5 ms·

>> There are _so_ many ways to make a leathel weapon I can't begin... Yeah but guns are "cool" while ramming a car into a crowd it's not that cool. I believe

>> There are _so_ many ways to make a leathel weapon I can't begin... Yeah but guns are "cool" while ramming a car into a crowd it's not that cool. I believe people should be allowed to bear arms but that doesn't mean the guns should be sold and advertised as lollipops.

lettergram 9y ago
I think we should be given one in school, trained, and make it normal. The problem is you're right, they are being advertised. Although, what I will say is I don't know a single person who treats them as toys (I live in a pretty rural area, so pretty much everyone has one). Every gun is taken care of and very well managed. It always amazes me, because I'm one of the few people who refuse to have a gun in my house (might change). People in the bay area (where I lived for two years, before leaving) have absolutely no idea how common and really safe guns are. I think it leads to a lot of fear mongering.
- whyever 9y ago
  How can you say guns are safe when so many get killed by them in the U.S.?
  - TheCoreh 9y ago
    To be fair, in the U.S. about the same number of people are killed by cars every year. Most people would generally consider cars to be safe. (About 60% of gun deaths are suicides, 30% are homicides, and only 10% are accidental. Unlike with car deaths, where almost 100% are accidental.)
    - 282883392 9y ago
      Only ~30% of Americans own guns [1]. Almost all Americans use cars. And most people do not consider cars to be safe. The regulation and training to receive a drivers license is also much more extensive than buying a gun. [1] http://news.gallup.com/poll/1645/guns.aspx http://news.gallup.com/poll/1645/guns.aspx
      - TheCoreh 9y ago
        These are excellent points. I come from a different cultural background than the US (from Brazil), so in principle I wouldn't be opposed to implementing roughly the same criteria currently applied to obtaining a driver's license to obtaining and carrying a gun. Here, however, guns have been severely restricted for several years, to the point where I believe it has been counter productive. We did see a decrease in accidental gun deaths, but violent crime and murder rates have increased significantly. Unfortunately, from my observation, the potential threat of deadly force is still a necessary deterrent sometimes.
    - whyever 9y ago
      You make a good point, but car use is orders of magnitude higher than gun use, and I would expect accidents to be proportional to use. If guns kill as many as cars with so much less use, it's very scary! If you compare it to other nations, the statistics are also worrisome: "Compared to 22 other high-income nations, the U.S. gun-related murder rate is 25 times higher. Although it has half the population of the other 22 nations combined, the U.S. had 82 percent of all gun deaths, 90 percent of all women killed with guns, 91 percent of children under 14 and 92 percent of young people between ages 15 and 24 killed with guns." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_the_United_Sta...
flounders 9y ago
Guns are glorified in TV shows, movies and video games which is what has made them cool. I doubt guns would be viewed as cool if it weren't for those things. Growing up I felt they were cool too, until I had some responsible adults teach me that firearms are not toys, they can be fun to shoot, but they are very lethal and should be treated with the appropriate care and respect to ensure no one is killed or injured while handling. Sadly I think a lot of people haven't had the benefit of responsible adults, but I think a good many of us have.

lettergram 9y ago

I think we should be given one in school, trained, and make it normal. The problem is you're right, they are being advertised. Although, what I will say is I don't know a single person who treats them as toys (I live in a pretty rural area, so pretty much everyone has one). Every gun is taken care of and very well managed. It always amazes me, because I'm one of the few people who refuse to have a gun in my house (might change). People in the bay area (where I lived for two years, before leaving) have absolutely no idea how common and really safe guns are. I think it leads to a lot of fear mongering.

whyever 9y ago
How can you say guns are safe when so many get killed by them in the U.S.?
- TheCoreh 9y ago
  To be fair, in the U.S. about the same number of people are killed by cars every year. Most people would generally consider cars to be safe. (About 60% of gun deaths are suicides, 30% are homicides, and only 10% are accidental. Unlike with car deaths, where almost 100% are accidental.)
  - 282883392 9y ago
    Only ~30% of Americans own guns [1]. Almost all Americans use cars. And most people do not consider cars to be safe. The regulation and training to receive a drivers license is also much more extensive than buying a gun. [1] http://news.gallup.com/poll/1645/guns.aspx http://news.gallup.com/poll/1645/guns.aspx
    - TheCoreh 9y ago
      These are excellent points. I come from a different cultural background than the US (from Brazil), so in principle I wouldn't be opposed to implementing roughly the same criteria currently applied to obtaining a driver's license to obtaining and carrying a gun. Here, however, guns have been severely restricted for several years, to the point where I believe it has been counter productive. We did see a decrease in accidental gun deaths, but violent crime and murder rates have increased significantly. Unfortunately, from my observation, the potential threat of deadly force is still a necessary deterrent sometimes.
  - whyever 9y ago
    You make a good point, but car use is orders of magnitude higher than gun use, and I would expect accidents to be proportional to use. If guns kill as many as cars with so much less use, it's very scary! If you compare it to other nations, the statistics are also worrisome: "Compared to 22 other high-income nations, the U.S. gun-related murder rate is 25 times higher. Although it has half the population of the other 22 nations combined, the U.S. had 82 percent of all gun deaths, 90 percent of all women killed with guns, 91 percent of children under 14 and 92 percent of young people between ages 15 and 24 killed with guns." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_the_United_Sta...

flounders 9y ago

Guns are glorified in TV shows, movies and video games which is what has made them cool. I doubt guns would be viewed as cool if it weren't for those things. Growing up I felt they were cool too, until I had some responsible adults teach me that firearms are not toys, they can be fun to shoot, but they are very lethal and should be treated with the appropriate care and respect to ensure no one is killed or injured while handling. Sadly I think a lot of people haven't had the benefit of responsible adults, but I think a good many of us have.