< Back to Centerfire Home

170 Million Reasons to Own a Gun

 

The following table is from page 7 of the September 11th, 1999 issue of The Economist magazine, and is titled A League of Evil. It shows that in the twentieth century, 170 Million citizens were executed by their own governments, presumably for political reasons, while only 37 Million were killed in warfare. The next time you hear someone say that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution refers only to the National Guard or that guns should be possessed only for ‘‘sporting purposes’’, remember this chart. The citizens of these countries did not have a Second Amendment.

 

Civilians killed by governments in the 20th century, excluding war.

Deaths Excluding War Millions  Era
Soviet Union 62 1917-1991
China (Communist) 35 1949-Present
Germany 21 1933-45
China (Kuomintang)) 10 1928-49
Japan 6 1936-45
Total deaths directly caused by governments Excluding War 170

 

Deaths in War Millions
International 30
Civil 7
Total deaths in War 37

 

Sources: ‘‘Statistics of Democide’’ by Rudy J. Rummel
(With The Economist additions for recent wars)

 

‘‘No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.’’

— Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334 (C.J. Boyd, Ed., 1950)

 

Home