Not to understand resistance to gun control

[Maggiethecat]

I understand that it serves those with financial interests but cannot understand why Joe Bloggs wouldn't want restrictions on eligibility to carry guns. It's not as if guns are being banned and their freedom is being taken away, it's that there should be reasonable checks carried out.

Are Americans not exhausted by the mass shootings and wonder why this is the only country in the world with such a dismal record?

Rampant individualism.

The issue is that a small but highly politically-influential proportion of Americans do see any level of gun control as removal of their constitutional right to bear arms.

The fact that automatic weapons didn't exist in the 18th century when the constitution was written makes no difference. The fact that gun violence is now the primary cause of death amongst children in the USA makes no difference. Individual 'rights' trump all. I can't see any way this is ever going to change. It's utterly tragic.

Anyone who's spent any length of time in the USA knows that the chances of Americans giving up their guns voluntarily is ZERO.

Gun people are really fucking scary. Their attitude towards guns and justification of their right to carry is like something out of a waking nightmare.

Whenever there's even a merest hint of tightening gun laws, out come all the gun-mad citizens, armed to the teeth LEGALLY and waving assault rifles around in the streets.

It's shocking.

So the right to live without (a justifiable) fear of being gunned down is not as important as the right to carry arms? I suppose this fear then feeds the idea that you should get a gun or more guns. where will it stop?

Do Americans not look in envy at people in other countries where guns are banned and there are very few, if any, mass shootings?

I have nieces in NY the ages of the children killed and think that this evil could visit their school.

If you deeply distrust the government, and large parts of your own community, you will not give them up.

You're lumping all "Americans" together as if they all feel the same way. Plenty of them are in favour of restricting or banning access to guns. But plenty are not. Some think that protecting the lives of children is more important than the individual right to carry weapons. Some don't. Some don't believe that restricting weapons will make a difference. Politicians can only work within the constraints of what people will vote for.

I think guns should be banned.

The other point of view is that

1. Gun control is a breach of constitutional rights. And those are sacrosanct to a lot of Americans.

1. It's not guns that kill, it's the people using them.

1. That's it's ok to have guns and kill people with them.

Do Americans not look in envy at people in other countries where guns are banned and there are very few, if any, mass shootings?

I can't speak for all Americans, but my American xh would point to London knife crime 'epidemics' whenever the topic came up. Utterly ridiculous whataboutery, but there we go.

And of course, this is also a big generalisation but, many Americans simply do not know or care about what happens in other countries. Or they consider gun control a symptom of 'socialism'. They certainly don't 'envy' us.

Gun culture really is so deeply embedded in the US psyche; it's really hard for non-Americans to fathom it.

I think it's awful. They continue to see these horrific incidents, cry, but yet continually say they won't agree on gun control. All those who don't want any form of gun control have no business crying at these incidents.

It's because the right to carry arms isn't about the right to have a gun really, it's about perceived individual liberty (to protect yourself against harm) in a country where many communities feel very disenfranchised and distrusting of the government. It's not dissimilar to people who objected to wearing a mask during covid due to individual liberty.
Of course anyone even slightly removed from that mentality can see how ridiulous that is, but after decades of debate on it it's becoming increasingly entrenched in some elements of society.

It's just a generational thing, a baby boomers thing.

When the generation who are 20 and 30 something now (who have lived in the era of school shottings and been terrified in schools themselves) come into power, then they will be the ones to ban guns.

It's just a matter of time, things change.

I can't believe how uncivilized a society must be for it to be built on the fundamental right of people to own guns. I mean, it's bloody.stine-age thinking, isn't it? It's like, you are always looking over your shoulder to see if someone's going to kill you. What a fucked up country..

I think you're being a bit overly optimistic there, tbh.

You can't drink until 21 the killer this week was 18 and bought them. As for machine guns word's fail me

I hope you're right, @DenholmElliot1

Agree with PP - USA is very large and very diverse place.
There is a degree of control and checks already.
I don't think there would be much support for a total ban on personal guns in the USA - but remember that most people with guns don't do mass killings. I guess one argument would be why not try to address the mass shootings issue rather than trying to take everyone's guns away.
If "gun control" means background checks - that would be unlikely to address the issue since those exist at present. Most of the killings have been with legally held weapons.

Of course I know that opinions vary - should I have asked do 'some' Americans....

I've seen the president and a basketball coach speak emotionally about when will this stop but I've also seen a texan senator defend the gun laws.

It's just nuts.

@ThereWillBeSnacks - knife crime - yep you can really wipe out loads of people with the flick of a knife.

Do Americans not look in envy at people in other countries
I think there's a significant number of Americans who know very little about other countries at all.

Except 99% of the time it's not like that. Most of the places I have been in the USA have comparable or lower crime rates to where I live in the UK and many people I have worked with and stayed with have never had a gun or wanted one. I have never felt unsafe there.

Do Americans not look in envy at people in other countries
No, they really don't.

I think it's because it's been a right for a very long time and as soon as people talk about gun control, the people who like guns read it as an attack on their interests and step 1 to removing that right and banning guns.

There was a comedian I saw a clip of that said something like "every American knows people who owns guns and in that group there will be one person they wish didn't have one" and I think that's true, but to take away the dangerous persons gun means 'they' (the government) could take away yours so it never gets anywhere.

I also think the culture around this in America is so far removed from UK culture that it's really hard to understand.
There will be a lot of people who enjoy their right to own a gun, who use it responsibly at a gun range, keep it safely locked away etc who will be horrified at the school shooting - but they still won't support gun control laws because of the chance doing so will tip into a gun ban - and although that seems far fetched (and I actually think tight gun control would be nothing but good), you only have to look at how quickly the abortion laws have tipped and become more and more restrictive to understand why they'd worry.

My American cousin was given a gun on her wedding day by her dad as he wouldn't be able to protect her any more.

american gun people are nuts!

I'd love to think that's true but sadly I think it's staggeringly naive.

The NRA is intimately entwined with the US political system; its influence is enormous. Many millions of Americans (not all of them) think that the answer to gun violence is more guns. Owning a gun is a symbol of your lifestyle, your political leanings, your family background, your culture, your rights as an American. It's way way more complicated than simply saying 'when these kids grow up they'll sort it'.

To paraphrase Steve Hofstetter, people who keep guns because they are worried about the government have not heard of tanks.