Is it time for gun control in Washington?

Concern for our fellow man?

One of the driving forces for me to comment is often the use of misleading or inaccurate statistics, especially when discussing Australian crime rates since 1996.

As I've said previously, I don't actually talk about the laws anyway, I'm more focused on the different cultures which links to my psychology and philosophy interests.

 

Only if we live in a democracy protected by 1.6 billion bullets with hollow points

 

Of course, but why does opinion always turn into yank-bashing?

Where is the thread on slavery in Islamic countries, forced labour camps in North Korea, Russian ethnic cleansing in Chechnya, etc, etc?

Answer is, we are programmed to envy and criticise the USA, but to downplay the routine atrocities of countries that our leftist media prefers not to criticise.

 

No Ian, with two similar cultures, we focus on the differences. It's not yank bashing. Obviously foreign cultures with quite alien attitudes involve a different conversation.

 

I do agree with your comments about the media

 

I certainly do NOT envy them or wish to live there ...... I DO like visiting, great country and some nice people but their propensity to hold and use guns is not healthy or logical

 

What's worse armed citizens in the US or armed criminals in south west Sydney?

 

Spot on. It's got nothing to do with yank bashing.

I just happen to think their gun laws are idiotic, and after all, that's what this thread is about.

Anyone is free to start a thread about North Korea etc. any time they like.

 

Both

 

and how much do you know about their gun laws and in fact gun laws in Australia? All the generalisation of US=bad, AUS=good is just superficial lefty-xeno media BS, helped along by regular 6pm news bulletins featuring the latest shooting. Meanwhile the NSW police have "lost" about 300 handguns - that they admit to. Any guess where they ended up?

US gun laws are state based and vary significantly. e.g. California is quite strict, Arizona quite loose.

Ever visited a farm in Aus and gone roo or pig shooting? More high powered rifles than you can point a stick at, happily handed out to unknown people (like me) to join the fun.

Also, anyone with a clean record can get a license for a handgun here in Sydney. Just join a gun club, install a safe and promise to use it. I have known people, who I did not regard as 100% rational or responsible, who had done just that.

 

I'm sure the family of Chris Lane could take you to task on some of your,and all of the pro-gun folks' comments,who post on this thread.

 

I'm not pro-gun, I'm just pro mind_your_own_business.

Chris Lane was a tragedy, but such events are not unique to the USA. He could for example have been having a hot chocolate in Sydney, or shopping in a Jewish supermarket in Paris when ISIS came calling.

 

Geez, keep your wig on.

Where did I or anyone else say US = bad, AUS = good?

I think their gun laws are stupid, and no amount of ranting by anyone is going to change that view.

 

Yep, agreed, there is much to like about the rest of the US but giving guns to mentally unstable people is not good

 

I'm paraphrasing most of the commentary in this thread, by people who feel entitled to pass judgement on America, as if Australia is in a superior moral position, when in fact we're just a bunch of nobodies on the internet.

 

TMHMOTI?

 

Doesn't Martin Bryant still hold the record for people killed in a massacre?

 

BTW, my previous post isn't meant to be a humorous one. What I meant was that, and unstable person is capable of horrible things. I agree with Ian. America is the poster child for a society living in fear. Everything is based on the concept of 'they're out to get you'. It wasn't always so, but, the media has a lot to answer for.

 

In Australia, yes,
worldwide, no
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rampage_killers

 

Now let's see a table of where the most mass shootings occur in the western world.

 

I'll take a stab in the dark. Good 'ol US of A?

 

Stop being so anti-American

 

I spend quite a bit of time in the US, in quite a few different states. Believe me, nobody is "living in fear". I feel just as safe walking through Harlem late in the evening as I do in Sydney, perhaps more so, because the locals are more polite.

The US has a small but very effective gun lobby, who manage to amplify their message through a media which lives for sensationalism. In a diverse society, there will always be a minority of extremists and Australia has it's gun-toting nut jobs too.

Sadly, the US also has extreme poverty, despite generations of welfare programs and handouts. The people at the bottom of the ladder are more likely to be involved in crime and more likely to be victims. Gun control won't change that, just as it doesn't stop the almost weekly occurrences of drive-by shootings in parts of Sydney where drug crime is a way of life.