Two bullets per person on Earth

[kanwar76]

An Article from today's TOI

Two bullets per person on Earth
By Neha/TNN

New Delhi: As the nation celebrates 100 years of Gandhi's satyagraha, here are some shockers. There are two bullets per person in the world - enough to kill us all, twice over. And no dearth of arms to do it with either: there's a weapon for every 10 people on earth.

India needs to be as concerned about proliferation of small arms as 'rifle rage' countries like US. Uttar Pradesh alone has more illicit small weapons than licensed weapons in whole of UK. Not wholly surprising if you consider that an illegal rifle can be bought for just Rs 200 in India. These and other shocking statistics contained in a document to be released by Oxfam and Control Arms Foundation of India later this month were highlighted by gun survivors and activists during a march in the Capital to urge India to sign a global arms trade treaty which would regulate use of arms in the country.

"Any weapon has only one purpose...to destroy life. My legs are lifeless. Only the wheelchair ensures my mobility. And if we do not want the world to take to crutches, we must act now," said 28-year-old Javed Ahmad Tak who was shot in the spine by miscreants carrying illegal weapons.
The activists - calling for "no more Jessica Lalls or people living under rifle rage" - submitted a memorandum was submitted to PMO, home and external ministries calling for India to support an international arms treaty.

"Through this treaty, we aim to mobilise and regulate the inflow and outflow of small arms. There are various loopholes in the country whereby procuring small arms illegally is as easy as buying betel nuts," said Binalakshmi Nepram, a Control Arms Policy advisor at Oxfam.
The memorandum demands inclusion of the proposed arms trade treaty in the UN first committee on disarmament which meets in October 2006.
The proposed treaty aims at making international small arms transfers more accountable by establishing an international authority.

TRIGGER HAPPY
Every minute, a person is killed by illegal use of small weapons
639m illegal small weapons in the world
80-90% of illegal arms trade starts off legally but becomes illegal due to various loopholes
60% of small weapons globally are with civilians
Over 6,000 killed every year in India by illegal weapons

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What is Oxfam and what treaty are they talking about?

Inder

[axp817]

OXFAM is associated with Rebecca Peters' group, IANSA, which in turn is associated with the UN.

The arms treaty probably has some intention to stop/prevent/slow cross border illegal arms trade (the kind you saw in "Lord of War") but also has a lot to do with putting an end to legal firearms ownership. They never have and never will understand the difference between legal and illegal firearms ownership, an end to all is what they want.

See how they call the US a 'rifle rage' country? What morons.

Lame.

-Naren

[penpusher]

Somebody sould tell these jokers that illegal firearms are already banned.That is why they are called illegal.How do you ban something that is already banned.

Re. 2 bullets for every person on this earth and that it means that every body can be killed twice, this is pure nonsence. Come after me with just 2 cartridges and you would be very very dead I think the figure for Vietnam was about 1,00,000 bullets for one Vietcong.

Take care,
penpusher

[mehulkamdar]

Typical left wing nonsense from a group that was supposed to be providing food to people in famine stricken areas. Frankly, we get this kind of crap day in and day out in the US media. I doubt anyone other than the clowns who go about with their mouths flapping wildly with brains disengaged believe this nonsense.

penpusher,

I doubt it was 100,000 rounds per Vietcong killed, but yes, the number of bullets per kill were much higher in Vietnam than in many other wars especially due to the completely ineffectual 5.56x45mm round that was used in the M 16. Recently, Iraq has also exposed this round's weaknesses and there have been M 14 rifles reissued to some soldiers there as well as a temporary replacement in the 6.8 SPC round which some units have been issued.

Mehul

[Raj Khalid]

There is a very small number of gun lovers and a large number of gun haters but the majority of people are fence sitters. If we have to make our case, we should make it with logic and politely. Rationality not testerone is the need of the hour. In all fairness you should present a balanced view to help people to make an informed decision.

In my opinion there are three legitimate reasons for private gun ownership.
1) Sports- India's sole silver medal at the last Olympics came from Rathore. Was there ever a prouder moment in the history of sports? In Mumbai we have over 350 girls and boys who shoot for Maharashtra State and many of these are National Champions and World Champions. Anjali Bhagwat, Suma Shirur, Tejaswini Samant and several others, who all come from middle class backgrounds have won Gold Medals in Intentaional Shooting competitions. Ashok Pandit got India many Gold Medals at International Games and he was the most outstanding sportperson at the 1994 National games.These people used their guns to garner glory for India. Their fingers do not itch to pull the trigger but their minds and hearts are focussed on winning. Shooting is one of the cheapest sports to excel in. We at Maharashtra Rifle Association have given India 5 Arjuna Awardees. Can any other club in Mumbai match this? All these clubs built on public lands are better known for their bar nights and card rooms than the sportspersons the have churned out.

2) Hunting:- I know that many people are against what they percieve as a " blood sport" but the day legal hunting was banned our wildlife was doomed. The cheetah is extinct, the tiger is on the edge. Licensed and regulated hunting brings in a large body of commited, wealthy hunters who can and do guard their preserve in a manner which well meaning, anti hunting activists cannot. All the good intentions combined with poorly paid, unmotivated guards will only turn our jungles into a wasteland. Regulated hunting of wild boar, rabbits and some deer species will bring in resources to better guard the forests and hunters will set up their own associations to protect the forest. We can even consider " farm shooting" of farm raised pheasants and grouse. Again, it is not my intention to ignore the sentiments of those against hunting but in a world of over 6 billion people we all have our views.

3) Protection and defense. This, in my opinion, is the most crucial element of gun control. Our Constitution guarantees us the right to life. this is observed more in the breach. How many people were massacered or butchered in tacitly supported riots, caste wars. As your own article claims, criminals can and do make guns with bicycle pipes and other implements, what can a law abiding citizen do to protect him or herself? I carry a licensed gun for protection, I have never even thought of firing it in anger but it is like a talisman. I sleep easy at night in the city, and on my farm. Millions of people in the world would never like to come close to a gun, and that is their right but a very small number of us, do feel the need to own fire arms for our own peace of mind. We are investigated by the police, our licenses are checked regularly, and we should not be denied this right, if we choose to exercise it.


Raj Khalid

[Vikram]

Raj,

pithily and precisely put.Very well written.Thank you. We look forward to more participation from you.

Best-

Vikram

[kanwar76]

Very Rightly said Raj

Inder

[mundaire]

We are investigated by the police, our licenses are checked regularly

I have a major grouse with the above situation! As per law everyone is presumed to be innocent until their guilt is proven, BUT as things stand an applicant for an Arms license is treated as presumed guilty unless he can prove otherwise! Ideally there should be a check for an applicants criminal record, and if there is no criminal record - the license application should be automatically approved. ONLY if the applicant HAS a criminal record, should their be a further process to ensure that he/ she has indeed reformed before a license is granted.

Also, if a person is considered responsible enough to own 1 gun or 3 guns - then there is no logical reason why he/ she cannot/ will not be responsible if he/ she owns 30 guns! The 3 gun limit is nothing if not a perversion!

Furthermore, the accepted formula of the Police forcing licensed gun owners to deposit their arms with the Police during "sensitive" situations - should be THROWN OUT without further ado! After all, it is exactly these situations where a person may need to protect himself/ herself and their family! I recall that in '84, prior to the rioting starting, the police asked most Sikhs to deposit their weapons with the cops. Once that was done, the rioters had a free reign, targeting (the now unarmed) Sikh families! This is hardly a one off case, the authorities have been guilty of letting us down in many other (similar) situations!

But really well put Raj! Quite enjoyed your post on air guns too

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[Mack The Knife]

I would like to add a fourth point to the three mentioned by Raj and that is the sheer pleasure of owning firearms.

I find that many shooters are reluctant to mention this point and wonder why? Are they unconciously succumbing to the current anti-gun propaganda? If so, please don't. You have as much right to appreciate a gun as a collector of art would a painting.

Last but not least please stop refering to firearms as weapons. Unless deliberately employed to do so, they are nothing more than a tool. Please use the appropriate term in future.

Mack The Knife

[mundaire]

Last but not least please stop refering to firearms as weapons. Unless deliberately employed to do so, they are nothing more than a tool. Please use the appropriate term in future.

Oops! Can't seem to stop using the term interchangably... Never did give the semantics much thought... But point taken!

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[Mack The Knife]

Never did give the semantics much thought... But point taken!

Abhijeet,

It is surprising that the anti's haven't picked up on this point or perhaps they have and I just haven't come across them using this against us.

However, better late than never.

Mack The Knife

[penpusher]

Raj Khalid,

Could not have put it better.

Take care,
penpusher

[eljefe]

Bravo Raj
Point taken Mack The Knife, the 4th -about the pleasure of owning a finely tuned piece of mechanical wizardry, an epitome of mans development is what I second too!
We need to hear often from you Raj.
And the points put up by Abhijeet certainly deserve a bit of a deeper thought from all.
Try to bring about a private members bill to have something like all gun licencees with a criminal record/past automatically get banned from owning guns?
We need to make our presence felt-need a bit of fire in the belly guys, so dont get off the cross yet- we are a persecuted minority!!

This, to me is the beginning of a movement FOR guns , which should be sustained.
We must translate the thought into action ASAP-sorry for the haranguing, but we must move our collective butts from the computer onto the neta's/officialdom arena.
Best
Axx

[paragvns]

Long Live the RKBA!!!
I hadn't read this thread at the time it was posted, but I think this is one of the most important topics, i wonder why it has been abandoned.
Maybe all the members are fed up and feel that nothing is going to change, but remember -
"You only have the Rights you are willing to fight for."

Regards
Parag

[indian]

looks like the stupid anti gun lot feels that everybody dies by the bullet ....and that too,two times