But less common isn't always what you get. Those official gun ownership numbers actually compare apples and oranges. That's because Europeans own an awful lot of guns outside the law. [More]J.D. Tuccille argues we're not getting the total picture on European gun ownership.
I have concerns about some of the posited conclusions, though.
I'd need to see more proof that the Europeans who "own...guns outside the law" are defiant peaceable citizens who keep protection on the QT.
My instinct and stuff I've read to date indicates we may not be talking so much traditional Nigel and Pierre as much as newer arrivals with less affinity for promoting peace through strength in their host cultures. And again, my instinct is to assume a goodly number of these gun possessors are also members of a predatory underworld class.
Finally, I consider "ownership" both a legal and a moral term. Just because one is in possession of stolen property, which much of the black market in guns is based on, does not make him an "owner."
I'd love to believe there's a growing underground, as opposed to underworld, of gallant allies living in defiance of tyranny. I wish I could find some compelling evidence of that.