Gun control in the US

179 replies

Fraudornot · 12/09/2025 21:21

With the assassination of Charlie Kirk looking like it’s been carried out by someone probably suffering from mental health issues with access to guns, why are Americans so unwilling to address gun control. I would love to hear from Americans to know why there is the reluctance.

OP posts:

SugarPlumpFairyCakes · 16/09/2025 07:26

cloudycheese · 12/09/2025 21:39

I’m a Brit but have lived in the US in the past. You can’t really begin to understand the issue unless you understand the dedication to the Constitution and the concept of rights.

To me, it seems like common sense to stop dangerous weapons falling into potentially dangerous hands but to some in the US, gun restrictions represent the government impinging on your rights. Hard to explain but I don’t think we can ever understand and we shouldn’t try. It’s a uniquely American issue and is one for Americans to settle for themselves.

Of course it’s an American issue and one for Americans to solve themselves. Did anyone say it wasn’t??

Meanwhile, so very many children get shot at school year after year. Their rights are pretty infringed upon, aren’t they? Pretty urgently needs sorting out.

A devotion to the constitution is all very well but when it means thousands of innocents are getting shot because too many murderous nutters have access to firearms then it needs a rethink. I mean for the love of god - where is the common sense?

I’m not an American either. And?

DdraigGoch · 17/09/2025 01:20

randomnamegenerated · 15/09/2025 17:57

I'm American and I will say I honestly have no idea. Brainwashing by the NRA and the politicians funded by the NRA, I guess, although a majority of Americans do want what they call 'common sense' gun law reform, which will never go far enough, imo.

The way to put a stop to it - probably the only way - is to make it legal to sue the gun and ammunition manufacturers so they're liable for the death and destruction caused by their products. It worked with tobacco companies, it can work in this instance too.

Nail on head. Undoubtedly they lobby heavily against this (and of course the Supreme Court is politicised too).

DdraigGoch · 17/09/2025 01:25

randomnamegenerated · 15/09/2025 20:59

Yes, I'm from the northeast as well and people here in the UK are always shocked (and I think slightly disbelieving) when I tell them that I didn't grow up around guns, or even, for the most part, people who had guns.

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I have a (very liberal) friend who grew up in Manhattan, but after her parents' divorced, her (Trump-voting) mother moved to Arizona. First time that she ever handled a loaded weapon was at a range in Eastern Europe. It was her idea to go as the activity was promoted by the place we were staying in. She couldn't do it, as soon as she held the Colt pistol she realised that she could never fire it. She told her mother who was amazed that she had never tried before, living in Arizona as they both do. "Mum, you brought me up in Manhattan!"

I wasn't surprised that she hadn't, but her own American mother was!

sashh · 19/09/2025 09:03

YourBlueShark · 15/09/2025 15:22

American in the US and the gun culture is wild but I think what might get lost sometimes is that it is incredibly regionalized. Gun laws don't just vary by state, they vary by city. I grew up in Massachusetts, where cities and towns have some of the strictest gun laws in the country and not coincidentally, the amongst the lowest rates of gun violence in the US (Chicago often gets pointed out as a counter to strict gun laws preventing gun violence, but the Iron Pipeline is robust in the Midwest). Gun culture in the Northeast, where I live, is completely different than in other parts of the country and buying a gun for a child is viewed as an absolutely bonkers idea. There are other regions where this is totally normal; a family friend moved to West Virginia and told us that it was not unusual for kindergarteners (5 and 6 year olds) to get their first children's rifle. Our huge challenge is implementing federal gun laws and restrictions, and the results are continuously heartbreaking.

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Yes I do understand that, it probably didn't come across in my post.

I know Texas is very in to their guns.

I think the idea of making the manufacturers liable is an interesting one.

From the outside looking in, but I could be totally wrong, please let me know, many American believe they live in the best country in the world so anything that is different they don't think it can be as good.

@OonaStubbs I have heard of US service personnel stationed in the UK for a couple of years who will not leave the base because they cannot take their gun with them.

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