Guns

[pumpkinpi]

So I didn't want to start any specific discussion here, but I just read this in an email from one of my coworkers, she's a university student who is spending two months in London.

Londoners of course automatically think that every American owns at least four guns, it is always the second or third question they ask you. When my roommates (one from MN, on from CO, and one from NY) and I go out and talk to locals, my roomies say they don't have any guns, but then turn to me with a smirk, and I confess I have four. The looks I get from the locals and the automatic atmosphere change is quite comical, I always have to reassure them and explain that they are for hunting purposes only.

I'll let the discussion go where we take it.......

[Rommie]

Oh yeah, that happens to me all the time. Everyone abroad thinks you have guns.

Even more fun is when a friend visits who I know owns guns, and making them sit next to my European friends shocked at such things... And you guys would not like the number of people here who advised me to not fall for any Marines at my sister's wedding, cause you don't want to be with someone who has killed someone or whatever. Yup, most of it's ignorance.

I note though, the only people I know in my family who own guns are Europeans, my uncle and cousin who have 'em for hunting (you just need a permit is all). What Europeans don't get is a mix of movies and stuff like Newtown happening, the former you explain by asking if we should assume every country is like it's portrayed in the movies (Germans will laugh at that) and the latter I can't explain myself either beyond "that's fucked up." Especially when stories like this happen.

[Swift]

David Sedaris was on the Daily Show a couple of weeks ago, promoting his new book and talking about the book tour he was doing. I generally like him and find him funny and very weird. He gave some of the observations he has made of people that he has met on the book tour, and one of his conclusions was that men with beards have guns, or at least had fathers who owned guns, and the longer your beard, the more guns involved.

I must be the exception that makes that rule, as I have a pretty full beard and I have never owned a gun, and never knew my father to have owned one (except in the military in WWII).

[FZR1KG]

I think the preconceptions are pretty accurate when applied to a certain segment of the US population.
Generally speaking, the rural areas in the Southern States and, by that I don't mean geographically.
Though it could be narrowed to rural Republican areas too.
God wants you to own a gun after all. Didn't y'all know that?
You just have to place some of your ammo on the Bible when going to sleep.
Usually 1% as 10% would crush the Bible under the gravitational force.

[Rommie]

Oh I'm sure there are parts of the country where it applies. I think more the big issue folks have abroad is remembering "America" actually has 300+ million citizens who are a very diverse bunch, so just because you find one example of an idiot on the news doesn't mean we are all just like that.

Most countries have far fewer numbers of people to deal with, and that's easily forgotten cause it's easier to generalize.

[FZR1KG]

I think what it comes down to is basic statistics.
The USA has more guns per capita than any country IIRC.
Over 50% are armed.

Lets look at the implications of that fact.
The I.Q. distribution curve peaks around 100.
Now, I don't know about anyone else here but my experiences with people that have 100 I.Q. are not that great.
Most have trouble thinking through relatively basic maths. Far simpler than that required to understand the trajectory of a high powered firearm.
Reasoning of cause and effect are limited and when that reasoning involves a weapon that can kill a person through a building beyond the shooters visibility, over 2 miles, I doubt many can think through what that actually means in terms of how to safely use a firearm.

Since almost anyone in the USA can get a firearm (there is no testing requirement), the bell curve of I.Q's would also be representative of the bell curve of I.Q's of gun owners.
That means the average I.Q. of a gun owner is also the average I.Q. of the general population.

That scares the fuck out of me. Just saying.
It means people that have very little reasoning ability are more likely to own a firearm than those who have the capacity to use them safely because they can understand the capabilities of the weapon.
That literally translates to 10's of millions of people that are not fit to own or use a firearm, both own and use them.

Want to know why the majority of people in the USA that own guns are fuckwits, there's the answer to your question.
It explains why a five year old kid is bought a firearm for a present and accidently shoots his sibling.
It answers why so many people get injured or killed using firearms accidentally.
It explains why civilian joggers accidentally get killed by gun owners just jogging in a park.
It explains why the NRA defends a 16 year olds right to hunt with a high calibre weapon in a fog after accidentally killing a person because he mistook a human for a bear. In a fucking fog!
It explains why the USA is the only country I know of that forces hunters to use florescent jackets yet hunting accidents are higher than those countries who use cammo to hunt in or simply plain clothes.

It's no accident.
That's simply the result of giving people who aren't fit to own or use a weapon, the right to purchase what they want without training or testing.
Combine that with the attitude that US gun owners have and it simply magnifies the effect.
What do I mean by that?
The obsession for more power. Why more power?
Because it takes LESS skill to kill an animal.
They trade competence for incompetence and use higher power weapons than required for the task to make up the difference.

It explains the reason people from other countries look at what happens in the USA and see that it doesn't happen in other countries then conclude there is something wrong. It's because there is.

[brite]

And yet...

As a gun owner, I get chastised, because I think that what we need is less access to high powered weaponry, less access to high powered ammo, more education before licensing, better background checks, and fewer guns.




Wait.... What??

[FZR1KG]

And yet...

As a gun owner, I get chastised, because I think that what we need is less access to high powered weaponry, less access to high powered ammo, more education before licensing, better background checks, and fewer guns.




Wait.... What??

Same shit happens to me.

[The Supreme Canuck]

It explains the reason people from other countries look at what happens in the USA and see that it doesn't happen in other countries then conclude there is something wrong. It's because there is.

THANK YOU

[Swift]

It explains the reason people from other countries look at what happens in the USA and see that it doesn't happen in other countries then conclude there is something wrong. It's because there is.

THANK YOU

You don't have to convince me.

[SciFi Chick]

It is definitely fucked up here. The other day, I was picking up some lunch for FZ and I, so it was one of those rare occasions that I get to listen to the radio, and I heard this campaign ad for some Republican. I won't go into the details of the ad. I"ll just share the tag line: Pro gun, pro life, and pro family. (That last one was because he's against gay marriage. ) It struck me as incredibly insane to say you're pro gun and pro life in the same sentence.

[FZR1KG]

Jesus owns a semi auto 50cal Barret because he prefers the extra penetration it gives him.