A -
A Brief History of Gun Control Worldwide
There are numerous historical accounts of brutal despots, kings and tyrannical governments victimizing their subjugated citizens who were too powerless to resist (see
https://thefederalistpapers.org/us/10-most-brutal-tyrants-in-history-compared-by-number-of-victims.
The availability of firearms for self-defense has made it more difficult for governments and tyrants to victimize their citizens. This is one explanation about why the most murderous governments and despots in the last 150 years limited gun ownership and, in some cases, confiscated firearms from their citizens.
King George of England attempted to implement gun confiscation policies in the Colonies before the Revolutionary War. We all know that didn’t work! The King’s intent to disarm American colonists was one of the foundational reasons for our Founding Fathers adopting the Second Amendment to the Constitution.
Gun control is once again at the surface of discourse and policy-making in the United States. Some lawmakers, academics, pundits and ordinary Americans call for outright gun bans and confiscation in the wake of these shootings. Given the increase in calls for more gun control including confiscation and even talk about repealing the Second Amendment we believe it is appropriate to start with an examination of the history of gun control around the world and its impact on common folk.
The Ottoman Empire – 1911
The Ottoman Empire existed in the region of current-day Turkey. That government slaughtered millions of Armenians who were native to the empire. A short history of the slaughter was published by the University of Michigan. The university’s report noted that in 1911 the empire achieved full gun confiscation. Between 1915 and 1917 approximately 1.5 million Armenians (out of a total of 2.5 million) were murdered by their government. This mass murder has become known as the Armenian Holocaust.
The University of Michigan report also discussed the formation of “Butcher Battalions” composed mostly of violent criminals released from prison to kill ethnic Armenians.
https://www.coursehero.com/file/pvn...ased-from-prison-were-organized-into-killing/ Armenians who were part of the Ottoman military and discharged “…were disarmed, placed into labor battalions, and then killed.”
Soviet Union – 1929
Soviet citizens were allowed to have firearms until 1929 when private gun ownership was abolished. The repressive and brutal régime of Joseph Stalin emerged at the same time that firearm ownership was outlawed. Tens of millions of Soviet dissidents and others perceived as threats to the government were rounded up and either murdered or placed in labor camps or prisons and forced to work, sometimes to their deaths during Stalin’s tenure.
Stalin’s heartless indifference for life combined with his extreme paranoia eventually led to the purging of the Communist Party at the same time a total gun ban was instituted. Stalin once famously said during the purge “If the opposition disarms, well and good. If it refuses to disarm, we shall disarm it ourselves.” (This reminds us of a statement by Representative Eric Swalwell, the first 2020 presidential candidate to drop out of the race, when he said: “If Americans fight against gun confiscation, Feds can nuke them.”)
Germany – 1938
Nazi Germany under the leadership of Adolf Hitler instituted gun control in 1938 at about the same time he ordered the extermination of Jewish men, women, and children. By the time the killing stopped his murderous decisions resulted in the death of approximately 13 million Jews and others from different unwanted minority groups.
China – 1935
The greatest mass murderer of the 20th century was China’s Mao Zedong. According to the authoritative “Black Book of Communism,” an estimated 65 million Chinese died as a result of Mao’s repeated, merciless attempts to create a new “socialist” China. Anyone who got in his way was done away with — by execution, imprisonment or forced famine. The Nationalist Chinese government established gun control in 1935.
Mao Zedong famously said on at least two occasions in speeches “Every Communist must grasp the truth: Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” Although he was likely referring to the use of firearms in times of war given the number of Chinese citizens and dissidents killed under his régime we presume that his “truth” applied to gaining power by killing innocent people.
Cambodia – 1956
The year this Asian nation issued its total gun control edict was 1956, but the real carnage did not begin until several years late during the regime of the demonic Pol Pot. Between 1975 and 1977, his regime murdered as many as 1 million “educated” people in “killing fields” that were later depicted in a movie by the same name.
Summary of World Wide Gun Control
160,000,000 to 200,000,000 people have been killed by their totalitarian governments around the world. Some estimates are as high as 262,000,000 (
https://reason.com/2014/05/15/be-antigovernment-and-proud). There is a correlation between the citizens being disarmed through gun control and the mass murders (see the summary above). There appears to be a relationship between the mass murders and gun confiscation imposed by rulers and despots who knew that the only way they could continue to brutalize their people and stay in power was by disarming them.
B - Beyond modern history, might I suggest you look at what Machiavelli had to say on the matter.
