Reply #6: There is a qualitative difference

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

Every American neighborhood has rocks... and knives.

But in a crisis, if someone has a gun there is a tendency to make that gun central to your response.

People with guns are a lot likelier to become spontaneously organized pirates. Look at the "technicals" in Somalia. They could ride around with handfuls of rocks, but they wouldn't. It's just not the same.

Unless we are to assume that Haitians are just genetically superior then the lack of organized violence and brigandage probably has causes within society and environment.

Haitians have been capable of ferocious political violence historically... it is a violent country.

So the current response requires an explanation. I mentioned a lack of guns as one part of the mix.