Originally posted by beet1e
The population of NZ is slightly less than CO. Given that NZ and CO are of similar size, this means that the population density of these two places is roughly the same. Total population of NZ is on a par with the population of America's second largest city, Los Angeles.
True, but we get over 22 million visitors to the state annually compared with NZ's 1.6 million. We also have some 40,000 immigrants moving to the state on a yearly basis (these are actual foreign immigrants, not folks moving from another state). We have about 41.5 folks per sq. mile tho that figure is rather misleading since we have 75% of all land over 10,000' in the USA so most folks are concentrated on the eastern slope of the Rockies (what we call the Front Range). Roughly 4.2 million in the state.
The point? It's not really comparing apples and apples. Like some of the places in NZ once you get away from the population centers it is pretty wild country. I live in a town of 2000 at 9k' surrounded by mountains. You can walk to the west of us and not hit a phone for a week.
Owning weapons here is part of the culture and something I'm happy to live with. We have a law here called the "Make My Day" law--a tribute to Clint Eastwood's depiction of the "Dirty Harry" character. If a unwanted person passes your threshold uninvited for whatever reason, you are then legally free to take him out.
Guess what? Crimes of burglary went down by 35% the next year. An additional 25% by the next year. A crime must be committed here for the cops to come. By then it is too late. I'd rather the proactive defense than the submissive any day.
One cannot rely on their Gov't to protect them. And that's as it should be (tho Bush thinks differently). You might not understand it but there it is.
An interesting website:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/cri_mur_caph
