An article analyzing Swiss gun culture. At first, it seems similar to the US gun culture because Swiss citizens are allowed to own select fire rifles and keep them in their homes. However, their rifle is for their country, not for themselves. The types of guns you can own isn't very restricted, but you are not allowed to have them in a vehicle unless youre going to a shooting range, and concealed carry is illegal. The Swiss own guns to quickly fight off an invading foreign army. Many Us citizens own guns to, in their mind, "keep the government in check".
A US Federal judge struck down washington DC's complete handgun carry ban because it was "unconstitutional". Ruling that the right to own a weapon extended outside the home. This is different than Swiss gun culture because the constitution protects the individual's gun rights here in the states.
An article from the NRA's magazine, stating that the US' gun problem isn't about guns, its about gun culture. It cites Switzerland as an example, but obviously the article is biased.
A letter from the vice president of the Swiss gun rights group Protell to the Swiss president, advocating for the president to oppose an upcoming small arms ban. He mainly sticks to 2 arguments: Small arms in the hands of civilians are necessary for the defense of the country, and also says that more gun laws will criminalize the law abiding citizens. He does NOT say anything about individual rights in the entire letter.
A letter from the vice president of the NRA to president Obama, he focuses on individual rights to bear arms and advocates for Obama to solve the problem of gun violence without stripping people of what he thinks is the right to bear arms.
People are protesting in China for democracy. It will be interesting to see how (or if) the Chinese government responds to this and if any other countries will get involved (which doesn't seem likely).
This article has a lot of information about the Ebola virus and its impact on the world. I chose this article because many people are completely paranoid about Ebola in the US. The article explains that Ebola spreads slowly, and it is not extremely contagious. Many people are scared of Ebola because of the horrific things it does to your body, but it is important to stop and realize that in the US, it is extremely unlikely to effect a large amount of people. You have to have to exchange bodily fluids with someone showing symptoms of the virus. There are only 2 cases of Ebola in the US (as far as we know), so there is no point in being concerned about becoming infected with ebola.
big_red on 19 Nov 14A bunch of data comparing gun ownership rates and homicide rates in every country.
