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In Italy its socially unacceptable to be publicly drunk. Think how nice your country would be if that were so where you live too. In Switzerland - where most
by willvarfar 12y ago
In Italy its socially unacceptable to be publicly drunk.
Think how nice your country would be if that were so where you live too.
In Switzerland - where most men have a proper army rifle at home - when there's a break those men don't think "where's my gun?" to go get it and use it but rather to hope that the thief doesn't find it.
(Just picking countries I have actually spent time in; if you can pick out other local norms that you think would make the world a nicer, safer place please share; there's bound to be loads more!)
Social norms will police society. Who wants to live in a bigger society where people seem to buy guns with the explicit intention of actually having the ability to use them on others?
The US doesn't need laws it needs a change in the definition of acceptability. Let guns be the defining acquisition of low-life scum and let the idea that respectable people would arm themselves against the scum be ludicrous and giving in to letting the scum terrorize.
I know everyone is going to downvote everyone in this whole thread based on whether they are pro or con guns, which is a shame; better if we used the votes to promote a meaningful debate regardless of which side we personally shoot for?
- duncan_bayne 12y agoIf you lived in a high crime area, would you deliberately choose to be unarmed, despite knowing that statistically speaking you'd be safer armed? Just to make a political or cultural point?
- willvarfar 12y agoAbsolutely. Which was the thrust of my argument. Culture can change.
- duncan_bayne 12y agoInteresting. What if you had dependents? Would you expose them to higher risk in order to (hopefully) facilitate long-term cultural change?
- willvarfar 12y agoAs a law-abiding family, we can only ever be victims of crime. And we've have break ins etc and it sucks. There is a really horrid fear for the first glance at the flat's door every time you come home, fear that it'll be ajar. And the fear that the car window will be broken again. Now I'm not the kind of man to shoot my own kids or anything like that, but statistically its the man who is most likely to use a handgun to shoot his own family rather than use it to protect them in any kind of superhero intervention dream. Every American who thinks guns solve disputes should live in Scandinavia and get a feel for how good things can actually be when life is looked at differently and norms are different. I strongly recommend that therapy. Change cultural norms I say!
- duncan_bayne 12y agoRight, so: that's a yes? If the stats showed your dependents would be in greater danger if you were unarmed, you'd still be disarmed?
- willvarfar 12y agoIts a No. I would not be armed. I am advocating that we don't arm ourselves to protect ourselves.
- duncan_bayne 12y agoI get it - I'd meant "yes" in the sense of "yes you'd choose to be unarmed".
- ubernostrum 12y agoWhat you are missing is that your expressed attitude perpetuates the system which causes people to feel a need to purchase weapons with the expectation of actually using them to kill other people. And what you are missing is how to change that.