James Rogers wrote (in response to kai Becker)
. Since weapons have been widely
> available in the US for centuries, natural selection has weeded out most
of
> the weapon toting people with control issues. Consider, for example, the
> regions of the US where lots of people carry pistols and nobody gives it a
> second thought (e.g. some of the rural western States, where guns are
> carried for utilitarian purposes). Guns are everywhere, but there is no
> blood in the streets. In fact, the streets are quite safe. People with
> self-control issues were removed from the gene pool a century ago in those
> parts. They've ended up with a well-armed but safe and friendly
environment
> instead.
>
> It would seem to follow then, that you couldn't just reintroduce pistols
to
> cities and regions that haven't had them for a few generations without
> expecting some initial bloodshed. In all likelihood those areas have had
a
> buildup of sociopaths and people with questionable self-control, so the
> initial conditions for reintroducing personal weaponry would not be at
> equilibrium.
>
> -James Rogers
> jamesr@best.com
This is an interesting hypothesis but I doubt natural selection could work
fast enough among a human population to produce such a shift in behaviour. I
think it's more likely to be a matter of cultural evolution. There is wide
variation in the level of homicides with guns both within the U.S. (as you
say) and between the U.S. and other societies with high levels of gun
ownership such as Switzerland. Historically a major feature of the move to
modernity is a change in the pattern of recorded crime, from one where
violent crime makes up a large part or even the majority of the courts'
business to one where violent crime is a small element (and declines in
absolute terms as well). This seems to be associated with the disapearance
of an "honour culture" where ones social status is greatly affected by your
response to slights to your honour or "face". Fail to respond to an insult
to your own or your families' honour with violence or the threat of it and
your name is mud. I think widespread gun ownership can produce high levels
of violence given certain cultural norms, very low levels given a different
set of norms. Steve Davies
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