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Language: en-GB

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Gun control is a tricky subject. In some countries,
like the UK, guns are heavily regulated: it's

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difficult to even get a license to own one,
and even most police officers don't carry guns.

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In America, the right to bear arms is a constitutional
right and a political battleground.

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And then... then you have Svalbard. Welcome
to the Arctic Circle, 78 degrees north, where

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polar bears are a genuine and very lethal
threat.

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This one, obviously, not a lethal threat.

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In 2011, a group of school children camping
about 25 miles from here were attacked by

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a bear; one of them was killed and others
were seriously injured. In 2015, someone camping

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here for the solar eclipse was mauled by a
bear. Because of that threat, Svalbard is

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the only place in the world where carrying
a gun is legally required.

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There's a town in the southern US where owning
a gun is required, but the law was a political

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statement: you don't actually have to carry
it with you, and no-one enforces the law.

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Here, though: the regulations on Svalbard
require any group travelling outside the main

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settlements to keep at least one rifle with
them, along with someone who knows how to

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use it. If like me, you don't have a gun permit?
Then you venture out on guided tours only.

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Meeting a bear is unlikely, but it is a risk
you do not want to take.

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That doesn't mean you get trigger-happy, though.
If you actually have to use your gun, something

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has gone desperately wrong. The tripwires
you placed around your camp failed to fire

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off their explosives, the lookout fell asleep,
you couldn't frighten the bear away with a

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warning shot. If you actually have to kill
a bear, there will be a long and serious police

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investigation: but that is better than the
long and serious police investigation that'll

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follow after you've been mauled to death.

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