Calling All Gun Enthusiasts: You Are Going To LOVE This! (page 5)

cyberjesus

Besty you are a sinister man, I think that you are concealing a gun inside that cigar of yours.

besty

End of debate.

I'm curious as to whether or not you're trying to somehow place responsibilty for what happened in CT on me?

Somehow I don't think the debate is over...

Of course you are not responsible for any massacres - as you say you enjoy a perfectly legitimate hobby in a <presumably> safe environment.

I am interested in 2 things:

1 - as a gun enthusiast, what you would say to the parents of those infants killed in CT about the supremacy of your 2nd amendment rights, and why you feel their situation is primarily a mental health issue, and not really a gun access issue

2 - why you think the USA has 74x the UK gun homicide rate

Like you noted, you aren't obligated to respond.

ohiocowboy

why you think the USA has 74x the UK gun homicide rate

The population of the UK is appx. 63 Million.

The population of the USA is over 332 Million.

Of course there are going to be more shootings, there are a LOT more people. Your whole country is the size of just one of our 50 States!

Then, compare the OVERALL crimes in the UK, not just guns, and you will see that the figures aren't as extreme as you are trying to portray.

besty

@ohiocowboy - the 74x figure is per capita - in other words a like for like comparison - apologies if this wasn;t clear to you.

the implied actual numbers using 311m for US population and 63m for the UK and the per capita rates published on wikipedia are:

9268 annual firearm homicides in the USA and 25 in the UK

besty

Your whole country is the size of just one of our 50 States!

by what measure?

by population the UK is 6x Ohio, or Californian and Texas combined - the UK is 1/5th the population of the USA

To put the firearm homicide rates in raw terms - the USA has 368x the UK number - not bad given you are 5x population - do you see a problem or not?

designs

Most of Europe and Japan have managed to progress socially even with all of the ups and downs they have experienced. We here in the US need to seriously take a look at their cultures and ask ourselves some hard questions.

besty

Then, compare the OVERALL crimes in the UK, not just guns, and you will see that the figures aren't as extreme as you are trying to portray.

The USA has a per capita intentional homicide rate of 4.2 per 100,000

The UK is 1.2.

So you are 3.5x more 'murderous' than we are :-) as a baseline for all types of homicide.

Narrow the focus down to firearm homicides and that 3.5x baseline increases to 74x.

Am I missing something when I say that the USA has a problem with firearm homicide rates? Please let me know.

david_10

Here's your response, Besty:

That's quite a response, LKL. Yes, it is. Is that what you would tell the parents who just lost lost their children to gun violence? A lot of statistics, but not much compassion, I must say. "It is a goddamned shame that these innocent lives were taken in this way." Is that what you would say to the parents? Well, OK.............................

Yet I do know what you mean, LKL, about being made a scapegoat for this terrible tragedy. You didn't do it, and it's not fair to imply that you're responsible in any way whatsoever. However, when you post videos of yourself blasting away and "having one of the best times of my life," you would tend to become the face of "gun enthusiasts" everywhere, at least around this forum.

I can't think of any other issue that has polarized this nation as much as the gun debate, and I've never heard of anybody who has ever changed their long-held beliefs and opinions because of something they read on a forum. Not me, not you, not anybody. So I won't even go there. Personally, I don't like guns, I don't own a gun, I've never owned a gun, I don't want to own a gun. I'm 60 years old and I've gotten by just fine, thank you very much.

Also, I'm not an advocate of gun control; it's not that I'm against it, per se, but it simply won't work. There's probably more guns in this nation than there are people------3 or 4 hundred million, give or take. How do you control that? Answer: you can't. It's impossible. It's totally out of control.

So what is my point? I guess I would like to point out one little thing, if I could: Guns are made for one thing and one thing only. They kill. That's all they are made for. Don't tell me that guns don't kill people. Oh yes they do....they kill plenty. They are not created to make music; they don't paint beautiful sunsets; they don't solve complex math problems. They are made for one thing only: to kill.

Now, I won't argue your 2nd Amendment right to own a gun. You have the right, and that's up to you if you want to exercise it. You can love your guns all you want, but I can guarantee you one thing: they won't love you back...................just ask the mother of the boy who did this latest massacre. Apparently, she really loved her guns. It was her guns that he used. She's dead.

So once again, a couple of dozen innocent lives have been taken; countless others have been shattered. But the gun was just used for it's intended purpose, and functioned quite well. And isn't that a "goddamned shame"?

David

Calling All Gun Enthusiasts: You Are Going To LOVE This!

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