In the North American Union, civilians are not allowed to carry any weapons, for their own good.
The Blackhand corporation is tasked with Law and Order – they were placed in that position by the will of the 12 and their minions. Despite their efforts to completely infiltrate police departments and military units, they found that at the lower levels, people were still people and they knew right from wrong, and would refuse to take certain immoral actions against the population.
They tried to push psychotropic medications en masse to the military and police, and although that did lower their moral barriers, it was found that a drugged up police and military were of little use, and they also saw an increase in suicides and mass shootings within those two entities.
Their solution was to turn to a corporation that already had members who were used to not having any restrictions in foreign countries, and had developed a “different” sense of duty and ethics… Blackhand.
Banning the use of guns was a 2-way measure against too much violence on behalf of both sides: the people who were outraged by Blackhand’s lack of humanity, and Blackhand’s lack of humanity taking their toll on the population.
The only weapons they are allowed are those with supposedly non-lethal force, like tasers, mace, etc.
Only the military are allowed to carry guns. But they are stationed away from the cities, and have authority only when called by the Governor to assist Blackhand in their operations. They’re tasked with the safety of each of the states that compose the North American Union, in theory. In practice, most military are used in wars abroad, leaving the field clean for Blackhand. Although, since Blackhand is a private corporation, and their fees are quite extensive, sometimes there aren’t enough agents other than in major cities.
The population are left with no chance of self-defense. If attacked they have to hope for a Blackhand unit to be at hand to defend them, or, if they decide both sides are guilty, to be taken into custody or simply dealt some “justice” on the spot. For this reason, most people are meek and fear Blackhand, and seldom ask for their help (since it gets turned around on them more often than not).
