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Right to bear arms -- in Russia?

An interesting article from the Russian News and Information Agency, on liberalizing Russian gun laws. (How strange that sounds to those of us who grew up during the Cold War! Almost as strange as reading an article about Europeans calling for adoption of American gun laws, so they can defend themselves). The writer notes that Russian law allows only possession of a few types of guns, with permit processes that make New York City sound easy, but, still, at least 10 times as many Russians own guns as they did under the Soviet regime.

"[T]he public in Russia is increasingly leaning towards a more liberal law on weapons. For the last half a year the State Duma has been discussing the possibility of giving the people real firearms, as is done in the United States, for one.

American statistics are the main argument of Russian firearms advocates. According to the U.S. Justice Department, 34% of all criminals were wounded or detained by armed civilians, while 40% have altogether given up an idea of an attack for fear of reciprocal fire. In those states that allow citizens to carry concealed arms, the level of murders is lower by 33 %, and of robberies by 37%.

Advocates of legalizing firearms in Russia often refer to the experience of neighboring Latvia: After the relevant law was adopted, street crime dropped by 80%, and the Latvian police force has been cut."

· non-US