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Why Are Americans So Obsessed With Guns?

posted by on Monday January 09 2017, @08:49PM   Printer-friendly
from the second-amendment dept.

mrpg writes:

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

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @03:53PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @03:53PM (#452098)

    This is so true. Find a guy that knows how to use a sword, and he'll be called a geek, every single time. Something is more masculine about knowing how to attack and defend in personal combat, but the typical 'gun nut' is more about the size of the weapon...

    There are certainly gun enthusiasts that understand very well how their weapons work, how to maintain them, all of the complicated aspects of owning and maintaining and improving upon a weapon. But most that I have met are simply users that think it provides them power they can't get elsewhere. The knowledge aspect of it is for chumps, they can pay someone to clean it or fix it or buy a new one when it gets old.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @06:35PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 10 2017, @06:35PM (#452169)

    There are certainly gun enthusiasts that understand very well how their weapons work, how to maintain them, all of the complicated aspects of owning and maintaining and improving upon a weapon.

    NONE of that is complicated, and "improving a weapon" is typically a matter of bolting on an accessory to an existing bolt-on point.

    Cooking is more complicated than the responsible use, maintenance, and even "improvement" of firearms. The fact that you believe otherwise is evidence of your lack of simple education.