, unemployed youth in Ajegunle/Makoko who never knows where his next meal will come from, but everyday he sees the the moneyed class whizzing past in their shiny limouisines and SUVs. When he becomes desperate enough he will eventually turn to a life of crime. Or the armed police sergeant who supports a family of six on his salary of less than N15 000 per month. He too is a potential armed robber, whenever he knows he can get away with it he will kill and maim the people he's sworn to protect in order to dispossess them of their valuables.

Its not really a qustion of gun-control in nigeria but the fact that there are many more incentives to steal, and less alternatives for earning an honest living as (day-by-day)  we inch closer to dystopia.

you either ban guns completely or everyone should own guns. Inbetween just doesnt work because a few people having guns and the majority not having always creates oppression and genocide. If the people of Darfur had guns and knew how to use them you think they would have been slaughtered by the hundreds or thousands? Or in Rawanda? If everyone had guns in Lagos you think armed robbery would be a problem anymore? If my dad did not own a double barallel shotgun back in Naija we could have been robbed and/or killed like 8 of our neighbors, one whose wife was raped.

Plus everyone owning guns ensures a government doesnt lord over its people and makes them accountable. The cities with the most gun violence in the USA are cities like DC and Baltimore with sever gun control. In the South with lax gun control, gun violence is much less. The problem of gun violence in USA is not the guns themselves, its because people can get them illegally and most of the populace do not have or cannot acquire them. If a gun holder looking for mischief knew that he could be blasted if he tried to rob or rape or kill someone he would think 5 times or more before going through with it.

Everyone owning guns reduces the power guns have over people.

everybody owning guns may reduce armed robbery or rape etc but it escalates street gangsterism.

how is it possible to ban guns completely? does that mean withdrawing guns from the law-enforcement e.g. police etc? Cos i dont believe the criminals and armed robbers are licenced to carry their guns.

if we make guns free for all how do we differentiate between those packing for the motive of self-defence, and those with criminal intent? welcome to the wild wild west!

@jakumo

permit me to say that it may be an insult to compare nigeria to the US in terms of security and the rule of law. you should be comparing the US to the UK. In the UK people don't own guns as such. violent crime in the UK is very low compared to the states. gun violence is not very common here. save for occassional skirmishes in london, liverpool and manchester where many young people are following american trends.

This might be hard for us to swallow but think of it.In the UK and the US,a disproportionately high level of gun violence is perpetrated by Blacks.The key difference between the 2 is that the Black population in the US is 13.4% while that of the UK is 3%.Switch those numbers and gun violence will go up in the UK while coming down in the US.This is one factor in the differences between the 2 countries but it is quite important

I believe Canada has fairly liberal gun laws but its gun violence is pretty low

are you saying blacks are innately disposed to be irresponsible with fire-arms? your statisticsare probably right but i believe there are other facts behind those figures.

ziddy:

are you saying blacks are innately disposed to be irresponsible with fire-arms? your statisticsare probably right but i believe there are other facts behind those figures.

Not innately but environmental factors-racial discrimination,poverty,broken families,high unemployment.e.t.c-help breed a culture of delinquency amongst a significant part of the Black community in the Western world.

imagine if nigeria has liberal gun laws and then there is a religious riot somewhere. imagine the carnage that would follow. and the military wont be able to stop it easily o. b/c all man dey loaded. think

tundewoods:

We need more bibles and fewer Guns if you ask me.

You're right, GOD help us out.

More like 10000 nigerian's to 1 gun

toshmann:

imagine if nigeria has liberal gun laws and then there is a religious riot somewhere. imagine the carnage that would follow. and the military wont be able to stop it easily o. b/c all man dey loaded. think

The word 'detente' literally means stalemate, where one party is afraid of the repercussions on himself if he dares the other to react to aggression.

This is why owning guns in America has helped to protect homeowners from home invaders.
The "make my day law" allows the homeowner to use deadly force to protect his home from intruders. I am yet to hear of the one homwowner using his guns to settle disputes with his neighbours. This is not to say it cannot happen. The maturity, training and realities of owning a weapon convey a high responsibility on the gun owner that he knows when to use it.
Even the law enforcement officers in America will only pull out their weapons when confronted with a present threat to life. They have to write a report on use of force, every time a gun is drawn.

This level of maturity in gun ownership makes it easy to own a weapon in the US. As Jakumo has staed earlier, the illegal usage and reckless discharge of a weapon, carries a very high penalty and cost to defend.
The high usage among teen thugs and gangsters is high because thay have not attained the maturity. They connected gun ownership with bravado and might!. They also turn their weapons on adversarries (other gangsters) only. Older gangsters on the other hand, do not carry weapons as they realy on their underlings doing all the dirty work for them. they concentrate on making money.
Even gansters know there are lots of citizens who carry concealed weapons legaly, and if challeged as in car jerkings, they are liable to get killed!
Also, the current police statistics in my city, has it that crime is actullay declining.
More people are killed by the drunk driver than by guns!

This brings us to Nigeria, where our streets are so dangerous that you can get killed by an 'okada'. The traffick laws are so disobeyed that evn the public officials will flout the laws.
I responsible home owners and professionals are allowed to carry weapons, there will be less cases of home invasions, when the thieves knows they could be repeled with deadly force. even a brazen thief realy has no intentions of dieing.
Even the police are conversant with gun usage in Nigeria. You see police officers recklessly pointing guns at motorist. This is 'no no' in America, as this will land you in internal investigation. (which all law enforcement officers are afraid of)

Even in London, police officers are becoming increasingly armed, as the realities of world and home grown terrorism are present a cear danger. Though not very prevalent, gun ownership in Britain especially in the surbuban areas are very high. Even the street gansters are finding easy access to guns!

It is not that a country has a high rate of ownership which determines its usage, but the economy, training and maturity of its citizens!!!!!!!!!!!!

all right bro. you win. go enforce liberal gun laws in naija. a country where people go for elections with guns instead of ballot materials, a country where people cant even obey traffick laws, a country where people kill during census,

now you arm them all. all the best bro.

but imagine if there were no arms in this world. no guns , no knife, no weapons whatsoever. there would never be all these killings at war. what do you think.
all the same, i wish you luck trying to arm lawful naijans
i rest my case

No armed robber will venture any operation in a home or a whole street if he knows that the people have guns to defend themselves in their homes.

No armed robber will attack a bus and rob all the passengers at gun point if he knows that some passengers or majority are armed.

Put differently, armed robbery is common in Nigeria because the armed robbers have access to guns whereas the victims usually don't have access to guns.

Let people carry guns legally and lets see the armed robbers that will plan operations targeted at peoples homes unless they have written their wills.

Arm people legally, it is the right thing to do or let the police disarm the robbers.

A lot of innocent lives have been wasted just because victims were not able to defend themselves.

how do you arm people legally in a country where even driver's licenses are bought 'over the counter'? isn't it the same corrupt policemen that will be in charge of verification and control of these weapons licenses?

we need to work on our law enforcement first before we begin copying the US and other advanced societies.

we dont need liberal, or no liberal guns, all we need is prayer for more unity and peace.

Afam is 100% correct

And prayer did not help the people of Rawanda or the millions of slaves that died at the hands of Christain English Colonialists. If everyone is required to own and operate a gun violence would dissapear. Ofcourse to do this you need a good government which Naija has never had to implement it but the effect of such an implementation I think is undisputable.

arm everybody, armed robbery will collapse. . . . . . .fine.

arm everybody, violence will rise. armed robbery will go down but people will kill for the minutest reasons.
a woman will cheat her husband and he gets annoyed and gbam!!!!!!!!! e don happen.
a student will fail an exam 2 times and he'll go to the lecturer and threaten him. he fails again and gbam!!!!!!!!!!!e don happen.
2 touts de fight for motor park and gbam!!!!!!!!!!!e don happen.
two students quarrel over a girlfriend and gbam!!!!!!!!!!!!!e don happen.
police go do their work and in the process annoy a group of university students then police officers go begin disappear one by one.
judge go try case for court come give judgement against someone and then gbam!!!!!!!!!!!!!e don happen. while armed robbery goes down, violence will rise. imagine university riot where students carry arms. hehehe

una forget say naija no even get common cctv to monitor security in case of any event

Why do people consistently try to draw parallels between Nigeria and the US? completely different countries people by humans with different mindsets and government by Governments with different priorities.

The fact that something is practiced in the US does not imply that it will be good for Nigeria.

No matter which way the wheel is spun, the simple benchmark is there:
Life expectancy in the US is far higher than in Nigeria.

Go figure

texazzpete:

No matter which way the wheel is spun, the simple benchmark is there:
Life expectancy in the US is far higher than in Nigeria.

Go figure

I am sorry to say but this deduction sounds a wee bit fraudulent. The lower life expectancy in Nigeria has nothing to do with higher gun related deaths. A distinction that has been a preserve of the US for the past century.

Where is Somalia on the list?