Whatever the effects in Australia (or Great Britain, also described by Malcolm), however, I think the relevance of policy in other countries is severely limited. For every journalist, politician, and other liberal who plaintively asks: “Why can’t we be more like [Australia, Great Britain, Japan, wherever]?”, there is the predictable (and at least equally reasonable) rejoinder: “Why can’t we be more like Switzerland?” Switzerland requires all males between the ages of 20 and 30 with few exceptions to possess a government-issued rifle capable of automatic fire (the Sig 550) and/or the Sig 220 semi-automatic handgun for officers. “Although there is more per capita firepower in Switzerland than any place in the world,” Stephen Halbrook has observed, “it is one of the safest places to be.”
In terms of the relevance of foreign examples, however, the case of Australia may indeed be instructive. What would its policy look like here? For starters, how many weapons, and of what kinds, are we talking about? Last week, NBC News reported:
According to the Congressional Research Service, in 2009 there were an estimated 310 million firearms in the United States (not including weapons on military bases), of which 114 million were handguns, 110 million were rifles, and 86 million were shotguns.
A separate calculation by the Government Accountability Office estimated that 118 million handguns were available for sale to, or were possessed by, civilians in the United States in 2010.
The NRA has estimated that semi-automatic weapons make up about 15% of privately owned firearms in the U.S. That would be over 45 million weapons, but I suspect that estimate is far too conservative. If there are 118 million handguns in private hands, there are probably almost 45 million semi-automatic handguns alone. Regarding the AR-15, the iconic “assault” rifle used in Sandy Hook and several other mass shootings, the New York Times recently quoted two sources estimating that “3.3 million to 3.5 million” were made in the U.S. and not exported. And that’s just one model of one semi-automatic rifle; it does not include the wildly popular Ruger Mini-14 or Mini-30, which are of a design different from the AR-15s. Nor does the NRA estimate include pump shotguns — which can be fired almost as rapidly as semi-automatics — as Australia did.
via pjmedia.com
I have been consistently supported by those in the know, and consistently derided by those who have thought they were in the know regarding O's second term gun control intentions. I am not one to say I told you so. It would serve no good purpose--but if you still can't see what is shaping up in record time, as was poised and ready, hold onto your hats, if not your guns. This will prolly be your last chance to resist a far-reaching effort to ban numerous semiautomatic rifles, handguns, hi-caps, and other accessories. Entire calibers are being added to the list. Emboldened by wild media and anti-gun NYC and Chicago and Californian paradigms response, Feinstein is now seeking to eliminate any grandfathering provisions of these models, which essentially eliminates them from commerce. This over-reaching may be her undoing--as the daughter of a Socialist San Fran Mayor--HER paradigm may be La-La land. But with complacency of neutral or pro-gun citizens coupled with O's unflinching inclinations for usurping law-making powers, and assumptive extension of executive powers failed vigilance on the part of good citizens will very likely result in huge loss of gun rights.Please pay attention and make your feelings known to the insular legislature politicians who are now mostly currying favor with an out-of-control Executive Branch.