Or not:
Gun ownership is widespread in Lithuania; anyone who does not have a criminal record is eligible to have a licence. According to police statistics, of the 294 murders committed in the country last year, only 11 involved a firearm, encouraging the widely held view that the greater the number of weapons in circulation, the less crime is committed.
“Maybe Britain should consider changing its gun laws and legalising weapons” – Jurijus Milevskis, the deputy head of the Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau in Vilnius.
Another interesting fact is that the terrible awful murderous United States with its cowboy culture and easy access to guns is only #36 on the international murder rate list, behind countries such as Mexico, Thailand, Bermuda, Jamaica, Russia and yes, Lithuania. And when Albania, Uruguay and Peru report their 2005 statistics, the USA will likely drop down to #40 again, as it was last year.
Of course, you’d never know it to hear the would-be gun-grabbers talk. Because the USA has the most guns, so therefore it MUST be the most violent and murderous. After all, look at Europe!
(Wait a minute, aren’t Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Estonia, and Moldova in Europe? I could have sworn I saw some of those countries competing in the European World Cup qualifiers. And they all have higher homicide rates.)