I don't get this gun culture

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No one has seen me with a gun in public, either, but it's common for me to have one on my person. Even when open carry is legal, most seem to prefer to carry concealed. Out of sight - out of mind. If American society is any more violent, and it probably is to some degree, you won't notice it or even feel compelled think about it in most places.
I spent a whole month in the UK (work related) and was out and about in public un-armed when not working with nothing more than a small pocket knife that is more of a tool than anything and I didnt feel endangered. I've spent considerably more time un-armed in the US without feeling particularly vulnerable and some of that time was spent in big cities with violent crime issues. Still, though, I'd prefer to discretely have a small or mid-size handgun on my person. I don't carry a handgun out of constant and neurotic fear of violence against myself any more than I have a fire extinguisher in my kitchen out of constant and neurotic fear of fires.

The gun culture and violent crime are unrelated because the common criminal is not a gun aficionado and knows or cares very little about the gun he's carrying as long as he knows basically how to operate it and that it works. Some of them honestly don't even know how to operate what they're carrying. Those of us that are part of the gun culture (I definitely am) typically know our guns, some much more than others.

We all live in different worlds. This is what is wrong with politics....those who live in "this" or "that" paradigm, thinks that which they see working should work everywhere. Here in Idaho, I hunt to put food on the table. I can't run fast enough to catch my food and even if I did, I never evolved to the point I had sufficient claws and fangs to slay the beast, so I must use a rifle (or shotgun, handgun, bow, etc.) I prefer wild meat to domestic meat if I can. My family and I love to fish, hunt, forage for berries, etc.....gourmet hunter gathers if you will. Ever stepped foot in a slaughter house? It will either turn you into a hunter or a vegetarian.

But hunting really has only a small percentage of the whole reason for freedom to carry guns. Using the same handicaps mentioned above which humans have, or rather abilities humans lack (fangs, claws and being fleet on the foot), I spend a lot of time in the woods. There are critters in the woods that might think I am part of the food chain....and I guess I am. I carry pepper spray for initial protection, and a gun if the pepper spray doesn't work. Finally, here in Eastern Idaho, there is a huge drug problem. If I were to be in the forest fishing or hiking and came across a drug transaction or pot farm, I doubt I could negotiate my way out of the situation with words. My Glock 10mm or my other Glock in 357 Sig might give me a chance whereas I would have no chance before.

But the big part of the argument for me is it is legal for me to own them and I like them. I think I am decent with a firearm in my hands though far from best best, but I figure the couple hundred thousand rounds of ammo I have fired in my lifetime does give me a fair bit of skill. In short, I think I am good with a gun, I like guns and believe I am a free man because of guns, certainly I am a happy man....that is enough.

What all hobbies do all you anti gun people have which have some danger...even sadly kills people sometimes, yet you love and would hate to give up?

/\ For me guns are my Aspie obsession and always have been. Even if it weren't I'd still have a few and know how to use them.

Yep, if you run into any kind of major drug transaction or operation you're a liability to them unless you're dead. I might not win but I at least want to have the means bring someone to hell with me.

Uh, like in the same way that someone might see, say, a cool hat in a movie or game, and decide to go out an buy one? Not exactly rocket science, but then you're not exactly a rocket scientist either...



Example? Point?



Example? Point?

Also, I don't "claim" anything, I've demonstrated knowledge and expertise for six + years, much like you demonstrate your own ignorance with every post. You have exactly one argument, "the 1934 National Firearms Act proves gun control works", except that you manage to consistently ignore that the NFA bans a type of weaponry that was never all that prevalent in crime and isn't particularly useful to criminals, which undermines your entire argument. This has been pointed out to you numerous times, which means that you're not simply ignorant at this point, but intellectually dishonest as well.



I don't think that term means what you think it does.

Uh, did I say that they didn't? Seeing as how guns exist and all, why wouldn't I choose to carry one, considering that my carry piece is about the size of my wallet and doesn't inconvenience me in the slightest? Would going around unarmed somehow put criminals and such on the honor system?

Sure but if a gun can serve not only as a defensive weapon but also as a deterrent does concealing the gun reduce its deterrent value?



No but I haven't been shot, stabbed or bludgeoned. The garden variety criminals down my way tend to be unarmed. True they don't respect local gun control laws but regardless there just aren't very many guns available to them in the first place.

Nope, because the mere fact that concealed carry is legal forces would be criminals to consider everyone armed, which weeds out the less committed ones.



Just like their weren't before the law changed in Australia; you never really had a violent crime problem in the first place, and the laws were only changed due to hysteria in the face of a sensational crime. England, Japan, Europe, etc, none of them solved a violent crime problem with gun control, they never had violent crime problems in the first place, and if anything the rates went up in the immediate aftermath of passing stricter laws. Here in the US, we're seeing record high gun sales and record low crime at the same time that liberalized carry laws are sweeping the country; kind of rains on the parade of the entire anti-gun movement.

I have a standing challenge to this board: show me one country that has actually lowered it's rate of violent crime (not "gun crime", overall violence) using gun control. Seems simple, and yet no one has managed to meet it in the several years since I first made it. Like I mentioned, all the countries most people like to hold up as examples had low rates of violent crime before they passed strict gun control, and the US has higher rates of non-firearms related violence anyways, which undermines the whole 'guns cause violence' argument as made by simplistic people who don't understand the difference between correlation and causation. You're not one of those people, are you?

Ever held a nice piece of steel in your hands and just appreciated the work of it and the sheer mechanics of it?

Picture a scene from 'Resident Evil' where Racoon city is in shambles, and everywhere you look are vacant buildings falling part, graffiti, street after street of unkept and boarded up businesses and homes.

Imagine most of your life watching on television: homicide, triple homicide, double homicide, body found in abandoned building, murder, murder, robbery ...

Imagine some of these murders stick in your mind, like the Asian doctor at a local University whose car broke down, and the next day they found him dead - next to his car - with a screw driver pressed in his head.

Such is the life around Detroit, USA.

The city with the highest rate of violent crime in America.

So even if you live in a safe area in or around Detroit, exposure to the blight and crime makes you feel unsafe, you feel you need to protect yourself.

I saw a documentary about the rise and fall of Detroit. It looks like a truly horrible place to live now with street after street full of abandoned, vandalised or torched houses; some houses on sale for as little as $1 but nobody wants them. It sounds as bad or worse than some African war-torn towns with rampant crime, drug addiction and no education or employment prospects. I must admit I'd feel safer carrying a concealed gun in such a neighbourhood - not that I ever want to visit Detroit!

OK but why did the American crime rate get so high in the first place?



Would you feel safer still with a shotgun prominently strapped to your back?

I was in Detroit briefly in the late 70s and even then the parking garage was guarded during the day by three uniformed armed men guarding access; two with shotguns always in hand.

If we were together in Detroit, and you were armed, I would feel safer as well. Which is why many responsible gun owners are suprised by the fear generated in so many citizens contemplating this issue. But if government and media continually keep people frightened of each other trust never develops and fear rules. And this is the world we live in.

My sons first job away from home was in Detroit.The rusted out bridges with cars and trains on them seem to worry him more than crime.He did say a McDonalds he went into had the employes behind bullet proof glass.They got lost when they first got there,drove around in the dark in some sketchy neighborhoods.I suppose they were reasonably safe,a bunch of dudes in a panel can.Then when they found the job site they had to get screened with bomb sniffing dogs and the van searched,etc....

I could drive across the country and back without my seatbelt on and my airbags disabled and be safe, unless I got into an accident where the seatbelt and air bags may have saved my life.

Vietnam fallout, the 70's energy crisis, the start of the decline of US factory jobs, increased globalization, the war on drugs, etc. All of these contributed to a rise in crime rate that we're still slowly recovering from.

Did they get combat pay? I hope he's not there now and has escaped with all his parts.

When I lived in Chicago I'd travel through neighborhoods similar to bad Detroit. People living in these areas have to be tough; too tough. If Barak Obama had grown up here, instead of Hawaii, I doubt he'd be President. What a soul crushing way to grow up and live. And yet, this is what their lives are consigned to. I sure hope we transition into being human beings some day.