# Non-Americans : What is your reaction to the US gun control debate ? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 26, 2013, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-what-is-your-reaction-to-the-us-gun-control-debate/648448 "2013-01-26T17:53:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-what-is-your-reaction-to-the-us-gun-control-debate/648448/101 "2013-01-27T23:48:23Z")
> [@gms453](#): > > Congratulations. You’ve crammed more ignorance into fewer words than I would have heretofore thought possible. I’ve read more of the thread now, and I take exception to this post. I think you’re threadshitting in this thread, **gms453**. The OP is specifically asking for opinions on an issue from non-Americans; criticizing those opinions the way you are in this thread is very poor form. Why don’t you start your own thread on why all non-US Americans are wrong about gun control? ---
**Author:** ![gms453](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@gms453](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gms453)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-what-is-your-reaction-to-the-us-gun-control-debate/648448/102 "2013-01-28T00:33:50Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I’ve read more of the thread now, and I take exception to this post. I think you’re threadshitting in this thread, **gms453**. The OP is specifically asking for opinions on an issue from non-Americans; criticizing those opinions the way you are in this thread is very poor form. Why don’t you start your own thread on why all non-US Americans are wrong about gun control? I disagree. The stated purpose of the SDMB is “fighting ignorance,” and that was my purpose in submitting the post you take issue with. Furthermore, I suggest you brush up on your reading comprehension skills; I have never indicated in any of my posts that any–let alone all–“non-US Americans are wrong about gun control.” ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-what-is-your-reaction-to-the-us-gun-control-debate/648448/103 "2013-01-28T00:36:14Z")
I ruv guns! And some people aren’t getting shot soon enough. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-what-is-your-reaction-to-the-us-gun-control-debate/648448/104 "2013-01-28T00:53:39Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > How can you say that when a mandated, trans vaginal ultra sound for anyone seeking an abortion passed? As did giving the police power to check ‘ethnics’ for immigration status violations whenever they felt like it. They stripped unions of their bargaining powers. And isn’t the argument about your employers religious beliefs determining employee access to contraception headed to the Supreme Court? He can say that because, unlike you, he understands the difference between passing a bill vs. adopting an amendment to the constitution. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-what-is-your-reaction-to-the-us-gun-control-debate/648448/105 "2013-01-28T01:32:50Z")
Thanks for the condescension, always nice after dinner, but my point was that all of the things I mentioned, people well believed they ‘could’ not pass. Yet they did. My point. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-what-is-your-reaction-to-the-us-gun-control-debate/648448/106 "2013-01-28T01:40:40Z")
I don’t get why Americans tried to regulate military-style guns in their Assault Weapons Ban, going after bayonet lugs and flash suppressors and such, when basic run-of-the-mill handguns were far more commonly used in crime. It’s almost as if they believed their own movies and thought all criminals ran around spraying bullets on full-auto from assault rifles and machine guns. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-what-is-your-reaction-to-the-us-gun-control-debate/648448/107 "2013-01-28T01:44:27Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Thanks for the condescension, always nice after dinner, but my point was that all of the things I mentioned, people well believed they ‘could’ not pass. Yet they did. My point. So? His point is that you’re not going to get a supermajority on anything even even remotely controversial right now, and he’s absolutely right. The examples you listed happened on the state level, and weren’t surprising in the least. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-what-is-your-reaction-to-the-us-gun-control-debate/648448/108 "2013-01-28T01:55:19Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I don’t get why Americans tried to regulate military-style guns in their Assault Weapons Ban, going after bayonet lugs and flash suppressors and such, when basic run-of-the-mill handguns were far more commonly used in crime. > > It’s almost as if they believed their own movies and thought all criminals ran around spraying bullets on full-auto from assault rifles and machine guns. Gotta start somewhere. If they’re going to get us used to the idea that certain things are going to be heavily controlled, registered and/or banned, they want to start small and build up. If they just jumped straight in with the Australian solution, that would never fly; besides, even for that to work, they have to have registration in place for all the guns, so they want to start a total registration system now so that in 40 or 50 years, the vast majority of all guns will be registered, then they can start work on the Australian solution. ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-what-is-your-reaction-to-the-us-gun-control-debate/648448/109 "2013-01-28T03:04:56Z")
> [@Shmendrik](#): > > You do realize that “recreational gun culture” has as much to do with the American view of freedom to bear arms as writing poems about flowers has to do with the American view of freedom of speech, right? I’m aware of the Second Amendment. As far as I can tell from here, there is no threat from tyrants today as there might have been when the Amendment was written over two hundred years ago and the American experiment was still on wobbly legs. Without the threat of tyrants, what use is there for private ownership of semi-auto weapons with high-capacity clips, except for recreation? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-what-is-your-reaction-to-the-us-gun-control-debate/648448/110 "2013-01-28T03:14:22Z")
> [@Esox\_Lucius](#): > > I’m aware of the Second Amendment. As far as I can tell from here, there is no threat from tyrants today as there might have been when the Amendment was written over two hundred years ago and the American experiment was still on wobbly legs. Without the threat of tyrants, what use is there for private ownership of semi-auto weapons with high-capacity clips, except for recreation? People who expect to own guns for self defense don’t want the government telling them how often they need to reload while fighting for their lives: a Glock with a 17 round magazine is a better defensive weapon than a Glock with a 10 round mag. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-what-is-your-reaction-to-the-us-gun-control-debate/648448/111 "2013-01-28T05:22:29Z")
> [@gms453](#): > > I disagree. The stated purpose of the SDMB is “fighting ignorance,” and that was my purpose in submitting the post you take issue with. Furthermore, I suggest you brush up on your reading comprehension skills; I have never indicated in any of my posts that any–let alone all–“non-US Americans are wrong about gun control.” Oh, bullshit. Don’t try to hide behind the “fighting ignorance” line. What you’re doing in this thread is shouting down any opinion of your country that you don’t agree with. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-what-is-your-reaction-to-the-us-gun-control-debate/648448/112 "2013-01-28T06:39:44Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I’ve read more of the thread now, and I take exception to this post. I think you’re threadshitting in this thread, **gms453**. The OP is specifically asking for opinions on an issue from non-Americans; criticizing those opinions the way you are in this thread is very poor form. Why don’t you start your own thread on why all non-US Americans are wrong about gun control? Because much of the opinion here seems to be that America is some sort of a bizarre mixture of Puritan Massachusetts from the Crucible and violent racist frontier society from _Huckleberry Finn_. If there was a thread that asked for foreigners’ opinion of Britain and people began to write about how its a Victorian society with gentlemen in top hats and retired British army officers talking at the pub about hunting “wogs” in the Punjab and Natal, you wouldn’t think Brits would be offended and defend their country? Or if people had a notion of Germany that they were all a bunch of beer-drinking, sausage-munching Nazis in brown shirts and stomping in jack boots while singing the Horst Wessel lied? ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-what-is-your-reaction-to-the-us-gun-control-debate/648448/113 "2013-01-28T08:18:47Z")
> [@EmAnJ](#): > > I should add, the way America portrays itself on reality TV shows doesn’t help either. Yikes. Do you base your opinion of Japan on anime or your opinion of Mexico on telenovelas? ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-what-is-your-reaction-to-the-us-gun-control-debate/648448/114 "2013-01-28T08:24:42Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > America is some sort of a bizarre mixture of Puritan Massachusetts from the Crucible and violent racist frontier society from _Huckleberry Finn_. Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-what-is-your-reaction-to-the-us-gun-control-debate/648448/115 "2013-01-28T08:35:22Z")
> [@SecretaryofEvil](#): > > Do you base your opinion of Japan on anime or your opinion of Mexico on telenovelas? Are you implying that sodomy by tentacle is not as prevalent in Japan as I have supposed? My childhood is ruined. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-what-is-your-reaction-to-the-us-gun-control-debate/648448/116 "2013-01-28T09:39:33Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > To **gms453** > > Because I want Americans to know that the rest of us experience a better way. That you can have safety and security without a gun. That you can actually live without fear. Learn from us DAMMIT ! > > “Live by the sword and you will die by the sword”. So why are so many bible thumpers in America defending guns ? Would Jesus strap on a gun ? Americans in general appear to be blinded to the truth. > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I’ve read more of the thread now, and I take exception to this post. I think you’re threadshitting in this thread, **gms453**. The OP is specifically asking for opinions on an issue from non-Americans; criticizing those opinions the way you are in this thread is very poor form. Why don’t you start your own thread on why all non-US Americans are wrong about gun control? > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Oh, bullshit. Don’t try to hide behind the “fighting ignorance” line. What you’re doing in this thread is shouting down any opinion of your country that you don’t agree with. If any non-Canadians actually cared enough about Canada to criticize it, and you felt these criticisms to be inaccurate, would you remain silent? You’re allowed to disagree with his opinions. You’re allowed to explain why you disagree with his opinions in a fairly harsh manner. But it’s absolute horse shit to try to claim he doesn’t have the right to express his opinions. For example, if an American started a thread asking what Americans thought about Canada’s UHC, and there was information that you as a Canadian felt was incorrect in the thread, would you flip a shit if a Canadian expressed an opinion defending Canada’s health care system in that thread? I am, of course, fully qualified to make all sorts of claims and comments about Canadian politics and society because I watched Trailer Park Boys and Degrassi. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-what-is-your-reaction-to-the-us-gun-control-debate/648448/117 "2013-01-28T12:48:30Z")
No, I wouldn’t ‘flip a shit’. That’s the thing right there. I’d explain why their information is correct in a calm, non-shit-flipping way and move on. It’s the anger and condescension and vehement defence that is associated with Americans, in particular when it comes to this gun thing. And yes, don’t all Japanese women have giant eyes and Hello Kitty handbags? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-what-is-your-reaction-to-the-us-gun-control-debate/648448/118 "2013-01-28T14:11:59Z")
We’d be arguing opinion against opinion. I think the point that posters like **gms453** are missing is that this thread is about the opinions held by people outside of the US - not looking for opinions of people inside the US, or reasons why those opinions are incorrect, in your own opinion. I think US Americans have an idea that their opinions are more correct; this is not true in this case. They have an opinion formed by living in the country, and living within the system; they know what their own experience has been better than anyone else, of course, but they don’t have a better opinion of how their country is viewed by other people, and that’s the opinion that the OP is looking for here. I don’t know how I could argue with someone about how they _see_ Canada and Canadian politics - I don’t have their perspective. ---
**Author:** ![eno801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c2a13f/32.png) [@eno801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eno801)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-what-is-your-reaction-to-the-us-gun-control-debate/648448/119 "2013-01-28T15:38:42Z")
Ahh so a circle jerk it is. Who was it that said.“I don’t care what you think about me. I don’ think about you at all.”? I was going to post on what my family in Mexico thinks about gun ownership in America, but I have a feeling it would not go well with all hand wringing going on here. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-what-is-your-reaction-to-the-us-gun-control-debate/648448/120 "2013-01-28T15:47:59Z")
Too bad. I’d be really interested in what they think about the US gun culture in Mexico given all the carnage that takes place there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-what-is-your-reaction-to-the-us-gun-control-debate/648448.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-what-is-your-reaction-to-the-us-gun-control-debate/648448.md?page=7)