Before & After

Before

The United States has a long history of weapons and in the 21st century guns are in the hands of millions of ordinary citizens. It is a controversial issue because there are thousands of deaths and injuries from guns each year, but many citizens feel it is their right to own and use guns and they often quote the 2nd Amendment and their "right to bear arms".

In 2010, guns took the lives of 31,076 Americans in homicides, suicides and unintentional shootings. This is the equivalent of more than 85 deaths each day and more than three deaths each hour. Additionally 73,505 Americans were treated in hospital emergency departments for non-fatal gunshot wounds in 2010. Firearms were the third-leading cause of injury-related deaths nationwide in 2010, following poisoning and motor vehicle accidents.

The US Constitution gives citizens the right to keep and bear arms both for personal protection and for use in a militia. Historically this provision was needed to make sure that any government overreach could be thwarted, and since 9/11 and the new policies born out of "Homeland Security", the militarization of the police, and the constant invasions of our privacy, it is not hard to see why many people feel so strongly about this. The flip side of course is that with hundreds of thousands of guns and other weapons in circulation and with a fully armed police force, society is a very dangerous place, and the number of killings, innocent citizens being gunned down my police, and mass shootings in schools and government buildings is on the rise and all too common. The statistics are abundantly clear that having an unarmed population and an unarmed police force produces a significantly better outcome.

After

Looked at through the lens of today where we have an overbearing government and a militarized police force, it is understandable why people feel strongly about their right to gun ownership, but Nutopia doesn't have a government so there can be no abuse of power. All citizens have equal rights and responsibilities so no group or individual has any control over anyone else. There is no police force or security services so no one can be victimized or abused by an overzealous government force. There are no weapons circulating in society so there are no shootings or violence of any kind involving weapons. There is no need for citizens to be armed and there is no need for "gun control".

Nutopia does not allow any firearm weapons to be held by anyone in society. There are no homicides, suicides, or unintentional shootings from guns, and no one who is stopped because they may have committed an offence is gunned down intentionally or unintentionally by the police because there are no guns in circulation at all.

There are no dedicated police, armed police, or SWAT teams in Nutopia. The extremely low crime rate means that there is no need for a dedicated police force, instead ordinary citizens who are skilled in resolving arguments, disputes, and domestic disturbances, are called upon as needed. In the rare cases where people have to be restrained to protect themselves or to protect other people, hand restraints are used.