I recall when I returned to Kuwait after the Iraqi invasion. My purpose was to find what was left of our possessions in our residence in the Jabriya section of the city (not much).
But the point here is the taxi driver who picked me up. At that time, after the US had run off the Iraqis, Americans were heroes to the Kuwaitis, and the cabbie was delighted to talk with me. He opened the trunk of his cab and showed me his AK-47. He was clear that Kuwait was not going to allow itself to be invaded again. About the weapon, he said, “Everybody has one.” The weapons were taken from the Iraqi weapons storage facility in Kuwait.
Kuwait law does not specifically give the right to bear arms to its residents. They allow possession to persons over 25 years of age after a background check.
The University of Sydney conducted a survey of guns and violence (Alpers, Philip and Marcus Wilson. 2018. Kuwait — Gun Facts, Figures and the Law. Sydney School of Public Health, The University of Sydney. GunPolicy.org, 22 February. Accessed 30 March 2018. at: http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/kuwait). There are many facets to the study. The rate of civilian gun possession in the US is listed at approximately four times the Kuwait rate. I question the accuracy of these statistics. After the war, there was a Kuwaiti program designed to confiscate the weapons in the community. Very few weapons were turned in, and the actual number of weapons remaining is unknown. Thus, the number of civilian guns in Kuwait is probably considerably higher. One aspect of Kuwaiti culture is celebratory gunfire at weddings, usually on Thursday nights. Take my word for it, there are a lot of guns in Kuwait, and the real rate of gun possession likely approaches the US rate.
Here’s the interesting statistic. The rate of homicide per 100,000 people is more than ten times higher in the US than in Kuwait. So, what’s the deal here? Certainly, guns play a role, but they’re not the whole story. As Americans we have to face up to the fact that we, as a people, are prone to violent solutions. Maybe we can blame it on our history. We tend to use war as a solution. How many wars have there been in the last 100 years? I can’t count.
Mental illness is blamed, but our rate is no higher than that in Kuwait.
I don’t know why Americans seek violence as a solution, but I think that’s the real issue. If there are ideas to address the problem, I’d like to hear them.
