A look at Korean gun laws
From Ask a Korean. This bit is interesting:
it is eminently possible to eradicate guns from a society — even in a society where nearly every single adult men are familiar with guns (during their military service.)
No, it’s not.
January 27th, 2011 at 12:06 pm
The South Koreans probably ought to worry about having their capital within tube artillery range of their primary foe rather than their unworkable gun laws having any relevance to the US.
January 27th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
I noticed some glaring holes in his statement such as the bit about psychopaths getting weapons. Makes me wonder what korean serial killers use? When a society does not believe such people exist they tend to ignore things that would imply they do….
January 27th, 2011 at 2:18 pm
Another point missed by everyone is Korean culture itself. Like most Pacific Rim countries, compliance and group thinking is the norm. That’s how they are indoctrinated from birth to old age. If someone in charge (of an elevated social rank) tells everyone that something is bad, or that something must be done in a specific way—right or wrong—most of the group will meekly follow along. I know plenty of Japanese and Koreans and Chinese, fortunately, who think outside that box, and don’t jump merely because someone older and “wiser” tells them too.
January 27th, 2011 at 2:19 pm
Must explain why when they have anti-government riots, the rioters throw Molotov cocktails at the police.
January 27th, 2011 at 7:06 pm
“it is eminently possible to eradicate guns from a society — even in a society where nearly every single adult men are familiar with guns (during their military service.) ”
So why then does Britian have gun crime? If ANY state could eradicate guns it should be an island country such as Britian. But no, they have not and cannot.
And that’s a fact. Even JAPAN has gun crime!!!
January 27th, 2011 at 11:47 pm
I am appalled. If they are unwilling to arm up and train, I would be unwilling to ship overseas to rescue them from insane communist dictatorship as our fathers did. Of all people, you’d think they would riot for the right to keep and bear arms.
January 28th, 2011 at 5:13 am
Cho, the Virginia Tech killer, was Korean. He’s correct in saying that Koreans are not angels. Here in the USA, where they can get guns, they shoot others over silly things just like Americans do.
January 28th, 2011 at 10:11 am
Cho had been raised in the US from the age of 8, undoubtedly absorbing a fair chunk of the ambient culture; was the son of 1st generation immigrants; and was most likely crazy.
I don’t really see how he’s anything like a valid example of a person born, raised, and living in South Korea, ketcom.
Even assuming that gun control “works” in South Korea (which I’m not sure is the case, but everybody else has already pointed out the statistical confusion on display; nor does the Korean approach seem fault tolerant, as when one of their police officers flips out), I think that MrSatyre makes an excellent point. South Korea is culturally and ethnically quite homogenous, while the United States is … not. It’s not clear at all that an approach which works there would work in the USA.
January 28th, 2011 at 10:14 am
There are plenty of firearms in South Korea. However they are owned by the military and police. For a country of roughly 50 million they have around 3.7 million in the military and a lot of police. They are on practically every street corner in the big cities, at all the toll booths, and they patrol the major airports. In the US we have about 2.4 million in the military and about 900,000 police.