There is a growing movement in India of gun owners trying to increase their rights of ownership and limit gun control laws. Recent government proposals to limit gun ownership has given rise to the gun rights movement in India. Online gun rights forums and gun groups have recently been formed (e.g., "Indians for Guns"). The National Association for Gun Rights India was recently created to lobby against government gun control proposals. The gun rights movement in India is being modeled on the strategies of the United States' National Rifle Association (NRA) and echoing the group's rhetoric of civil rights, dignity, and self-protection. Just like the NRA, these gun rights advocates are proclaiming that guns deter crime, not cause crime; that they are law-abiding citizens with a right to own a gun; and they have a right to protect themselves. In no coincidence at all, the president of the National Association for Gun Rights India studied at the University of Texas business school in Dallas.
The gunmen attacks on Mumbai in 2008 had an effect on many Indians. Some Indians feel that event inspired them to apply for gun licenses. One man in the article applied for a gun license a few weeks after the Mumbai attack, and ended up buying a revolver. He said, "I feel safe wearing it in my ankle holster every day. I have a right to self-protection, because random street crime and terrorism have increased. The police cannot be there for everybody all the time. Now I am a believer in the right to keep and bear arms."
India's 1959 Arms Act gives citizens the legal right to own and carry guns, but it's not a part of the constitution. It can be a cumbersome process to get a gun license, and guns cannot be bought over the counter. Gun proponents say these strict laws are a remnant of the colonial past, when British rulers tried to prevent Indians from arming themselves and creating a rebellion. Today, the government of India has proposed even more gun control laws because they believe that the proliferation of both licensed and illegal weapons has led to an increase in crime. The Ministry of Home Affairs has proposed several amendments to the Arms Act that would make it even more difficult to acquire a gun license, would limit the number of people eligible for nationwide licenses, and would limit the amount of ammunition a gun owner can amass. Last week, the National Association for Gun Rights India met with lawmakers and consulting lawyers in an attempt to stall proposals.
Crazy factoid from the article: At least according to the local news media, in the state of Madhya Pradesh the applications for gun licenses were so high that officials tried to get men with large families to participate in a vasectomy program by promising a gun license in return. (Full Story)
The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons reported that breast reductions for men is the fastest growing cosmetic surgery for the second year in a row. There were 323 such operations in 2008 and 581 in 2009 -- an 80% increase. One surgeon said that pressure created by men's magazines was partly to blame. Out of all the cosmetic surgeries carried out by the BAAPS in 2009, nine out of ten procedures were performed on women. Breast enlargement was the most popular procedure. But the most dramatic growth was for male surgeries -- which increased by more than a fifth over the year. The top two operations for men were rhinoplasty (nose job) and blepharoplasty (surgery on the skin around the eyes). Despite the recession, there was a 6.7% increase overall in aesthetic plastic surgery procedures last year. (Full Story)
Women have been feeling the pressure to look thin and pretty -- to change or conceal their flaws -- for many, many years. I was hoping the sea change would be that women no longer felt societal pressures to look a certain way. That they would be treated as men are often treated in regards to looks (i.e., that their appearance is not really an issue). Instead, it appears as if the opposite is happening. That men are becoming more and more concerned with their physical appearance and feeling that pressure to look good, just as many women have. I've also seen research that more men are developing eating disorders. One major cause of these problem is consumerism and these companies (and their advertising) making people feel bad enough about themselves so that they'll spend money on unnecessary things to "feel better" or to "look better".
An Oxford University research team has found that absenteeism among schoolgirls in Ghana could be cut in half by providing free sanitary napkins. The research team also found in their six-month trial that with pads and hygiene education, girls were more confident about attending school. The research was conducted in four villages where the common method for period protection was cloth rags. One researcher said, "There girls are so poor that they have to use whatever cloth they can find. The cloth is so scarce that they only have two pieces of it, so they have to wash it at night and hope it dries in the morning, which of course in a damp climate it doesn't, so they end up wearing damp and soiled cloths which is not hygienic." She added that it's a taboo subject, but the girls were eager to try a new method for period protection. (Full Story)
Having access to pads or other methods of period protection is taken so much for granted here and in many other countries. Such a simple thing for us could help girls attend school in Africa. It's amazing to step back and takes things into perspective.
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