# Guns why do you americans love them so much? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 10, 2000, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-why-do-you-americans-love-them-so-much/17797 "2000-03-10T19:45:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2000, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-why-do-you-americans-love-them-so-much/17797/1 "2000-03-10T19:45:00Z")
Sure loads of times I’ve been angry,never needed a gun though,lets face it guns are designed to do just one thing - kill deer, big game,you,me,anything really. I don’t trust anyone who carries a gun in the street. Self defence hmmmm Protection of freedom hmmmm You Americans seem to have a shortfall of compassion for your own (no health coverage for a third of you-its communist) yet you take everyone elses problems as your own. Stop killing yourselves-ban guns,save a life ---
**Author:** ![Spiritus\_Mundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Spiritus\_Mundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiritus_Mundi)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2000, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-why-do-you-americans-love-them-so-much/17797/2 "2000-03-10T19:51:00Z")
American politicians have long been successful in manipulating the fears of the populace to amass personal power. America is by no means unique in this, of course, but the diverse nature of our population makes it a particularly effective strategy here. Frightened people will surrender a number of things to regain their sense of security, compassion is only one example. * * * - The best lack all conviction The worst are full of passionate intensity. \* ---
**Author:** ![Nu\_Vo\_Da\_Da](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/97f17d/32.png) [@Nu\_Vo\_Da\_Da](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nu_Vo_Da_Da)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2000, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-why-do-you-americans-love-them-so-much/17797/3 "2000-03-10T19:53:00Z")
Big guns make up for small penises. Seems pretty simple to me… ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2000, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-why-do-you-americans-love-them-so-much/17797/4 "2000-03-10T19:58:00Z")
We need to be able to shoot guns so that we’re prepared to sail on over and save Europe and Great Britain from the Germans twice per century. P.S. The ultra-rightists are already part of a coalition government in Austria and are becoming increasingly popular in Germany as well. Perhaps you should get out to the rifle range yourself. You know, just in case. ## Any more questions? [Change Your Password, Please](http://204.95.48.199/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ubbmisc.cgi?action=getannounce&ForumNumber=3&Start=2451545.99&End=2451911&Session=2451598.1854) and don’t use HTML, as it has been disabled, but you can learn about superscripts [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000795.html) ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2000, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-why-do-you-americans-love-them-so-much/17797/5 "2000-03-10T20:00:00Z")
Very true, but those barrels are SO DAMNED cold! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!! * * * “If I had to live your life, I’d be begging to have someone pop out both my eyes. Just in case I came across a mirror.” - android209 (in the Pit) [Zettecity](http://www.angelfire.com/ny3/zettecity/index.html) Voted “Most Empathetic”- can you believe that? ---
**Author:** ![Glitch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/0ea827/32.png) [@Glitch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glitch)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2000, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-why-do-you-americans-love-them-so-much/17797/6 "2000-03-10T20:04:00Z")
I am starting to understand how David B must feel whenever he sees a new creationism thread. Dave: Your facts are mistaken. See: John Lott - “More Guns, Less Crime” and numerous articles Gary Kleck - Numerous articles Morgan O Reynolds - National Center for Policy Analysis W.W. Caruth III - National Center for Policy Analysis James D Wright & Peter H Rossi - “Armed and Considered Dangerous: A Survey of Felons and Their Firearms” Paul Blackman - Journal of Firearms and Public Policy Marianne Zawitz - “Guns Used in Crime” & “Firearm Injury from Crime” (Bureau of Justice) Patsy A Klaus - “The Cost of Crime to Victims: Crime Data Brief” (Bureau of Justice) Micheal R Rand - “Guns and Crime: Handgun Victimization, Firearm Self Defense, and Firearm Theft” (Bureau of Justice) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2000, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-why-do-you-americans-love-them-so-much/17797/7 "2000-03-10T20:05:00Z")
Guns are a hedge against tyranny. That is the reason gun ownership is protected in the Constitution, plain and simple. Put it this way: If the Jews of Europe had owned guns, I wonder if the Nazis wouldn’t have been just a little more circumspect about trying to round them up? Seems like a tyrranical government might be just a little more reluctant about kicking someone’s door down if they don’t know what might be behind that door. That was the logic behind the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Now, I am not a gun nut by any stretch of the imagination. Heck, I don’t even own one. But I do see the logic behind the notion embodied in the Second Amendment. The problem is that guns known to the drafters of the Constitution and the guns of today are very different things. The musket of the Revolutionary War has yielded to today’s assault weapons, which can do extraordinary damage in the hands of a motivated lunatic. Another problem is the ease of use of guns today – so simple that even a child can operate them (as has been demonstrated far to often). How do we reconcile the desire to protect ourselves from the potential of government tyranny with the desire to keep ourselves safe from random acts of violence? I don’t have the answer. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2000, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-why-do-you-americans-love-them-so-much/17797/8 "2000-03-10T20:15:00Z")
I’ve fired proper guns (4.5inch)at proper baddies for real in defence of’freedom’ All I found out was that it help a certain females election campaign-who says all the right wingers are in Austria. I’ve had lots of practice on ranges too and I’ll hit anything you care to point out within a couple of hundred yards but I fail to see why carrying arms in peacetime in a suburban landscape improves my ability to defend my nation ---
**Author:** ![Glitch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/0ea827/32.png) [@Glitch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glitch)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2000, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-why-do-you-americans-love-them-so-much/17797/9 "2000-03-10T20:17:00Z")
See the material presented in my previous post and you will stop “failing to see”. ---
**Author:** ![Glitch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/0ea827/32.png) [@Glitch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glitch)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2000, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-why-do-you-americans-love-them-so-much/17797/10 "2000-03-10T20:24:00Z")
Here’s a novel idea, casdave: You prove your case about the necessity of banning guns. You started the debate how about providing some supporting evidence instead of unsupported personal opinion? ---
**Author:** ![PeeQueue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8797f3/32.png) [@PeeQueue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeeQueue)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2000, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-why-do-you-americans-love-them-so-much/17797/11 "2000-03-10T20:28:00Z")
A couple of questions: > [@](#): > > no health coverage > for a third of you-its communist How exactly is that communist? > [@](#): > > I’ve fired proper guns (4.5inch) What is 4.5inch? One point: > [@](#): > > …my ability to defend my nation I’ll at least agree with you here - I don’t think private people own guns to defend their nation. Mostly it is just to protect themselves. Or for sporting purposes of course. PeeQueue ---
**Author:** ![Freedomx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4af34b/32.png) [@Freedomx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freedomx)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2000, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-why-do-you-americans-love-them-so-much/17797/12 "2000-03-10T20:35:00Z")
I’m going to label this a troll thread. 4 posts, and an op like that, I smell a troll. I’m going ot try as hard as I possibly can to stay out of this thread. I hope it dies a quick and painless death. Glitch, I know what you mean about seeing these threads. Manhattan, I checked the callendar and it looks like that time might be popping up again. ---
**Author:** ![KM2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3ec8ea/32.png) [@KM2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KM2)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2000, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-why-do-you-americans-love-them-so-much/17797/13 "2000-03-10T20:38:00Z")
Actually, the crime rates here aren’t as bad as Europeans think. Sure, when you think of tighter gun laws, you think of the white trash NRA members. This comparison with Europe suggests that the United States has neither a unique “culture of violence” nor inadequate gun laws. It turns out some of those US crime rate stats are skewed, that it’s not the “typical American” (as Europeans see us) abusing guns. Here’s some stats from the _Uniform Crime Reports_: Country (murder rate) Crimes per 100,00 Britain (7.4) France (4.6) Germany (4.2) Italy (6.0) U.S.A. (9.3) **American Whites (5.1)** American Blacks (43.4) ---
**Author:** ![KM2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3ec8ea/32.png) [@KM2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KM2)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2000, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-why-do-you-americans-love-them-so-much/17797/14 "2000-03-10T20:46:00Z")
Sorry, make that _FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports_ I should also add more about the above stat. The FBI classifies Hispanics as “white”, further throwing off the American white murder rate. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2000, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-why-do-you-americans-love-them-so-much/17797/15 "2000-03-10T20:55:00Z")
> [@](#): > > no health coverage for a third of you-its communist I posted a thread a while back about socialized medicine and it was practically laughed off the board. Everyone said it didn’t work, people had to wait weeks to see a doctor, etc, etc. Then I actually started to TALK to some Canadians on IRC. Guess what? They’re pretty damn happy! People I talked to in Toronto, the biggest city in Canada, made SAME-DAY appointments at the doctor! I couldn’t do that here even if I had the best insurance available! * * * “Honey we’re recovering Christians.” –Tori Amos - _In the Springtime of his Voodoo_ ---
**Author:** ![Nu\_Vo\_Da\_Da](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/97f17d/32.png) [@Nu\_Vo\_Da\_Da](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nu_Vo_Da_Da)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2000, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-why-do-you-americans-love-them-so-much/17797/16 "2000-03-10T21:10:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Britain (7.4) > France (4.6) > Germany (4.2) > Italy (6.0) > U.S.A. (9.3) > American Whites (5.1) > American Blacks (43.4) I don’t suppose that you would happen to have any figures on French, Italian, German, or English blacks, now would you? And what exactly are you implying with this statistic anyway? ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2000, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-why-do-you-americans-love-them-so-much/17797/17 "2000-03-10T21:40:00Z")
I’m an American. I hate guns, would never own one, and would never allow one into my house (unless it was attached to a police officer). I do not think guns should be outlawed in the U.S. because 1) it’s a part of our Constitution and I believe it would weaken the entire document if one part was deleted and 2) I agree with the people above who state that a government is less likely to become tyrannical when the citizens (or at least a whole bunch of them) are armed. I do agree that there should be some regulation of guns and gun sales and I mostly wish that the topic would be approached with common sense from both sides instead of made into an “issue” that just becomes an emotional stomping match. But I wish that about a lot of “issues.” So, I guess what it boils down to is that I think guns should be legal, but stupidity should be illegal. ---
**Author:** ![ReservoirDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@ReservoirDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReservoirDog)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2000, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-why-do-you-americans-love-them-so-much/17797/18 "2000-03-10T22:51:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by manhattan: > **We need to be able to shoot guns so that we’re prepared to sail on over and save Europe and Great Britain from the Germans twice per century.** Absolutely hysterical!! Hahahahahaha ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2000, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-why-do-you-americans-love-them-so-much/17797/19 "2000-03-11T01:21:00Z")
I’d love to read the material suggested and I’ll try to get hold of it ,yes I’m opinionated true I quote no facts or figures. I don’t pretend that not carrying guns will make folk start to hug and kiss each other violence is bound to occur it is noteworthy though that the police in the U.K do not feel the need to carry arms in the usual course of events but they are available if required.Try that with your lawmen. I’m not that interested in the race of the offender a death is a death if white people engineer an economic system that tends to disadvantatage certain groups then it seems to me that poverty is likely to be fertile ground for gun crime to breed. Maybe one of your good selves could explain to me then why your murder rate per capita is over 11times higher than ours and the gun crime figures even higher. Guns make killing so much easier for the bad guy.The only way that law-abiding citizens can counter this is to lose something of their soul-believe me even with justification you don’t feel good when you’ve had to fire on real people,which of course you shouldn’t. Nothing will change I know our crime seems to follow where yours leads maybe when I’m living in a society like yours which from the outside looks like it worships violence maybe then I’ll appreciate your piont of view but I hope that day is a long time coming. P.S Why is universal healthcare communist? dunno just quoting J Edgar ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2000, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-why-do-you-americans-love-them-so-much/17797/20 "2000-03-11T01:39:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Nu Vo Da Da: > \*\* I don’t suppose that you would happen to have any figures on French, Italian, German, or English blacks, now would you? And what exactly are you implying with this statistic anyway?\*\* **KM2** was once known as **Klan Man**. That name was banned and he returned with this oh-so-clever variation. Draw your own conclusions. **casdave** , I would respond to your post if you had written it better. * * * When all else fails, ask Cecil. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guns-why-do-you-americans-love-them-so-much/17797.md?page=2)