Chicks and guns
In India, more and more women are packing:
“I don’t have faith in the police to protect me. There are so many attacks on women these days. It’s everybody’s right to defend themselves. I think all women who are vulnerable should be carrying guns,” Sidhu said. She is not alone. A growing number of well-off, educated Indian women are turning to firearms for protection.
But I’m told only uneducated people are into guns!
May 25th, 2012 at 10:40 am
Funny, I’m a college grad with a white collar desk job and shoot 12,000 rounds year. In fact, at the last IDPA, the SO was a gastrointestinal specialist.
May 25th, 2012 at 2:11 pm
9600 english pounds for a ruger .22?
That’s a ferocious excise tax.
May 25th, 2012 at 3:09 pm
Kristopher, it’s actually not the excise tax, it’s supply vs. demand. India essentially prohibited import of foreign-made firearms and ammunition (with limited exceptions, including ones for “renowned shooters”) in 1986. This, combined with poor-quality domestically firearms manufacture (such as the IOF .32 Revolver, which itself costs about $1500 USD) means that grandfathered imported weapons can be stunningly expensive, particularly in comparison to the average income of a citizen of India. For example, a S&W .357 Magnum revolver may cost $20,000 USD. I’ve also read that a .357 Magnum Desert Eagle was sold in Punjab last year for 35 lakh…over $60,000 USD! There is a provision for Indians who are moving back to India after legally owning a firearm while living overseas, but you can only do that once, with one firearm, and you can never sell it on the domestic market.
May 25th, 2012 at 3:31 pm
“Gang rapes in the capital, New Delhi, are commonplace. One recent news magazine’s investigation revealed widespread misogyny among the city’s senior police officers, many of whom said the crimes were the fault of the victims.”
Nice, blame the victim for being raped. Real classy. It’s no wonder the women want protection, the cops may not even give a damn.
May 26th, 2012 at 1:06 pm
Pyrotek:
India is in a Victorian morals period at the moment. Add a large moslem minority, and it gets bad.
So yea, they really do believe that unescorted women are asking for it, in spite of government policy to the contrary.
May 26th, 2012 at 2:30 pm
I think the author may have made some mistakes with the article. First, 80,000 rupees is about $1,500 USD, or about 1,000 quid. Second, I had previously read that even that amount would only get you a crappy Indian-made revolver, or a handgun cobbled together from cheap, hand-fabricated parts. A professionally-made pistol is likely to go for far more than that. The market is clearly there, but the access for those not politically-connected or very wealthy (which requires the former) is almost non-existent legally, resulting in the vast majority of firearms being illegally-acquired.
If I were a smuggler, I wouldn’t bother with drugs. I’d smuggle in $100 Hi Points are make 50x profit!
May 27th, 2012 at 10:13 am
You know, if the only limitation is foreign built, I would think the trick would be to bring in a CnC lathe, load in M1911 plans (they’re in the public domain now), and start churning out Colt .45 clones.
Of you could do CZ-75 clones. Those plans were never put under any form of control.