Wednesday, April 18, 2012

guns & crime

Many of the high school aged males I've met ask me about guns in the US. They love the fact that we can carry them there and those that are leaving China ask if they can buy one where they are going.

In China, civilians cannot own guns. One of my students told me it's because they're too violent. I told him I think the US is much worse. Then he told me if he had a gun here he would use it to go to a store and steal money. Awesome; this is their future.

Really though, I do feel it is much safer in China than the US (and not just for the lack of guns). I never worry about violent crimes, theft or anything. Maybe part of that is because I am reached by exactly zero local news ever, but still I know a lot of foreigners here and not a single one has been the victim of a crime committed by a Chinese person (other than overcharging).

When I was in Beijing a while back with my friend and his sister, she mentioned something about being mindful of my purse, and in my head I was just thought, "You're such a tourist; no Chinese is going to steal anything from right off my body." Granted I had many other reasons for thinking she wasn't really assimilating into the culture, but even after a short time here I had formed this opinion.

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