OPINION:
Honduras now has the highest homicide rate in the world, with approximately 90.4 killings per 100,000 people. The international average for killings, according to the April 13, 2015, report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, is 6.2 per 100,000. In 2008, Honduran bureaucrats enacted strict regulations on gun ownership, thinking it would curb gang activitiy and drug-related homicides.
The United States, with a population of 319 million, has a homicide rate of 3.8 per 100,000, about half of the world average. That single fact doesn’t seem to tally with liberals, who think they have the best solution for mankind’s problems.
In Switzerland, after serving a mandatory 260 days in the military, each soldier is sent home with his firearm. On Sept. 22, 2013, despite attempts by “outside-funded” political interests, Swiss voters overwhelmingly reaffirmed their support for mandatory military service and the ensuing private ownership of firearms.
Since Aug. 1, 1291, Switzerland has had a long history of “armed neutrality,” and yet is frequently is involved in peace-building among nations. Switzerland’s homicide rate of 0.6 homicides per 100,000 is one of the lowest in the world.
I urge Washington Times readers to consider these statistical nuggets when pondering whether they’d prefer starting a business, retiring and raising a family in Honduras or Switzerland. When it comes to good intentions, advocates of gun control should read how Uncle Adolph, Big Joe Stalin, Chairman Mao and Pol Pot “fundamentally transformed” their countries.
Trusting bureaucrats to solve any problem is like waiting for Santa Claus, and it can mean your own extinction.
DALE LOWDERMILK
Founder, Notsafe.org
Santa Barbara, Calif.
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