Reuters on gun ownership in Yemen:

“I have cannons, missiles, Kalashnikovs, anti-aircraft guns and hand grenades,” said community leader Mohammed Naji, sitting cross-legged in his house in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a. “This is a part of our culture, and a tribesman can give up everything except his gun.”

Though not everyone in Yemen has an arms cache the size of Naji’s, almost every household has at least one gun. Arms possession is particularly common in the north and northwest of the country.

With stuff like that, it’s time to blame the weapons:

Ethnic vendettas are a common problem in Yemen, resulting in the deaths of more than 2,000 people annually, according to government figures. In one example, revenge killings between the Hajerah and Annis tribes in Ibb and Thamar provinces, south of Sana, claimed the lives of more than 30 people and wounded 100 more in early July 2005. That particular vendetta, centred on a land dispute, has flared up intermittently for the last five years.

The crime rate in Yemen is soaring, with shootings almost daily to resolve disputes – or even just when tempers rise. The Ministry of the Interior reported that 34,655 crimes were committed in 2005, and government studies have blamed this high crime rate on the proliferation of firearms in the country.

Then the piece expressess disappointment about the fact the .gov there did not pass weapons laws. And we find that folks aren’t obeying the existing gun laws.

Posted in uncategorized on May 22nd, 2006 by SayUncle | RSS 2.0 |