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
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday January 09 2017, @09:33PM
" . . . to support the whole population for more than a week?)."
By definition, the whold population doesn't survive an apocalyptic event. My only concern for the bulk of the population that didn't survive, is "where did they store their ammunition?"
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday January 10 2017, @12:30PM
I would think medicine would be the more valuable find. You can make your own ammunition or even fall back on primitive weapons, but it's pretty tough to make modern medications without clean, laboratory conditions. You could do OK with minor complaints if you knew the natural pharmacopeia the Indians did, but if you have diabetes or heart issues, you're SOL.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday January 10 2017, @02:54PM
Yes, but. Pharmaceuticals have a limited shelf life, under the best conditions. Post-apocalypse conditions aren't likely to be the best. Nothing wrong with your thinking. The limited stocks of properly stored drugs will be as valuable as anything that might be salvaged from the old civilization. But, ammunition has a pretty long shelf life even in bad conditions. You can count on finding good ammo for a lot longer than you can count on finding good drugs. Depending on how bad things got, people might have to rely on alcohol and/or cannabis as an anesthetic, a disinfectant, headache remedy, and whatever else.