Originally posted by lazs2
fstfwd... you missed the point entirely... singapore people need guns they just don't know it.
There are bad people there who would cut or strangle or mug or rape or burglarize em... A gun would prevent those things from happening.
LOL Lazs! You brighten up my days.

A couple of things you should know about Singapore. 1) If a gun is used in a crime, the penalty is a mandatory jail sentence. 2) If the gun is actually fired, the penalty is a mandatory death sentence,
whether or not anyone was hurt. (Other nearby countries like Malaysia have similar laws)
As for preventing muggings, rapes, burglaries etc., countries like Singapore/Malaysia have an excellent deterrent - the Rotan cane. Canings are administered in jail by muscular men. Part of the cane will have been soaked in water to make it slightly bendy. The end held by the caning officer will be kept dry and won't bend. Those caning officers know exactly how to make the cane whip around, inflicting the maximum pain. Apparently it hurts like all hell. One account I heard about a guy who received 15 strokes said that the pain was so bad he could not sit down for 4 months. The maximum is 24 strokes.
These caning punishments are reserved for offences such as the ones you described, in which someone has been
personally violated. It's not used for crimes such as bank fraud or other white collar crime - just the nasty crimes committed by scumbags.
As a deterrent, I'd say it's far, FAR more effective than any gun.