TheByte

Choleric

I am curious to hear everyones take on this matter, especially those of you outside of the U.S.

The Emperor

I own one for security reasons, but i don't know where it is since i gave it to my wife to hide it from me and to tell me where it is only in case of critical situations. I live in sort of dangerous country and i want to feel safety for me and my kids.

You know, i live in the society where pizza arrives to your door faster than a police or ambulance.

MikeJ

I live in a country where lots of people own guns, and where it's relatively easy to get a licence for a gun if you don't have a criminal history. Yet, there's not that much gun-related crime or accidents. Mind you, most of the weapons are for hunting (rifles, shotguns) and it is illegal to carry a (licenced) gun in public without a valid reason, and "personal safety" normally isn't one. All firearms have to be stored in a safe, or disassembled and the parts stored in at least two different locations.

I've never had any issue with people owning guns, my father hunts (and does some sport shooting as well) and he has several weapons which he keeps locked away in a safe. (OK, there was that one time when I had borrowed his car after he'd been to the firing range. I'd taken the car across the border to Sweden, when I accidentally dropped something in the footwell. Reaching for it, I found my dad's 9mm under the seat...)

The Emperor

That's exactly why only my wife knows where my gun is. I've never carried it in public and i never will. It's there just in case my family's life becomes jeopardized by thieves, psychos and such... Plus, when you live at higher standard than other people here, there are those that are jealous and may kidnap a member of your family or such thing just to get money from you...

Yeah, i know it sounds like from movies, but believe me, it's happening here.

Safety reasons and nothing else.

Alfie

I think it all depends on the country and the people.
I always think that people should be able to do whatever they want as long as they're not bothering anyone else but themselves. Which seems to be the situation in Sweden. Alot of people have guns but only use them for hunting.
But my impression of America for example seems to be totally different. Alot of people seem to have the attitude "this is a free country so I can shoot whoever I want", I know that's exagerated but you get the point? And with that attitude, I think gun control should be reinforced.
Remember, I've never been to America but that's the impression me and many other Swedes have.

Choleric

This is interesting, many places in the US are like this, but at the beginning of the year my hometown made it legal (public voted on it and it passed by more than 70%) to carried a concealed weapon in public. They have laws like this in many places through out the country though, and for the most part the reasoning behind it is A) It'll prevent crime if criminals know that anyone could be packing heat and B) it is our right to own and carry a gun.

What's interesting now though is the gun crime has risen significantly in the past few months predominatly in the low-income/poverty area of the city, a predominatly black neighborhood. There was something like 3 gun homicides in the past month alone.

So it seems pretty apparent that the two can be connected.

I think that is a shame if thats the impression you get. Most gun owners in this country are responsible and most probably hunt. The attitude is definately not "I can shoot whatever I want," if anything its "I can own and carry a gun because its my constitutional right."

Personally I feel people should be able to carry, own, buy firearms, because it is our constitutional right. I think we have plenty of gun laws, and I believe that current ones should be better enforced.

The Emperor

In this crazy f'n world, i think i must have one for my own protection. Hence i bought one.

PS: I'm cleaning mine very often and when i care it i smile and think about my government.

Choleric

You bring up an interesting point Sasa. That is one of if not the main reason the right to bare arms is the second ammendment in the United States Constitution. When the people are armed, it gives them the means to overthow an oppressive government. The government will think twice if it ever imagines using force to enforce its will on the people if those 300 million people are armed to the teeth.

The Emperor

Lol, interesting...

TheLast929

I used to believe that. I once even heard that in WWII the Japanese did not want to invade mainland United States because of the armed citizens and used balloon bombs. I was wrong on why they used them, but they did. WWWPubCo (OkieLegacy)- WWII POW camps in Oklahoma
Anyway, back to my point. I highly doubt that anyone including our government would take over with force. It would be catastrophic for the invading force. An outside country would use chemical, biological or nuclear weapons to eliminate the "armed population". Our own government will use Gestapo techniques and people will just start disappearing.
Sure, a Red Dawn scenario would be awesome but it won't ever happen.
A few pages to read about gun control, and not just "Use two hands"
Gun Control: Myths and Realities
Op-Ed: Nation's Rates Of Private Gun Ownership Do Not Correlate To Rates Of Murder
How's that Australian and San Francisco gun control working out??
yeah, that's what I thought