Ballistic:
You do have a point there Double Edge, I will say that. I must tell you my perspective though from a country where there simply are no guns - I have never even seen a gun in real life, it seems strange to have a whole nation bearing arms, almost weird.
That's okay, and because you were never raised around firearms one can understand why you feel the way you do. The problem is that only one side of this story is ever being told and that's a shame. Did you know that last year, in the U.S., there were over 2.5 million times private citizens "used" their firearms to PREVENT a crime? That's not saying they fired them, only that they had to brandished them. But you'll never hear that statistic, it won't play to a liberal press. In my lifetime, I've had to 'use' (not shoot) a firearm twice to protect myself when I was in harms way. Once out in the desert with a bunch of crazy drunks in a car threatening me and the other time from a burgler. Both times I only had to show them the rifle or pistol and they totally backed off.
When you think about it, our countries have two entirely different histories with regards to the populace owning firearms. The westward expansion of this nation took place in the 18th, 19th and yes, the 20th Century. People and families were on their own and had to protect themselves as there was no government around. Whereas, in the U.K., I believe there was no such mass movement of isolated people by that time. So yes, our 'culture' from that perspective is different.
Also, one more interesting story... Right after Pearl Harbor, the Pacific Coast line was very vulnerable to attack and invasion by the Japanese because the population at the time was relatively 'sparse' (the population centers were on the East Coast). Japanese subs had shelled some places in California. In the early 60's, Japanese and American vets met at a reunion in I believe either California or Hawaii. An American vet asked the Japanese why they didn't press their advantage and invade places on the Pacific Coast where we were militarily weak. He was told by his Japanese counterpart that even though they knew there would be relatively few resistance by any American military, they were quite aware that about 50% of American households owned firearms and would protect their Country. They knew that they could not overcome those numbers.
Edited by - Double Edge on 18 October 2002 21:20:2
Edited by - Double Edge on 18 October 2002 21:21:53
