Guns: A Tale of Two Countries – Liberty Sentinel

Guns are not the problem, and I speak from personal experience. Growing up in two countries with dramatically different attitudes and laws on firearms — one nation where civilian gun ownership is banned, the other where it is mandatory for many — gave me unique insight into this issue.

As the debate on guns and gun control rages in America, I can’t help but think back on lessons learned during my childhood. It’s not quite a tale of two cities, but almost.

In the most peaceful country on earth, it was not unusual for me to see children on bikes or young men on trains openly carrying fully automatic weapons over their shoulder as if it was nothing. Nobody even bothered to look twice. Guns in closets or above kitchen cupboards were ubiquitous in family homes.  

In one of the most violent nations on Earth, by contrast, only criminals and government agents — many of them vile criminals, too — could be seen with a weapon in public. And yet, murder and mayhem are ubiquitous there.