Kids with Guns

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I think my dad has a BB gun.. but we live in the country.. closest thing my dad has to a weapon is a bat under his bed

I read that, as of 1999, there were 8 million guns in Canada, for 30 million people. (Probably only a half million of the guns were handguns, though...that makes a difference.)I don't know what effect Canada's stricter gun laws have, but it seems pretty clear that the U.S. is a more violent place in general than Canada. Even so, there's a lot more violence outside of schools than inside.

I've never seen a gunshop...I've never seen a real gun. Cops don't even carry guns in NZ

Just to clarify before I get to the nitty gritty... I'm 26 now, so, hardly a teen anymore, and, I'm in the Armed Forces, so, I have to be a qualified marksman, which means, yes, shock horror, I have to shoot things, and, I have to say, I believe that it is a lack of education on these things that leads to such problems, if people are shown the consequences, in all of their graphic details, then, I honestly believe only the psychotic among us would even want a gun... I have to shoot at least once a year to keep my marksman in date, and, much as when I first joined up, I liked shooting, even though it was only targets, the more I do it, the more I have come to loathe everything that weapons stand for, and, I think perhaps schools who're suffering this problem, shouldn't just try to deny it, they should teach about the consequences... I think, the day I really grew up and realised that guns were bad was when we were forced to watch the original Korean war video's while I was goin through training, now, I shall spare the details, because I'm sure that most of you here are well adjusted (and not psychotic in the gun toting sense of the word at the very least) individuals, but, suffice to say, they are incredibly gruesome and, above all, they are REAL video's from things that have happened as a result of guns, and, any at a bare minimum level of education, anyone caught with a gun at school should endure these video's (I have quite a good stomach for watching pretty much anything, even the odd operation on telly... but, let me tell you, I was very queasy by the end of these video's) and just so people don't do it just to get to see the vid's, anyone who volunteers :smile:

Dan

Definetly.. Id be scared off my ass to live in the States.. never would I ever consider movin to that place!

This is the second time I heard someone say they were afraid to live in the states this week. You have to understand the U.S. is huge and our media loves to fuck with the human brain. Most people who talk about certain countries being so safe etc, aren't taking the population of these countries into consideration. These countries with hardly no crime aren't even the size of 1 state in the U.S. Lets compare the crime rate of Montana against one of them. You stand a better chance of hitting a deer with your car and biting it. Every major city in the world has crime, plus is the U.S is so dangerous why does everyone and their brother want to live here? California doesn't count in this post because that is a seperate planet controlled by aliens when it comes to crime and punishment.

I agree with what you said, but the U.S. has a relatively high crime rate. The number of shootings is higer here than any other industrialized country I can think of. The effect of gun laws is debatable, but it's pretty clear that the U.S.'s culture is far more voilent than Canada's, for example.That being said, it's very unlikely that any given individual in the U.S. will be a victim of violence, and the news media makes a very big deal about each case, especiallly if the victim is young, white, female, and attractive. It also depends where you are. The corn fields of Iowa have a much lower crime rate than certain areas of Miami.

In reply to: why does everyone and their brother want to live here? I don't wanna live there... and, I'd hardly say it'd be because I'm scared... there isn't a lot that bothers me really, it's more a point that I already live in a better country than America, who can't even decide who should be king, erm, prime minister, oh goodness... we'll get there eventually.... ah yes, americanisms... el Presidenté Bush lol ... yes, that's it, the Dictatorship of Bush ... I mean, don't get me wrong... I'm all for a bit of Bush... but, in the presidential office? Clinton was removed from office, all because he had a bit of Bush in there!!! lmaoAnyway, to end on a funny... check the link, I think the majority of you will like it ... "Assault on President Bush"

Interesting.....Not super funny, but interesting

LOL... reported shootings, you mean. The crime-rate in Russia is far worse...the mafia practically runs the country.

I'm not sure how industrialized Russia is, but I'll give you that one. I'd like to see their shooting statistics, though. I'll bet they can keep things pretty well under control without a lot of extralegal shooting.It's not quite as bad in Amsterdam.

And I don't think the US has a more violent culture, but I believe the US has more people and therefore, more violent people.Compared to China and Taiwan and Hong Kong? I don't think so. The per-capita violent crime in the U.S. is very high. You can't compare the U.S.'s per capita rate with Englands or Canada.Thor thinks it's because we report murders and violent crimes and other countries don't, but he needs to understand that the U.S. isn't the only civilized nation in the world.I think handguns are kind of besides the point. It makes killing a lot easier, but if they didn't exist, people would be stabbing each other, or keeping a crossbow under their seat.

Where I live, I'm more worried about a stray bullet coming through a wall than I am about the government putting a bullet in my head (although that's subject to change in the future).

China has a lot of government-sanctioned executions, although I don't know how many. But if I lived Shanghai, I wouln't be very worried about being killed by a random citizen. But the comparison with China is not very interesting, since there are so many differences between the U.S. and China.

Comparison with Canada and Western Europe is much more interesting. I don't think it would be sane to say that they have lots of violent crime and murders that are just not reported.

I suppose we are, in a lot of ways.

OMG... ur story is so sad:(

Going back to the colonization of the "new world", the United States eventually went to war with Britain over wanting individual sovereignty while Canada continued to remain peacefully under British rule (except for the British-French rivalries that ignited fighting between the French and the British, but that was fighting between those countries which had uneasy relations for years and not in the name of a separatist Canada).Is that not a prime example of differences in attitudes between the foundations of our countries? America fought for independence and guns were important in that because without guns in the hands of conscript soldiers and the experience to use them the United States, with a relatively untrained army except for the aid of the French who assisted the United States (to fight against the British), America wouldn't have gained its sovereignty.Canada didn't do that much, despite having even greater taxation than the colonies to the south. We could have joined in with the United States even, but for a multitude of reasons we opted to remain loyal to the crown under British rule up until 1931, and cut ties completely in 1982 (even though Canada was recognized as a country before that, we were still under British law to an extent until that point).

What a terrible experience, Radeckl. I don't know how you have coped as well as you seem to have coped.

"More viokent" doesn't mean that each individual is violent.> A culture is all pretty much the same.You need to study some antrpology. The comparisons between war-like and peaceful tribes are legion. honestly, there are cultures where the risk of getting beaten up or killed is higher than others, and it's not just because five people are carrying out the crimes.The possibility that you'll get randomly killed in Miami is a lot higher than the probability that it will happen in rural Utah. There are subcultures within the culture, and there are some (sub)cultures that have a higher tendency to resolve conflicts with violence than other cultures. I some areas, if you diss the wrong person, there's a good chance of a violent reaction against you.When I was growing up, I recall an awful lot of cases of people getting into arguments in bars, going home, getting their gun, and shooting the person they were arguing with.

That story is horrible bud. They ever apprehend the people involved? You should sign up for some handgun courses and I wouldn't have a problem sending someone to the god of their choice if myself or a loved one was in danger. If you don't feel you could use the weapon for defense then I would get rid of it. If someone assaults you while you have that weapon and you aren't compotent in using it, you just added a handgun to the problem and it could be used on you.

Prosecutors regularly get murder convictions on flimsy evidence. They couldn't build a case with a guy in custody, your testimony, and DNA evidence? That's pretty sad.