Photos of firearms being destroyed
We have all seen the photo, I can’t remember where it was taken, of guns lined up on a road ready to be crushed by a steam roller. I always feel sad looking at the destruction of firearms. It is usually the old guns that would be valued by collectors around the world that are surrendered, not the military style semi/automatic used by the militants and war lords. I have been reading the long 196 page South Pacific Small Arms Survey, which I am going to write a blog post about. Here are some photos of firearms being destroyed in the Solomon Islands.
This photo shows the dumping of 2000 firearms into the sea off the capital of the Solomon Islands, Honiara, in June 2002:
This photo appears to show the stocks being burnt in the Solomon Islands in June 2002:
I support the disarming of the militants in the Solomon Islands who are destroying the country, just as I support the disarming and elimination of the militants and war lords in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is the disarming of civilians that I find worrying. The below photo is a Solomon Island militant:
The difficulty comes in differentiating between civilians and militants at a policy level. It’s like the old Viet Nam cliche (I’m far too young to have been there myself, so all I know is from documentaries and bad movies). The problem is that the militants often look like civilians until they start throwing lead at you.
I am always hurt by the destruction of firearms though. My personal collection is severly hampered due to financial difficulty. Whether it’s food or guns, it always hurts to see anything good go to waste while there are people who do not have enough.