Skieur's Why Do Americans Have Guns Thread

[MichiganFarts]

In short we don't have anywhere near the same gun culture and gun problem in our criminal groups as the US does - we DO have it, but its reduced. Our street gangs are far more likely to stick a knife in you than shoot you.

According to this Murders (most recent) by country(random google) chart, you have more murders per capita in the UK than the US does.

So having a reduced gun problem is really just a distraction from reality, unless you can prove that chart is wrong. Which, like I said, it's just random google search...but that's enough to combat a shallow, random TPF argument :lmao:.

Yes I can - using the same source too
Murders Per Capita:

# 24 United States: 0.042802 per 1,000 people
# 46 United Kingdom: 0.0140633 per 1,000 people

:mrgreen:

LOL, dang it, you got it before I could change my post...I did read it wrong.

 

[Overread17 5]

Hehe though I can see where you read it wrong - for those looking the first number (24, 46) is its ranking in their list not the number of deaths (I just removed it from my post to clarify that its the numbers after the name that are the stats)

 

[MichiganFarts]

Hehe though I can see where you read it wrong - for those looking the first number (24, 46) is its ranking in their list not the number of deaths (I just removed it from my post to clarify that its the numbers after the name that are the stats)

That's the problem you run into with lazy research ...

 

[Josh66]

I don't put much stock in statistics ... you can make them say whatever you want them to.

I remember a while ago, the papers were saying that Dallas had the highest crime rate in the nation (I don't believe that...) according to some new study.

Well, they came to find out that many crimes were being counted in multiple categories...

 

[Overread17 5]

There are lies, damn lies and statistics

 

[j-dogg]

I feel a lot better when I'm off in the wilderness shooting with a piece in my holster. The only gun control that applies when you're 100 miles from civilization is being able to hit your target.

 

[mishele]

I want to start this off w/.........I HAVE NO ISSUE W/ PEOPLE OWNING GUNS......lol
But I have always wondered why people need these crazy automatic ones. Is anyone using them for self defense? Or is it more of a hobby gun? :hug::
Is it just a "because it's my right" thing? I don't see any reason to be able to shoot 30 shots under a minute.

I'd say that is then getting to the level of being no different to any other hobby - fast car with a fat exhaust and revvy sounds; bit white lenses; loud motobikes;

I guess for women its really like slick, streamlined irons; chrome plated cooking pots; titanium cooking utensils

LOL sorry I'll take the fast car over the iron or pot....

Really though it's just the Corvette of guns...lol People just need to say they have it and show it off? Where do you go to even shoot an automatic weapon? A gun range? lol And what are you shooting at for practice? lol

 

[usayit]

Dallas, Houston, UK, US... pfft....

Camden, NJ was #1 for violent crime in the US for 2005, 2004, and 2009... fya!

2010 well.. they slipped a little. A measly #2 spot. But in 2009 they were at 1880 per 100,000 for violent crime. oh yeh.. they just laid off practically half of their police force too. If I were a Camden cop, I don't know if I would be lucky to keep my job or to loose it.


http://os.cqpress.com/citycrime/2010/City_crime_rate_2010-2011_hightolow.pdf

 

[skieur]

btw... crime is ramping up in my home town.... Sad... much of it coincides with Katrina as Houston took in many "refugees" but did not have the means to help them start a new "productive" and "law biding" life. Desperation does bad things.

Teenager Fatally Shoots Intruder - Houston News Story - KPRC Houston

Deputy Constable's Son, 15, Shoots Intruder - Houston News Story - KPRC Houston

From one of the stories:

"Neighbors said home invasions have become too frequent on their street. Jenny Evans supported the teen's actions.
"I can't blame him," she said. "I'd shoot him if he was in my house."

These stories are quite common and I hear it via my family who lives in a nice quiet neighborhood. My brother and his girlfriend was car jacked recently right in front of our home. This shocked everyone in the area.

I think that you need to differentiate between break-ins and house invasions. A kid with a BB gun or 2 apparently un-armed guys did not seem to be planning any violence toward anyone in the house and may not have even known that anyone was there.

In many states and provinces, a prosecutor and the police would consider that deadly force was not warranted and even firing a gun could lead to unexpected tragedy, if it hit some innocent in the area. Charges would be laid.

Keep in mind, that thieves have even successfully sued a homeowner for being injured due to accident while illegally in a home in California.

Whether you consider the law appropriate or idiotic, any use of a gun for "self-protection" can result in a considerable number of unexpected NEGATIVE legal consequences.

skieur

 

[skieur]

I feel a lot better when I'm off in the wilderness shooting with a piece in my holster. The only gun control that applies when you're 100 miles from civilization is being able to hit your target.

Unfortunately, when you have several guys out there with the same attitude who have been drinking all morning and shooting at anything that moves, then you personally have the potential for SERIOUS TROUBLE.

skieur

 

[Josh66]

Whether you consider the law appropriate or idiotic, any use of a gun for "self-protection" can result in a considerable number of unexpected NEGATIVE legal consequences.

skieur

All I really have to say to that is - legal bills or possible jail time is better than being dead.

I agree that usually, deadly force would probably not be warranted, but in the rare situations when it is - I want that option.

If it's me or them, I'll do everything I can to make sure it's them.

 

[Josh66]

LOL - The search tag showing up for this thread right now is "why are americans have the right to have guns"...

I think that is something that a lot of people don't really understand. Do you want to know why? Why the founders of this nation thought it important to guarantee that right to us?

Here's why...

If our government ever evolves into something that we, the people, do not wish - it is our duty as citizens of the United States to overthrow said government and establish a new one. Without an armed population, I don't know if that would be possible.

Hopefully, that never happens. Hopefully, there will be a peaceful way to 'fix things'. That is not always the case though. Like the NRA likes to say - it ain't about duck hunting.

 

[Rekd]

2 apparently un-armed guys did not seem to be planning any violence toward anyone in the house and may not have even known that anyone was there.

How, exactly, do you have any ef'n clue what 2 "apparently" un-armed guys "have in mind" when they break into your home?

Really?

Thanks for the laugh. :thumbup:

 

[Rekd]

Unfortunately, when you have several guys out there breaking into your house then you personally have the potential for SERIOUS TROUBLE.

skieur

Fissed for accuracy...

 

[j-dogg]

I feel a lot better when I'm off in the wilderness shooting with a piece in my holster. The only gun control that applies when you're 100 miles from civilization is being able to hit your target.

Unfortunately, when you have several guys out there with the same attitude who have been drinking all morning and shooting at anything that moves, then you personally have the potential for SERIOUS TROUBLE.

skieur

wow @ this.

64,999,995 people with firearms didn't kill anyone today. gun ownership has everything to do with self-defense. would you rather have a gun and not need it then need a gun and not have it?

many times armed citizens have saved others lives in bank robberies and things of the sort. we had an instance here were a clerk was being shot at behind a counter and a guy filling up his car in the station came in and shot the gunman dead. In Florida we have a thing called the "castle doctrine" basically states if you break into my house and I feel my life is threatened I can blast away and claim self-defense. I have a .22 and a shotgun. Most of my neighbors are armed. I have never seen a break-in happen in my neighborhood in the 5 years I've lived here. An armed society is a polite society.

I guess gun ownership is like soccer. The people on the other side of the pond don't get it.