Rising gun crime in gun control capitol of the world

By Gerard Valentino

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that The People’s Republic of China is seeing an increase gun crime despite some of the strictest gun laws in the world.

From the story:

China's weapons laws are among the world's toughest. Its blanket ban on private ownership of rifles, pistols and even gun replicas is a core tenet of social policy. Still, a gun culture is taking hold.

China may be freer from gun crime than many nations, and official statistics show overall crime on a continuous down trend. Yet, these days, reports about gun crimes turn up as often as several times a week even in the tightly controlled state-run media. The reports are often brief, without much follow-up as cases progress.

As pro-gun advocates in America have pointed out for years, criminals will always find a way to get a gun and as anyone using basic logic knows, strict gun control only serves to disarm honest people.

The simple straightforward answer is – none. There is no chance an outright gun ban would be successful in America.

Gun control schemes can’t work in America, just like Prohibition failed, and just like the government is fails to keep illegal aliens or drugs out of the country. Plus, if the totalitarian government in China can’t keep guns out of the hands of the criminal element, what chance do we have in America?

Those on the fence about the gun issue no longer need to heed the word of either side in the debate over a total gun ban. Now, they can make decisions based on the situation in China, which can’t be manipulated by either side of the debate in America. True to form, a vital piece of evidence from an unbiased source has come to light and it favors the pro-gun argument.

When China admits they can’t keep criminals from getting guns it exposes the hopelessness of the anti-gun movement. Most likely, the leaders of the various anti-gun groups will come up with a ridiculous explanation for why the situation in China isn’t relevant to the argument in the United States. But, it is relevant, maybe more relevant than any study, statistic or anecdotal evidence that came before because it proves that keeping criminals from getting guns is impossible.

The anti-gun movement can’t blame the National Rifle Association, unscrupulous gun dealers or straw purchases for the situation in China. In fact, none of the groups usually vilified by the anti-gun movement over the years can legitimately be blamed for the rise in China’s gun violence.

The all-encompassing gun ban fits the model for what the anti-gun movement wants for America. As in China, such a misguided approach to combat gun related violence will leave only criminals armed, or allow only the very rich to get permission from the government to shoot for recreation.

The Wall Street Journal story also reports that Chinese law often calls for execution for committing one gun related crime. Yet, criminals are willing to take the chance despite such stiff penalties.

Few, if any, pro-gun advocates support the death penalty for gun related crimes since it’s a draconian way of dealing with all but the most serious crimes. But, there is little doubt stricter enforcement of existing laws would reduce gun violence by keeping recidivist convicts in jail for a longer period of time.

Since 1996 all private ownership and production of guns has been outlawed by the Chinese government, making guns almost impossible to obtain. Communists who run China routinely report that criminals make homemade guns and then use them to commit a crime. Such guns are impossible to trace unless the criminal is caught red-handed. Even then, there is no way for the government to know how many other homemade guns were produced, or how many guns are illegally smuggled across the border.

America would have a greater incidence of illegal guns since we live much freezer than our Chinese counterparts. Our cherished freedom inevitably leads to a greater opportunity to smuggle guns into the country or produce them illegally.

The moral of our story, however, is that if criminals can get guns despite Chinese gun laws that are far more restrictive than anything in America, there is no chance similar laws will work here. Even with a totalitarian government guns are still plentiful in China, and homemade gun production is reaching an epidemic level. With our freedoms there is little reason to believe the government will effectively limited gun ownership.

Also put on notice are anti-gun advocates who continue to push “gun-free zones” like those around schools and other public buildings. China’s experience with gun crime exposes gun free zones for being the epitome of a symbolic gesture that in practice has the opposite effect of what was intended.

Only the law-abiding are disarmed in America’s gun-free zones and criminals, who we know will do just about anything to get a gun, simply ignore the signs. Such an argument isn’t new to the pro-gun side of the debate in America, they are given renewed credence because the situation in China. China’s unarmed law-abiding populace lives with the fear of being attacked by someone with an illegal gun without any means to defend their life. Instead, they are forced to rely on the government. A plan that was an abysmal failure for the victims of the Columbine School tragedy, the shootings at Virginia Tech and even the shootings at Northern Illinois University.

Gerard Valentino is the Buckeye Firearms Foundation Secretary and writes for the ValentinoChronicle.com.