16 ms·

The reality is, in almost every place on Earth a person that is intent on getting a gun will get a gun. If you want to do a crime with a gun, you definitely do

The reality is, in almost every place on Earth a person that is intent on getting a gun will get a gun. If you want to do a crime with a gun, you definitely don't want a legal one. That's just stupid. And people intent on doing crimes most of the time don't really need guns for it, it is just suspicious to carry a gun around and if you are doing something shady you want to bring as little suspicion as possible. And adds charges for illegal gun possession in case you are caught with one. Gun regulation is mostly to stop stupid people act stupidly with a gun they already lawfully own, to stop people who for various reasons shouldn't own a gun from owning one legally and also to cool down the police so that it doesn't feel it has to shoot suspects on sight. (Notice stress on the word "feel") I am all for gun regulation, I just feel it is a bad example for regulation.

rewq4321 6y ago
> Gun regulation is mostly to stop stupid people act stupidly with a gun they already lawfully own If you make guns easier to get, you end up with more of these cases. You also end up making it easier for people to unlawfully get access to a gun. In Australia you have to be a reasonably "hard" criminal to get access to a gun illegally. There just aren't that many guns around since the Port Arthur massacre, and gun deaths have decreased as you'd naturally expect.
- lmilcin 6y ago
  Let me explain. I live in Poland. Do you know how many guns I saw in my life that did not belong to a uniformed or undercover Police officer, soldier guarding an embassy or security guard guarding taking money to or from ATM? Exactly zero. And I am 38. Here in Poland it is quite difficult to get a gun. Basically, you need exceptional circumstances to be allowed to own one and even then you are not allowed to just carry it around. There are people who own a gun but most of them, from what I understand, will not take it anywhere. Do people get beaten or stabbed here like in US? Sure. There's just no guns involved even for the ones that do own gun legally, because they would prefer to get beaten than bring out a gun. Because of gun regulation, people learned to not consider guns to be a solution to their problems. Maybe if they fear their house might get robbed rather than buy a gun they will put bars on their windows and better security system. And I strongly feel that this also affects you if you own a gun, in that it causes you to think more critically rather than just whip out a gun when you think a little bit threatened.
  - grecy 6y ago
    This excellently describes the situation in essentially every developed country (except one, of course). Less guns and less gun culture means less gun deaths. It's not rocket science.
    - lmilcin 6y ago
      Not sure why you are getting downvoted when it is a proven fact with hard data to back it. I sometimes wish people should be required to post when downvoting to explain their point. The data also shows that for every person that has saved themselves or some other person there are many, many people that died due to an accident or a conflict escalating due to a gun present.
  - GiorgioG 6y ago
    > And I strongly feel that this also affects you if you own a gun, in that it causes you to think more critically rather than just whip out a gun when you think a little bit threatened. It’s not legal in the US to “whip out a gun” if you feel a little threatened. You must literally fear for your life for you to use deadly force.
    - lmilcin 6y ago
      Took some time to find it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv0iN5J-9mk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv0iN5J-9mk Here you have a guy who felt a little threatened and shot another person for it claiming self defence, with a legal gun. In this case the ability to own a gun and parade with it changed how the guy was thinking about possible conflict and risks. That's largely because guns are so commonplace in US and not really treated with enough respect and thought for consequences.
      - GiorgioG 6y ago
        This had nothing to do with gun control however. The stand your ground rules (different in each state) pertain to use of deadly force (using any kind of weapon, including your fists.) Again you can not brandish (“parade”) a gun without a lawful reason. I have a concealed carry permit in a state that allows open carry. I have no interest in drawing attention to myself. Nor would I draw my weapon without real fear for my life. Beyond the fact that I would hurt someone, which I am not interested in doing if there’s a viable alternative, the costs of defending yourself (lawyers, probably losing my job, etc) after a shooting would bankrupt most people. For me, the idea of using a gun is as the last line of defense.
croissants 6y ago
My interpretation is different. I think that most of the people who rioted at the Capitol aren't hardened criminals who deduced that they require a gun to most efficiently achieve their ends. I think they're random people who have some image in their heads of "gun + flag = American patriot", and the rather frictionless process for obtaining a gun in America means they can fulfill that image pretty much on a whim. I think we underrate the influence that small frictions in a process can have.
- lmilcin 6y ago
  Bad example. At least this guy brought a truck with explosive and illegal guns. Doesn't seem like another stupid person that decided to bring their gun on an impulse.
howlgarnish 6y ago
Good luck getting a gun in (say) Japan or Singapore. Possession of a single unauthorized bullet is up to 7 years in jail; using an unauthorized gun while committing a crime is punished with death.
- lmilcin 6y ago
  Singapore is a special outlier case, most people can't even legally own a car there. Japan has extremely small homicide rate, regardless of whether involving a gun. So it makes sense to disallow owning a gun because there isn't really need to own one. And the low homicide rate is not a result of gun regulation.

rewq4321 6y ago

> Gun regulation is mostly to stop stupid people act stupidly with a gun they already lawfully own If you make guns easier to get, you end up with more of these cases. You also end up making it easier for people to unlawfully get access to a gun. In Australia you have to be a reasonably "hard" criminal to get access to a gun illegally. There just aren't that many guns around since the Port Arthur massacre, and gun deaths have decreased as you'd naturally expect.

lmilcin 6y ago
Let me explain. I live in Poland. Do you know how many guns I saw in my life that did not belong to a uniformed or undercover Police officer, soldier guarding an embassy or security guard guarding taking money to or from ATM? Exactly zero. And I am 38. Here in Poland it is quite difficult to get a gun. Basically, you need exceptional circumstances to be allowed to own one and even then you are not allowed to just carry it around. There are people who own a gun but most of them, from what I understand, will not take it anywhere. Do people get beaten or stabbed here like in US? Sure. There's just no guns involved even for the ones that do own gun legally, because they would prefer to get beaten than bring out a gun. Because of gun regulation, people learned to not consider guns to be a solution to their problems. Maybe if they fear their house might get robbed rather than buy a gun they will put bars on their windows and better security system. And I strongly feel that this also affects you if you own a gun, in that it causes you to think more critically rather than just whip out a gun when you think a little bit threatened.
- grecy 6y ago
  This excellently describes the situation in essentially every developed country (except one, of course). Less guns and less gun culture means less gun deaths. It's not rocket science.
  - lmilcin 6y ago
    Not sure why you are getting downvoted when it is a proven fact with hard data to back it. I sometimes wish people should be required to post when downvoting to explain their point. The data also shows that for every person that has saved themselves or some other person there are many, many people that died due to an accident or a conflict escalating due to a gun present.
- GiorgioG 6y ago
  > And I strongly feel that this also affects you if you own a gun, in that it causes you to think more critically rather than just whip out a gun when you think a little bit threatened. It’s not legal in the US to “whip out a gun” if you feel a little threatened. You must literally fear for your life for you to use deadly force.
  - lmilcin 6y ago
    Took some time to find it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv0iN5J-9mk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv0iN5J-9mk Here you have a guy who felt a little threatened and shot another person for it claiming self defence, with a legal gun. In this case the ability to own a gun and parade with it changed how the guy was thinking about possible conflict and risks. That's largely because guns are so commonplace in US and not really treated with enough respect and thought for consequences.
    - GiorgioG 6y ago
      This had nothing to do with gun control however. The stand your ground rules (different in each state) pertain to use of deadly force (using any kind of weapon, including your fists.) Again you can not brandish (“parade”) a gun without a lawful reason. I have a concealed carry permit in a state that allows open carry. I have no interest in drawing attention to myself. Nor would I draw my weapon without real fear for my life. Beyond the fact that I would hurt someone, which I am not interested in doing if there’s a viable alternative, the costs of defending yourself (lawyers, probably losing my job, etc) after a shooting would bankrupt most people. For me, the idea of using a gun is as the last line of defense.

croissants 6y ago

My interpretation is different. I think that most of the people who rioted at the Capitol aren't hardened criminals who deduced that they require a gun to most efficiently achieve their ends. I think they're random people who have some image in their heads of "gun + flag = American patriot", and the rather frictionless process for obtaining a gun in America means they can fulfill that image pretty much on a whim. I think we underrate the influence that small frictions in a process can have.

lmilcin 6y ago
Bad example. At least this guy brought a truck with explosive and illegal guns. Doesn't seem like another stupid person that decided to bring their gun on an impulse.

howlgarnish 6y ago

Good luck getting a gun in (say) Japan or Singapore. Possession of a single unauthorized bullet is up to 7 years in jail; using an unauthorized gun while committing a crime is punished with death.

lmilcin 6y ago
Singapore is a special outlier case, most people can't even legally own a car there. Japan has extremely small homicide rate, regardless of whether involving a gun. So it makes sense to disallow owning a gun because there isn't really need to own one. And the low homicide rate is not a result of gun regulation.