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The love of guns in the United States has been well documented, as have multiple mass shootings across the country such as those in Orlando, San Bernardino, Newtown, and Virginia. The ease of access to guns in American society comes at a shocking cost.
As of September 2016, almost 11,000 people have been killed as a result of gun violence. Despite this high death toll, mass shootings in America show no sign of disappearing.
The Stateside obsession with guns can appear baffling to UK observers unfamiliar with its origins. So just how did this gun culture become so deep-rooted in the American psyche?
BBC source: Why Are Americans so Obsessed with Guns?
Wikipedia: Gun politics in the United States
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Why Are Americans So Obsessed With Guns?
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The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
Fascinating is a word I use for the unexpected.
-- Spock, "The Squire of Gothos", stardate 2124.5
(Score: 4, Funny) by number6x on Monday January 09 2017, @09:10PM
About 36,000 people in the US were killed by cars in 2016. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/06/us/traffic-deaths-up-more-than-10-percent-in-first-half-of-2016.html?_r=0 [nytimes.com]
We strive to make cars as safe as possible. We teach safe driving. We punish bad driving through financial and legal means. We try to design safer roads. Despite all of this, we will kill more Americans in 2 years on the road than died in 10 years of fighting in Vietnam.
Cars are not designed to kill. Guns are designed to kill. Think about it.
Cars are much better at killing people than something designed to kill is at killing people.
Or, maybe it is not the gun or the car, but the people who are responsible, or irresponsible, as the case may be.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday January 09 2017, @09:16PM
I want to legalize this [wikipedia.org]. Or better yet, this [imdb.com].
Plz.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Monday January 09 2017, @09:36PM
Sylvester Stallone was in that film. Recently it was rumoured that he was offered an appointment as chief administrator of the National Endowment for the Arts:
After a report that Trump had offered the NEA chairmanship to Stallone, the actor on Sunday released a statement indicating he does not want it, but he said he would be open to a role that focuses on helping veterans.
-- https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/reliable-source/wp/2016/12/19/sylvester-stallone-trump-appointee/ [washingtonpost.com]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by maxwell demon on Monday January 09 2017, @09:23PM
Or maybe if many Americans were constantly shooting for half an hour twice every day, there would be far more gun accidents?
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday January 09 2017, @09:30PM
If they're cutting in front of each other to shoot in their lane for no reason, while drinking, eating and checking their phone, or shooting drunk after the game because they have to go home, or shooting tired, in the snow, or with no too-expensive training...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday January 09 2017, @11:18PM
Hey now, shooting drunk is a time honored tradition in the US. And still there are so very few accidental shootings.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday January 10 2017, @12:09AM
It is unquestionably harder to inflict significant self-injury through bad maintenance or drunk state, with a gun than with a car. If we all shot high-explosive shells out of cannons, the stats would likely reflect our clumsiness (or irresponsibility) better.
I'm wondering how many objects would testify as to not being the intended target or the bullet they received. Those don't make it into the official stats.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday January 10 2017, @12:18AM
This is true. No pond has never complained that I just missed the turtle I was shooting at while drinking beer.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday January 10 2017, @04:29AM
Did you just admit to discharging a firearm while under the influence? What the hell is wrong with you?! Get a clue, asshole: that is NOT "responsible gun ownership!"
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @07:11AM
And just what are you going to do about it?
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday January 10 2017, @09:02AM
Just point it out so this shit isn't normalized on here. Maybe a few people seeing that will be shaken out of their apathetic stupor long enough to realize, holy shit, this guy is exactly the kind of person who can't be trusted with firearms, and stop giving his constant torrents of reactionary squitter any credence on here.
Cleaning out the meme pool with an eyedropper of bleach is a thankless fucking job but every little bit helps.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday January 10 2017, @11:26AM
You know, around here we prefer our insults to have either insight or wit. Yours lack both. You should spend some more time in IRC. Most anyone there can teach you how to zing people without coming off like an angry noob.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday January 10 2017, @06:59PM
Remember...tone-policing is the last refuge of the scoundrel, having replaced patriotism sometime around Eternal September.
It's not even possible to insult you properly, since you're a complete nihilist. That was never the point; none of this is for you. It's for other people who still have some shred of humanity left who will be encouraged by seeing that *someone* is still standing up to this tide of self-serving postmodern bullshit you and your kind are peddling. I know you can't be saved, and I'm sorry for that, but you made your choice a long time ago.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday January 10 2017, @07:35PM
I'm policing skill not tone. You suck at insults. It makes people pity you. I don't think that's what you're going for.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday January 10 2017, @08:14PM
Keep telling yourself that, Uzzard...every time you reply, every time you drop another stinking load of bird turd on these forums, you just prove my points about you all the harder. Kinda like Donnie the Dire Oompa Loompa from Hell and his Twitter account, come to think of it, except no one outside this site can see it.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday January 10 2017, @08:32PM
You made points? When was this?
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday January 10 2017, @08:55PM
I can keep this up as long as you can, Uzzard, and longer still. I'm younger, faster, tougher, and I don't abuse my body with cigarettes and booze. Besides which, half the time you make my points for me :) If I ever make a mistake, it's in trying too hard; all I need to do is let you keep doing the work for me, like an aikido-ka with an overeager striking-style opponent. Keep it coming, feathers-for-brains!
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @09:21PM
Is that what you call it? Looks like the equivalent of an outmatched child screaming "NUH UH!!!" at the top of her lungs to me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxuMKb5CKI0 [youtube.com]
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday January 10 2017, @09:37PM
You forgot to log in :D I dunno, man, if anyone looks off-balance here it's not me. Try again, and this time, aim properly and consider your actions before you move.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday January 10 2017, @10:05PM
I did try to help yas. I told ya, chromas or crutchy or many of the others in IRC could show you how to insult properly. You don't wanna listen though...
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday January 10 2017, @10:21PM
Aaaaaalley-oop! Once again, you fail to understand what's going on here :)
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Redundant) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday January 10 2017, @10:44PM
Oh? I thought I was just ignoring your nonsense and mocking you. Guess you sure told me though.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday January 11 2017, @04:35AM
Please, Uzzard, you're stalking me like a teenage girl with a massive crush, responding to my every post. That's the precise opposite of ignoring. This is so easy it's almost *embarrassing.*
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday January 11 2017, @10:43AM
You're in a post about guns. Consider which of us belongs here more and try again.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday January 11 2017, @05:36PM
Says the feckless jackoff who pounds brewskis and then discharges firearms, and then is stupid enough to brag about it on a public, internet-facing forum which he has an editorial position in.
You're making me feel guilty, Uzzard. This is too easy.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday January 11 2017, @10:25PM
I have an editorial position? I think you've not been paying attention.
Fun fact: A healthy adult male can drink a beer an hour and never become in any way drunk.
Another fun fact: Blow me. I've had firearms safety drilled into me since I got my first bb gun at five years old. I'm not going to forget it even blackout drunk.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday January 12 2017, @12:35AM
If I were gonna blow you I'd need one of those industrial nano-pipette things. And we'd end up with the world's smallest gas chromatograph in short (heh) order. You're losing it, Uzzard. You hang on my every post like a desperate, abandoned puppy, and boy did that one annoy you.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Troll) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday January 12 2017, @03:19AM
Mildly, yep. Congrats on finally getting me to give 1/32 of a shit about anything you said. Have a celebratory cup of STFU and type up your OCD reply. Go ahead, I'll even let you have the last word.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday January 12 2017, @03:23AM
You're having a meltdown of Trumpian proportions here, Uzzard :) I wish you had a Twitter feed!
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @05:48PM
A noble enough goal in and of itself...
... and yet here you fall flat on your ideological face. As stupid as TMB's claimed behavior seems to be, who was harmed? Who was even aware that there was a potential for harm in said situation until TMB himself posted about it after the fact? No one. And no one is exactly the same person who has any moral or legal authority to do anything about TMB's irresponsible use of booze and guns until someone else (or someone else's property) has been harmed or reasonably threatened to be harmed.
By stating TMB is the kind of person who "can't be trusted with firearms", you are implicitly demanding TMB be forcibly disarmed since I presume TMB won't divest himself of arms voluntarily; if you were to follow through on that demand, you would be facing people like me: in general agreement with your evaluation of TMB's behavior, but armed and willing to kill you for trying to disarm TMB. If you want to get all "prior restraint", I propose we follow your plan to go big-E Evil and lock everyone up gagged in a gibbet where they can't do anything - starting with you.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday January 10 2017, @06:52PM
Okay, let's try an analogy. A car analogy, since I'm told these were popular 'round these parts:
Suppose you have a guy who drives drunk a lot. Now he's driving really late at night, say 2 AM, and there aren't too many people on that road at that time. Not even cops, usually. Is his driving drunk still morally permissible? Why, or why not? What sanctions should there be for this?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @07:58PM
Let's analyze your analogy. There are multiple levels of sanctions, primarily split between public (law) and private (freedom of dis/association). What sanctions should there be for:
- botching a service repair (i.e. loss of data)
- failing to fulfill a promise
- taking a personal risk which has resulted in at least one previous death of the risk-taker
- horrible body odor, failure to floss teeth, and/or lack of clean underpants
What levels of sanctions, if any, (for BOTH public and private sanctions) should there be for the above? We can't get to matters done in public until private matters are discussed.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by J053 on Monday January 09 2017, @11:40PM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @05:35AM
Come on. That's a distinction without a difference.
By that same logic, short of acts of god, there are no accidents of any sort.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @08:16AM
The distinction between *accident* and other incidents is intent. The incidents where people were careless, and there is no malice are ACCIDENTS.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Tuesday January 10 2017, @12:30PM
There are no gun accidents. Every unintentional shooting is strictly and provably caused by negligence on someone's part. A properly handled and maintained firearm does not fire itself by "accident".
Likewise there are almost no car accidents. A properly handled and maintained car does not crash, which means you're down to acts of nature
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @01:35PM
Nope, its all due to PEBSAS - problem exists between seat and steering wheel. Operator error. With firearms its outright negligence, like leaving a fucking cocked and loaded firearm where your child (or dog, or cat) can shoot you with it.
(Score: 3, Funny) by turgid on Monday January 09 2017, @09:24PM
So what you're saying is we should go to work by gun and defend ourselves with cars?
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2) by VLM on Monday January 09 2017, @10:04PM
I think he's saying that if road vehicles were as unreliable as my M16 from basic training, then every time Muslims try to run people over with a truck, the truck would jam saving many lives. Or something like that.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 09 2017, @10:51PM
Those M16s in Basic training have been seen, handled, and deep cleaned by hundreds of recruits using allowed and non allowed methods of cleaning. I have seen those weapons with no rifling left over. Not to mention that originally many of them were the full auto version that was converted to semi auto/burst. Your duty units weapons will tend to be in much better shape assuming you are active duty.
I personally witnessed M16s being cleaned with a drill during basic. A lot faster then the t handled cleaning rod, but much more likely to remove the rifling.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday January 09 2017, @11:21PM
That is no shit. I picked up like eight extra hits qualifying in basic vs qualifying at my unit.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by AthanasiusKircher on Monday January 09 2017, @09:29PM
Cars are much better at killing people than something designed to kill is at killing people.
Can you compare the total amount of time people spend handling guns with the total amount of time people spend driving cars in the U.S. during this time frame? While your quote makes for a great soundbite, I don't think the stats actually back up your claim.
According to AAA [aaa.com], Americans spend on average about 17,600 (about 293 hours) driving each year. That's over 48 minutes/day on average.
How much time does the average American spend handling a gun? Unless you're a major gun fanatic, I doubt it's anywhere near 48 minutes/day. Thus, it seems guns are quite a bit more efficient and effective at killing people than cars are.
(P.S. I'm actually a big supporter of the Second Amendment. I'm just tired of people -- on both sides of the gun argument -- citing a whole bunch of BS or deliberately distorting statistics.)
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday January 09 2017, @09:57PM
Few gun owners fondle their weapons in the manner that car owners lavish affection on their cars. ;^)
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @02:13PM
As someone who used to always carry when not at work, I can say I was in possession of my gun for much much more time than my vehicle. Guess what, I've been in multiple car accidents and have never once had an accident with a gun.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 09 2017, @09:30PM
To quote the high commander: "Guns don't kill people. Physics kills people."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 09 2017, @10:03PM
The car / gun comparison is of limited use -- for example, it's useful when building a table of causes of mortality.
People use cars primarily for moving themselves and their stuff around. Due to various causes, accidents happen which can be tragic, but very few car related deaths are on purpose.
People use guns to shoot things, they are designed to do harm (to targets, animals and people) and gun violence is primarily on purpose. Of course there are tragic exceptions, for example when little kids get their hands on loaded guns.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by lgw on Tuesday January 10 2017, @12:21AM
About 36,000 people in the US were killed by cars in 2016
Drug overdose kills more people than car accidents these days, and falls are a close 3rd. All over 30k. While easy gun availability probably does increase the rate of (successful) suicide--a big chunk of those gun deaths are suicide--with the quick suicide I htink we'd just see a similar number of drug-related deaths later on.
Falls, though, are the danger people ignore. Watch out for those ladders - they're conspiring against you.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday January 10 2017, @01:15AM
Falls are God's way to balance the stats a bit, since guns and cars bias the death tally towards the young men.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @02:51AM
And if you don't give those people easy access to deadly weapons everything is safer. Much like cars in countries like Finland or Germany, where getting your license requires competence rather than patience.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @07:26AM
Americans teach safe driving? Compare American drivers tests to other countries, for instance, browse around EU for curricula or driving exams.