After a big argument with the mod that banned me from MA, essentially further proof that all the European conceptions of the US gun laws are built on stereotypes of us being fat, bible thumping, uncontrollable hicks:
Napero wrote:
I'm not going to make a detailed post about anything, just a rant. Sorry for the mistaken idea about firearms per capita... I'm pretty certain that there are at least some weapon classes, probably shotguns, or maybe some demographic vs gun ownership statistics that we lead, but the overall picture seems indeed to be that you have more guns.
In any case, the immediate answer everybody seems to throw around immediately upon questioning firearm ownership is the 2nd amendment. And that's another piece of faulty reasoning most people outside the USA have righteous difficulty understanding: the constitution of any country should never be regarded as rigid, unchanging, bible-like document that can't be rewritten. That's insanity. However revered the piece of parchment and its amendments are, they are just popularly accepted rules that could and should be changed if the situation calls for it. Yes, I know that's not going to happen in the USA, but then again, that's not the only part of the USA that has already stagnated. And the argument is similar to the extremely annoying abortion "discussion" you have over there: it's polarized, with little middle ground audible to the outside world. On one side, there's the lobby that says that a fertilized egg should have a belt-fed machinegun that fires WWII antitank rifle rounds, to help it protect the sanctity of life, and on the other side there are equally bigoted people who think that all the guns should be melted to make dreamcatchers and plowshares and that unless the fetus is completely outside the womb, including the hair on top of its head, it can be killed with a scalpel/suction hose/baseball bat, because it's not a human being. You people need more varied opinions, more credible political parties, and a dose of common sense for those who stand in the middle ground of things; they could enact a change every now and then, weren't it for the extreme ends of the spectrum yelling with flying spittle and red faces. It's not about completely abolishing every gun in existence, it's about changing the way people think, and instituting some sense and controls in the rules.
As far as gun control goes, I can't for the life of me imagine any sensible reason to allow any automatic weapons, or even handguns, really. I would not mind a complete pistol ban, because they do not serve any real purpose here. None. But I'm happy with the system that, say, takes away the guns from felons, insane people, and those with obvious problems with their mental stability. And I'm happy that there are strict rules on locking up the guns, extensive and slowish permit system, and extra checks whenever the weapon is not something by default meant for hunting, the only sensible real world use for a gun. Because what we have here is shotguns and mostly bolt-action rifles, not Uzis, semi-automatic versions of assault rifles, or 9mm Glocks with capacity for 7634 rounds. The guns here are generally used to hunt, not for home defense.
And as far as the argument that people would start a violent protest upon any attempt to take away the guns... give me a break. Just try to get the average overweight, lazy, lethargic Westerner to take up arms and actually go on a campaign that would obviously last for years, and you'll see that with the exception of a few thousand survivalist loonies on the Canadian border, most people simply could not be arsed to really do anything about it. Complain and whine, yes, but to take up arms? For two days in the privacy of their homes, sure.
But in the end, it's your own business, and I don't care. I just wonder how long it will take for you people to really understand that the only way to reduce deaths by firearms is to reduce the number of firearms; at the same time I do also understand that you people see some civilian shooting a criminal as a positive thing, and as long as the actions of private citizens are somehow preferred or even equal to the work of the police in fighting crime, nothing is going to change.
Just don't try to import that way of thinking across the Atlantic, OK?
