120 guns owned per 100 people, that sounds like “armed to the teeth” to me.
I can tell you why I care (can’t tell you why he does)
I’ve been generally isolated from the outside world for three weeks, and I will be for many more weeks to come. Talking about… anything on here passes the time. Otherwise I work on the farm I live on, but that only accounts for say 4-6 hrs per day (sometimes more if there’s a lot of maintenance work required)
Also very anxious about this whole situation, this distracts me. Also, I’ve been trying to get more involved with politics, it’s always fascinating/interesting to hear differing bodies of thought to that of my own.
I’m talking about @loppar. Not you. Your questions always seem 100% legitimate. His posts are condescending and written by an anonymous smart ass(I don’t say this insultingly-I actually tend to like smartasses) on the political subforum of a bodybuilding website’s message board. Edit: There was an American that posted similarly, but he left after the 2016 election if I remember correctly.
I wonder whether China will ever be forced to answer for initially covering up the spread and/or potentially doctoring viral statistics.
That’s encouraging to me
Deterrents relate to prevention, so what you said is almost contradictory
Anyways I was saying a deterrent against crime when it starts looking like society might collapse soon
People having guns can help keep things together
Hopefully America never becomes equatable with South Africa in that way, if it ever gets close though, it would be too late to buy, distribute, train, or whatever
An ounce of prevention vs a pound of cure
And then there’s the benefit of a populace armed against potential foreign invasion - highly underrated - America or wherever
There’s an animal/deep mind type of thing involved with ‘gun control’ also. There’s something honorable, respectable about people who you trust with guns. It would be great if society could trust the vast, vast majority with them - EVERYTHING across the board across society would go smoother in my view if people had such a higher view of each other
Btw 1.2 guns per person might not be so much when you consider different gun types for different purposes
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I’d argue that my state of Maine is among the most civilized places in the world, precisely because of this. Our rates of violence are as low as you’ll find anywhere, yet we all trust our neighbors to not only possess deadly firearms, but carry them as well.
There’s a big difference between civilized people being nonviolent and civilized people being harmless. To be non-violent, you must first have capacity for violence.
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For emphasis, this is the crux of the issue for me
The deep subconscious knowing that we will destroy each other if we are not extremely careful to avoid it - and living with that year in and year out for decades stacked - THAT’S how to make America great again, muajajajaja
Otherwise we tend to kill each other slowly, in my view
You’re aware Maine still has a higher gun death rate per capita compared to Australia.
In America, it is not like every family has a gun. It is crazy Bill down the blockthat has an armory scattered through his house. A couple under the bed, one under the sink, under the couch, everywhere.
I know of 3-4 individuals who own 20+ guns. One owns over 100, makes his own custom guns, and claimed to have 80K rounds of ammunition (his name is actually Bill).
Of course it is. We have guns.
Our violent crime remains very, very low, comparable with Australia or any other peaceful western nation.
I trust my neighbors. You don’t.
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I’ve lived in Jersey (I mean Joicey) City NJ and Lynchburg VA. In the latter I was looked down on for not making my own shotgun ammo. I know a thing or two about US gun culture.
Also, not everything is about 'Murica - all these things were applicable elsewhere.
Yes, that’s the whole point of the argument.
Not too far from me.
Yes I do… That’s an assumption you’ve made. However I don’t have many neighbors as I live where many of my brothers friends call “wop wop”, meaning the middle of nowhere.
Btw many people do own guns around where I live. When you live rurally/on farmland you can apply for a license with probable cause, no one will ask questions if you’re actually getting a gun to shoot the foxes preying on you’re livestock.
When I lived in America, many people owned guns within my neighborhood, and I actually had a distinct lack of trust for those who had a lot of guns, particuarly given the conspiracy theory esque nonsense some of them would parrot towards me (esp about Obama). I thought many of these people were inherently unstable/dangerously paranoid. Hell, I even owned a .22 air rifle when I was about 12-13, it was considered a normal past time to shoot it in my backyard.
Here’s a story I have regarding guns. At my synogauge we’d just finished up service, a new member had joined with his child. Towards the end we walk out and one guy (islam, it’s complicated) comes to greet us as our rabbi was friendly with him. New guy immidiately pulls up his shirt, puts his hand on his weapon. I freak out, seriously… what the fuck…
There was no threat, and as a matter of fact this man wasn’t encouraged to come back. The man was extremely islamaphobic, rather ironic given how many people hate Jews.
About 40-50% higher than Australia. But yes, comparatively low for the USA.
You may trust/find those who own guns honourable/respectable. I had no problem with those who owned a rifle to go hunting etc… But those guys who stocked up dozens of guns, let their kids sleep with handguns etc… I didn’t respect these people, I thought they were mad, inherently unstable
There was one individual in my school who had been to juvy (drugs/violence), upon turning 18 he had acquired multiple firearms, would carry in public. Another supposedly carried around an unregistered handgun… He was a delinquent. I asked the one guy “so a guy shoves you in public, are you going to shoot him”… He replies “yep”… There is the concept of reasonable force, shooting someone over a shove should result in criminal prosecution… Just fucking walk away from the altercation.
My views on guns have been shaped via the interactions I’ve had with others revolving around guns as well as the data published on the topic.
My ability to type coherently is diminishing at this point as I’m extremely tired, I must go to sleep. It’s been fun talking with everyone. Wish everyone the best of luck, stay positive!!!
Yeah, I know, that’s why the numbers aren’t all that encouraging
I’m more concerned with those families that don’t have guns than those individuals who seem to have so many
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Well, within my old neighborhood I would’ve thought nearly half of the households owned a gun.
If you believe most households should own a gun, I’d like to see published data indicating mass gun ownership is
-
safe
-
reduces rates of gun crime/doesn’t increase suicide rates/spousal homicide/accidental deaths etc.
The numbers are encouraging because NO ONE should have a stockpile of say… Forty firearms, that’s just ludicrous. Furthermore if we were to look at how many households own firearms… According to one poll, about 42% of households own guns.
Bullshit. Maine does not have 40 to 50 percent more violence than Australia per capita.
Violent crime in both Australia and Maine is in the neighborhood of 120 offenses per 100,000 people. All major outcome metrics are similar.
The only angle you can really play here is “gun crimes”, which doesn’t matter a whole lot to the Australian who got stabbed, raped or robbed.
I’m not sure what you’re trying to argue anyway. What benefit would it be to the people of Maine to adopt your country’s laws? If it’s working for you, great.
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It being safe or not depends on the masses
I’m pretty sure it used to be safer than it would be now, and I’m pretty sure it would be safer now than it will be later if/when it’s too late as discussed above
the gun death rate in Maine is 1.2/100,000 in Australia it’s 0.88/100,000, that’s about… Say a 37% difference
It does when you consider the lethality of getting shot vs getting punched / stabbed.
Gun death rate is also FAAAAAAAAAAARRRR higher in Maine compared to the Netherlands (0.42/100,000) and UK (0.23/100,000)
My argument is… Maine doesn’t exactly have low rates of gun violence compared to nations of which implement very strict measures pertaining to gun control.
South Korea, Japan, Spain, Poland, Iceland… All far, far, far, far lower rates of gun violence.
Gun ownership rates per household aren’t that different across countries (including the US). The majority of new firearms are sold to existing gun owners.
And to convince people to stockpile guns you need to do some fear-based marketing - see gun sales under Obama.