There was a big surge in gun crime in Thailand at the time that all these weapons are starting to flow into the country. The number of crimes involving firearms surged between 2016 and 2021, so at the same time that Sega started to increase the flow of guns, the crime where the guns is going up. Drawing a correlation and causation when dealing with crime is always a very complicated area.
American-made guns are pouring into countries all over the globe, even more so after the US made it easier to export guns in 2020. Even as America’s mass shootings horrify the world and gun-crime rates rise in many of the importing countries, the US government is playing a key role as the firearm industry’s booster and concierge.
Bloomberg’s Michael Riley, David Kocieniewski and Patpicha Tanakasempipat join this episode to talk about one gunmaker, Sig Sauer. It has benefited the most from the push for more gun exports and has found a large customer base in Thailand.
Read more: How the US Drives Gun Exports and Fuels Violence Around the World
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Everytown for Gun Safety, which advocates gun-safety measures, is backed by Michael Bloomberg, founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.
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