Gun Culture is Blooming in This Former Soviet Republic

While the Russian socialists of the early 20th century were pretty adamant about “arming the working people,” the Marxist version of the Second Amendment quickly vanished once the Soviet Union’s dictatorship fully consolidated power.

After the revolution that deposed the Russian monarchy, the same people that helped put Vladimir Lenin and his allies into power in the first place were soon ordered to surrender all of their weapons to the state. Punishment for failing to comply was severe. Those who did not turn in their guns faced at least ten years of imprisonment.

Things only got worse once Joseph Stalin rose to power. During that time, only members of the Communist Party were allowed to arm themselves — and even they were limited to a single weapon (a pistol or a rifle). Years later, when Nazi Germany invaded Soviet territory, citizens of the USSR were ordered to surrender even their hunting weapons so the Red Army could fight the Germans.

Laws restricting personal arms in the USSR eventually included knives — similar to what you see in the United Kingdom today.

Despite this bleak history, former Soviet republics are now free to chart their own laws and destiny. Not surprisingly, this has allowed gun culture to bloom in places were it would have never existed during the Cold War. This includes the small republic of Kyrgyzstan.

TFB TV has the full story below.