News Do Americans Wonder Why The World Makes Fun Of Them? Answer Here!

[greenleaf]

I find the focus on "regular" gun ownership among some Americans as a way to preserve freedom a strange line to draw in the sand. The writers of the U.S. Constitution were familiar with single-shot musket types of arms. Anything beyond that is stretching the most concrete reading of the Constitution. If we're going to stretch it, why get particularly upset over regulation of semi-automatics, fully automatics, or whatever; why not advocate for bazookas, missiles, submarines or my favorite... a TANK so I can get to work past all those horrible SUV drivers?

The real military wouldn't have trouble taking out the folks who think their hoard of stuff is going to stop whatever they are afraid the government will do this week... I think there is excellent reason to carefully control arms that can kill large numbers of people quickly; we can probably never stop all murder, but mass murder that's done in seconds, with no chance for response, is a different thing. As lethality of the device goes up, the scenarios get worse and worse and ability to prevent catastrophe goes down. The real military's capabilities are so far into the highly-lethal-in-short-time periods range that I find it bizarre that various people think their small militias or gun hoards are protecting anything against the government. Some of these folks seem lots more focused on intimidating fellow civilians than actually confronting the government.

Luckily we still have a partly representative government here in charge of the real military, and they don't currently want to kill their citizens for the most part... I hope we can keep it that way, and improve the real problems...

What kind of tank should I get, anyhow...?

 

[Anarchy]

Legislation
Hmmm

Isn't murder illegal, regardless of the means used to perpetrate it?

In Europe we have the interesting situation (now largely disappearing down the post 9/11 memory hole) that the pretexts for may of the gun controls and draconian anti terror laws, had their origins in NATO headquarters,

What at first might appear a a totally outrageous and paranoid conspiracy theory was pretty well covered by the BBC in the early 1990s in a series of documentaries about "Operation Gladio".

Those of you in America, might like to look up " Operation Nortwoods" which fortunately never took place. It proposed the staging of a series of terrorist atrocities in American cities, to be blamed on the Castro regime, in order to sway public opinion into favouring a full scale war against Cuba.

Historically we do know that other such events have been staged, the Reichstag Fire, the Gleiwitz incident, the shelling of Mainila and the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, to name just a few.

I have zero hard evidence that any of these shooting incidents were of this nature, but I have equally little evidence that they were not...

We know that such tactics were in the minds of some within the apparatus of state, so, if evidence did come out, it would not surprise me.

As for a motive, chairman Mao Stated that all things come out of the barrel of a gun...
China had no tradition of gun ownership. If it had, it is interesting to speculate whether the Mao regime would have achieved its murder figures of at least 76 million.

 

[Peach]

America would probably laugh at other countries if we cared to take an interest in them. :sneaky: Kidding! Just playing into another stereotype.:p

I kick myself everyday for not buying that sweet little pink camo AK47 when I had the chance.:whistling:

 

[Lucycat]

... and todays tragedy;

" a mother's horror after she says her 3-year-old son shot himself in the heart."
with the gun he found in his mother's purse.

 

[Rotorhead]

I liked your take on disarmament (ooops, sorry, subarming)

@The Albatross .

Laughs, monks and hates the US but would die or give all they own to get here! This is nothing new, and has become the joke of the world. Why? The world recognizes the greatness, the freedom , the prosperity of what lies, or did once within this Republic. But, with attitudes and ignorance such as this statement of "drunks and firearms" and Guns are the cause of all the problems of the violence here, the world sees the stupidity of this reasoning and really laughs it's ass off. What's worse? a drunk behind the wheel of a 4500 lbs. lethal weapon, traveling at 70 mph or a drunk with a gun? With a gun a drunk has very little change to place a tiny bullet on a selected target, OH! that is why most drunken brawls are with more "aim free" weapons such as knives, bottles, or anything within reach. And what about the 60K innocent lives lost every year to a drunk in their most deadly weapon....a automobile? Be rational, if possible. 95% of all gun related violence is committed by felons, felons that have been convicted 2,3,4 times of assaults, attempted murder or robbery with a firearm. Still they return to society to inflict their harm with a firearm, again, and again. News flash! with over 497 federal and state gun laws on the books TODAY, They all prohibit any felon or domestic violence inflictor of owning, being in the vicinity of a gun (such as in the same house, the car or close proximity to any firearm) of these 497 federal and state gun laws, anyone found and convicted of a firearm violation has a MANDAORTY SENTANCE of 5 to 25 years in prison and outrageous fines. That is just for being found in possession or close to a gun. So your solution is to make more laws that are redundant to the present laws? Laws that only effect the rights of law biding citizens, cause hell, you know a felon is really going to obey these new laws and restrictions, right? Ever purchase a firearm? Well when you go through the process of the purchase a little form is filled out that plainly asks if you are addicted to drugs, booze or any other mental disorders, if the answer is yes, then you can not own a firearm, plus a call is made before the purchase to the FBI to verify all your information is correct. The FBI has records that can go back to when the intended purchaser was a minor and if any information shows a negative incident, then ... sorry no gun for you. If even half the laws were enforced that are now standing, and the lily livered liberal judges, courts would enforce the laws now on the books, the violence all violence would decrease. All these deceptive, useless laws on the acquiring of "tools" of violence is worthless and a waste of time. Control the person with the brain controlling the tools, which we refuse to do because the weak and faint-hearted society of today award the non-existent farce of BS rights of the Criminals more than the enforcement of laws that protect the justified rights of the victims. But, the logic and facts of what I say are just like pissing on a forest fire, radical non-logical, self declared opinion experts of the liberal and irrational left are deaf to what is real. Not unlike spoiled 3rd graders, they only want their selfish little quims. Talk facts and truths till your teeth fall out and accomplish nothing.

 

[Changing4Best]

Furthermore, I recall how rich Americans on tour in other countries have not exactly endeared you all from other countries to ourselves. I've heard stories about how we are viewed by non-Americans because of this. I also know that when we were in Argentina, my husband's birth country, he made me wear Argentinian cloths and not speak at all when we were on busses or other public transportation, because he did not want anyone to know I was his wife and I was American. He said this would possibly lead to many troubles, so I shut-up and wore the cloths, what else could I do?

 

[RussH]

I am a gun owner,and although I do not own an automatic weapon I support the right to own on. Why does that make me a bit @itsKismet ?
I know you hear a lot on the news about gun violence here in the USA because it is sensationalize to sell papers and news advertising. What you don,t hear on the news is where someone with a gun stops a violent crime.
Ironically our founding father's included the second amendment so the people could protect themselves from the government

 

[joeylittle]

Ever purchase a firearm? Well when you go through the process of the purchase a little form is filled out that plainly asks if you are addicted to drugs, booze or any other mental disorders, if the answer is yes, then you can not own a firearm, plus a call is made before the purchase to the FBI to verify all your information is correct. The FBI has records that can go back to when the intended purchaser was a minor and if any information shows a negative incident, then ... sorry no gun for you. If even half the laws were enforced that are now standing, and the lily livered liberal judges, courts would enforce the laws now on the books, the violence all violence would decrease.

Yes, except purchasing at a gun show will generally get you around the background check - although the definition of 'private dealer' is fairly restrictive, it is not hard to find someone who will sell you a gun.

I agree though, that a huge part of the problem is how utterly complex the laws on the books are right now. I'm pretty sure it creates the impression that there's a way around anything.

 

[Bill Dickerson]

I remember reading that during high level discussions the Japanese prior to Pearl harbor considered invading certain areas of California.

Admiral Yamamoto commented that Americans has access to plenty of firearms and any attempt would mean sniper fire from every tree and bush.

When I worked I was never worried about the citizens who owned firearms it was the bad guys who had them.

We have burglar alarms to prevent household breakins and they seem to be pretty effective here.

Burglar alarms do help and are nice but how long does it take for the LEO's to respond. I submit you may be on the way to reaching room temperature before they show up.

 

[hodge]

I hate the gun culture in our country. It's insane.

 

[Peach]

I'm with what seems to be the majority of the 'Mericans here. I have no problem with guns, in general. I keep my 9mm in my nightstand, round chambered, and will not hesitate to protect myself and my family in the event of a break in. My brother in law, local Chief of Police and former US Army, taught me to shoot and said "If you have to shoot someone, you shoot to kill. Don't try anything fancy, aim for the torso and fire at least 3 times."

I go to the range a few times a year to brush up on my skills and lock it up when kids are visiting the house. I see no need to carry it with me at all times, though I may keep it in the car when I go into the city.

When the open carry law passed, I was a bit jarred to round an aisle at the grocery store and see a man with a holster on his hip while shopping for taco seasoning with his girlfriend. But he wasn't acting like he was swingin a 10 inch dick because he was packing. If he'd had that attitude, I would have maybe gotten a little nervous, because arrogant people do stupid things when they're proving how cool they are. I later heard him talking to one of the store employees and it turns out he was in either the Reserve or National Guard, I forget which, and I felt safer because of it. I knew that if shit went down, he stood a better chance than those of us armed with only a baguette, of taking down the bad guy.

Will I be taking my gun to the store when I run out for almond milk and peanut butter M&Ms? No.
Do I think other people need to carry all the time? Not particularly.
Does anyone needs an assault rifle? @FridayJones clearly does;)...or maybe in the event of the zombie apocalyse.

But I don't mind or fear responsible gun owners. There is stupidity all over this country, and this planet, and there will be tragic accidents - if not at the barrel of a gun, then by a knife's edge, a fork in a wall socket, or a flaming shot gone awry.

Laws are important and I'm glad they at least attempt to keep the riff raff from buying weapons, but the black market is easy and cheap. Those are the gun owners I fear. Without the good guys putting up a barrier, we would all descend into anarchy.

I've watched a lot of Youtube videos about US vs UK culture since getting involved with my vet. A fairly common train of thought is UK kids saying it's so scary that all American's have guns. But it's what we grew up with, it's normal. And those same kids sure do seem to love to go shootin when they get over here.

 

[Kintsugi]

Ironically our founding father's included the second amendment so the people could protect themselves from the government

This.

I used to be all for gun control. I used to be all for the type of restrictions, testing, and registration etc. @joeylittle talked about. I have completely changed my views. I don't think the government needs to know all about who has what guns where. I don't think the government gets to give citizens kid gloves.

Oh, and @greenleaf, I say yes, give citizens bazookas, missiles, and tanks. We need local, organized standing militias in this country who are trained, armed, and prepared.

A couple years ago, before I actually lived in this town, there was a concert that promised to draw something like 20,000 people downtown (which decidedly did not happen). Within 12 hours, there were soldiers stationed everywhere. They had all manner of military vehicles, all kinds of weaponry, and shit tons of military dogs. They roved all over the place. WTF. Seriously, 12 hours. Might have been fewer. We woke up and were completely occupied. It was nuts.

They could have easily killed everyone in this little mountain town. For real. We would have been toast. The people around here who are well-armed still would have been screwed. No organization. No standing militia. Inferior tools.

In Israel, the IDF presence can be felt everywhere. But the citizens are pretty much all trained and armed. I didn't worry about anything but skeezy vendors and getting prices jacked up because I was clearly American. When the National Guard descended here? No one wanted to go outside. They were all over the streets. It was terrifying.

All I'm saying is that Switzerland is the place to be, I think. ;)