RKBA in Saudi Arabia

Its about F'ing Time. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has finally come to its senses and will allow foreigners the right to bear arms.

In principle, a citizen has the right to carry a licensed weapon, and so does the resident. If he senses danger, he can carry a personal weapon as he does in his country," Prince Nayef said late Wednesday.

I can only dream of hearing John Kerry admit to this. Of course, I don't think it should be licensed, but hey, we have to start somewhere.

Of course, the devil is in the details, and as we see often here in the States, just because an executive level of Government wants something to happen doesn't mean the bureaucrats will let it happen. This seems to be a fear in Saudi Arabia too!

"I like the concept, I think its a great idea, but I hope they implement this quickly," said Jack Smith of St. Louis, who lives in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

What's really shocking to me, is that even major corporations like ExxonMobil aren't allowed to bring in their own security forces, traditionally they had to rely on Saudis.

A Western diplomat had said some embassies and foreign companies had asked Saudi authorities to ease rules barring private security guards from carrying weapons. Nayef's comment appeared to be a response to the requests.


Under Saudi law, foreigners - even security guards - cannot have weapons, while Saudis must apply for a permit. Nayef's comments suggested foreigners would be allowed to seek permits, though he did not elaborate.

All I can say is that its about time. Now, lets see if the Saudis limit this right solely to westerners (American's and Brits) or if they allow other foreigners (and other Muslims) to carry arms. My guess is that they do not. Saudi's are notorious racists and look askew on others, including other Muslims, as beneath them. I can't image, as fearful of rebellion as they are, that they would want foreign Muslims (especially Palestinians) to be legally armed within Saudi Arabia.

Only time will tell, and with that, I return to my hiatus. Enjoy.