Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2016 21:06:26 GMT
Lots of arguments on various fora about the good and bad of Americans having handguns.
Seems to me that if you have a gun in your hand (or something that looks like a gun) you are in greater danger of being shot (especially by trigger happy police) than if you were empty handed.
Am I missing something?
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Post by lygonos on Sept 24, 2016 21:55:01 GMT
You are also far more likely to put the gun in your own mouth that being offed by a cop.
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Post by Hofmeister on Sept 25, 2016 7:43:43 GMT
In the last 10 years 71 people have ben killed by terrorists attacks on US soil. In that time 301,000 have died due to gun violence. 52 people a year are shot by toddlers. In one day following a mass shooting, 185,000 guns were bought.
And all because someone has subverted the meaning of the constitution for monetary gain.
Economically, politically, and socially unfixable.
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sooty
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Post by sooty on Sept 25, 2016 8:41:51 GMT
I think guns are so ingrained in the US culture that it will continue on forever and a day. I think the mentality of the wild west is still there. Like zero said it's practically unfixable.
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Post by hobbit on Sept 25, 2016 10:40:31 GMT
And it all stems from them not understanding the words "The right to bear Arms" (in their Constitution). The "right to bear Arms" was originally granted by the King, upon one of his favoured Knights, as a reward for extremely loyal service, and meant he could design and use his own "Coat of Arms" on his Flag,Shield and other personal property, it had nothing to do with Arms as in Weapons! - The Early Settlers of America took the wrong interpretation of the Phrase with them, and it has stuck!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2016 10:54:19 GMT
And it all stems from them not understanding the words "The right to bear Arms" (in their Constitution). The "right to bear Arms" was originally granted by the King, upon one of his favoured Knights, as a reward for extremely loyal service, and meant he could design and use his own "Coat of Arms" on his Flag,Shield and other personal property, it had nothing to do with Arms as in Weapons! - The Early Settlers of America took the wrong interpretation of the Phrase with them, and it has stuck! Two nations divided by a common language.... The National Rifle Association seem to be hell bent on destroying their own nation. Given that they do not make money for themselves, why are they so insistent upon everyone having the right to own weapons, when those weapons have no practical use other than to kill people, especially if concealed. It's hard to conceal a rifle so can understand some the shooting competitions in the Olympics, but why would I need a hand gun, or an automatic of any description? |
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Avant
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Post by Avant on Sept 25, 2016 10:58:25 GMT
That's the main reason why the Republicans aren't fit for office, whoever their presidential candidate is. Mitt Romney, apparently even less intelligent than George W. Bush, would have been even worse than Donald Trump.
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Post by Hofmeister on Sept 25, 2016 11:16:14 GMT
Matters not who is in power in the White house, proper gun control is politically unachievable.
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Avant
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Post by Avant on Sept 25, 2016 20:33:51 GMT
I agree - that's surely because of the Republican majority in the Senate / House of Representatives.
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Post by lygonos on Sept 25, 2016 21:06:35 GMT
The best defence against American gun crime?
The Atlantic Ocean.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2016 22:26:15 GMT
The problem in the US is not the law. Its not the price of guns, the [lack of] restrictions or anything similar. It is a social problem;
It is socially acceptable to want a gun and socially acceptable to have a gun.
*That's* what they need to address.
Remember the British campaign against drink/driving? They made it embarrassing to get caught for drink/driving and that's when the rates started dropping.
Or Branson setting out, in his own words, to make the word "condom" socially acceptable.
Social pressure is the only way they will ever address their gun issue. And right now they *like* the image of gun owning rebel.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2016 12:14:34 GMT
My only real experience of guns is in Israel. There soldiers with weapons must carry them around even when off-duty. So you see young people (men and women) with large rifles over their shoulders, on the buses and walking down the street. The only time they are not required to be on their person is if the gun is locked away in one place in a house and the ammunition is locked away elsewhere, with the soldier on the premises. One gets quickly used to seeing it and its a bit like living near a railway line; visitors notice the noise, but you ignore it.
Occasionally you will see private individuals or security guards with a hand gun on their belt. These private people live 'over the Green Line'; i.e. in the West Bank and have been certified as being a fit and proper person to have a gun for general security purposes. A friend has one and has to keep his licence up to date with regular checks of his proficiency and mental health. The penalty for mis-use is far more than a slap on the wrist and will include jail. Hence there is no 'gun culture', very little gun crime and little street crime and in general one can go about Israel at night feeling a lot safer than one does in a major UK city.
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Post by Humph on Sept 26, 2016 12:27:16 GMT
I remember being in a cafe in Israel years ago, there were two soldiers at the table next to us. One of them had leaned his rifle on the table while they ate. At one point it slipped and fell onto the tiled floor with a heck of a clatter and slid under my chair. Fairly uncomfortable moment all round. I resisted the temptation to pick it up, I think that might have made matters worse.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2016 12:33:49 GMT
Yes - best not to touch it! Don't think I have touched a 'real' gun, even one in the control of my cousins or friend. He has offered to take me to the range but I think I'll do that when my boys are not with me. Can't say I am excited about the idea. A gun has one purpose and I'm not sure I really want to know how to use one. I understand why he has one (and lives have been saved in Israel by private individuals using theirs), but I'm not Israeli, I live in Manchester and I if want to kill someone (which I don't), my two ton Mercedes is more than enough.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2016 12:36:50 GMT
My daughter shoots. Can't say it interests me but she enjoys it. Hunts and shoots.
But her attitude is nothing like the typical American.
Reinforcing my view that the gun is not the problem, the attitude is.
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