Guns: Why Are They So Awesome?

[pimpdave]

THIS IS IMPORTANT

[CreepersWiener]

Guns are awesome, because it let's us recognize the owners as dangerous terrorists that need to be either disarmed or disposed of.

Easiest way to disarm a gun owner: put some bacon in a cage...it's and old and tested method for capturing monkeys!


The best way to dispose of a gun owner: after catching them with the bacon cage, put cage on makeshift raft and push it off Niagara Falls or similar waterall.

[crispybits]

Smoked or unsmoked bacon?

And how similar does the waterfall have to be?

[CreepersWiener]

Smoked or unsmoked bacon?

And how similar does the waterfall have to be?

Smoked bacon, otherwise the gun owner won't be able to smell it from a distance. And I think any waterfall that is 100 feet or greater in height will suffice.

[2dimes]

[rhp 1]

criminals will have guns regardless, and in America firearms will never be banned outright (at least not for a long time to come) and the HUGE majority of gun owners are responsible, law abiding people... though our constitution is a bit vague on what "the right to bear arms" really means in this day and age, I for one like being able to own a firearm (or 40) and I enjoy people from other countries telling me how I shouldn't be able to own them...

[comic boy]

I wish that I was too afraid to exist without access to firearms . I wish I could be one of the many thousands of lucky citizens who each year die in such an awesome way . I wish I was wise enough to slavishly worship ancient manuscripts rather than take a pragmatic approach to modern dilemas.
I wish that I could be so compassionate , enlightened and free !

[Funkyterrance]

It's gotta be the phallic appeal. Short men, be it vertically or horizontally, love guns.

[Johnny Rockets]

It's about power, and the increased chance of survival.

Look, we are basically hard wired monkeys who have evolved too quickly to dampen some basic genetic hardwired survival instincts. Guns are basically a more efficient and deadly way of throwing a rock. Bigger better gun, means I can kill you better/faster/and more of your ilk then you can do me and mine.
It's the same with our unreasonable drive to consume and acquire vast amounts of material goods. The more we have, the bigger our stockpiles, the better chance of attracting a mate, surviving and passing on our genetic code.

So we want to be the biggest and baddest, with the most bling, toys, gold, and guns.

The chances of humanity spontaneously socially evolving past these massive chunks of ingrained destructive behaviors is slim to none.

The biggest argument for guns in every home, every night table, and every belt holster is this:

We are all fucking violent fuckheads, and damn right you need to protect yourselves from the colossal idiocy that is the sheeple society.

Now I don't like it, and I'd love not to agree with this point of view, but the logic and data are getting harder and harder to refute every year.

Johnny Rockets

[saxitoxin]

I wish that I was too afraid to exist without access to firearms

easy wish to fulfill - move to Nye County, Nevada ... the same size as Wales but with a population of 40,000 instead of 3,000,000

or North Slope Borough, Alaska ... the same size as the entire UK but with a population of 9,000 instead of 60,000,000

once you've experienced life in a place where the nearest police officer is 8 hours, instead of 8 minutes, away your worldview might evolve beyond how safe you feel in the canned goods aisle at Tesco

[comic boy]

I wish that I was too afraid to exist without access to firearms

easy wish to fulfill - move to Nye County, Nevada ... the same size as Wales but with a population of 40,000 instead of 3,000,000

or North Slope Borough, Alaska ... the same size as the entire UK but with a population of 9,000 instead of 60,000,000

once you've experienced life in a place where the nearest police officer is 8 hours, instead of 8 minutes, away your worldview might evolve beyond how safe you feel in the canned goods aisle at Tesco

But I shop at Sainsbury

[chang50]

criminals will have guns regardless, and in America firearms will never be banned outright (at least not for a long time to come) and the HUGE majority of gun owners are responsible, law abiding people... though our constitution is a bit vague on what "the right to bear arms" really means in this day and age, I for one like being able to own a firearm (or 40) and I enjoy people from other countries telling me how I shouldn't be able to own them...

Nobody has said you shouldn't be able to own guns,only that if the US is interested in tackling their extraordinarily high violent gun crime rate they might consider adopting rules that begin to reduce gun numbers in line with the rest of the developed world.Of course you might not be interested..

[tzor]

Guns clearly are awesome. Well at least the old ones are; all that fancy detailing and carvings in the wood. Fine handcrafted weapons are always awesome! And back in those days, a gun maker was like an auto dealer today; they not only sold weapons but lovingly kept them in proper working order by replacing parts that were worn over time, keeping accurate records of the repairs made on every owner's weapons.

Article about Teddy Roosevelt and his Winchesters

[Funkyterrance]

On a side note:
I was out shopping in an army navy type setting and there was this guy who was buying like 4 huge empty ammo cases. He explained to the teller that he was planning on burying MORE ammo caches in his backyard. Now if it gets to the point where we are digging up our ammo caches to survive I should think that we are all FUBAR, no matter how prepared we may be.

[betiko]

My uncle owns a whole bunch of guns and it s been kind of a tradition to go shooting in his gun club then go go karting with him and my cousins. I don t particularly enjoy the shooting part, racing is a million times more fun. Of course it s allowed to own guns in Europe, it s just far more controlled than in the US. I don t really get the benefits/downsides of owning one. Saxi, there should be sheriffs anywhere big enough to have a supermarket. Pay more taxes.

[saxitoxin]

Saxi, there should be sheriffs anywhere big enough to have a supermarket. Pay more taxes.

The UK has an average of 2 police per square kilometer. If Lake County, Oregon were to deploy a similar number of police they would need 14,000 police. The entire population of Lake County, Oregon is 8,000. How does that tax system work?

You simply can't compare a nation where people are packed together like sardines, and in which you can't turn to the left too quickly without accidently raping someone against a nation in which areas have average police response times measured in hours or days.

Imagine the population of the UK - a frightened, emotionally fragile race of people - living in that situation. Britons are already so utterly terrified of some existential threat that they've surrounded themselves with more surveillance cameras than any other nation on Earth and yet still deal with violent assault and and robbery rates far above anything experienced in any other OECD nation. The UK has a population that is, largely, (a) unstable, but also has an, (b) obedience culture/mentality. In these conditions it is completely reasonable they be disarmed.

A new regulatory environment in the U.S. similar to Canada or Austria may be in order, but - as usual - models like the UK and Singapore are designed for a very specific and unusual set of sociological conditions and should not be emulated.

[chang50]

Saxi, there should be sheriffs anywhere big enough to have a supermarket. Pay more taxes.

The UK has an average of 2 police per square kilometer. If Lake County, Oregon were to deploy a similar number of police they would need 14,000 police. The entire population of Lake County, Oregon is 8,000. How does that tax system work?

You simply can't compare a nation where people are packed together like sardines, and in which you can't turn to the left too quickly without accidently raping someone against a nation in which areas have average police response times measured in hours or days.

Imagine the population of the UK - a frightened, emotionally fragile race of people - living in that situation. Britons are already so utterly terrified of some existential threat that they've surrounded themselves with more surveillance cameras than any other nation on Earth and yet still deal with violent assault and and robbery rates far above anything experienced in any other OECD nation. The UK has a population that is, largely, (a) unstable, but also has an, (b) obedience culture/mentality. In these conditions it is completely reasonable they be disarmed.

A new regulatory environment in the U.S. similar to Canada or Austria may be in order, but - as usual - models like the UK and Singapore are designed for a very specific and unusual set of sociological conditions and should not be emulated.

Obviously there are no universal solutions and the UK has many problems of it's own..but surely it cannot be an option for the US to do nothing..more of the same will produce more of the same.

[saxitoxin]

Saxi, there should be sheriffs anywhere big enough to have a supermarket. Pay more taxes.

The UK has an average of 2 police per square kilometer. If Lake County, Oregon were to deploy a similar number of police they would need 14,000 police. The entire population of Lake County, Oregon is 8,000. How does that tax system work?

You simply can't compare a nation where people are packed together like sardines, and in which you can't turn to the left too quickly without accidently raping someone against a nation in which areas have average police response times measured in hours or days.

Imagine the population of the UK - a frightened, emotionally fragile race of people - living in that situation. Britons are already so utterly terrified of some existential threat that they've surrounded themselves with more surveillance cameras than any other nation on Earth and yet still deal with violent assault and and robbery rates far above anything experienced in any other OECD nation. The UK has a population that is, largely, (a) unstable, but also has an, (b) obedience culture/mentality. In these conditions it is completely reasonable they be disarmed.

A new regulatory environment in the U.S. similar to Canada or Austria may be in order, but - as usual - models like the UK and Singapore are designed for a very specific and unusual set of sociological conditions and should not be emulated.

Obviously there are no universal solutions and the UK has many problems of it's own..but surely it cannot be an option for the US to do nothing..more of the same will produce more of the same.

One is twice as likely to be killed by a drunk driver in Belgium than be murdered in the U.S. and yet Belgians keep drinking beer like it's water with no sign of abatement. Being killed by a drunk driver in Belgium is just as random and you end up just as dead.

Even in places like Mexico murder is still a statistically uncommon and unusual crime. One can understand why many Americans are hesitant to emulate the policies of nations in Europe whose crime rates in virtually every other category are 300-400% above those in the U.S. all for the sake of lowering a category of crime the vast majority of them have never experienced beyond a TV news broadcast.

So what's worse? 100 Britons stabbed to within an inch of their life so that they spend the next 15 years in a wheelchair, shitting into a colostomy bag, or 1 American shot dead? The Clockwork Orange society that Britain has built for itself should be the exact opposite of what any civilized nation would want. It is an imploding civilization in a state of collapse, heaving its last gasps of life.

Austria is a model for reasonable firearms regulations. The UK is a model for social decay.

[2dimes]

You simply can't compare a nation where people are packed together like sardines, and in which you can't turn to the left too quickly without accidently raping someone against a nation in which areas have average police response times measured in hours or days.

I for one have not given the UK due consideration as potential places to spend more time. I did not notice any rape last when ever I've been there.

[Funkyterrance]

Saxi has his game face on, you guys are going to LOSE.
There does seem to be a contradiction between the UK being pro-gun control and also having a high crime rate though. I think maybe to reason the Brits lean this way is because they seem to be more highly educated, at least sociologically speaking?

[saxitoxin]

Brits lean this way is because they seem to be more highly educated

"Oi, guvn'r! Welcome to Eton, mate!"

[chang50]

Saxi has his game face on, you guys are going to LOSE.
There does seem to be a contradiction between the UK being pro-gun control and also having a high crime rate though. I think maybe to reason the Brits lean this way is because they seem to be more highly educated, at least sociologically speaking?

Saxi always makes good points and is a skilled debater,makes for a refreshing challenge after the incoherent bluster and nonesense posted by some others.I will note he is a fellow European by birth,and perhaps this gives him a different perspective on the US from people immersed in US culture.

[2dimes]

Pfft. Saxi is immersed, he's packin' a nine at all times.

I think he meant a hand gun..

[Funkyterrance]

Saxi always makes good points and is a skilled debater,makes for a refreshing challenge after the incoherent bluster and nonesense posted by some others.I will note he is a fellow European by birth,and perhaps this gives him a different perspective on the US from people immersed in US culture.

I'm curious to know what are some of the misconceptions that a USA native might have regarding a UK native? I've got a few friends from the UK and who knows, I may embarrassing myself on a regular basis. One thing I have noticed is that they seem to be on average much more worldly and therefore have at least considered contrasting societies more than your average American. To me this makes them, on average, more socially aware.

[2dimes]

There are people there that have not left their neighborhood also.