IBT
A raid in southern China resulted in the seizure of over 10,000 illegally owned guns, in addition to thousands of illegal knives. And besides being the largest haul of illegal firearms to date in China, the raid in the city of Guiyang, located in Guizhou province, has brought to the light once more China’s evolving, underground gun culture.
China’s weapons laws are among the world’s strictest. The country bans all private gun ownership, with very few exceptions. This however has not prevented the emergence of an increasingly robust illegal gun business. China’s central television station, CCTV, reported that 10,500 guns and 120,000 knives were seized by authorities in the crackdown.
In general, gun violence in China is not a grave public concern; knives are the more common weapon of choice because of accessibility and availability. Illegal guns are becoming indeed an increasingly dangerous business -- fifteen people were arrested in the most recent raid, accused of gang involvement and illegal firearm trafficking -- but China does not have anything comparable to what an average American would know as "gun culture".
Attn: All media people who call 2-3 guns an arsenal:
ReplyDeleteTHAT is an Arsenal!
It is also acceptable to refer to it as "DAYUM!"
Were they, by any chance, in a gift wrapped shipping container labeled "For the Future Secretary of State--good luck with your campaign!"
ReplyDeleteAnd in case it's not obvious, I keed, I keed.
Finally, In all seriousness: Mike,
ReplyDeleteDoes this not weigh, at least a little in our favor, on the idea that gun control is unlikely to prevent criminals from getting guns? Strictest laws in the world, and the result is criminals managing to deal in units of a metric Da-yum of illegal guns and 12 metric Da-yums of illegal knives.
Take a more prosperous nation like ours, with an established gun culture, and I think you'd quickly see this operation begin to look like child's play.
No, not at all. The number of guns in Chinese criminal hands would have to be comparable to what it is in the US for you to make that claim. I doubt very seriously if it is since the main source for criminal guns is lacking there in China.
DeleteThe other way you could make that claim is if we said proper gun control would eliminate every single gun in criminal hands, but of course we don't say that, do we?
It might be a typo of some sort, but what's with the "confiscated illegal replica guns" in the photo caption? Did they just put them on display for the press conference? Or are replica guns illegal in the People's Paradise?
ReplyDeleteDidn't read the caption--weird.
DeleteYou guys are the experts. Do those look like plastic guns?
DeleteI don't claim to be an expert, however the thing that caught my eye was that they all seemed to be the same thing. Except for what looks like a Beretta, they all seem to be M1911 series pistols. The first thing I thought was they raided an arms room for display purposes to give an idea of the size of the haul.
DeleteI did some looking at other articles and I believe I saw mentioned that it also involved illegal manufacture. This would also account for many copies of one firearm. It just seemed like a strange term to use in a caption, though it might also be a translation issue.
It proves China has it's non law abiding citizens (criminals) just as America, or any country has.
ReplyDeleteWe have free speech, so this week FOX practiced their free speech by claiming the child raping Branch Dividian's had a righteous complaint against the government, that invaded their compound because of multiple violations of the law ranging from child molestation to gun crimes. Like many of your pro gun commentators, FOX claims these criminals had a right to break the law because they disagreed with the law, so the government was violating their rights. It does boggle the mind, but then trying to understand the criminal mind has been an unanswered curiosity for thousands of years.
Anonymous has his head so firmly implanted that he can't grasp that our issue over Waco isn't an issue of defending what the Davidians were up to, but opposition to the way they were burned out--them and their children with them.
DeleteSimon is correct Anon. The parallel I like to use is that the Federales at Waco, when explaining their reasoning for some pretty stupid decisions in their final assault ended up sounding much like the unnamed Army Major who was quoted as saying "we had to destroy the village in order to save it".
DeleteWhen I complain about a homeowner who shoots a kid burglar you say if the kid didn't want to get shot he shouldn't have climbed in the guy's window. But when the Branch Davidians get wiped out it's the government's fault, period. If you were consistent you'd point out that the Branch Davidians shouldn't have been breaking so many laws if they didn't want to incur the government's wrath. But, you don't. You flip flop from defending one side or the other whichever is convenient for your argument.
DeleteSimon,
DeleteYou obviously missed the fact that the fire that killed the children was started by someone from the inside of the compound. Since when is it wrong for the government to go in and arrest criminals? Yes, that sometimes means destroying the site they are using to evade arrest. I guess your criminal thinking would be to allow those wackos in Wacko to keep raping children and breaking multiple other laws, typical criminal thinking.
Mikeb, do you really believe the nonsense that you write? Someone breaking into a house is a criminal without a warrant or even a valid reason. Federal agents surrounding and attempting to enter the compound at Waco had some reason and the benefit of a warrant. What they did wrong was a case of poor planning and poor execution.
Delete