I've had a Russian living at my house for the past 4 1/2 months.....took him shooting at my farm, last time he shot a gun was with the Soviet Army in Mongolia over 10 years ago.
He understood well the phrase " an armed man is a citizen, an unarmed man is a peasant..."
He stated that in Belarus and Russia no-one can own a weapon even for hunting (of course that exludes the political elite).
The Russian people understand this, but unfortunately, so does the Russian government.....
NeverGore
Tell your friend that on my visit to Belarus, I found that many people had at least a shotgun. I was fishing in Mogilev oblast and I never saw so many people walking around the woods with guns. Not military types, just good old boys. The main reason it seems that only elites own guns is due to financial reasons...if you only make $50 a month it's hard to buy nice guns. Your guest can relate to that I'm sure ;)