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?

During the first season of Six Feet Under one of the characters 7yr old brother accidentally kills himself with a gun that is in his house for “protection”. I watched that episode when I was 15 and it’s never left me. It gave me a visceral, cold jolt in the gut. It had never occurred to me that such a thing could happen, let alone that it was a hugely regular occurrence.

From that day on, more than 20yrs, I’ve never heard about a mass shooting in the US where I didn’t remember that feeling of absolute horror and confusion. Why anyone would defend such lax gun control is beyond me. But it’s a different culture. I have a friend in the Midwest who isn’t especially into guns and doesn’t have a gun but who defends the right of people to own (if not concealed carry) guns. It’s just a strange thing that so many of them believe in. It’s beyond my comprehension though and I know that most Brits (and a lot of Yanks) feel the same.

Is all of Glasgow a no go zone? Even the mean streets of Hyndland?

ah okay then!

@daimbarsatemydogsbone er...perhaps
I need to buy an assault rifle?!

During the first season of Six Feet Under one of the characters 7yr old brother accidentally kills himself with a gun that is in his house for “protection”. I watched that episode when I was 15 and it’s never left me.

Apparently it happens everyday in America, the accidental deaths of kids who are playing with loaded guns. Shoot themselves or a sibling. Horrifying stuff.

As another dweller of a few of those “no go” areas (and sitting in one now) I’ve never heard such a load of old bollocks.

This sums it up!

@daimbarsatemydogsbone sorry I meant mass shooting in a school.
the Plymouth one was 5 victims, which happens numerous times a year in the states.

I’m British, have American relatives, most in Democrat states with high gun control. All including some innTexas are horrified by these killings and in favour of stricter gun control. It is a small group of influential people in the NRA and mainly Republican politicians.

I only know one of their friends who have guns. He like hunting (don’t live in rural areas), feel it was a right and I think had hand guns as well. He is an amputee (leg) because his brother accidentally shot him when they were hunting.

However most people in America are in favour of background checks and a lot more of something tougher. For background checks that includes for example Republicans in Texas want stricter law. The followin is from a piece by Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas - whole piece Here

1. However, Texans, like most Americans, continue to support universal background checks and some other restrictions. It may seem like there’s a disconnect here, and to some extent, there is. In nine surveys going back to 2015, in all but one instance (the first), a plurality or majority of Texas voters said they wanted gun laws in Texas made more strict. And maybe more surprisingly, a plurality or majority of Texas Republicans in all of those surveys said they wanted gun control laws in Texas left alone. Given this and broad support nationally for universal background checks, it should come as no surprise that 71% of Texans said they supported universal background checks on all gun purchases as recently as June of 2021, with only 21% in opposition. Among Republicans, 61% supported universal background checks, 38% strongly. This support has been consistent in polling going back to 2013.

Well, you can wipe out a load of people with a knife.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagamihara_stabbings

That link is from a mass stabbing in Japan. In open space, where people can run in all directions away from you, it's unlikely, certainly but in an elementary school classroom I think a man with a knife would cause carnage.

But knives are a straw man anyway, if Americans are pointing to that as an equivalent. There is not the same freedom to buy and carry knives in the UK as there is to buy and carry guns in the US.

@BadLad - In the Japan case he stabbed the elderly care home residents while they slept, he could have smashed their heads in with a hammer in that situation.

If however a hammer was being used in the UK as a weapon of choice in harming/killing I think there would be restrictions on purchasing the tool, as ridiculous as it may sound.

It’s ironic that the interpretation of a principle such that people have an inalienable right to defend themselves seems to have lead to so many being defenceless and dead.

These are the kind of idiots they're dealing with.

OK, here's one where the victims weren't asleep. An elementary school stabbing.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osaka_school_massacre

It's moot anyway, because there are restrictions on knives in most countries far stricter than the gun restrictions in the US, but it is wrong to say that a knife can't be used for a mass killing.

And in another installment of ask an American… here goes. My usual statement… I am one person and these are my opinions only. Not up for a debate on anything to follow.

1. Americans have always owned guns. The relatively recent phenomenon of mass shootings is not a result of guns being available, there is something else causing this. Fix that problem (or problems) and gun ownership is irrelevant.
2. The people who who commit crimes with guns are criminals. More gun laws just means more crimes to commit. Shockingly criminals don’t really pay attention to laws. Hence being a criminal. So more laws just makes it harder for law abiding gun owners and does nothing to stop criminals from using, owning, or obtaining guns illegally (See also the justice system failure of not prosecuting gun crimes or dropping gun charges)
3. Criminals own and use guns. (Refer to #2) as a non criminal my goal is to be as well armed as the person attempting to kill or rape me. Ever hear of the saying‘Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight’?
4. Shooting is quite fun. Shooting is a sport that many people in the world enjoy responsibly. Hunting is both enjoyable (to some) and important to maintain and care for wildlife. I for one would rather see a deer shot humanely than to starve to death.
5. The one thing most Americans can agree on regardless of political leanings is that we don’t trust our government. It’s no secret that there are some that want nothing more than a total ban on private gun ownership. It’s the ‘give an inch and they’ll take a mile’ principal. Gun owners don’t trust that the ‘just a ban on X’ today won’t become a total ban.
6. But wait what about mentally unwell people, surely they shouldn’t have guns. What other rights shouldn’t mentally unwell people have? It’s not against the law in the US to be crazy, what other rights should we deny crazy but otherwise lawful citizens?
7. what degree of mental illness should result in diminished rights?
8. Who determines the above?
9. The constitution is a big deal. It’s the framework for our country. It should be very hard to change and removing rights from people should be damn near impossible to do. It should take the overwhelming will of the citizens to do it.

Yes I own guns, 2 personally and there are 6 more in my house that are my DH’s and 2 more that I am storing for someone who is in a situation where having a gun is not ideal. I don’t belong to the NRA, but I respect their work to protect legal gun ownership. I follow our existing gun laws and strangely don’t fixate on being a gun owner. At the same time I will fight with everything I have to protect my rights to own guns.

And what do you think about the massacre of little school children @saltinesandcoffeecups?

Point taken although a semi AR has scope to be far deadlier than a knife in a short space of time.

The relatively recent phenomenon of mass shootings is not a result of guns being available, there is something else causing this. Fix that problem (or problems) and gun ownership is irrelevant.

Bless your heart.

I kid you not, someone posted on n a Facebook group near us (east coast swing state)that the solution to gun attacks in schools is that teachers should all carry guns. Ffs. This country can be psycho.

I’m still baffled why anyone, and especially an 18 yo on his 18th birthday, would need 2 semi automatic rifles?

Different guns for different purposes. That bit doesn’t seem unreasonable to me.

I think it’s terrible. And I think that that the SOB, who did it was a selfish deranged prick. And I think that him and the others like him should be shown no mercy. Interestingly enough I also think that of the guy that that plowed into a Christmas Parade with his car and killed 7 people (including children) and injured 60+. Weird that the public outcry over cars wasn’t the same.

What do you think about that? I’m assuming you haven’t heard about it so, here’s an an article. www.npr.org/2022/01/12/1072593739/waukesha-parade-tragedy-suspect-darrell-brooks-faces-new-charges

who needs healthcare, maternity leave, and more than 10 days holidays a year when you got gunz! American knows what's what.

You think it's terrible but you're more than happy to see it repeated over and over again.

It's very easy to sit in your tiny, very tame island and natter on about the barbarian Americans and their affinity for guns. To me many of you sound like smug, parochial idiots who have no idea what living in rural parts of the US is like. This while you talk about how few of us have traveled outside the US. Well, I've traveled extensively outside the US, both for vacation and as a former member of the US armed forces, and I've never had as many threats to my life as I have here in the rural US. Life is wonderful here, but it's not for the faint of heart.

I don't live in the UK, but I'm pretty sure things are much the same there as they are here - you can own a gun, but have to get a licence and be police checked. Assault rifles are not allowed - why do you need one of those to protect yourself? Before you come on a public forum to insult people maybe research your facts!

@saltinesandcoffeecups where do you live? I’ve lived in New York City and Connecticut for twenty years, and know one person who owns a firearm, and they’re a volunteer cop. Everyone else I know is appalled and wants stringent gun control ASAP. We are absolutely sick to death of being held to ransom by far right Republicans.