The Sun Times reports that rural Indian villagers burned hundreds of toy guns in protest of the civil unrest and militant groups that have killed over 5,000 people in the last decade. The violence perpetrated by these militants and criminals is tragic, but blaming guns is irrational, pointless, and won’t solve the Indian’s problem with violence.
While the goal of stopping India’s rampant militant violence and civil unrest is a noble one, the cause of this violence is not the presence of guns. Rather, it is caused by a variety of ethnic groups that want political autonomy, villagers who feel that the central government exploits them, and a lack of law enforcement. These are deep seated societal issues that have persisted for the majority of India’s history, not the result of gun ownership.
It is sad to see time and effort wasted by these villagers, when it would be better spend learning to defend themselves and affecting political change. It is sad that they are teaching their children to blame inanimate objects for their problems. But it looks like they will instead continue to scapegoat guns.