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Comment by smsm42 | Hacker News Reader

You are aware of the fact that strict gun laws don't mean no guns? Your own link shows there are 3 million guns in Ukraine. If there's a need, some of them - probably hundreds of them - would find their way to the hostilities. But I'm not sure there is the will to escalate the situation this far. Because then the next step is using the army and heavy weaponry, and that means civil war and massive casualties. No one really wants that to happen.

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I do not want to turn this into a gun control debate. You are right, it is best to avoid actual armed conflict.

However, having roughly 6.6 guns per 100 people means that guns are rare enough not to be used all the time. In general, the slavic nations do not have a culture of guns and gun violence among civilians (thank goodness), and that's what we are seeing here. Guns being rare means that they are not the first thing you reach for in a riot.

By the way, Ukraine has mandatory draft, so most men (women are ineligible for draft) do know how to handle weapons.

Let me just say that being drafted in soviet-model army and knowing one's way around civilian firearms is not the same thing. But I'm sure even with 6 guns per 100 that means that there could be at least dozens of guns present in the scene. Yet so far we didn't hear any of them firing, which I don't attribute just to luck. But you're right, most of the protestors probably don't own a firearm, and those who may own it probably won't take it there.

I would suggest that it's more likely the protesters simply do not have interest in killing people.

For example,shooting during riots in the '70s in italy was very common even though we do not have a gun culture.

Glad to see the Ukrainians are peaceful.

I also grew up in a heavily armed and very peaceful nation and like others I suspect this has more to do with culture than with access to weapons.

> If there's a need, some of them - probably hundreds of them - would find their way to the hostilities.

Everything will end very quickly if real guns pop up.

To the disappointment of protesters.

Policemen shot, and earlier 4 protestors shot. www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-protests-police-officer-shot-dead-as-violence-continues-in-kiev-despite-concessions-9084097.html

news.yahoo.com/police-disperse-kiev-protest-activists-one-shot-dead-070644319.html

The police already used shotguns, loaded with metal slugs for door breaching (!).

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