You are correct that the crime rate has increased but a much of this seems to be petty street crimes - pick-pocketing, purse snatching, car break-in’s, etc. The majority of these crimes are against Angolans but I do know a few expats that were accosted at knife point. It was on a side street but they had no money/jewelry so the robbers left without incident. We all have drivers that keep us out of trouble and, as it is with any big city, there are places in Luanda you simply don’t go to at night.
Strangely enough, some of the more recent violent crimes have been against Chinese that are working here in Luanda. As it turned out, the crimes were committed by other Chinese, who were caught and have been sent back to China. It was quite a sensational story that made the front pages and the evening news.
The information on the number of guns and and murders was from one of the security staff who pointed me to this article and to the US Embassy notices. I also get the local newspaper -Jornal de Angola - which covers Luanda as well as the other provinces.
Just remember that as more extreme ideas/movements start to die off, they get more radical and noisy. Guns and religion are , IMO as a U.S. citizen, are in decline and this provokes radicalness and noise.
Valuing freedom isn’t unique to the U.S., by the way. Canadians are free to own guns too, but we also expect to be free from deadly idiots with guns. Stricter controls and regulations are there to protect the public, not to punish responsible gun owners who, to repeat for emphasis, are still free to own guns.
There’s no denying what a powerful instrument the U.S. Constitution is with respect to individual rights, but as Cat Whisperer said, the freedom to own guns is just one side of the coin. From here, it looks like the Constitution is being abused to not just allow, but actively encourage, the widespread proliferation of deadly weapons among the whole population, which guarantees that too many guns fall into irresponsible hands. In the name of the individual’s right to bear arms, the societal rights of the general public against random gun violence have been short changed.
My take on the American gun culture can be summed up like this: Without a gun, an idiot is just an idiot. With a constitutional right to bear arms, he’s a deadly menace to society.
Canadians are free to own guns too, but we also expect to be free from deadly idiots with guns. Stricter controls and regulations are there to protect the public, not to punish responsible gun owners who, to repeat for emphasis, are still free to own guns.