A gun thread for non-Americans who enjoy telling Americans how to fix their gun crime problem. 
Fire away!
Aww, shoot. Let's bang on about guns. Try to stay on target.
Quote: Kenneth @ 27th November 2017, 7:38 AMSay, if you value human life more than the "right" to own guns, then why not start on the path to disarming the public, starting with all the bad guys?
That's Problem Numero Uno: our police and a myriad of laws have utterly failed to disarm criminals. That's why gun owners who aren't criminals are so upset about laws that impede their Second Amendment rights while criminals just laugh in the face of the laws. At that point legal gun owners might be a bit more open to discussion, but there won't be much need because our gun crime rate will at that point be in line with other nations'.
A sure sign that Americans have no plans to back away from their right to bear arms: Black Friday set a single-day record for the background checks required to purchase a new firearm: 203,086. Only one check is required to purchase multiple guns, so the actual number of firearms sold will be slightly higher.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/200000-people-tried-buy-gun-black-friday-sales-114737813.html
Changing gun laws drastically overnight is impossible politically and would probably cause an economic recession anyway. Just let the market for them decrease gradually over time. To achieve this I think one has to start targeting the culprits here, human beings with bad intentions, not inanimate bits of metal. It's people who kill people, they just use the most effective weapon to do it with.
Jail for life all convicted first degree murderers and sterilise all convicted weapon and repeating violent criminals. Over time you should be able to diminish the criminally violent gene pool and the gradual drop in demand for guns and other weapons will minimise the effect on industry, with many firearm factories able to restructure into other fields of manufacturing over a sensible timescale. In a couple of generations it could be largely resolved. And in the process you'll be genetically making people less violent to others, creating a safer society. I hope one day it happens.
I wonder if they have a comedy thread on the Guns R Us site.
Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 27th November 2017, 4:10 PMI wonder if they have a comedy thread on the Guns R Us site.
Here's one. The BCG insists on changing the spelling of humor.
I wonder if they have a David Smith there as well.
Quote: DaButt @ 27th November 2017, 4:25 PMHere's one. The BCG insists on changing the spelling of humor.
I was joking...............only in Americky. 
Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ 27th November 2017, 3:37 PMI think one has to start targeting the culprits here, human beings with bad intentions, not inanimate bits of metal. It's people who kill people, they just use the most effective weapon to do it with.
Spot on.
Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ 27th November 2017, 3:37 PMJail for life all convicted first degree murderers and sterilise all convicted weapon and repeating violent criminals. Over time you should be able to diminish the criminally violent gene pool
We have 160,000 people serving life sentences and almost 3000 on Death Row. Prison just doesn't seem to be a deterrent to some people. I'd be in favor of dividing our prisons into two classes: a rehabilitative class for nonviolent offenders, and an extremely harsh system for violent, predatory offenders and people who use weapons in the commission of a crime. It should be one step above being chained in a darkened dungeon. "Regular" prison is enough to keep me on the right side of the law, but for many people it's no more violent or difficult than the lives they live on the streets.
Sterilization! Yikes. Even the mention of it would be considered racist by many, since our prisons are disproportionately filled with African-Americans. That's the elephant in the room for most discussions about gun laws, since the same people who want to weaken the Second Amendment are typically vocal about the number of people in our prisons and their unequal racial composition. Too many young Americans see joining gangs and selling drugs to be their only way out of poverty if they aren't talented rappers or athletes. I'd like to see those same performers and athletes disavow the street culture of drugs and guns and violence and join with community leaders and politicians to teach kids that hard work, education and strong family and community ties are what lead to success and a fulfilling life. Compared to whites, African-Americans are 8x more likely to murder someone and 6x more likely to be murdered. It's not a matter of race, however, but a mixture of poverty, lack of education, and gangs and other subcultures. They should set their sights high and encourage others to do the same. All they'll reap is sorrow and a life cut short by prison or gunfire if they live their lives like this: (skip to 6:25)
Like most Brits, I find the American love affair with what's killing them in huge numbers incomprehensible.
Quote: DaButt @ 27th November 2017, 1:03 PMA gun thread for non-Americans who enjoy telling Americans how to fix their gun crime problem.
Fire away!
Guns today are not a privilege, they are a necessity. I don't blame Americans for wanting to have guns, I do however blame them for being too trigger happy in films and television and selling bullets at the supetmarket is a bit too much me thinks.
Quote: beaky @ 28th November 2017, 10:38 AMLike most Brits, I find the American love affair with what's killing them in huge numbers incomprehensible.
Like most American gun owners, I find the British fascination with our guns incomprehensible, since they typically exhibit little or no knowledge of the subject.
There is no "love affair" with guns. They are inanimate chunks of metal, plastic and wood. They are tools which have been a part of our nation's history since before it was even a nation. I would also question your use of the term "huge numbers" because 9000-ish murders per year in a nation of 330 million people is 9000 too many, but it's not "huge." If you're not a gang member, drug dealer, or street criminal, you're unlikely to be murdered by someone with a gun.
According to government figures, in the UK there were 8,697 deaths related to alcohol in 2014. That's roughly the same number of firearm murders in the United States, but with 5x your population that means that a UK resident is 5 times more likely to die from alcohol than an American is to be murdered by a firearm. Let me know when Americans begin berating the British for their love affair with the pint and demand that alcohol be banned in order to save lives. (I won't hold my breath.)
While we're at it, someone in the UK is twice as likely to die from a drug overdose than an American is to be murdered by a gun. And if we really want to see what "huge numbers" really look like, check out the number of UK deaths from smoking: 100,000 per year. A citizen of the UK is 50 times more likely to die from smoking than an American is to be murdered by a firearm.
They're all problems, but they need to be put into perspective.
Quote: Kapow @ 28th November 2017, 2:10 PMselling bullets at the supetmarket is a bit too much me thinks.
It's not as if every supermarket has a box of ammunition on the shelf next to the loaves of bread. The only place I can think of that fits your description is Walmart. They're a all-in-one shop. Yeah, they have a grocery section, but you can also buy tires for your car, a hose for your garden, and a 70-inch TV, in addition to a rifle and ammunition. (I don't think they sell handguns.)
Quote: DaButt @ 28th November 2017, 3:13 PMLike most American gun owners, I find the British fascination with our guns incomprehensible, since they typically exhibit little or no knowledge of the subject.
There is no "love affair" with guns. They are inanimate chunks of metal, plastic and wood. They are tools which have been a part of our nation's history since before it was even a nation. I would also question your use of the term "huge numbers" because 9000-ish murders per year in a nation of 330 million people is 9000 too many, but it's not "huge." If you're not a gang member, drug dealer, or street criminal, you're unlikely to be murdered by someone with a gun.
According to government figures, in the UK there were 8,697 deaths related to alcohol in 2014. That's roughly the same number of firearm murders in the United States, but with 5x your population that means that a UK resident is 5 times more likely to die from alcohol than an American is to be murdered by a firearm. Let me know when Americans begin berating the British for their love affair with the pint and demand that alcohol be banned in order to save lives. (I won't hold my breath.)
While we're at it, someone in the UK is twice as likely to die from a drug overdose than an American is to be murdered by a gun. And if we really want to see what "huge numbers" really look like, check out the number of UK deaths from smoking: 100,000 per year. A citizen of the UK is 50 times more likely to die from smoking than an American is to be murdered by a firearm.
They're all problems, but they need to be put into perspective.
It's not as if every supermarket has a box of ammunition on the shelf next to the loaves of bread. The only place I can think of that fits your description is Walmart. They're a all-in-one shop. Yeah, they have a grocery section, but you can also buy tires for your car, a hose for your garden, and a 70-inch TV, in addition to a rifle and ammunition. (I don't think they sell handguns.)
You have to compare like with like - the number of people who die from alcohol in Britain with the number who die from alcohol in the states, and so on. Otherwise it's a meaningless comparison. The likelihood of being shot in the US is vastly more than in the UK, which is why I'd never go there, it's far too dangerous.
Quote: beaky @ 28th November 2017, 4:50 PMThe likelihood of being shot in the US is vastly more than in the UK, which is why I'd never go there, it's far too dangerous.
Perhaps you should leave the UK and reside permanently in Spain, as the UK's violent crime rate is much greater than in the United States.
I've lived here for 50+ years and managed to avoid any bullet holes. It's quite easy to do if you aren't a gang member or a drug dealer/user. In contrast, only twice in my life has a stranger ever tried to fight me: once in a pub in Reading, where a young man took offense to the fact that the cash machine at Heathrow had dispensed a £50 note and I used it to buy a couple of pints at the train station. The other time was at a pub in London where an angry Welshman decided that he didn't like me because I was an American. The UK is more violent than the United States, but that doesn't mean that I won't visit again. Neither country is exactly a murderous hellhole.
Reading?! Enough said...
Quote: beaky @ 28th November 2017, 4:50 PMThe likelihood of being shot in the US is vastly more than in the UK, which is why I'd never go there, it's far too dangerous.
Beaky you're only talking of very specific urban environments already notorious, well policed and essentially off the tourist trail. The vast plains of USA and all the tourist favoured city districts are as safe as Spain.