The country invented gun powder and developed one of the world's first guns, known as the "fire spear." Rifles played a major role in China's modern history, from the fight against the Japanese army to the Communist's victory over the Nationalists. In 1938, Mao Zedong famously said that "political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." That comment perhaps foreshadowed the gun control laws later implemented by Mao and the Communist Party -- some of the most severe firearms laws in the world. China has imposed a blanket ban on gun ownership, including replicas. Since 1966, the government has prohibited the private manufacture, sale, transport, possession and import or export of bullets and guns.
Read Original at: The Inter Press Service (China)