Holy cow, do you live in a warzone or something? 
Just goes to show how regional it is.
“bolding mine” he says… DOH :smack:
I know lots of people with guns.
I have even fired one myself!
Yeehaw!
In my experience, as part of the gun-rights community, I’ve found that many gun owners are somewhat “closeted”. As certain segments of society view gun owners as knuckle-dragging barbarians who should feel personally responsible every time a drug dealer shoots a child, many gunowners do not advertise their “lifestyle choice”.By not talking about it, it also keeps who are paranoid around guns from asking “Are you packing?”, something that rather defeats the purpose of concealed carry.
And of course, some people don’t feel the need to advertise themselves to everyone. Not every gay person(as a random example), dresses in the stereotypical “gay” fashion and not every gun owner wears cameo everywhere and drives a pickup truck.
And of course, there’s the old “religion and poltics” rule. Namely, to avoid getting pissed off or doing the same to others, just don’t talk about it. I have very good friends who hold opposing political views(on several issues), but we don’t talk about it or are very civil when we do.
Sounds like a parody of Former New York City Mayor, Ed Koch.
That explains it. Mass. has strict gun laws in comparison to certain other states. You would be less likely to see it, as many gun owners would probably move to more gun-rights-friendly areas.
Wow, you guys elected George Bush too?
As for the Finnish view of Americans, I never had any troubles living there (Oulu 1994-1995) except for one guy, and he was only mad because the Finnish women around us seemed to pay more attention to me, the American, than to him. I never got much of the “we hate Americans, etc because…” speech (never got one actually).
Actually, federal gun laws apply to the entire country and the state/cities laws have to be at least as strict. At that point, it’s up to the indiviual states to decide if they want to make them any stricter. Though some states have preemption laws that make local gun ordiances illegal (IE If seattle wants to ban gun ownership in seattle, it can’t. A ban would have to be passed at the state level).
At least is my understanding. I could be wrong, and I don’t know how CCW laws come into it (IE There is no federal recognition, and so wether you can or cannot carry varies widely from state to state. Works kinda nice in a way, as if you don’t like the laws in one state, just move to another).
As screwy as the whole 2000 election was, somehow I wouldn’t be surprised.
Well…actually, we didn’t. (sigh)
If you want to know what Americans are really like, all you have to do is look at the diversity of the American Dopers.
I never touched a gun in all my years living in America. The first gun I ever picked up was in Ireland. Irish people are always shocked when I tell them that.
I’m an American (California boy) who has lived in Canada for many years, and I’ve seen it all. Many Canadians have stereotyped us as arrogant and self-righteous…character traits that are irrespective of nationality if you ask me. One friend of mine didn’t know I was from the States until a long time after we had known each other. When he found out, he was a little confused because of his impression of Americans. Never the less it did change is impression. 
I’ve had other people who have known me, (and liked me) but wouldn’t associate with me once they found out I was American…mind boggling…
It is a good things most Americans are ignorant of Canada, though. Imagine the laughter if they knew about the marble-mouthed fucktard we chose to run our country.
Everyone probably remembers the encounter they had with the fat/stupid/loudmouthed/Hawiian-shirt-wearing/overbearing/ignorant a…hole from the U.S., and stuff that they’ve read in the paper or seen on TV that say “Survey proves Americans stupid” or whatever.
It just doesn’t usually stick in people’s minds when they encounter someone from the U.S. who’s completely unobjectionable, and of course the papers and the TV don’t run stories saying “Shock: Americans are just like us”.
The U.S. is packed full of a…holes, but so is Australia and everywhere else.
I’m quite surprised, I have to say.
The first gun I touched was in Texas, when I was 7. Mine host handed me and his son (of the same age) a shotgun and some sort of musket thingy, and told us to go down the lake and shoot cans.
That’s good, but remember that Dopers are not a cross section of US society.
And yet even as we speak, there are those working on that “loud and boorish” thing.
Ahh… buy my roots are from Scotland where we are, ‘proud and moorish’
~eNiGma
I met a British girl (from Yorkshire) online a few years ago, and we have since met. The stereotypes I have gleaned so far are…
- We are very religious, and believe “the end is near”
- We eat hamburgers, fries every day, and practically bathe in coca cola.
- We watch nothing but Jerry Springer, Ricky Lake, and “Friends” (no idea “Seinfeld” exists?)
- Our menfolk are all circumcised.
- Our beer is most kindly described as devoid of flavour, or more maliciously, “cold piss in a bottle”. (This is the most pervasive stereotype: Thank God for Sam Adams!)
- We all have a private arsenal of weapons.
- We drive pickups, SUVs, or Cadillacs.
- We learned our lovemaking techniques from our cousins as teenagers.
- The Ku Klux Klan parades regularly in the streets of town.
- We have very large houses.
Some of these are more specific to Texas, where I am from. Anyway, only half of these are really correct in my case.
Kantalooppi’s post describes, word for word, exactly the general sentiment in Iceland as well (except for the possible inclusion of “Americans are sappy and they cry on national TV.”)
While most Icelanders bandy these stereotypes about willy-nilly, the fact is that when confronted with an actual American, they’re usually far far friendlier than these odious stereotypes would lead you to believe. Iceland’s a small country, and it’s always exciting to any Icelander to meet a foreigner, American or otherwise (unless they happen to be working in customer service during the tourist season, in which case it’s probably a good idea to wear a helmet and carry a short stabbing weapon for personal defense).
My hunch is that these generalizations are made mostly because it’s damned easy to feel the shadow of a powerful nation of 250 million+ looming over your little island with its meager population of 270.000, and we need something to be able to feel special, dammit! (Even if only through cack-handed sterotyping and general back-biting.) That’s my reasoning for it, anyway.
The Finns, however, have no excuse.
That’s funny.