In spite of stringent gun-control measures, Brazil's homicide rates are among the worst in the world. Now there's a movement to let more Brazilians defend themselves with private gun ownership.
Homicide rates in the US remain well below where they were 25 years ago, and stubbornly high homicide rates are a regional — and not a national — problem.
While the Second Amendment is a formidable barrier, experience suggests a mixture of bureaucratic regulation and court rulings could significantly empower the gun-control lobby.
Proponents claim that if the government just "cracks down" even harder, the drug problem will be solved. The reality in Mexico and the Philippines shows how wrong this idea is.
In the early years of the United States, legal systems were far more localized and flexible. But elites preferred consistency over flexibility, and the rich could afford the more bureaucratic legal institutions that ordinary people could not.
Rulings and regulations that force companies to keep unprofitable businesses operating "for the public good," are really a net loss for the public good.
