Economics and human rights. Andrey Sokolov

The Nagan or the Browning cost 16—20 rubles – half of the average worker’s salary.

      In the USSR, weapons were banned, and the total ban on weapons left in Russia since the days of the Soviet government does not lead to a decrease, but to an increase in crime. The criminal world is actively arming.

      According to official data of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. As of December 1, 2004, 178,344 pieces of firearms and military equipment were stolen by criminals (or somehow “lost”) by the country’s law enforcement agencies, including 66,679 pieces of rifled weapons, of which 23,451 assault rifles, 25,916 pistols, 1,927 machine guns, 2,661 grenade launchers and 71 portable missile launchers. Of course, these weapons are now for criminals, and not for law-abiding citizens. (16, 17)

      The state, complicating the legal circulation of weapons, facilitates the actions of bandits. Only 13% of the victims are resisting the attackers and only half the time successfully. (8)

      USA

      Thanks to the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution, which guarantees every citizen the right to own and bear arms, US citizens are fully able to protect their lives and health. Approximately 43% of American households have firearms. This is about 90 million armed citizens. They say that “Abraham Lincoln gave people freedom, and Colonel Colt called their chances.”

      Specific conditions are regulated at the regional level. For example, in California, you can buy no more than one barrel in 30 days. In 30 states, weapons can be worn openly, in 14 it requires prior authorization, and only in 6 states it is forbidden to openly carry firearms. The concealed carrying of weapons is permitted in all states except Illinois.

      Of course, the media is constantly showing data about shooting in the US. One of the reasons for this is that most of these media are also American or broadcast news from the US. For the US press generally watches very closely, where more closely than the news from Colombia, for example. On the other hand, the USA objectively produces a large percentage of world news. Much larger than, for example, the countries of Africa or South America. However, if you count the number of weapons in the hands of people, the number of inhabitants and the percentage of criminal use of weapons, you will get a completely different picture.

      Professor David Mastard published in the Journal of Law and Economics the results of a study according to which in states where citizens are allowed to carry weapons, the number of police murders is reduced by two percent every year. (7)

      According to the University of Chicago, in states where concealed weapons are allowed, the total crime rate is less than in the “forbidding” states, by 22%, the level of murders – by 33%, robberies – by 37%, grievous bodily harms – by 14%. (15)

      In those states of America where secretly carrying weapons are allowed, citizens kill twice as many criminals as policemen. Thus, it can be stated that if citizens did not have weapons, it was for them, and not for criminals, that this part of the criminal meetings would end with death or other losses.

      In those states of America where citizens are allowed to covertly carry weapons, the overall level of violent crime is lower by 18% than in Illinois, where wearing is prohibited.

      In Illinois, where weapons are prohibited, 289.7 murders per 100 000 population are committed. In states where concealed weapons are allowed, 183.1 killings per 100 000 population.

      In the state of Florida after 1987, after permission to purchase weapons, crime fell by 21%.

      In Washington, the capital of the United States, in 1976, the authorities banned the possession of pistols and revolvers. As a result, crime has tripled.

      From 1973 to 1992, the number of “trunks” of US citizens increased by 73% – from 122 to 222 million units! The number of murders during the same years decreased by 10%.

      The most stringent laws concerning the possession and carrying of weapons exist in the cities of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington. In these cities, only 5% of the US population live together. But it is in these cities, where it is more difficult for citizens to protect themselves, 15% of all murders in the country are committed. (12)

      The Town Hall of the small town of Kennesaw, Georgia, in 1983, required residents to have at least one unit of firearms per house. For 16 years of application of this act in the city there were only three murders, two of which with the help of a knife (1984 and 1987). And then, despite the fact that the population of the town for fourteen years has grown 4 times!

      The total number of crimes against the person in Kennesaw within a year after the adoption of the law was reduced by 74%, and a year later by another 45%. That is, only one realization that any person in the city can be armed, led to a significant reduction in crime.

      The example of Kennesaw proves that the presence of firearms among citizens increases the level of public order and security. And reduces, accordingly, the cost of security, reduces the burden on the budget and the police.

      The second amendment to the US Constitution reads: “… the right of people to store and carry weapons should not be infringed.” This right is used by 7 out of 10 adult Americans.

      In the hands of a criminal, weapons are evil. In the hands of the criminal and the scalpel is evil. In the hands of the doctor, the same scalpel is good. The ax in the hands of the forester is good. In the hands of the criminal is evil. The knife in the hands of the cook is good, in the hands of the bandit is evil.

      The population of the USA more than twice exceeds the population of Russia. In the US, weapons are allowed. In Russia it is forbidden. At the same time, according to data for 1993, there were 23 thousand murders in the United States, in Russia – 29 thousand. Those. in terms of the percentage of the population, in a country where weapons are prohibited to citizens, they kill twice as much as in the country where the weapon is legalized. Even policemen in the United States, despite a huge number of weapons from residents, are killed half as often as in Russia.

      In the US, according to data for 2016, with all the abundance of weapons in the hands of people, the number of murders was less than 5 per 100,000 a year. In Russia, despite the ban, this indicator is almost twice as high – more than 9 people per 100 000 population. (132)

      Official statistics of developed countries constantly notes the increase in the level of murders, with the toughening of the right to carry and store weapons. (8)

      Observations confirm the rule. From country to country, from example to example, the same picture repeats itself almost mathematically. There are more weapons among citizens – there are fewer crimes and murders.

      Why, when speaking about the right of citizens to life and health, and the connection of this right with the economy, it is necessary to remember criminal statistics? Not only because this is the main argument of opponents of free possession of weapons, but also because the right to life and health of one person is limited by the right to life and health of another person. And, as can be seen from the examples given, the total number of saved lives and health with free possession of weapons is greater than with prohibitions on weapons. From figure to figure, from country to country, from state to state.

      As for the economy, then it’s even simpler. The more weapons sold legally, the more taxes paid, the more jobs created, the more taxpayers saved their lives and health.

      If the US sold 150 million weapons, and in Russia only 5 million, how much more taxes went to the treasury of the United States? And how much more shops, shooting galleries, repair shops, shooting clubs opened? How much more jobs did you have? How much more people were able to get a job and legally improve their financial situation?

      It is also important to note the fact that the total number of crimes involving weapons constitutes a rather small percentage of all deaths caused not by illness