Latest estimates given in the UK press of the number of guns looted by the general public in Albania are one and a half million. The population of Albania is about three and a half million. How many thousands or hundreds of thousands of these fully automatic weapons will find their way into the European criminal black market? Not to mention all the hand grenades and military grade explosives looted from the military and police armouries.
This gives you some idea of the number of military weapons in government armouries in the UK. I personally have been inside a warehouse in Stirling that contained thousands of L1A1 rifles crated up for long-term storage. We cannot dis-invent the gun. They can be made in small machine-shops (in Africa and India they are made with hand-tools and foot-operated lathes). Millions of weapons and billions of rounds of ammunition are in military and police storage facilities in every country.
A particular problem with a disarmed society occurs when weapons become generally available due to sudden social breakdown, or the insidious development of a large criminal class prepared to flout the weapons laws. The best solution is to promote the widespread ownership of weapons by responsible citizens, who can act to counter any threat to public order and peace in the event of a failure of government. An armed citizenry is the most effective deterrent against tyranny. Rather than Japan let's look to Switzerland for the model of how to integrate the power of firearms into the community.
Johnny <johnny@dvc.org.uk>