The Perception of Gun Culture

India has been an avid market for illegal gun trade for over 100 years. With development in technology as well as new implementations in gun policies, we still haven’t been eradicate the gun culture that exists at a mass scale.

India has a staggering record of 6.1 crore unregistered guns that are circulating in the market. This makes only 15% of the total guns amongst civilians to be legal. It ranks second on gun usage after America.

Also Read: India: gun culture - and gun violence - on the rise

These shocking statistics lead us to start our campaign - Kattabazaari, as we dissect the gun culture in our country. We launched a survey on India’s Gun Culture and luckily, we had over 100 respondents from different walks of life to understand their point of view regarding the illegal gun trade and the system of Kattabazaari that exists in Northern India.

1. When we asked about the first word that comes to people’s head

when they hear the word gun, 73% of the respondents said that they find guns dangerous. Other than that, over 50% respondents say that having a gun in their house has no affect on their overall feeling of safety. Gun ownership is very common worldwide. People report that they need them for safety and/or sport. However, having a firearm in the home actually increases the rate for suicide, homicide, domestic violence, and accidents. The presumed security is questioned, especially since owner and family suicide vastly outnumbers self-protective events. Not just that, India stands at third position when it comes to firearm related deaths in the world.

Also Read: India sees the third highest firearm related deaths in the world

2. When asked whether you would threaten to fire a gun to defend

yourself/ your family, over 65% respondents answered that yes they would. One must remember that owning a gun is not a right but a privilege in any country. The fact that so many people would be ready to use the force of guns except for pursuing legal help from the police or the government is scary. Self defence is understandable but the real question where do you draw the line whether to shoot someone or not in self defence. Even if someone wanted to use a gun in self-defense, they probably wouldn't be very successful, says Mike Weisser, firearms instructor and author of the blog "Mike The Gun Guy." He says many people who carry a gun aren't properly trained to use it in this way which might lead to them harming themselves or their loved ones rather than attacking the enemy.

Also Read: How Often Do People Use Guns In Self-Defense?

3. When asked how do you think people around you perceive gun

culture, over 50% responded that they were unconcerned and have accepted it as a norm of the land. With the population being unaffected by the present day gun culture in our country, we could never expect any one to stand against it or even not participate in it as they have accepted it as a daily practice. It doesnt matter if India has one of the strictest gun policies among various nations, it will never be useful till the people who are deeply involved in the gun culture realize the harm its causing our society as a whole. The practice of owning guns has become an endless loop of neglect and disinterest. Not just that, the media plays a big role in this. With shows like Mirzapur, Tandav, Pataal Lok gaining immense popularity online, people have gotten desensitized to the problem and have started treating ownership of guns as something cool and normal.

Also Read: Gun culture behind state of lawlessness in UP

4. Most people that participated in our survey agree that every gun

owner has a hidden motive behind owning a weapon. The motive is not for protection but to use arms as a social symbol to set a class hierarchy in the society. They agree that people guns to create a sense of fear among others and gain a position of power between their community. From the above observation, what do you think, Is gun ownership about protection or is it more about the power that a gun owner holds over a particular section of the society? Because if power is the driving factor and buying guns is the result then us, power hungry humans, would never let this cycle of neglect end.

5. Out of the respondents who do own a gun, more than 40%

responded yes, they would normally carry their loaded guns around just in case of an emergency. When it comes to safety measures, there are basically none which puts everyone at a risk, waiting for a gun owner to lose their temper and shoot blindly because as discussed above, gun ownership is very closely connected to power rather than protection. This puts thousands of innocents at risk of losing their life which is not uncommon as we listen to such news reports almost everyday.

The final question that remains is, do we need guns? Do we need arms to protect ourselves or can we trust our legal system to do that and try to solve matters with love? How to make our country more safe? How to get rid of the current gun culture that has lead to Kattabazaari?

With every person that reads this and questions their privilege of owning a gun, we would feel proud of ourselves to have spread awareness about such a major issue which has stayed under the wraps for too long.

Also Read: Key takeaways on Americans’ views of guns and gun ownership