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.
This policy is also evident in legislation. The "Stand Your Ground" laws in the US are much more lax than over here. If a burglar armed with a knife comes into your house, you shoot him in the head and so you stood your ground. In Europe you will be charged with murder, because you used unnecessary violence.
This is my biggest problem and disagreement with you enlightened ones across the pond. The same mentality has seeped into almost every aspect of your lives.
The thief is only taking my stuff, I don't have a right to defend myself or property. Doesn't matter if they are bigger are multiple intruders. They only want to take your stuff or maybe just rape your wife. How dare you kill someone armed with any weapon that enters your home. You don't have that right even if it costs you your own life.
I know were just a bunch of dumb Neanderthals in the U.S.. At least most of the men aren't neutered yet.
Yeah for the most part I think we can all agree. Even anti gunners realize this, even if they think it is wrong, they realize the relationship with firearms is a deeply rooted American thing.
Firearms will never be banned, unless America fundamentally changes.....
If you live where snakes, wolves and other dangerous animals live, then having a gun is a comfort. Some inner cities also fall in this category.
This is part of our heritage. Some folks place a very high value on their heritage.
They're probably going to start getting it as more Muslim males move in.
I'm not sure I really understand your point? Muslim men moving in (?) are going to make Europeans wish that we all own guns?
Quote:
Originally Posted by engineman
If you live where snakes, wolves and other dangerous animals live, then having a gun is a comfort. Some inner cities also fall in this category.
This is part of our heritage. Some folks place a very high value on their heritage.
Indeed. More than they value the lives of their children...
"When seconds count, help is only minutes away!"
In some parts of this great land, make that hours, even when a helicopter is used.
Oh, yeah, and forget about the cell phone. Regardless of what the companies say, it will NOT work everywhere! There are vast tracts of land and stretches of highways where there is no cell service!
The OP is absolutely right about one thing; the mental set of Europeans and United States Citizens is most definitely vastly different. that is why we here in the United States don't like those who try to make comparisons. There just isn't any valid comparison!
"More than they value the lives of their children..."
Ah, yes, the old "Child killer" comparison with American gun owners.
When will you present the sexual aspect? That usually is mentioned about this time by one of the antis... You know the one; "ALL gun owners see a phallic symbol in their weapons, that is why they FONDLE them!"
I helped you to that extent, is there anything else grossly insulting you can come up with?
Yes, some areas of the United States have a very high ratio of gun ownership. I recommend that all paranoid Europeans stay home. I will gladly do the same.
I lived in Europe for a while, and the culture and mindset are very different. I agree with the OP on many of their points, but there is one glaring difference that should be noted.
In Europe, there is a generational thing that has gone on for thousands of years that there are certain people that by right of birth, will rule.
Kings, queens, emperors, lords, dukes, princes, knights, even the pope, power is concentrated on one man/woman and their retainers and is closely guarded. Rights of the people aren't guaranteed, they are gifts given by those in power.
In the US, the power comes from the people which is why many elected offices have term limits so one individual can't gather too much legal power before they are forced out of office.
Our Constitution was instituted to LIMIT the power of government and enshrine individual rights and freedoms.
Gun ownership is just a reflection of our culture where:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government."
United States Declaration of Independence, 1776.
Basically, gun ownership, self sufficiency and personal responsibility are the foundations and reflections of who we are as a people. They are all faucets of the freedom to make your own choices, not be told what to do or how to do it.
That each man is responsible for his own decisions and destiny instead of being constrained by traditions generations old that limit a man to a specific job or future simply by accident of birth.
It's a very different mindset, culture and history from Europe, so we may as well compare Brazil to China or something because it's really an Apples to Oranges comparison no matter what the liberals/socialists/communists in this country would like it to be.
Europe is no different than the US their power also comes from the people, we have already seen that in Brexit. Aside from kings and queens we both vote and have a say in our government The problem with many people in the US is that they still think it is 1776, this is a democracy. We are not different except for the irrational that in the US we feel we need to have guns to protect us from the government that we elect.
Unlike other nations, whose people are subjects of a sovereign government, Americans are sovereigns, served by a government. The government is not their master.
“Besides the ADVANTAGE OF BEING ARMED, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation,... forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of. Notwithstanding the military establishments in the several kingdoms of Europe, which are carried as far as the public resources will bear, the GOVERNMENTS ARE AFRAID TO TRUST THE PEOPLE WITH ARMS...”
- - - James Madison, Federalist Paper #46.
“... at the Revolution, the sovereignty devolved on the people, and they are truly the sovereigns of the country, but they are SOVEREIGNS WITHOUT SUBJECTS, and have none to govern but themselves.
“... In Europe, the sovereignty is generally ascribed to the Prince; here, it rests with the people; there, the sovereign actually administers the government; here, never in a single instance; our Governors are the agents of the people, and, at most, stand in the same relation to their sovereign in which regents in Europe stand to their sovereigns."
- - - Justice John Jay in Chisholm v. Georgia (2 U.S. 419 (1793))
About 8% of the oil imported into the US comes from Saudi Arabia, which side of the aisle is trying to perpetuate that by making things difficult for US producers?
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.
