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If you're pro gun, do you have a connection with the US?
Indeed I do. I was born and raised and/or live there now. 71%  71%  [ 10 ]
No. No no no no. Oh, wait! Actually, it's still 'no'. 29%  29%  [ 4 ]
Total votes : 14

Hopper
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05 Sep 2012, 7:38 pm

No, not for the guvmunt to track you down. Seeing how heavily dominated the gun threads are by US citizens, I got to wondering how many (I now know of at least one) pro-gun people are not in or from the US.

Those non-US, I'd be interested to hear the context and story of your position.

Then someone can come along and take you to task about something, and you them, and there can be a big argument and a fair bit of misunderstanding and nothing will get resolved and there'll be a little more animosity in the world. I mean, we've got to distract ourselves from our inescapable mortality somehow, and there are days Poohsticks just won't do.
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ruveyn
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06 Sep 2012, 12:01 pm

Hopper wrote:
No, not for the guvmunt to track you down. Seeing how heavily dominated the gun threads are by US citizens, I got to wondering how many (I now know of at least one) pro-gun people are not in or from the US.

Those non-US, I'd be interested to hear the context and story of your position.

Then someone can come along and take you to task about something, and you them, and there can be a big argument and a fair bit of misunderstanding and nothing will get resolved and there'll be a little more animosity in the world. I mean, we've got to distract ourselves from our inescapable mortality somehow, and there are days Poohsticks just won't do.
.


Switzerland is very pro gun. That is because the male population of Switzerland (except for the very young and very old) are a Militia.

ruveyn



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06 Sep 2012, 1:05 pm

I'm behind communist lines (so-cal) for now. If our benevolent overlords could get their way entirely, our gun laws would look more like most of Europe.


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06 Sep 2012, 1:21 pm

I am not of any certain politics on the issue. I have lived in Canada all my life, many of my friends and colleagues are gun owners who hunt up north. Being around this gun culture has made me opposed to some anti-gun policies, while also opened my eyes to some of the vagaries of pro-gun arguments. I myself own a bow and intend to purchase a rifle in the next few years, along with a hunting license.


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06 Sep 2012, 2:43 pm

ruveyn wrote:
Hopper wrote:
No, not for the guvmunt to track you down. Seeing how heavily dominated the gun threads are by US citizens, I got to wondering how many (I now know of at least one) pro-gun people are not in or from the US.

Those non-US, I'd be interested to hear the context and story of your position.

Then someone can come along and take you to task about something, and you them, and there can be a big argument and a fair bit of misunderstanding and nothing will get resolved and there'll be a little more animosity in the world. I mean, we've got to distract ourselves from our inescapable mortality somehow, and there are days Poohsticks just won't do.
.


Switzerland is very pro gun. That is because the male population of Switzerland (except for the very young and very old) are a Militia.

ruveyn




The US is #1 in civilian firearm ownership, whereas it's Yemen that is actually #2.


I can think of several countries whose gun laws are much laxer than the United States. The one that really comes to mind is the Georgian Republic; where there are no restriction on what kind of gun a person can own. Another country which also has many citizens armed with guns and where guns are easy to access is Mongolia.



AceOfSpades
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06 Sep 2012, 2:51 pm

I live north of the states and my pro-gun views mostly stem from my inner city upbringing.



ValentineWiggin
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06 Sep 2012, 2:52 pm

American.
Communist.
Pro-gun.


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06 Sep 2012, 2:54 pm

John_Browning wrote:
I'm behind communist lines


*sigh*

No, you're not.



AceOfSpades
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06 Sep 2012, 2:54 pm

I've been pro-gun my whole life but I used to be borderline socialist in case the OP was wondering about politics too.



ValentineWiggin
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06 Sep 2012, 2:59 pm

AceOfSpades wrote:
I've been pro-gun my whole life but I used to be borderline socialist in case the OP was wondering about politics too.


Me, too. :lol:


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thomas81
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06 Sep 2012, 3:02 pm

AceOfSpades wrote:
I've been pro-gun my whole life but I used to be borderline socialist in case the OP was wondering about politics too.


I don't think pro-gun ownership is necessarilly a right wing exclusive domain.

Plenty of left wingers are pro gun advocates on the grounds that they see guns as an 'equaliser' against armed state forces, police, fascist groups etc.

The problem is when f*****g idiots get hold of guns, and unfortunately in America there is no lack of opportunities for that to happen.



Dox47
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06 Sep 2012, 3:20 pm

thomas81 wrote:
I don't think pro-gun ownership is necessarilly a right wing exclusive domain.


I wish more people would get that; people tend to take one look at my gun related posts and assume I'm some sort of raging conservative, when in actuality I'm far more libertarian than anything and hold quite a few positions that are anathema to most conservatives.


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AceOfSpades
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06 Sep 2012, 3:48 pm

thomas81 wrote:
AceOfSpades wrote:
I've been pro-gun my whole life but I used to be borderline socialist in case the OP was wondering about politics too.


I don't think pro-gun ownership is necessarilly a right wing exclusive domain.
Not that I'm saying it is, but people tend to associate pro-gun views with being right-wing.

thomas81 wrote:
Plenty of left wingers are pro gun advocates on the grounds that they see guns as an 'equaliser' against armed state forces, police, fascist groups etc.
That's what always used to confuse me about liberals. The fact that guns gave power to the weak, defenseless, and disenfranchised was part of my egalitarian sentiment. Matter of fact I used to see gun control as a way of the bourgeoisie controlling the underclass through perpetuating a greater sense of powerlessness. Pretty interesting how people can have the same stance for radically different reasons. Nowadays I don't think gun rights are a matter of social oppression but a matter of having a means to fend for yourself since society isn't always gonna be there for you when the SHTF. btw, I'm not necessarily using the SHTF term in the survivalist sense of the word, but in the sense of whenever deadly force is necessary.



Dox47
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06 Sep 2012, 3:58 pm

Like I mentioned in the other thread, guns have been demonized from the state level on down throughout much of Europe for some time now, so it's no surprise that most strong defenders of gun rights are going to be from the states. We've got the experience of living with guns, owning and using them, and that simply doesn't exist throughout much of the world today.


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thomas81
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06 Sep 2012, 4:37 pm

AceOfSpades wrote:

thomas81 wrote:
Plenty of left wingers are pro gun advocates on the grounds that they see guns as an 'equaliser' against armed state forces, police, fascist groups etc.
That's what always used to confuse me about liberals. The fact that guns gave power to the weak, defenseless, and disenfranchised was part of my egalitarian sentiment. Matter of fact I used to see gun control as a way of the bourgeoisie controlling the underclass through perpetuating a greater sense of powerlessness. Pretty interesting how people can have the same stance for radically different reasons. Nowadays I don't think gun rights are a matter of social oppression but a matter of having a means to fend for yourself since society isn't always gonna be there for you when the SHTF. btw, I'm not necessarily using the SHTF term in the survivalist sense of the word, but in the sense of whenever deadly force is necessary.


The problem is that in America society is deeply divided along race lines rather than class lines.

Arms advocates on both sides of the race divide have very much a 'us and them' mentality in which the gun culture is counterintuitive to overcoming racism. While there may be progressive voices in favour of guns the presence of guns have a very reactionary effect. Theres no resident intent to use guns in either a egalitarian or collectively beneficial way to liberate the proletariat. Its all to do with owning as many guns as possible for the sole purpose of keeping intruders of one's land with no shortage of latent bloodlust which sits well with the agenda of right wing idealogues.

Here in Northern Ireland, we had a comparitively higher presence of firearms than the rest of the UK due to the conflict but conversely, we have traditionally been a less class concious society than mainland Britain. Guns and their presence have been in no way a counter to that state of affairs. I suspect that our model is not a completely unanalogous microcosm to what is happening in America.



Hopper
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06 Sep 2012, 5:14 pm

Interesting replies, 'cept for John_Browning, talking arse as ever. Thanks.

Dox47 - Much as many here don't like it, the UK is a European country. Having grown up here, I'd like to note I've never been aware of any anti-gun rhetoric from the state. Simply, day to day, guns were never around, and I've never heard any adult express a desire for one - it simply wasn't an issue. Occasionally, guns would be used in a crime - armed robbery, murder. I always learned of such crimes via the news. I grew up in the second city - Birmingham - and have lived in rural places such as Shetland and north Wales.

My first real awareness of the issue of gun control came after the Dunblane massacre.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunblane_school_massacre

thomas81 is able to speak of a very different experience to mine.