Letter: If Crimeans had been armed, many more would have died

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

I suspect that Gordon Jacobs ("What if all Ukrainians were armed and Putin knew it?" Forum, March 30) was serious when he asked what might have happened in Crimea "if every homeowner had an AK-47 and a couple hundred rounds of ammunition," and "Mr. Putin knew it?"

Based on our experience in the U.S., where gun ownership is the highest in the world, Ukrainians would have already seen dramatically higher rates of suicide, homicide, mass murder, and intimate partner violence.

When the Russians encountered an "army" of unprepared, disorganized civilians, the resulting pandemonium would have culminated in the deaths of tens of thousands of men, women and children.

On the bright side … wait, there is no bright side. It's just a terrible idea.

Ken Roach

Salt Lake City