“The United States prioritizes the right to keep and bear arms over the protection of citizens’ lives and personal security and exercises lax firearm possession control, causing rampant gun ownership. The U.S. people hold between 35 percent and 50 percent of the world’ s civilian-owned guns, with every 100 people having 90 guns (Online edition of the Foreign Policy, January 9, 2011). According to a Gallup poll in October 2011, 47 percent of American adults reported that they had a gun. That was an increase of six percentage points from a year ago and the highest Gallup had recorded since 1993. Fifty-two percent of middle-aged adults, aged between 35 and 54, reported to own guns, and the adults’ gun ownership in the south region was 54 percent (The China Press, October 28, 2011).” – Excerpt from a statement by the People’s Republic of China criticizing the United States’ human rights record in 2011.

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42 COMMENTS

  2. Someone tell them gun ownership is dropping. I know so because the Brady Campaign told me!

  3. causing rampant gun ownership

    Notice that they didn’t mention violence at all – their complaint is that the peasants citizens have the ability to defend themselves against assailants, including government sanctioned ones.

    • +1. Also, I don’t look to China as a role model for personal rights and freedoms or as an example of a just and fair government that serves the people. So why should I or any US politician care what China’s opinions is about our personal freedoms?

  4. “Excerpt from a statement by the People’s Republic of China criticizing the United States’ human rights record in 2011.”

    Can you say irony? I knew you could.

  5. Their point of view is completely irrelevant to us. I have never seen a government so in fear of their citizens. If their citizenry were armed, it WOULD be another “cultural revolution.”

    They are justifying their ban on almost all weapons by criticizing us, but we are not the same country on the brink of revolution. If you don’t think this is the case, just visit China and talk to the locals one-on-one away from any “government escorts” (ie–licensed tour guides). It’s clear most of their population is one step away from total revolt. Now just imagine a country of nearly 2 billion malcontent citizens with firearms…

  6. As though small arms, almost none of which are automatic, could do anything to stop a government using tanks, machine guns, artillery, drones, and close air support.

    The second amendment was intended to keep the people armed similarly to the government, but we are prohibited from having that ability. In fact, I think it is this realization that has encouraged some politicians to acquiesce to growing demand for personally owned small arms. One political party placates gun owners for votes, yet remaining assured that there is still no viable threat to their power.

    • A well organized insurgency can bring the strongest military power in the world to it’s knees with 40 year old firearms, clever ingenuity, and a strong will.

      • Insurgencies don’t work too well when their target is entirely ruthless. The Chinese don’t have many lasting problems with insurgents.

        The Soviets had problems with insurgents, but mainly because they were tactical idiots in Afghanistan. I think that was the exception to the rule.

        • “The Chinese don’t have many lasting problems with insurgents.”

          Their people also have zero weapons.

    • An armed but untrained citizenry is certainly no match for a better equipped, trained and organized professional military. But it has one thing: A fighting chance. A free people can ask no more and deserve no less.

      • If a tenth of the gun owners (~50% of the population) hunt deer, that’s 15,000,000 snipers. If a tenth of those people aren’t cowards, that’s 1,500,000 snipers who don’t mind dying for what’s Right.

        Wikipedia (I know, I know) says there are 1,456,862 people in uniform and about the same in the reserves. Of the military people I know; probably a third to a half wouldn’t obey orders like ‘disarm the suckers.’ And your gun grabbers don’t have guns, so crying insanely about how everyone just needs to get along on their terms don’t disarm you.

        Over simplified, I know – they got heat vision and B-52s and robots that will kill you; but you can’t stay in a tank forever and planes have to land… and do you know how much it costs to fly a helicopter per hour?

        • “Of the military people I know; probably a third to a half wouldn’t obey orders like ‘disarm the suckers.’ ”

          Solution for the enforcers? Bring in ally foriegn troops to disarm. They will have no problem shooting “spoiled” americans that resist their rights being trampled upon. The training has already begun, and Katrina aftermath was the litmus test for americans taking those orders.

    • It’s not necessary for the civil populace to be as well armed as the military, at least not in America. It is only necessary that the civilians be well armed enough that they would not be immediately cowed by the military, and could put up enough of a fight, with enough casualties, to make the majority (or even a strong majority of military members) say “f*ck this, I’m not fighting an insurgency against my family, friends and neighbors”. Bearing in mind as well that a lot of the infantry, airborne and spec forces types hail from rural, gun-owning backgrounds themselves.

      Standing around armed and intimidating your fellow Americans with a show of force is one thing. Actually going to war with your own people is quite another.

      • Exactly. The vast majority of the people who actually carry guns in the US military are from rural America. Look at the lists of casualties. Almost all are from small town America. No way in hell do those people shoot at American citizens.

  7. “The United States prioritizes the right to keep and bear arms over the protection of citizens’ lives and personal security and exercises lax firearm possession control, causing rampant gun ownership.”

    God, that’s not even close.

  8. I could be wrong, but don’t the Chinese sell guns into the US. The Chinese Norinco SKS comes to mind. Kinda funny that they are willing to take our money for their guns and then critisize us for owning them.

    This is just China making noise to deflect against its lack of human rights. This is a dumb as the Mexican’s putting up a sign across the border that says no more guns.

    • I think the Chinese should quit selling weapons abroad to governments and civilians. Let them lead by example, the Chinese Government should disarm. Ha, ha.

  9. Hahahaha, I can’t stop laughing! China criticizing OUR human rights record?

    Rampant gun ownership, that’s a good one though. I like it.

  11. Yep. And I recommend that the gentleman from the People’s Republic of China who wrote this NEVER forget those facts.

  12. I can see this as a problem for China. The Japanese had the same issue 70 years ago.

  13. Dear China,
    Once you have removed the tree from your eye, we can talk about the splinter in our pinky. kthxbai.

  14. The Chinese propaganda machine should just have pointed out the US human rights violations by the USG domestically and internationally against civilians. No need to go after the American people. BTW, if the Chinese people had weapons the slaughters of the Chinese people and military by the Japanese during WW2 would have been far less. If the Chinese people had guns the mass murders by their own government would have been far lower. Between the Japanese and Chinese governments somewhere 100-200 civilians were murdered over the decades.

  15. I like the way you don’t actually mention Tiananmen Square in the post. You just leave the video hanging there, as if you’re wondering whether we can draw the inference for ourselves. It’s so smooth, and yet has all the subtlety of sledge-hammer.

    I love it.

  16. “The U.S. people hold between 35 percent and 50 percent of the world’ s civilian-owned guns, with every 100 people having 90 guns …”

    So when are the slackers out there going to buy their fair share of guns? Since most of the folks I know have a few more than .9 guns/person, there would seem to be a lot of people who are not doing their part in keeping America’s the most heavily-armed civivilian population in the world. Get off yer butts, people! Buy more guns!

    • “civilian”. Not my fault – no one posted an edit function warning label….

  17. “The United States prioritizes the right to keep and bear arms over the protection of citizens’ lives and personal security and exercises lax firearm possession control, causing rampant gun ownership. The U.S. people hold between 35 percent and 50 percent of the world’ s civilian-owned guns, with every 100 people having 90 guns (Online edition of the Foreign Policy, January 9, 2011).

    I don’t see anything but good news in the above quote. I’m proud that the USA has half of the world’s civilian owned firearms. And rampant gun ownership is a good thing too!

    • The Second Amendment: It’s not a bug, it’s a feature. And a damn good one at that.

  18. the U.S. people hold between 35 percent and 50 percent of the world’ s civilian-owned guns, with every 100 people having 90 guns (Online edition of the Foreign Policy, January 9, 2011). According to a Gallup poll in October 2011, 47 percent of American adults reported that they had a gun. That was an increase of six percentage points from a year ago and the highest Gallup had recorded since 1993

    Damnit people, we CAN do better.

    • “Damnit people, we CAN do better.”

      No kidding. I’ve got six total & I’m not even trying.

      • Remember: you are legally entitled to a minimum of one gun of every type for every year of your life. “Type” to be defined by the gun owner. [Legal citatation: Laws of Pete, Ch. 1, Para 1(a).]

  19. The day we let the Chinese start dictating what we do will be the day they own all our debts. Oh , wait a minute/////

  20. I love it – “Gun laws in the U.S. are so lax that people own guns! It’s horrible, I mean they really have a lot of guns! Oh, the humanity!”

  21. “The U.S. people hold between 35 percent and 50 percent of the world’ s civilian-owned guns,
    The rest of the world needs to get with the program and arm up their civilians.

  22. with every 100 people having 90 guns

    Shame on America! Why don’t the remaining 10 people have guns?

  23. In America we aim to have a “Rifle behind every blade of grass” by 2015….. 🙂

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