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Question for Gun Owners

Secret Chief

nirvana is samsara
Americans! Imagine America suddenly didn't exist. You can live in any country you choose, but it must be a country in which the general population do not have guns. How would this make you mostly feel?


1. Concerned that I could not own a gun for self defence.

2. Relieved that I am now living in a country where the general population do not own guns.

3. Something else...

Post at will...
 
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SalixIncendium

अग्निविलोवनन्दः
Staff member
Premium Member
Who's Will?

I really don't think I'd feel anything about it. I bought mine shortly after the WTC bombing. It's in a Brinks box and has been since I lost the key to the box about 10 years ago.

While I own a gun, I currently have no need for it. It sits in that box in a closet. I suppose one way of looking at it is that it's one less gun on the street.
 

Ella S.

Dispassionate Goth
I would find a way to gain access to an illegal firearm, because I would rather go to jail for owning an illegal firearm than be murdered by a home invader.

ETA: This is not me advocating for any criminal activity, mods have mercy on me. I think if someone lives in a country and wants a gun, they should ideally move to a country where owning one is legal. This is only an honest response to the unrealistic hypothetical posited in this thread.
 
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SalixIncendium

अग्निविलोवनन्दः
Staff member
Premium Member
I would find a way to gain access to an illegal firearm, because I would rather go to jail for owning an illegal firearm than be murdered by a home invader.

And this is why banning guns will never work.

You have law abiding citizens that will be unarmed, while there are those that will obtain them by illegal means, often those that are involved in criminal activity (not saying @Ella S. is).
 

Secret Chief

nirvana is samsara
I would find a way to gain access to an illegal firearm, because I would rather go to jail for owning an illegal firearm than be murdered by a home invader.

ETA: This is not me advocating for any criminal activity, mods have mercy on me. I think if someone lives in a country and wants a gun, they should ideally move to a country where owning one is legal. This is only an honest response to the unrealistic hypothetical posited in this thread.

If the country you chose was one in which the likelihood of being killed in a road traffic accident was far higher than the tiny chance of being killed by a burglar would you still want to illegally own a gun and risk prison? (All hypothetical I know; I'm interested in the underlying psychological drivers of gun ownership in the US, rather than the "surface" of the politics).
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
Gun rights wouldn't be a big concern for me,
provided the environment was peaceful.
So that would eliminate Brazil, which has
tougher gun laws, but more gun deaths.

I know from watching The Simpsons that
Brazil is a very dangerous country.
 

Secret Chief

nirvana is samsara
Gun rights wouldn't be a big concern for me,
provided the environment was peaceful.
So that would eliminate Brazil, which has
tougher gun laws, but more gun deaths.

I know from watching The Simpsons that
Brazil is a very dangerous country.
So if you were in a country with low levels of violence, you'd feel at ease then?
 

viole

Ontological Naturalist
Premium Member
Imagine America suddenly didn't exist. You can live in any country you choose, but it must be a country in which the general population do not have guns. How would this make you mostly feel?
I would feel safe. Where I come from, not even normal police carry guns.

However, I currently live in a country where virtually every family has an automatic assault rifle at home. And a Swiss Army knife. And everybody is pretty good at shooting.

Yet, we do not have much of an issue like they have in the USA.

So, I would say that banning guns is a sufficient, but not necessary condition to live more safely. Some countries require the ban, others don't.

Ciao

- viole
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
So if you were in a country with low levels of violence, you'd feel at ease then?
I feel at ease now.
(Ameristan is quite peaceful in the parts I inhabit.)
So I'll answer a qualified "yes".
No authoritarian countries for me...nor where French is spoken.
I want English (the language that God speaks...or would if he existed).
 

Secret Chief

nirvana is samsara
I would feel safe. Where I come from, not even normal police carry guns.

However, I currently live in a country where virtually every family has an automatic assault rifle at home. And a Swiss Army knife. And everybody is pretty good at shooting.

Yet, we do not have much of an issue like they have in the USA.

So, I would say that banning guns is a sufficient, but not necessary condition to live safely. Some countries require the ban, others don't.

Ciao

- viole
That's interesting, I didn't realise that about Switzerland (but I do have the knife!) What might you think the key differences between your country and the US are then, given comparable levels of gun ownership? (In fact, in the US the number of multiple gun households actually means the majority of households do not have a gun).
 

fantome profane

Anti-Woke = Anti-Justice
Premium Member
Imagine America suddenly didn't exist. You can live in any country you choose, but it must be a country in which the general population do not have guns. How would this make you mostly feel?


1. Concerned that I could not own a gun for self defence.

2. Relieved that I am now living in a country where the general population do not own guns.

3. Something else...

Post at will...

The question sets up the false idea of the absolutely black and white thinking the defines the gun debate in the U.S.

The reality is that there are lots of countries in the world where citizens can and do own guns.

upload_2022-5-29_9-3-44.png


It is just that other countries allow reasonable regulations. And other countries do have problems with gun violence, but they just don’t have the constant mass shootings that result from the chaotic unregulated system in the U.S. where you literally have more guns than people (and more guns than sense).
 

Secret Chief

nirvana is samsara
The question sets up the false idea of the absolutely black and white thinking the defines the gun debate in the U.S.

The reality is that there are lots of countries in the world where citizens can and do own guns.

View attachment 63322

It is just that other countries allow reasonable regulations. And other countries do have problems with gun violence, but they just don’t have the constant mass shootings that result from the chaotic unregulated system in the U.S. where you literally have more guns than people (and more guns than sense).
If my OP is insufficiently nuanced, perhaps consider the countries marked as <5.
I'm interested in the attitudes of American gun owners if they were living in such countries, such as England.
 

Sand Dancer

Crazy Cat Lady
Americans! Imagine America suddenly didn't exist. You can live in any country you choose, but it must be a country in which the general population do not have guns. How would this make you mostly feel?


1. Concerned that I could not own a gun for self defence.

2. Relieved that I am now living in a country where the general population do not own guns.

3. Something else...

Post at will...

Mostly 2, but it depends on the country. If I lived in a low crime country, I would be fine.
 

fantome profane

Anti-Woke = Anti-Justice
Premium Member
I feel at ease now.
(Ameristan is quite peaceful in the parts I inhabit.)
So I'll answer a qualified "yes".
No authoritarian countries for me...nor where French is spoken.
I want English (the language that God speaks...or would if he existed).
Vivriez-vous dans un pays bilingue où l'on parle la langue des amants ainsi que la langue du Dieu inexistant ?
 
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