So, I've been thinking about this one a lot lately. I'll preface it by saying I am one of the most liberal people I know. But in that same line of thought, I believe we should have every right to possess knives, guns, brass knuckles, flamethrowers, throwing stars, maces and any other bizarre or unconventional potentially lethal objects.

I was born in Bermuda, for those people not familiar with it, it's that little dot that rarely shows up on a map. A whopping 20 square miles. The north point of the Bermuda Triangle (you know, that thing that's named after it.) But anyway, when I go back, I feel like a stranger in my own country. What does this have to do with weapon regulations, you ask? Any model or replica, including guns, knives, flares, martial-arts weapons, toys, slingshots, signals and yes, even lobsters are illegal. Lobsters?! I'm glad that there are no unreasonable lobster deaths or harm done to the animal, but why exactly are they considered a weapon? I could probably do more damage with a bottle-opener. To give you some perspective on their regulations, the last time I went to the island (less than a year ago) on my way back to the US, a Bermudian customs agent stopped me, and began rifling through my checked bag after it came out of a scanner. She didn't say what for, and ended up not finding anything, and dismissed it as a mistake. She closed up my bag and sent us on our way. When I got home, I realized what she was looking for. I had a brass knuckle belt buckle in my bag. It was quite large, but the fingerholes were blocked, and it was attached to a belt. I do have both Bermudian and US citizenship, so legally, though I don't currently reside in Bermuda I probably could have been jailed for ten years or more. All puns aside, I dodged a huge bullet.

I bet they have a low crime rate, you say. Well, not really.
If the government was effective at preventing smuggling of any kind, then yes, in theory, this wouldn't be a bad thing. But all that's really being done at this point is the laws are putting an average citizen or tourist at risk, because the people who do not have nefarious intentions are the ones who will be caught. If you try to enter the country with a small pocket knife for safety purposes, you're clearly not going out of your way to hide it, and customs will find it. However, if your organized crime ring is paying off a cruise line/importer to smuggle guns in, OBVIOUSLY you're tying to hide it and have a reason to, but your chances of being found out are virtually non-existent. The island is overrun with gangs at this point, this wasn't a problem ten or twenty years ago. And these aren't serious gangsters, to be fair. Most of those responsible for lower-level violence are just kids. But I still really don't like my odds as an unarmed, petite, white* female against some idiot with a gun who thinks I'm some tourist who won't recognize him. (*Being white, I am a minority in my country, and there still is widespread black on white racism, and vice-versa.)

Even scarier is that the shootings are generally completely at random. Randomly being shot in the head while driving down the road is more common than actual gang vs gang shootings. Actually, if you're involved in a gang and get involved in a shoot out, your chances of survival are better. Most of the people who have been injured in gang vs gang shootings are shot in the leg (as they are running away from each other) and therefore live (much to my dad's disappointment). If you're some random pedestrian/motorist, they know you don't have a gun. They'll aim for the head.

If that isn't quite terrifying enough, here are some facts:
1. About 90% of vehicles driven on the island are moped bikes. You don't even have a window to help slow down a bullet.
2. There aren't posted speed limits. Traffic generally travels at 25 to 30 MPH. Not very fast.
2. There are two main roads in Bermuda. Two.
3. The island is 20 square miles.
4. Getting from one end of the island to the other can take less than an hour, if you push it you can probably do it in 30 minutes.
5. There's one hospital on the island. It isn't exactly up to par.

I now reside in the US, and my thoughts don't just apply to Bermuda. I believe worldwide weapons should be legalized. That's not to say I don't think *everyone* should be allowed to walk into walmart and pick up a shotgun. Regulations on getting them need to be in place (tests, licensees, etc.), but I'm pretty firm believer that I should be able to have any means of defense I'd like.

Sorry for massive tl;dr.