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Old 10-19-2014, 01:55 AM
 
Location: London
12,275 posts, read 7,087,682 times
Reputation: 13660

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I hear so many foreigners talk about US Americans' gun obsession, but I just don't see it. Nobody I know owns a gun, nobody I know is ok with hunting, and most support stricter gun regulations.

And I know people from both coasts. I don't even recall seeing any gun stores in person.

Is this old 'Americans love guns' trope outdated, or am I just not interacting with the same crowd of people that the commenters are?

Or is it because of invariable references to guns and gun violence in the media. Just curious!

 
Old 10-19-2014, 04:21 AM
 
Location: Los Angeles
1,235 posts, read 1,761,199 times
Reputation: 1558
Quote:
Originally Posted by ohhwanderlust View Post
I hear so many foreigners talk about US Americans' gun obsession, but I just don't see it. Nobody I know owns a gun, nobody I know is ok with hunting, and most support stricter gun regulations.

And I know people from both coasts. I don't even recall seeing any gun stores in person.

Is this old 'Americans love guns' trope outdated, or am I just not interacting with the same crowd of people that the commenters are?

Or is it because of invariable references to guns and gun violence in the media. Just curious!
Maybe not. But we are a nation where the gun nuts have the most shrill and influential voices. And they are a truly paranoid crowd prone to conspiracy theories. The equivalent of political shock troops who have spread their shrapnel across a bloody public square.
 
Old 10-19-2014, 05:19 AM
 
Location: North Idaho
32,512 posts, read 47,530,478 times
Reputation: 77855
I believe that when foreigners talk of the American gun obsession it is because the movies are so full of gun violence.

You live in San Francisco, OP, where people tend to be less outdoorsy. I am in an outdoor recreation area and everyone I know hunts and owns hunting rifles and sometimes hunting bows. Everyone owns fishing rods. Probably the only ones who don't own a gun around here are the people who moved here from San Francisco.

All the farmers and ranchers carry guns that are used to protect their crops or livestock from varmints.

There is no "obsession". Guns are a tool and used for a specific purpose, and nobody is doing much talking about them or thinking about them, until it is hunting season again.

There tend to not be "gun stores". Guns are purchased at the sporting goods department of Walmart or at sporting good stores, the same places that you buy your camping equipment.

By the way, most of us participate in eating meat. That meat was once a living creature, and killed for our table. The hunters all eat what they kill, too. The deer are managed and their populations supported, so it is not too much different from eating cattle.
 
Old 10-19-2014, 07:01 AM
 
Location: The canyon (with my pistols and knife)
14,173 posts, read 22,611,950 times
Reputation: 17329
People in other countries are often as ignorant of American culture as Americans are ignorant of other cultures.
 
Old 10-19-2014, 08:16 AM
 
24,014 posts, read 10,367,518 times
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Considering the effort it takes to legally own a gun in most countries the US looks like a free country when it comes to gun ownership.
 
Old 10-19-2014, 11:31 AM
 
1,661 posts, read 2,520,374 times
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Where do you live???? Everyone I know owns at least one gun. Hell I own four and most friends own more... Joke topic?
 
Old 10-19-2014, 12:50 PM
 
Location: London
12,275 posts, read 7,087,682 times
Reputation: 13660
Quote:
Originally Posted by StreetLegal View Post
Maybe not. But we are a nation where the gun nuts have the most shrill and influential voices. And they are a truly paranoid crowd prone to conspiracy theories. The equivalent of political shock troops who have spread their shrapnel across a bloody public square.
aha yeah...I've definitely noticed those types, though not much in person. I guess the squeaky wheel gets the grease!
 
Old 10-19-2014, 12:51 PM
 
Location: Brentwood, Tennessee
49,932 posts, read 59,626,227 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ohhwanderlust View Post
... am I just not interacting with the same crowd of people that the commenters are?
Yes.

Also, remember that owning a gun and going hunting =/= "nutjob."
 
Old 10-19-2014, 01:15 PM
 
Location: London
12,275 posts, read 7,087,682 times
Reputation: 13660
Quote:
Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke View Post
I believe that when foreigners talk of the American gun obsession it is because the movies are so full of gun violence.

You live in San Francisco, OP, where people tend to be less outdoorsy. I am in an outdoor recreation area and everyone I know hunts and owns hunting rifles and sometimes hunting bows. Everyone owns fishing rods. Probably the only ones who don't own a gun around here are the people who moved here from San Francisco.

All the farmers and ranchers carry guns that are used to protect their crops or livestock from varmints.

There is no "obsession". Guns are a tool and used for a specific purpose, and nobody is doing much talking about them or thinking about them, until it is hunting season again.

There tend to not be "gun stores". Guns are purchased at the sporting goods department of Walmart or at sporting good stores, the same places that you buy your camping equipment.

By the way, most of us participate in eating meat. That meat was once a living creature, and killed for our table. The hunters all eat what they kill, too. The deer are managed and their populations supported, so it is not too much different from eating cattle.
Sounds like the hunting you guys do up there is pretty well-controlled. The entertainment culture definitely makes it look otherwise though, I agree.

SF is pretty outdoorsy, but more in a hiking/yoga/marathons/backpacking way.
 
Old 10-19-2014, 01:17 PM
 
12,883 posts, read 13,898,495 times
Reputation: 18448
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gnutella View Post
People in other countries are often as ignorant of American culture as Americans are ignorant of other cultures.
Absolutely agree. I have read so many British news articles claiming we are "gun crazy!" and "gun obsessed!" in America and stuck in the 1700s. Yeah, ok. I've never even touched a gun. All the while commenters are agreeing, spewing their ignorance and calling Americans names and saying pretty ridiculous, terrible things about all of us. Meanwhile, still haven't touched a gun.

People will attack what they do not understand. That type of freedom isn't allotted in many European countries, they cannot possibly understand it when confronted by it. We suddenly become a nation of gun-crazies who take our guns everywhere, sleep beside them, buy them for all our young daughters, can't imagine life without them - collectively. Foreigners also cannot grasp a country the size of America, where regional differences are often pretty major and where we don't all share the same views and values...

Quote:
Originally Posted by waviking24 View Post
Where do you live???? Everyone I know owns at least one gun. Hell I own four and most friends own more... Joke topic?
You weren't talking to me, but I live in northern NJ and also know almost no one who owns guns. If they do, they don't let you know and they're probably only for protection, rather than hunting and shooting for fun. I know hunters but there is no "gun culture" in my part of NJ, close to NYC. Not a joke thread, not all Americans are open about their guns, if they even have them. That comes down to regions and areas. Gun and hunting laws can vary greatly across the US and in a state like mine, both are stricter - and I don't come across many people angry about it.
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