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Gun clubs are popular in Europe. In France, until very recently (2017), you could buy an MG42 or a Browning M2. If you bought it before that date, you can still

Gun clubs are popular in Europe. In France, until very recently (2017), you could buy an MG42 or a Browning M2. If you bought it before that date, you can still have it, but now full auto is no longer allowed. There are no restrictions on platforms or types of weapons, only on caliber. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contr%C3%B4le_des_armes_%C3%A0_feu_en_France https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contr%C3%B4le_des_armes_%C3%A0... In Switzerland, on the other hand, you can have full auto. Europe is not a gun-free zone like Americans seem to think, from both sides of the aisle.

libertine 6y ago
But the stance is quite different, owning a gun is not a right but more like a privilege. And they're not objects for public display.
- jakearmitage 6y ago
  Correct on the right/privilege. It is similar to the concept/laws concerning owning a car and driving. If that is a good thing or not, it is up for a different discussion, which I can't participate since I fully agree with you on this point. But on the "objects for public display", I sense some hostility towards guns and gun culture in general. Maybe that's your personal perspective being projected onto the whole? My brother in law is from France and he is a huge gun nerd. His weapons were "objects for public display" just like any other weapon in a gun store in America, but I really miss the point here. Do you feel comfortable around guns? Have you ever experienced a shooting sport? You should definitely try, it is super fun, specially when you have knowledgeable people around. And gun clubs in Europe are super welcoming to new members.
  - libertine 6y ago
    Maybe it didn't phrase myself right, I mean you don't see public display of weapons in the sense of seeing people wielding weapons on the street, you don't see weapons in protests, you don't see people with carry on, no one has weapons on display on their houses and it's not a subject of discussion at a table... it's almost like it's rude (unless it's a meal of people that hunt). I've grown around hunting weapons, mainly shotguns and rifles since my grandfather was an hunter. But all my education revolving weapons is that they are tools - dangerous tools - to hunt. Everyone of my friends I grew up with had family members that hunted, and some of them became hunters themselves. For sport some shoot plates, but a lot of those places closed own over the years due to polution. The weapons body are made of wood and usually have some sort of carving in the metal accents. Hell, some of them were literally works of art - with duck/foxes/boars/deer/flower motives. I dont' recall seeing anyone who had weapons that were "military" style, neither in shape or even color/pattern. Now that I think of it, there was some sort of snob attitude around all of that (like usually only people with a lot of money could buy access to big game properties). At least this is from my life, in my country living on the countryside. Weapons and the subject revolving weapons are limited to specific contexts, so for me it's just odd a lot of what happens in the USA. As a kid I found weapons fun, had air pressured rifles to hunt birds and shoot at targets, airsoft guns, etc.

libertine 6y ago

But the stance is quite different, owning a gun is not a right but more like a privilege. And they're not objects for public display.

jakearmitage 6y ago
Correct on the right/privilege. It is similar to the concept/laws concerning owning a car and driving. If that is a good thing or not, it is up for a different discussion, which I can't participate since I fully agree with you on this point. But on the "objects for public display", I sense some hostility towards guns and gun culture in general. Maybe that's your personal perspective being projected onto the whole? My brother in law is from France and he is a huge gun nerd. His weapons were "objects for public display" just like any other weapon in a gun store in America, but I really miss the point here. Do you feel comfortable around guns? Have you ever experienced a shooting sport? You should definitely try, it is super fun, specially when you have knowledgeable people around. And gun clubs in Europe are super welcoming to new members.
- libertine 6y ago
  Maybe it didn't phrase myself right, I mean you don't see public display of weapons in the sense of seeing people wielding weapons on the street, you don't see weapons in protests, you don't see people with carry on, no one has weapons on display on their houses and it's not a subject of discussion at a table... it's almost like it's rude (unless it's a meal of people that hunt). I've grown around hunting weapons, mainly shotguns and rifles since my grandfather was an hunter. But all my education revolving weapons is that they are tools - dangerous tools - to hunt. Everyone of my friends I grew up with had family members that hunted, and some of them became hunters themselves. For sport some shoot plates, but a lot of those places closed own over the years due to polution. The weapons body are made of wood and usually have some sort of carving in the metal accents. Hell, some of them were literally works of art - with duck/foxes/boars/deer/flower motives. I dont' recall seeing anyone who had weapons that were "military" style, neither in shape or even color/pattern. Now that I think of it, there was some sort of snob attitude around all of that (like usually only people with a lot of money could buy access to big game properties). At least this is from my life, in my country living on the countryside. Weapons and the subject revolving weapons are limited to specific contexts, so for me it's just odd a lot of what happens in the USA. As a kid I found weapons fun, had air pressured rifles to hunt birds and shoot at targets, airsoft guns, etc.