# Why exactly did gun culture blossom in the US and, seemingly, not in most other Western countries? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 14, 2019, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-did-gun-culture-blossom-in-the-us-and-seemingly-not-in-most-other-western-countries/837090 "2019-07-14T23:14:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-did-gun-culture-blossom-in-the-us-and-seemingly-not-in-most-other-western-countries/837090/182 "2019-07-19T17:49:48Z")
Did he say anything about militias? ---
**Author:** ![JXJohns](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jxjohns/32/469_2.png) [@JXJohns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JXJohns)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-did-gun-culture-blossom-in-the-us-and-seemingly-not-in-most-other-western-countries/837090/183 "2019-07-19T19:27:39Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > He wasn’t collecting variants of the SKS; he was accumulating identical copies. > > If you knew somebody who went down to the post office and bought $2000 worth of a [common flag definitive stamp](https://about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/2007/html/pb22203/info2.5.4.html), all identical (no variations or errors or oddballs, just piles of the same stamp in identical booklets), would you think they were demonstrating typical collector mentality? > > I don’t. Perhaps they are getting ahead of the next stamp price increase? I bought three SKS rifles in the early '90’s for $99 a piece. Those same rifles are selling at around $400 today. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-did-gun-culture-blossom-in-the-us-and-seemingly-not-in-most-other-western-countries/837090/184 "2019-07-19T19:29:36Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > He wasn’t collecting variants of the SKS; he was accumulating identical copies. > … That does seem odd. I dont know of anyone like that. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-did-gun-culture-blossom-in-the-us-and-seemingly-not-in-most-other-western-countries/837090/185 "2019-07-19T19:29:52Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I think a LOT of the conception of the mindset has a lot to do with one’s own familiarity with guns. I mean, if you’re experienced with them, and not afraid of them, they quit being some sort of object of awe, and become another sporting item or tool. A dangerous one to be sure, but the thought process is kind of like how you think about a relatively dangerous tool like a table saw or chain saw- you have to be very mindful and aware of what’s going on when you’re using/handling them, and in the case of guns, where/how you store them. It’s not the tool I’m wary about. It’s the tool who wields the tool. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-did-gun-culture-blossom-in-the-us-and-seemingly-not-in-most-other-western-countries/837090/186 "2019-07-19T20:16:03Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Emphasis mine. “Let’s see, do I have everything I need to go grocery shopping … keys, wallet/purse, handgun …”. Only in America could such a statement be made, and considered unremarkable. Not intended as a personal criticism, this is the prevailing culture, and it’s absolutely unique to America among all advanced industrialized countries. That’s what this thread is about. Why are far more Americans shooting themselves than the citizens of any other such country on a per capita basis? Because the population is around 330 million and possesses nearly 400 million guns, with a casual attitude toward all of them, so inevitably some of them get used – every single day. And having been trained as an armed response guard, and having survived 25 years with a stalker, I am trained to protect myself, and at one time had a need to protect myself. I am not overly worried about needing to protect my Second Amendment rights [there are legal ways to do that via political action, going into guerilla warfare a la movies is not the way to do it] As an older handicapped female who does significant long distance road trips with regularity _alone_ as well as spending a lot of time in residence alone, and having no appreciable ability to either escape or evade a bad situation, it happens to be nice to be able to defend myself if a situation does pop up. As an avid consumer of hunted animals [if I can’t cook and eat it, I see no reason to actually shoot at it with anything except a camera] owning hunting weapons makes sense - cant shoot bambi without something to shoot with, and I have some quite excellent recipes for venison. Gun culture? No - guns are tools not toys, though I do find target shooting relaxing and good for maintaining the skills to use them safely. I feel no need to have a machine gun, nor do I find the need to use an AR15 as a home defense weapon [IMHO a hand gun is a much better tool for that use] and I have no personal problem in needing to have a waiting time and police check to buy a gun. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-did-gun-culture-blossom-in-the-us-and-seemingly-not-in-most-other-western-countries/837090/187 "2019-07-19T21:20:58Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > … > Gun culture? No - guns are tools not toys, though I do find target shooting relaxing and good for maintaining the skills to use them safely. I feel no need to have a machine gun, nor do I find the need to use an AR15 as a home defense weapon [IMHO a hand gun is a much better tool for that use] and I have no personal problem in needing to have a waiting time and police check to buy a gun. All good points. And I concur about a reasonable waiting period, etc. A week? Two? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-did-gun-culture-blossom-in-the-us-and-seemingly-not-in-most-other-western-countries/837090/188 "2019-07-19T23:23:22Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > All good points. And I concur about a reasonable waiting period, etc. A week? Two? 2 weeks strikes me as a good amount of time. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2019, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-did-gun-culture-blossom-in-the-us-and-seemingly-not-in-most-other-western-countries/837090/189 "2019-07-20T02:03:02Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > That does seem odd. I dont know of anyone like that. I’ve known several like that, and those are ones I’d classify as gun nuts. The most egregious example lost everything he owned in a house fire. The firefighters weren’t too thrilled to get too close when ten thousand rounds (or maybe several tens of thousands of rounds, I no longer remember) were cooking off, and the loss was uninsured since of course he’d never wanted to tell the insurance company exactly what and how many he owned. > [@JXJohns](#): > > Perhaps they are getting ahead of the next stamp price increase? I bought three SKS rifles in the early '90’s for $99 a piece. Those same rifles are selling at around $400 today. Getting ahead of a stamp price increase presupposes that you will have a use for the stamps (and if that’s the case, there are plenty of places to get bulk quantities of usable postage stamps at below face value when you need them, rather than tying up money for ‘someday’). Most guns have seen a reasonable appreciation over the past decade or so, roughly corresponding to the “Obama’s gonna take our guns!” rallying cry. However, most common guns haven’t really kept pace with other investments: the Dow, for example with dividends reinvested has returned north of 1400 percent since the early '90s. (DJIA in July 1992 was around 3300, while it closed today above 27,000.) ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2019, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-did-gun-culture-blossom-in-the-us-and-seemingly-not-in-most-other-western-countries/837090/190 "2019-07-20T12:53:12Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I mean, if you’re experienced with them, and not afraid of them, they quit being some sort of object of awe, and become another sporting item or tool. A dangerous one to be sure, but the thought process is kind of like how you think about a relatively dangerous tool like a table saw or chain saw- you have to be very mindful and aware of what’s going on when you’re using/handling them, and in the case of guns, where/how you store them. You have to also accept the reality that giving people, who aren’t at all “very mindful” about anything, the right to keep guns around in any way they please, is making you less safe. Because if they hate you, they have the drop on you. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2019, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-did-gun-culture-blossom-in-the-us-and-seemingly-not-in-most-other-western-countries/837090/191 "2019-07-21T00:26:31Z")
Do or did other countries movies and tv always have so much gun violence as is now and was before as the US did? I’m thinking old westerns and cop shows where guns were everywhere. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-did-gun-culture-blossom-in-the-us-and-seemingly-not-in-most-other-western-countries/837090.md?page=9)