Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I live in Sweden (guess many of you know that by now), and I'd like a little more freedom regarding weapons... the criminal gain more and more weapons, and I want to be able to defend me and my family properly...
They have deluded themselves? Really?
Are you telling me that Alabama, Mississippi, Nevada, South Carolina, Florida are more civilized than Australia? Er, I think that you are the delusional one in fact...
Are you sure about it? You don't know what you're talking about it: I suggest you to stop reading NRA's comic books...
First of all, let me remind you that NYC has strict gun laws and a (declining) murder rate that's just a fraction of Miami/Saint Louis/New Orleans/Memphis/Jackson/Philadelphia's ones: so the analogy doesn't work... you're comparing London with one of the few safe USA cities.
Also, let me remind you that NYC has strict gun laws and a (declining) murder rate that's just a fraction of Miami/Saint Louis/New Orleans/Memphis/Jackson/Philadelphia's ones: so the analogy doesn't work... you're comparing London with one of the few safe USA cities.
NYC's murder rate City Murder Rates - Page 328 - SkyscraperPage Forum
Why don't you compare London public safety to Philadelphia, New Orleans and Miami?
Last but not least, compare UK and Australia's murder rates with Southern states' ones.
Oh yes, we can't certainly say that such massacres are by far more frequent in the USA rather in Europe, Canada, Japan, South Korea and Australia
But I suppose they are the price to pay to be "free"... I felt so free when I lived in Dallas: road rage shootings are rare events in Texas
The problem is the easy availability of guns: there are crazy people everywhere, unfortunately in large parts of the USA they can get powerful weapons and we see the results.
Hang on- whats important to know is : how has the rate of violent crime in the UK/Australia changed since the gun laws of the mid-90s went into effect? In the US during the same time frame it has gone down. I'll grant you that the murder rate has probably dropped in your countries, but it has also gone down in the US during this time frame.
The British Crime Survey shows a significant drop in the UK, yet police reported crime is shown to have increased modestly. What do folks in the UK think? Is there a reliable and accepted source for this info?
Read carefully my post: I didn't criticize USA as a whole and I have never praised Europe as if it was Utopia.
I criticized conservative America
Fair enough, but I can't help noticing that many of your criticisms seem to be rooted in convenient stereotypes and faulty assumptions; regardless, though, I have to cut you some slack--I probably admire a country like the United Kingdom or Spain on the same level that you admire Mississippi or Kentucky.
Quote:
Originally Posted by italianuser
And you know why I reminded you the problems that affect such states?
Because, as far as my experience is concerned, it seems to be that conservatives are more concerned about the so-called gun rights than other - more important - ones: if the "right" to easy access to powerful, dangerous firearms is more important to affordable health care, good public education, equality for minorities, vacation days... well... to each its own.
I don't need any sort of reminder that the United States has problems--it was never my assertion, at any point during any discussion on this thread, that the U.S. doesn't have massive issues with crime, violence, health care, obesity, education, etc.; rather, I've been defending what is, in my view, a fundamental civil liberty that Americans should not compromise on the unfounded basis that our lives would be better with stricter gun controls.
I mean what's next, are they going to tell as that the virtual obliteration of the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th amendments of our Bill of Rights are going to keep us safe from terrorism? Jeez...
And as another poster on this thread has previously noted, the concept of firearms access as civil liberty is simply not a notion that Americans share with Europeans, Canadians, Australians, etc. Things like universal public education, universal healthcare and racial quotas (sometimes referred to as "minority equality") are not generally viewed by genuine conservatives and libertarians in the U.S. as being natural rights, unlike the vast majority of Europeans who hold the opposite view. Our political cultures are almost diametrically opposed (which I like), and it's time for everyone to end the patronization and accept it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by italianuser
Seriously, I wouldn't go to the TX forum telling texans that they have to change theirs gun laws, whereas you are criticizing Europe's ones:if you don't live in Europe, why do you care?
When did I claim that any European country should change its gun laws?
While I have been moderately critical of the UK's gun laws, I truthfully don't care about whether or not Europeans have (what I view to be) adequate gun rights. If European societies are pleased with the ways in which their countries implement firearm restrictions and freedoms, then fine--just quit the endless condescension toward Americans who wish to see their country handle firearm laws in ways that are more in keeping with a tradition that the vast majority of us appreciate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by italianuser
I still think that USA offers several great places: but as I told you before, I overall strongly dislike red states.
And I know that you didn't suggest that europeans/canadians/australians are relocating in droves to red states: I'm sure that you're the first one to realize that such states will never get the status of California or Massachussets or NYS.
Yes, I get it, you don't like red states; however, I must question your criteria for deeming a state to be "red." There's simply no way that you understand the political and social dynamics of all of these "red states"--if you did, you would not, for example, have incorrectly categorized Nevada and Florida as "red." It appears to me, quite frankly, that most of your knowledge pertaining to American politics has been formed by "red vs blue" political theater. Just saying...
As for red states never receiving the "status" of states like California or New York, well, what do you mean? That the rest of them will never be as bankrupt, or that they'll never be as romanticized and respected on the basis of superficial observation?
While I have been moderately critical of the UK's gun laws, I truthfully don't care about whether or not Europeans have (what I view to be) adequate gun rights. If European societies are pleased with the ways in which their countries implement firearm restrictions and freedoms, then fine--just quit the endless condescension toward Americans who wish to see their country handle firearm laws in ways that are more in keeping with a tradition that the vast majority of us appreciate.
How on earth can you be critical of the UK's gun laws!!!! there are 670 times more people killed in the US through firearms than the UK, to me its so simple - if you want to live your life knowing you are FAR less likely to be shot dead then have tighter gun laws, there are families of those poor people who were recently mown down for no reason who Im sure would agree! - how the hell anybody can make any argument against these statistics beggars belief!! We are talking about PEOPLES LIVES here! There are people in the UK that need guns for work, and these people can have guns - most people have no need for a gun, most people dont want a gun, NOBODY in the UK feels they are less 'free' just because they need to apply for a licence before owning a gun - that is one of the most ridiculous things Ive ever heard!!
Traditional Catalans from the countryside and landed peasants in general have a similar frame of mind than Americans. They advocate for the right of self-defense, for the right of owning weapons and for the right to form "Sometents" (Militiamen) for self-defense.
Most of them have shotguns, and some own illegal guns from the war. Not many generations ago, Catalan and Spanish peasants used to manufacture their own weapons, mainly blunderbusses, pistols, etc.
Gun possesion was quite common until 1939, from that year on, Franco picked all the weapons.
The British Crime Survey shows a significant drop in the UK, yet police reported crime is shown to have increased modestly. What do folks in the UK think? Is there a reliable and accepted source for this info?
The amount of crimes shown on statistics has changed due to the way that crimes are logged by the Police. It used to be that formal charges had to be made whereas more recently it is now crimes reported or seen which can also include reports where no action was taken.
I grew up around guns and enjoy shooting but after living in Germany for 12 years I find it rather nice that not every nutter is armed to the teeth.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
