Gun Control in India

American Thinker ^ | December 02, 2008 | Larrey Anderson

[neverdem]

The world watched in horror as the terrorists prowled and murdered for hours through the streets of a major city in India. The mayhem went all but unabated. No one tried to stop them -- because no one could stop them. None of the citizens were armed.

India has a long history of gun control. Under British occupation, the citizens of India had no rights to private gun ownership. Even Mahatma Gandhi protested the firearms prohibition:

"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the Act depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest."  (M. Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of my Experiments with Truth.)

In 1959 the prohibition was repealed. But the Indian government rushed in to protect its citizens from themselves and by 1990 the government had banned the import of small arms.

Permits for owning weapons are available to the citizenry of India but the licensing process is so complex and bewildering that very few citizens make the effort to (legally) obtain firearms. (A brief history of the gun control laws in India is available here and a video exploring the issue here.)

There is a huge lesson for freedom loving peoples to learn from the massacre in Mumbai: We cannot count on the government to protect us from terrorists who are willing to die to murder us. And without the right to legally own a firearm, we cannot protect ourselves.

Posted at 01:04 AM | Email | Permalink |

[InABunkerUnderSF]

I wonder if the constables had completed their tactical SMLE course before they were put in a situation where they had to confront suicidal muslim terrorists armed with modern fully automatic weapons using a 60 year old bolt action Enfield?

[Old Teufel Hunden]

And notice in the video how two cops sharing one Enfield rifle was able to hold off the terrorists from progressing further on their killing spree. Imagine if all the police officers were armed with those bolt action rifles and citizens were allowed to be armed. What a different tale we would probably be telling today.

[Fido969]

I have some nice Indian black powder replicas.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

Oh, and one other thing, if the cops had been properly trained in the use of their weapons that might have helped also. People always remember the second clause in 2A about the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. They forget the first clause about the well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state. The phrase well regulated militia put in today’s venacular means a well trained citizenry in the use of those arms they are allowed to own and carry. Its just as important to train in the use of your firearms as it is to own them.