In light of the recent shootings in US, one must reflect on the fact that when we wake up in the morning, we never know if we will wind up in the wrong place at the wrong time, on the whim of a crazed shooter. In how many other countries would one be subject to random shooting, whether a hate crime, crazed individual or accidental shooting? I dare say when one wakes up in a European country where “socialism” supposedly prevails; they do not have as bad odds as we do here in the United States of being killed that day. And they do not appear to have given up any of the freedoms we enjoy here in the US The big difference is Europe’s citizenry’s lack of availability to guns and also their lack of a huge entity such as the NRA using major amounts of money to lobby, cajole and probably bribe their government officials. The ridiculous, paranoid attitude of gun lovers in this country is beyond sanity. As evidenced in the stabbings in Pennsylvania, the weapon of choice was not a gun, and no one died. The wild-west gun crazed mentality in the U.S. has gotten out of control yet all we hear is talk. Yeah, "Guns don’t kill people. People kill people"...But I would reply to that tired adage: people with guns kill people
Guns make it far too easy to kill people either by accident or design ,as other developed nations have always known. Nobody else in their right mind would ever want to emulate the US model
What you seem to forget is that there are Millions of guns in the US, hence banning guns here is like closing the barn door to keep the horse that walked out years ago. Americans are not like Europeans and even if banned very few would actually turn them in. The Vast majority of gun shootings in the US are committed by criminals that do not care what the law is and will retain their guns and still have avenues to get more. The mass shootings are almost always done by people with a severe mental illness that has gone untreated and does not get addressed until after the fact, an issue that needs to get addressed but once again more laws would not change a thing. To compare Europe or any other country to the US is never a valid point since no country has or ever has had a culture that was closely tied to gun ownership and hence trying to compare them is simply not valid. Americans are never going to allow the government to take their guns away, it is simple as that we are far too Independent as individuals and most hold their rights to be something worth fighting for. Before you attempt to say that I am looking at this from the far right-wing gun nut point of view, I will go ahead and inform you that I am a left leaning moderate and my point of view is far more common than most Europeans grasp and even many Americans do not understand that fact. Want to stop gun crime you deal with those that commit them, you do not take away the rights of good citizens that are following the laws of the Nation.
1. The NRA doesn't spend "huge amounts of money to lobby". As far as elections go, they aren't a big figure. So far this election cycle, they've spent $750,000. The NRA is influential because they have fairly broad supports (54% of the public support the NRA), and because they represent the interests of a large number of Americans. 2. Take a look at these two maps Now most people would point you to the large difference between Eastern and Western Europe, which there is some merit in doing, but which is of little use to the discussion. Most of Eastern Europe doesn't have the gun control you see in parts of Western Europe. What I want to direct you to how local these things are. In the U.S. some of the most pro-gun states are in the West (Wyoming, for example), yet large swathes of the West have murder rates significantly lower than the rest of the U.S. D.C. and Maryland have some of the highest murder rates in the nation, but are gun laws loose there? Is it easy to get a gun there? No. The issue is that when you look at this map of the United States, the murder rate doesn't correlate closely, nearly at all, with gun laws in the given states. What it does correlate closely with is poverty rates. The Old South actually has had high murder rates for decades, and the Old South use to (and to a degree still does) have the strongest anti-gun laws, why? Because they didn't want blacks to have guns. Likewise, if you look at the map of Europe, you'll notice that it is very much regional. And it's not even a matter of what states allow guns or have high ownership rates (though people love to cherry pick on this). There is, for instance, a wide gap between Southern Italy and Northern Italy. And I would guess that Northern Italy has a better economy, and (this is another matter but) I would guess they have less of a history of organized crime. And [I seriously didn't look this up first] what do you know: And there isn't just one regional factor, there are things besides economic vitality that affect murder (crime) rates. I just encourage people to remember that these issues are local, cultural, and even economic.
Considering the murder rate in the USA is currently at (or near) the lowest it's ever been, and when you factor out things such as drug dealers killing each other (and innocents) over turf wars and other such nonsense, the real murder rate for those of us who are not drug dealers is half what the actual rate is, methinks you are worried over a non-issue. Owning firearms is a Constitutional Right (and I would argue that's true even absent the 2nd Amendment, though it IS there.). You're not going to change that.
that depends where you live, but people owning or caring guns doesn't scare me unless they have them out and swung over their shoulder doing crazy stuff but I would be just as worried if they had a knife in their hands doing crazy stuff as for the war on drugs and guns, enough is enough, just live and let live just remember, if you have a gun and a cop accidentally shots you, the news will be cop shots armed man ... it's a get out of trouble free card for cops .
Automobiles and trucks kill more americans than guns. I think before we go after guns, we put our population either on bikes, the peddle type or we make em walk. The loss in life is just far too great in America to keep these murderous machines on the road. And if one was really concerned about people getting killed, we would start with the worse offender first. Then we have a million and a half unborn killed each year, and if we were really concerned with human life, we would stop that as well. But the truth is, we are not really concerned with human life, for we want our cars, and we want our abortions. So enough of this damned hypocrisy from the anti gun people. Only when you go after other killers of humans, that are in a much greater number, will I consider you to be anything but a hypocrite.
Do you really believe that the rich in these anti gun countries don't have hand guns and others? So the left is only for the rich to be armed. Nice
Do you have any evidence that they do ? Gun crime (what little of it there is in Europe) tends to be at street level mostly.
There's big difference there though. How many people go out with the intent of killing someone with a car ?
Maybe the "state" crime maps aren't detailed enough. I've been seeing this picture around and wonder how accurate it really is. Can you SNOPES something like that? If it is true, it shows that there is more gun violence in areas where the population has been comparatively disarmed.
How many with concealed carry permits go out with the intent of killing someone. Probably the same number.
Very good point but let me expand, since the anti-gunners seem stuck in a rut...How many gun purchasers/owners get a weapon with the intent to kill someone...probably the same number. Since there are so many of us and all!
If you point a gun at somebody you mean to take a life. Carrying one gives you the facility to do so whether you are responsible enough or not
If you aim a car at someone you mean to take a life. Driving one gives you the facility to do so whether you are responsible enough or not! So I am still waiting for proof. BTW what you are pointing towards is the intention of a human not the ability of an inanimate object. Just more emotional baggage from the anti gun folk, eh?
Auto fatalities are almost all accidental gun fatalities are not. You can't really be that obtuse that this obvious difference needs further explanation.
How many auto fatalities are intentional...you haven't proven your point so far. You really can't be dense enough to believe you can prove a point by saying..." because I said so" can you? Besides.....we really aren't talking about the inanimate object still are we....you can't be that obtuse that the obvious difference is the intention of the human, eh? Your sides emotionalism really defies logic!
If I am so hell bent on killing someone, why have I not done so? Many defensive gun uses don't involve a single shot being fired. I've owned guns for over 20 years. I have never pointed a gun at anybody. We have laws to punish those who are irresponsible. You can't punish an inanimate object.
