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Well, if I may be allowed an opinion as a non-American, living in constant fear to the point where you have to carry guns with you at all times, is not freedom and liberty. The biggest freedom there is, is the freedom to live in safety and peace of mind. This state of paranoia is the exact opposite to freedom. Looking from the other side of the ocean, it seems Americans have already lost their freedom in many ways - and they have not even noticed it.
My small European country is neither the most prosperous nor the safest one in the world. We have our own criminals - just like any country in the world. But I, as a white woman, have the freedom to get out any time of day or night, in the city or in the country and feel totally safe. I used to go for a walk in the park at 3 am on a weekend night. And I have never felt so insecure as to need a gun.
safety? what would you do to defend yourself against a crime in your country? call the cops? there, as here, whens seconds count the cops are only minutes away.
as for being fearful, sorry i dont fear anyone, in fact anyone who breaks into my house, should fear me instead. anyone who intends harm on my family and friends should fear me instead.
in this country we have the freedom to carry, or not, in most places. we also have the freedom to speak as we wish, and we have the right to privacy as well. can you say the same thing about your country?
The main difference here is the type of freedom we're talking about. It seems that you prefer the freedom of deferring your protection to the government to feel more safe, even if that's at the expense of your liberty/choice in your life.
The other type of freedom is the freedom to choose, and the freedom from others imposing their will on you by force. That means more responsibility and burden on you, but more say over your own life. That's the freedom I prefer, and the thing that distinguished the U.S. from the rest of the world at the time is was founded.
Samuel Adams famously told American colonists who preferred safety over liberty to go home to England, and that they didn't want them here. That was the attitude that is mostly disappearing here to conform with the rest of the world.
Freedom, is unlimited choices.
Liberty is your ability to choose for yourself.
In the above scenarios are all about personal choice.
They take our freedom, by limiting our choices.
Then tell you, that you still have liberty. You have a choice.
As far as guns. Government has crushed the 2nd amendment so much in the last 100 years, that the government can say you can only have access to a bb gun, if we say so, and you still have your rights to keep & bear arms in tact.
They can pry my 2nd amendment from my cold dead hand.
Cowards surrender their rights, with ease.
Well, if I may be allowed an opinion as a non-American, living in constant fear to the point where you have to carry guns with you at all times, is not freedom and liberty. The biggest freedom there is, is the freedom to live in safety and peace of mind. This state of paranoia is the exact opposite to freedom. Looking from the other side of the ocean, it seems Americans have already lost their freedom in many ways - and they have not even noticed it.
My small European country is neither the most prosperous nor the safest one in the world. We have our own criminals - just like any country in the world. But I, as a white woman, have the freedom to get out any time of day or night, in the city or in the country and feel totally safe. I used to go for a walk in the park at 3 am on a weekend night. And I have never felt so insecure as to need a gun.
European countries have a long history of being subjects to lords, knights, kings, clan chiefs, whatever so being serfs serving the landed gentry and depending on the royals for everything is a long tradition there.
In the US, it isn't fear that drives the desire to own the means to protect yourself, it's part of the whole American tradition of providing for yourself, taking responsibilty for your own safety and welfare, of depending on yourself instead of depending on government for everything.
We don't own firearms out of fear, but because we do own firearms we don't have to fear.
Most European countries until recently were fairly homogenious societies with shared language, traditions, race and values. The US has never had that luxury. Because we've always had a mix of all ethnicities, there are definite seperations between segments of our population, and that can lead to strife.
Probably the best counterpart in Europe would be the British Isles/United Kingdom where warfare between the English and the Scots and Irish have endured for millenia. Yeah, they are starting to come to more peaceful agreements now, but it wasn't so long ago that the IRA was bombing the snot out of the place.
Europe will start seeing more of this again with the coming of the mass movement of ME people in the near future, in some cases, already are, and the respective governments can't do a thing about it because they welcomed the invaders in the first place.
Up until the 20th century, the serfs of Europe were merely cannon fodder and collateral damage from all the incessant warfare between countries there. They couldn't protect themselves, so they just died.
The US because of our 2nd Amendment rights is a very different place. Admiral Yamamoto of the Emperial Japanese Navy said it best when he counseled against invading the continental US during WWII because, "there would be a gun behind every blade of grass".
The US became a country because of the citizens owning private firearms, and we stay a free country for the same reason.
We don't fear because we own firearms, instead, we know we can stand up to any threat from a street mugger to a foreign invasion because we are armed and able to extract a heavy price from any that would wish us harm. That knowledge instead gives us a confidence in ourselves that can be lacking in people that aren't used to defending themselves and depend on others for their own protection.
Oh please! I've seen the exact opposite here. I simply expressed an opinion on a thread about gun control and almost immediately there were several posts from gun advocates jumping up and down and going nuts because I dared to question the need of an assault weapon for self defense. It seems the gun advocates become unstable the instant someone suggests an opinion they disagree with.
" I simply expressed an opinion" and was shortly informed where your "opinion" was NOT based on FACT and was informed what the facts and yet, you continue to post the SAME thing over and over.
"I dared to question the need of an assault weapon for self defense"
Maybe we misconstrued what you were asking.
So, clear it up for ALL of us. What do you consider is an "assault weapon".
Well, if I may be allowed an opinion as a non-American, living in constant fear to the point where you have to carry guns with you at all times, is not freedom and liberty. The biggest freedom there is, is the freedom to live in safety and peace of mind. This state of paranoia is the exact opposite to freedom. Looking from the other side of the ocean, it seems Americans have already lost their freedom in many ways - and they have not even noticed it.
My small European country is neither the most prosperous nor the safest one in the world. We have our own criminals - just like any country in the world. But I, as a white woman, have the freedom to get out any time of day or night, in the city or in the country and feel totally safe. I used to go for a walk in the park at 3 am on a weekend night. And I have never felt so insecure as to need a gun.
What you refer to as fear is what millions of others refer to is self reliance.
You might not be aware of this, but women are raped a lot in the US.
The FBI puts the number at close to 90,000 per year while the CDC puts it at 1.3 million per year. The Bureau of US Justice states that 26% of rapes are committed by strangers. So, anywhere between 23,000 and 338,000 women are raped by strangers in the US each year.
There is a gas station down the road from me that myself and my wife use frequently.
A few months ago, a woman who was on her way to pick up her son stopped there to get gas. As she sat in her car, a man with a knife jumped in and held the knife to her and told her to give him her money. She retrieved her gun and shot him. Was he going to stop at just taking her money, or might he have had other plans? He could have planned to first get her money then have her drive to an isolated area where he could rape and even murder her.
You might feel that it should be up to the police to investigate your rape and murder to bring closure to your family, but this woman felt it was in her best interest to have the ability to protect herself. I suppose if she were some sort of martial arts expert, she could have disarmed a man who was larger and stronger than her wielding a knife, but the vast majority of women are not. She utilized a tool that in many circumstances will at least level the playing field for a person targeted by another that would do them harm.
It's better to have it and not need it then need it and not have it.
European countries have a long history of being subjects to lords, knights, kings, clan chiefs, whatever so being serfs serving the landed gentry and depending on the royals for everything is a long tradition there.
In the US, it isn't fear that drives the desire to own the means to protect yourself, it's part of the whole American tradition of providing for yourself, taking responsibilty for your own safety and welfare, of depending on yourself instead of depending on government for everything.
We don't own firearms out of fear, but because we do own firearms we don't have to fear.
Most European countries until recently were fairly homogenious societies with shared language, traditions, race and values. The US has never had that luxury. Because we've always had a mix of all ethnicities, there are definite seperations between segments of our population, and that can lead to strife.
Probably the best counterpart in Europe would be the British Isles/United Kingdom where warfare between the English and the Scots and Irish have endured for millenia. Yeah, they are starting to come to more peaceful agreements now, but it wasn't so long ago that the IRA was bombing the snot out of the place.
Europe will start seeing more of this again with the coming of the mass movement of ME people in the near future, in some cases, already are, and the respective governments can't do a thing about it because they welcomed the invaders in the first place.
Up until the 20th century, the serfs of Europe were merely cannon fodder and collateral damage from all the incessant warfare between countries there. They couldn't protect themselves, so they just died.
The US because of our 2nd Amendment rights is a very different place. Admiral Yamamoto of the Emperial Japanese Navy said it best when he counseled against invading the continental US during WWII because, "there would be a gun behind every blade of grass".
The US became a country because of the citizens owning private firearms, and we stay a free country for the same reason.
We don't fear because we own firearms, instead, we know we can stand up to any threat from a street mugger to a foreign invasion because we are armed and able to extract a heavy price from any that would wish us harm. That knowledge instead gives us a confidence in ourselves that can be lacking in people that aren't used to defending themselves and depend on others for their own protection.
That is what I consider an assault weapon and while I support gun rights I don't support or see the possible need for automatic or semiautomatic rifles with large capacity magazines designed for military use for self-defense.
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