U.S. people's lives, personal security not duly protected: report

BEIJING, April 21 (Xinhua) -- The lives and personal security of the United States citizens, who were haunted by serious violent crimes, were not duly protected, says a report on the U.S. human rights record released on Sunday.

The U.S. government has done little in gun control, says the report, titled "the Human Rights Record of the United States in 2012," which was released by China's State Council Information Office.

Americans are the most heavily armed people in the world per capita, according to the report.

It quotes CNN report as saying that there were an estimated 270 million guns in the hands of civilians in the U.S. and more than 100,000 people were shot by guns each year.

In 2008 and 2010 landmark Supreme Court rulings on two firearms-related cases dramatically diminished the authority of state and local governments to limit gun ownership, according to the report.

Roughly half of the 50 U.S. states have adopted laws allowing gun owners to carry their guns openly in most public places. And many states have 'stand your ground' laws that allow people to kill if they come under threat, even, in some cases, if they can escape the threat without violence, the report says.

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