Sulphur on 18/1/2018 at 19:22
Quote Posted by xStevieNx
But people dying from stab wounds IS a side effect of allowing knives to be sold to people. If knives were banned there wouldn't be hardly any people dying from stab wounds. But knives, just like guns, when they are used right have a practical and useful purpose.
Just so we're clear, we're talking about guns -- that is, the things whose only purpose is for some people to point at other people/things in order to communicate intent to kill and/or execute said intent, and not something else that would actually be useful, like a metaphor for a penis?
Renzatic on 18/1/2018 at 19:27
What N'Al said. I believe the US accounts for 80% of all gun related deaths in the 1st World, despite the fact it's hardly the only 1st world country with a heavy gun presence.
The most obvious conclusion you could draw from that is we don't have a gun problem exactly, so much as a culture problem. We tend to look at our guns as status symbols and toys, rather than the weapons they are. It makes us a lot more cavalier about them overall.
xStevieNx on 18/1/2018 at 19:29
Quote Posted by Sulphur
Just so we're clear, we're talking about guns -- that is, the things whose only purpose is for some people to point at other people in order to communicate intent to kill and/or execute said intent, and not something else that would actually be useful, like a metaphor for a penis?
I don't know how guns are viewed in your country, but millions of people use guns everyday in America, for hunting, for sport, or for self-defense, in a completely harmless and peaceful way. Unfortunately, the few people who decide to use guns for violence are the ones that everyone likes to focus on.
N'Al on 18/1/2018 at 19:34
Those 'few people' you are talking about still make up a higher proportion of the general population in the US than in other developed nations, is the point.
Some could see this - and the implied higher risk of getting shot/killed - as a reason for the US being a shithole, is all I'm saying.
Sulphur on 18/1/2018 at 19:36
Quote Posted by xStevieNx
I don't know how guns are viewed in your country, but millions of people use guns everyday in America, for hunting, for sport, or for self-defense, in a completely harmless and peaceful way. Unfortunately, the few people who decide to use guns for violence are the ones that everyone likes to focus on.
I don't see how guns used in self-defense are exactly harmless or peaceful, but nitpicking aside, you do understand the implicit difference between allowing civilian access to something that is meant to be utilitarian and thus hard to kill people with, and something that is intentionally engineered to end lives several orders of magnitude more quickly and efficiently, yes?
And sure, we use guns in sport - air guns. Someone might lose an eye, but accidentally or even intentionally blowing someone's brains out the back of their head isn't exactly a problem here. I'll leave you to address the data and what everyone else is saying.
Renzatic on 18/1/2018 at 19:53
Quote Posted by Sulphur
...but accidentally or even intentionally blowing someone's brains out the back of their head isn't exactly a problem here. I'll leave you to address the data and what everyone else is saying.
That's a part of the problem I mentioned above. There's a big believe that you need to outright KILL any intruders who are in your house. If they're lurking about on your property, it's your God given right to take their life.
This was exemplified with this one pro-gun commercial I saw awhile back. This one lone woman hears someone trying to jimmy the lock to get into her house late at night. So you know what she does? She takes an AR15, and goes full bore through the sliding glass doors, killing the guy. I'm sitting there the whole time thinking all she needed to do was fire a handgun once, and the guy would've ran away.
And this same belief does end up with the Castle Doctrine adherents going to person for a good dime or a quarter. I read an article about some guy who sees someone lurking around his shed in the backyard. He does what any Red Blooded American would do in that situation. He slides up his window, takes out his rifle, and snipes the guy from a hundred yards, killing him instantly. He proudly proclaims this fact to the police when they show up, and, hey, guess what? VOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER!
For a society that's so gung-ho about our guns, we sure aren't big on advocating or practicing common sense with them.
N'Al on 18/1/2018 at 19:59
To be clear, I didn't want to turn this into yet another 'discussion' on the US and guns, just to point out that there are ways to brand any country a shithole given the right set of hand-picked data.
Renzatic on 18/1/2018 at 20:17
It's too late, N'Al. The gun cat has been let out of the bag.
N'Al on 18/1/2018 at 20:21
[ATTACH=CONFIG]2451[/ATTACH]
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Renzatic on 18/1/2018 at 20:26
See, now that's just fucking awesome. Why would anyone NOT want to talk about that?