Firearms Owners Against Crime buss stop in in Regent Square (buy, military)

[charisb]

Originally Posted by Der Schwabe

Without open carry, she and her daughter would've been murdered countless times, for sure.

Exactly. It's ridiculous.

Originally Posted by Faerunner

Is Israel the 51st state and I missed something?

I don't know the origin of this photo but a relatively small number of people have guns in Israel. The only people allowed to have them either live or work in the settlements, or have dangerous jobs. They have the highest rate of rejecting gun applications in the world.

[Faerunner]

I'm glad I'm not in Israel then.

[sskink]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

That's not really a little girl. That's the fuel tank for her flame thrower disguised as a little girl because true freedom hasn't come yet.

I think you're onto something that highly marketable.

[Craziaskowboi]

Gun violence is a cultural problem, not an equipment problem.

Switzerland has the highest rate of gun ownership in the world, but you don't hear about shooting sprees over there. Instead, you hear about Schützenfesten, which are shooting competitions that involve major awards and trophies, and that families enjoy as spectators. Gun ownership in Switzerland is not only a key to national defense, but a popular recreational outlet. It's very common to see rifles slung over people's backs in public. And yet, violent crime there is very low, with a murder rate of just over one per 100,000, and only half of them involving guns.

Guns aren't the problem; people are. We don't blame the car for DUI or the bomb for a terrorist attack, so it's ridiculous to blame the gun for gun violence.

[gg]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

Gun violence is a cultural problem, not an equipment problem.

Switzerland has the highest rate of gun ownership in the world, but you don't hear about shooting sprees over there. Instead, you hear about Schützenfesten, which are shooting competitions that involve major awards and trophies, and that families enjoy as spectators. Gun ownership in Switzerland is not only a key to national defense, but a popular recreational outlet. It's very common to see rifles slung over people's backs in public. And yet, violent crime there is very low, with a murder rate of just over one per 100,000, and only half of them involving guns.

Guns aren't the problem; people are. We don't blame the car for DUI or the bomb for a terrorist attack, so it's ridiculous to blame the gun for gun violence.

Please don't try and compare us with Switzerland. They don't have our problems and have a much higher standard of living. People love to compare the US with these wonderful little countries, but the US has to have rules because of what we actually are. We are a VERY violent aggressive country. There needs to be rules in place for gun ownership in a country as uncivilized as ours that have a TON of violence. We are the creators of all the violent movies out of Hollywood. We make Xbox bloody games. We are just super violent by nature in the US. Not every country is like us, so you can't compare them.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Please don't try and compare us with Switzerland. They don't have our problems and have a much higher standard of living. People love to compare the US with these wonderful little countries, but the US has to have rules because of what we actually are. We are a VERY violent aggressive country. There needs to be rules in place for gun ownership in a country as uncivilized as ours that have a TON of violence. We are the creators of all the violent movies out of Hollywood. We make Xbox bloody games. We are just super violent by nature in the US. Not every country is like us, so you can't compare them.

We have lots of those, just not particularly very good at enforcing them

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

Gun violence is a cultural problem, not an equipment problem.

Switzerland has the highest rate of gun ownership in the world, but you don't hear about shooting sprees over there. Instead, you hear about Schützenfesten, which are shooting competitions that involve major awards and trophies, and that families enjoy as spectators. Gun ownership in Switzerland is not only a key to national defense, but a popular recreational outlet. It's very common to see rifles slung over people's backs in public. And yet, violent crime there is very low, with a murder rate of just over one per 100,000, and only half of them involving guns.

Guns aren't the problem; people are. We don't blame the car for DUI or the bomb for a terrorist attack, so it's ridiculous to blame the gun for gun violence.

People are certainly the problem. Long live the right to bear arms.

[ditchdigger]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

Gun violence is a cultural problem, not an equipment problem.

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Please don't try and compare us with Switzerland....

But everything you said after that is exactly what makes Gnutella's comparison useful.

Guns aren't the problem; people are. We don't blame the car for DUI ....

I blame our attitude towards responsible use of alcohol and drugs for the DUI problem. So, I think "Should access to 'something that a meaningful percentage of the population can't handle responsibly', be restricted?", is what should frame both discussions.

[DaisyDaisy]

Originally Posted by ditchdigger

But everything you said after that is exactly what makes Gnutella's comparison useful.



I blame our attitude towards responsible use of alcohol and drugs for the DUI problem. So, I think "Should access to 'something that a meaningful percentage of the population can't handle responsibly', be restricted?", is what should frame both discussions.

Except it's a heck of a lot easier for someone to injure or kill someone with a gun than by throwing a bottle of beer at them.

[theta_sigma]

Switzerland has compulsory military service for males, which accounts for a lot of the guns in homes there. Ammunition is not issued with the firearms given to people doing serivce, that is kept at a centra arsenal. Guns are seen as a national security safeguard, not as personal protection that might be needed at a moment's notice while going about one's everyday life. The entire rhetoric around guns is different, and the regulations are much more strict than here. if you want buy your weapon after your military service is over, you have to provide justification and the rate of rejection is very high.

And saying that Switzerland's per capita rate of firearm ownership is close to the US's is a bit decieving. They are #3 in civilian arms per capita after the US (#1) and Yemen (#2) but the US has such a high rate that pretty much no one else can touch us and Switzerland's is like half the US's.