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By Alex Newman
\nThe Liberty Sentinel<\/p>\n
Guns are not the problem, and I speak from personal experience. Growing up in two countries with dramatically different attitudes and laws on firearms \u2014 one nation where civilian gun ownership is banned, the other where it is mandatory for many \u2014 gave me unique insight into this issue.<\/p>\n
As the debate on guns and gun control rages in America, I can\u2019t help but think back on lessons learned during my childhood. It\u2019s not quite a tale of two cities, but almost.<\/p>\n
In the most peaceful country on earth, it was not unusual for me to see children on bikes or young men on trains openly carrying fully automatic weapons over their shoulder as if it was nothing. Nobody even bothered to look twice. Guns in closets or above kitchen cupboards were ubiquitous in family homes.<\/p>\n
In one of the most violent nations on Earth, by contrast, only criminals and government agents \u2014 many of them vile criminals, too \u2014 could be seen with a weapon in public. And yet, murder and mayhem are ubiquitous there.<\/p>\n
Let me share with you a bit about my upbringing. While I lived in eight different countries on four continents over the years, the two nations I\u2019m going to tell you about stick in my mind \u2014 for very different reasons. I subconsciously learned a lot, and I think you will too.<\/p>\n
Gun-free Mexico:<\/strong><\/p>\n When I was four, we moved from the United States to Mexico for my dad\u2019s job. Even as a little child, it was obvious to me that this was a very different place.<\/p>\n One of the first observations I remember was that every single house had a wall around it \u2014 oftentimes topped with broken glass, barbed wire, or even electric fence. I had never seen anything like that in Florida. And yet in Mexico, it was everywhere.<\/p>\n All I remember my mom saying about it when I asked her was that Mexico was not as safe as Florida, but that we would be fine and dad would keep us safe. She was right on both counts. But we did have a lot of close calls.<\/p>\n One of my most vivid memories from living in Mexico City for 7 years was coming home after a family vacation in the beach town Mazatl\u00e1n to find our house burglarized.<\/p>\n At first, everything just looked like a giant mess. But as my family and I processed what was going on, I realized that the \u201cmess\u201d was actually the result of having burglars tear through everything in our home.<\/p>\n Perhaps the most frightening part of the experience was finding our own kitchen knives on every bed upstairs. We weren\u2019t sure whether it was a warning or simply the result of the criminals dropping their weapons after ensuring nobody was home. But it was terrifying.<\/p>\n In any case, my dad promptly called his company\u2019s lawyer as soon as he could find a phone, as the burglars cut our phone lines. The lawyer told us NOT to report the burglary to the police, as they would simply come check whether there was anything left to steal. Instead, it would be up to my dad to deal with it.<\/p>\n Dad immediately took several steps: He ordered a big metal gate for the top of the staircase that looked like jail bars, he had electric fencing put up on top of the wall around our house, he hired a new security firm to patrol our home \u2026. And he bought an illegal firearm on the black market.<\/p>\n Of course, my little brother and I did not know he purchased a firearm until we found it one day years later snooping around in his closet. But as we got older, dad told us that keeping his family safe was more important to him than following bad laws.<\/p>\n It was a clear message to me that was left unstated but still rings in my mind today: Good guys need guns, because bad guys don\u2019t care about murder and theft laws \u2014 much less gun-control regulations.<\/p>\n The other most vivid memories I have from Mexico involve being routinely harassed and extorted by the \u201cfederales,\u201d the federal cops who ran wild in Mexico City.<\/p>\n In the most extreme and terrifying incident, the police told my mom to pay the \u201cfine\u201d on the spot \u2014 known as a \u201cmordida,\u201d or bite \u2014 to avoid being hauled to jail and having my little brother and me on the side of a busy road. She broke down crying before finally handing over the money.<\/p>\n Our experience was not unique. The data on Mexico speaks for itself. Despite its near-total gun ban, Mexico suffers a murder rate that is orders of magnitude higher than the United States. Cartels often control the government. And corruption levels are unimaginable to an American.<\/p>\n After Mexico, we moved to Brazil, another nation with strict gun control plagued by crime and an out-of-control murder rate. Living there was wild. Many of my friends had armed bodyguards. All of us lived in communities and apartments protected by heavy security and huge walls.<\/p>\n\n