What the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution can tell us about gun control
Sparked by growing unrest due to the Ukraine’s Euromaidan protest movement against the government, that country broke out into open revolution this month.
With the Ukrainian police under the direction of President Yanukovych being filmed engaging in shooting at demonstrators in Kiev, and reports of up to 100 killed in violence in the country, we have been subjected to a series of photos in which ordinary citizens are taking up arms against a regime that is illegitimate.
The thing is, these arms are pitiful in comparison to those being used against them.
(A Daisy Model 880 pellet rifle is heavy artillery due to the country’s strict gun control measures)
(Another with a Chinese made single shot air rifle and great trigger discipline..)
According to a study by Gunpolicy.org, the 46-million person Ukraine only has some 3.1-millon guns owned by civilians across the country. Two thirds of these are off the books and unregistered (and thus illegal to possess). The Ukraine has just 640,615 legal firearms owners who in turn have just over a million guns– most of which are shotguns, with semi-auto rifles and pistols in many cases being hard to obtain legally. This is about 6 registered and unregistered guns for every 100 people. The Ukrainian police and military forces are estimated to own some 7.5 million guns including some of the most modern select-fire small arms in the world. The government outguns its citizenry and does not have to listen to them….or at least they didn’t think they did…
Read the rest in my column at firearms talk