America`s Gun Culture

[stpauls]

saw the video below the other day, mind blowing how many people have died at the hands of a gun which was bought for protection purposes!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nAfWfF4TjM

[omaghjoe]

The Yank on Matt Cooper lost the plot this evening.

Started talking along the lines of  'this is our United States of America and guns are our freedom. People dying is the price you pay for freedom! You people don't understand and to be honest you shouldn't concern yourselves with what's going on in our Country!!'

I'm remember the guy Piers Morgan had on his show a few years ago... It was pretty ridiculous the guy basically wouldn't engage at all ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XZvMwcluEg

Jesus! That is mental. The guy is completely nuts. If anything he is showing exactly why there needs to be more gun control and checks on people's mental health before the get a gun. He has 50 of them!

Thats feckin hilarious, reminds me why the TV in our house only gets a run out of about 3 hrs a week, eejits like that are on all the time.

I was kind of impressed by yer man actually, he appeared to be quite articulate, was able to refer to a bunch of facts, and all the while appearing to be in a blind rage which he sustained for an incredible length of time. And he threw in a great impression at the end! Seem like he'd be quare craic in the pub, obviously you'd only pint with him in a place that had metal detectors on the door tho.

Serves Morgan right tho, in his arrogance he thought he was going to have a debate with yer man and instead got the full on hairdryer treatment. If every tabloid journalist got a touch of that every week the world would be a better place!

[Wildweasel74]

American really do come across as so stupid and cant see right from wrong. When did the 2nd amendment  come in 1791, in a world where they freely run slaves, where America was a new wild frontier, a country prior to the genocide of the Indian wars, (they still think they done nothing wrong there) so many of the states as yet did not even exist, the wild west was really that the wild west. a country which still had  a million bison before they were massacred for skins. So since that time, theres about 4000 bison left, the native American were eradicated and shipped out to reservations on the poorest land only got round to black people been equally 60yrs ago (some say they still treated unequal)

So for some dumb f**ks to use the 2nd amendment from 1791 (when a gun was a powder single shot rifle which could shoot 2 shots a minute to a  semi automatic which can fire up to 500 a minute).as there right  to use guns is a crock of shit, they claim to be the land of the free and all for democracy but are so short sighted that they don't even protect their citizens. Money talks and the gun industry is all about making money. makes you wonder how they voted to end slavery but are so stupid not to clamp down on guns

[moysider]

American really do come across as so stupid and cant see right from wrong. When did the 2nd amendment  come in 1791, in a world where they freely run slaves, where America was a new wild frontier, a country prior to the genocide of the Indian wars, (they still think they done nothing wrong there) so many of the states as yet did not even exist, the wild west was really that the wild west. a country which still had  a million bison before they were massacred for skins. So since that time, theres about 4000 bison left, the native American were eradicated and shipped out to reservations on the poorest land only got round to black people been equally 60yrs ago (some say they still treated unequal)

So for some dumb f**ks to use the 2nd amendment from 1791 (when a gun was a powder single shot rifle which could shoot 2 shots a minute to a  semi automatic which can fire up to 500 a minute).as there right  to use guns is a crock of shit, they claim to be the land of the free and all for democracy but are so short sighted that they don't even protect their citizens. Money talks and the gun industry is all about making money. makes you wonder how they voted to end slavery but are so stupid not to clamp down on guns

You ve kinda raised issues here and answered them at the same time.

The bottom line is though that the U.S are not going to give up their guns. No Presidential candidate would touch that issue with a barge pole. Al Gore arguably lost crucial states because he made shapes about gun control. He probably would have president if he avoided the issue.
Every time a 'nutter' goes nasty probably increases sales of firearms among regular people really when you think about it. There are so many weapons out there anyway those that want to go to town will have no problem getting them. I'm bemused by people reaction to my earlier posts. Restrictive gun laws only take guns away from people less likely to use them. We have restrictive gun laws here and when crims want to do a job they have no problem getting a banned weapon.

Also politically the US is complicated. They don t trust central government (remember Regan's quote 'government is the problem ')  and got their independence with a long drawn out revolution where the continental army went through great losses. We tried to copy them but we failed because we didn t have the guns among other reasons. The British general that surrendered to Washington at Yorktown, was the same man that Humbert surrendered to at Ballinamuck not too many years later.

In their civil war Americans slaughtered each others in battles like Gettysburg and Bull Run I and II. Bull run II was up there in the casualty stakes with some of the 'celebrated WWI battles'. They are well used to coping with casualties since with WWI an II, Korea, Vietnam etc. A kid going nuts in a school or whatever is small beer in the big picture.

The idea that Americans will give up their weapons is a non runner

[Jell 0 Biafra]

American really do come across as so stupid and cant see right from wrong. When did the 2nd amendment  come in 1791, in a world where they freely run slaves, where America was a new wild frontier, a country prior to the genocide of the Indian wars, (they still think they done nothing wrong there) so many of the states as yet did not even exist, the wild west was really that the wild west. a country which still had  a million bison before they were massacred for skins. So since that time, theres about 4000 bison left, the native American were eradicated and shipped out to reservations on the poorest land only got round to black people been equally 60yrs ago (some say they still treated unequal)

So for some dumb f**ks to use the 2nd amendment from 1791 (when a gun was a powder single shot rifle which could shoot 2 shots a minute to a  semi automatic which can fire up to 500 a minute).as there right  to use guns is a crock of shit, they claim to be the land of the free and all for democracy but are so short sighted that they don't even protect their citizens. Money talks and the gun industry is all about making money. makes you wonder how they voted to end slavery but are so stupid not to clamp down on guns

The only time an amendment was ever repealed in the US was the alcohol prohibition amendment, almost a century ago now.   Altering an amendment requires firstly 2/3 of congress and 2/3 of the senate to approve, and this then requires ratification by 2/3 of the individual state governments.  There is just no way that those figures could be attained for at least a generation or two.  Guns are here to stay.

[Niall Quinn]

Is the attention given to American gun culture disproportionate?
From the most recent UN data (see below url), the U.S. is some 25% below the world average homicide per capita rate, and in 2012, Mexico had almost twice the number of total murders.
Should Brazil (50k murders in 2012) be the focus of the international community instead? Or Honduras, where you're 20 times more likely to be murdered than the U.S.?

I'm not intending in any way to undermine recent events, and my views on gun control are probably in line with the excellent Australian comedian Hardy posted a link to previously.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate

[omaghjoe]

Is the attention given to American gun culture disproportionate?
From the most recent UN data (see below url), the U.S. is some 25% below the world average homicide per capita rate, and in 2012, Mexico had almost twice the number of total murders.
Should Brazil (50k murders in 2012) be the focus of the international community instead? Or Honduras, where you're 20 times more likely to be murdered than the U.S.?

I'm not intending in any way to undermine recent events, and my views on gun control are probably in line with the excellent Australian comedian Hardy posted a link to previously.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate

I think your right there big Quinno. Far to much obsessing about it by the media of foreign countries when it has no affect on them whatsoever. Ultimately its no one else's business but Americans

The flip side of that is of course that thanks to American media and mass immigration from many different parts of the world we all know about America and think we understand it quite well. But then we actually don't, precisely for that reason that their are so many cultures and so many different starting points that people have came from to arrive at the present. Yet non-Americans have no problem casting judgement on those people looking at it purely from their own background, values and point of view. Indeed you could maybe even argue that is the problem in America itself, that people are more and more only focused on their own point of view and dismiss any1 differing from them as a total craicpot.

I've travelled a fair bit in vastly different cultures to Western, and something that I have to learn over and over again is to not to make judgement about other cultures based on my own values. You'll either go insane or get lynched! Americans (and a good deal of Irish too for that matter) love getting in a fuss over Saudi Arabia and their human rights. But few people have any understanding of Saudi culture, their way of life, values or history. Or perhaps more importantly, the fact that what happens in Saudi Arabia has virtually no affect on their own lives.  Yet, they have no problem in casting judgement on it as being the epitome of barbarism.

[armaghniac]

Americans have no problem blowing about how superior they are to everyone else, some comment in the other direction will help balance things.

[gallsman]

Exactly, this nonsense about how it's nobody else's business and there are countries in worse positions completely overlooks the fact that America is the global superpower, "the land of the free", " the leader of the free world" etc

Brazil, Mexico, Honduras etc are not first world countries.

[macdanger2]

Is the attention given to American gun culture disproportionate?
From the most recent UN data (see below url), the U.S. is some 25% below the world average homicide per capita rate, and in 2012, Mexico had almost twice the number of total murders.
Should Brazil (50k murders in 2012) be the focus of the international community instead? Or Honduras, where you're 20 times more likely to be murdered than the U.S.?

I'm not intending in any way to undermine recent events, and my views on gun control are probably in line with the excellent Australian comedian Hardy posted a link to previously.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate

I think your right there big Quinno. Far to much obsessing about it by the media of foreign countries when it has no affect on them whatsoever. Ultimately its no one else's business but Americans

The flip side of that is of course that thanks to American media and mass immigration from many different parts of the world we all know about America and think we understand it quite well. But then we actually don't, precisely for that reason that their are so many cultures and so many different starting points that people have came from to arrive at the present. Yet non-Americans have no problem casting judgement on those people looking at it purely from their own background, values and point of view. Indeed you could maybe even argue that is the problem in America itself, that people are more and more only focused on their own point of view and dismiss any1 differing from them as a total craicpot.

I've travelled a fair bit in vastly different cultures to Western, and something that I have to learn over and over again is to not to make judgement about other cultures based on my own values. You'll either go insane or get lynched! Americans (and a good deal of Irish too for that matter) love getting in a fuss over Saudi Arabia and their human rights. But few people have any understanding of Saudi culture, their way of life, values or history. Or perhaps more importantly, the fact that what happens in Saudi Arabia has virtually no affect on their own lives.  Yet, they have no problem in casting judgement on it as being the epitome of barbarism.

Kind of an isolationist viewpoint there joe

[Wildweasel74]

Nobody else business/ Hell if they kept to that ideology we wouldn't have the cluster f**k going on in Iraq and along the Syrian borders at the minute. The previous dictactor Saddam was  a heinous individual but 2 Iraq wars totalled for more Iraq's killed than the iran-iraq 7yrs war. i don't see Bush or Blair been brought to task for that. they are the main reason the middle east a  f**king mess. Its a pity they didn't mind they own business back round 1947-49 when Israel was palestine to the Americans butted in, that hasn't went too well since.

look at Cuba, Korea, Vietnam, the American have a habit of butting into things not their business, so i think we just butt into theirs

[whitey]

Nobody else business/ Hell if they kept to that ideology we wouldn't have the cluster f**k going on in Iraq and along the Syrian borders at the minute. The previous dictactor Saddam was  a heinous individual but 2 Iraq wars totalled for more Iraq's killed than the iran-iraq 7yrs war. i don't see Bush or Blair been brought to task for that. they are the main reason the middle east a  f**king mess. Its a pity they didn't mind they own business back round 1947-49 when Israel was palestine to the Americans butted in, that hasn't went too well since.

look at Cuba, Korea, Vietnam, the American have a habit of butting into things not their business, so i think we just butt into theirs

Do they teach history where you went to school?  Google the "Cold War" and maybe you'll  figure out why they were "butting in". 

[Wildweasel74]

I fair say i know alot more about the cold war than you, Americas paranoid on communism is well documented. maybe if you didn't put Nuclear weapons sites in turkey leading to the Cuban missile crisis the cold war mightn't have kicked off. Am surprised you know, since most Americans seem stuck back in 1791, in a way alot like Northen Ireland half them are still stuck back with King Billy in 1690

[whitey]

I fair say i know alot more about the cold war than you, Americas paranoid on communism is well documented. maybe if you didn't put Nuclear weapons sites in turkey leading to the Cuban missile crisis the cold war mightn't have kicked off. Am surprised you know, since most Americans seem stuck back in 1791, in a way alot like Northen Ireland half them are still stuck back with King Billy in 1690

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_killings_under_Communist_regimes


I'm sure the 80-100 M people who died under communist dictatorships would respectfully disagree with you

[trileacman]

I fair say i know alot more about the cold war than you, Americas paranoid on communism is well documented. maybe if you didn't put Nuclear weapons sites in turkey leading to the Cuban missile crisis the cold war mightn't have kicked off. Am surprised you know, since most Americans seem stuck back in 1791, in a way alot like Northen Ireland half them are still stuck back with King Billy in 1690

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_killings_under_Communist_regimes


I'm sure the 80-100 M people who died under communist dictatorships would respectfully disagree with you

And the millions slaughtered under by U.S. Forces and capitalist banana republics would disagree with you ya f**king idiot.