The United States has often been called a nation of immigrants, in part because so many of us are descended from people who immigrated here from other countries. We tend to embrace immigrants, particularly legal ones.

In Nigeria, one publication decided to reach out to one of their own who came here in order to find out what they like and dislike about the US. It seems, for this Nigerian-born doctor, gun control is an issue.

Is there anything that’d make you leave? 

I’d say it’s the issue of gun control. In America here, so far as you’re of legal age you can purchase a gun. This, for me, is bad. Guns can now get into the hands of people who shouldn’t have them. If they can come up with some legislation on who can own a gun, then everything about America is okay.

Have you ever experienced gun violence?

I haven’t, but everyone is allowed to own guns here. There are pros to this, though. Thieves won’t be so eager to break into your house as the resident may most likely own a gun. However, it has caused so many store robberies that I’d like for it to stop.

Now, I appreciate that she does see self-defense as a viable advantage of private gun ownership and I’m glad she does, but since I doubt this thinking is particularly unique, I want to discuss this a bit.

This is a woman who came to the United States from Nigeria. She’s lamenting the lack of gun control, something her native Nigeria has.

Do you know what else they have? A homicide rate of 21.99 as of 2019. That was down from 34.09 in 2016.

By contrast, the United States had one of 5.07 in 2019.

If gun control, which Nigeria has, is so good and keeping people safe, so much so that someone who otherwise seems to enjoy living in the United States would consider going back, then why is their homicide rate more than four times higher?

I’m not trying to beat up on this woman. Instead, I think she’s a bit of a victim.

You see, she’s a doctor. She’s living in the United States and likely consumes American news, even if she keeps abreast of stuff back home.

What this means is that she’s bombarded with propaganda all about how horrible our gun problem is. She’s inundated with claims of a rampant problem with violent crime throughout the nation. That includes medical journals and the AMA pushing the idea that we have sky-high violent crime rates and that what we need is gun control.

So, even though the problem isn’t nearly as bad as it is in Nigeria, she’s being led to believe it’s worse.

“But she’s a doctor. That means she’s an intelligent woman. Surely she can’t be fooled that easily,” some might say, and that’s a fair point. I’m sure she wouldn’t be fooled if she cared to actually look at the comparison.

The question is, how many people actually do?

Most people don’t think that what they’re taking from the news is anything but the truth. Gell Mann Amnesia is a thing, so while I’m sure she rolls her eyes at missteps in medical reporting, she takes the rest as gospel. As such, why would she look and compare?

Luckily, this is something I know a few things about, so I’m happy to fill in these holes in her knowledge.

In fact, if she thinks violent crime and the lack of gun control is a reason to possibly go home, she might want to take another look.