China and the US were both born from armed conflict

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China and the US were both born from armed conflict. They're now polar opposites on gun control

(CNN)Last week, a 47-year-old man stormed into a law firm in China's Wuhan city and shot dead a lawyer who he had "some disputes with," according to Chinese state media. He then stuffed his gun, just under 20 inches (50 centimeters) long, into a tennis racket bag and left.

The fatal shooting shocked many in China, which has some of the world's strictest gun control laws -- so much so, that some people thought initial reports were about yet another American shooting.

"When my friend told me about the shooting, I thought it was the United States," one person wrote on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. Another user wrote, "Using a gun to kill people in China? Am I watching an American movie?"

That disbelief widely reflects how rare gun crime is in China -- in contrast to it being a daily reality in the US.

The two countries stand on opposite ends of the spectrum of gun control, with the right to bear arms legally protected and vehemently defended in one, and a near-total ban on civilian firearm ownership in the other.

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