Why do Americans value the ability to own a gun so much?

The U.S. has very high murder rates for a first world country. It has a very low murder rate for a developing country. IT makes sense, since a good percentage of our population has recently come from the developing world. Roughly speaking, 13% of our population is first generation immigrants.

 

Well... I suppose we must all improve then.

Let's get on with it, I say.

 

They are the exception not the rule. Also my example was not between two extremely fit people. My example was an older lady vs an 18 yr old who was experience at violence (I never specified gender of the gangbanger, as there are female gangbangers, BTW). I know that in a physical fight, I, an overweight out of shape man, wouldn't have a chance against a 18 yr old gangbanger. That is part of the reason I believe in guns for self-defense.

 

The UN as a source?

Hardly credible kinda like believing Castro when he describes the wonderful health care system of communist cuba.

No America is not a dangerous place but on the other hand we believe in self determination and self reliance making us superior to those backwards Scandinavian nations who seek government to solve all of their problems which it cannot do. Hence the growing cracks and evidence of failure in the governments of those nations.

 

Do you have a better one?

...and there came the insults and namecalling.

My ignore-list keeps on growing unabated, it seems.

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Well, if you put it like that, I do suppose the US has a fairly low murder rate for a country undergoing an actual civil war, if you want to make such comparisons.

Oh wait, no it doesn't. Did I mention the US has twice the murder rate of (*)(*)(*)(*)ing Syria?

 

Lol thats funny I stated no insults and called no names. And yes many superior sources exist

 

Guns in the hands of the citizens, is required to ensure the existence of liberty.

Its we the people here in America, we are citizens, not subjects.

 

Why do Americans value the ability to own guns so much? A few reasons....


But even MORE importantly the reason pointed out by the PREVIOUS post

 

Except that a women over the age of 65 who live in the vicinity of gangbangers are one of the least likely demographics to own a gun. So your scenario is more fantasy than reality.

 

Guess the OP doesnt want to discuss. He ignored this question.

 

If its about violence overall then you need to go (*)(*)(*)(*)(*) at the UK which has a higher violent crime rate and some truly (*)(*)(*)(*)ing stupid laws on self defense.

 

I'm sure. All the criminals in Syria are considered soldiers.... That stat is just an artifact of how things like that are measured.

That said, our murder rate is about 4.8 per 100,000 people. Most of Western Europe is around or less than 1 per 100,000 people. Most of South America (and currently there are very few wars going on in South America) has murder rates in the teens, while Venezuela's is about 54 per 100k.
(the wiki's source for the data is the UNODC data used by an earlier poster. They just put it in a convenient chart that can be easily sorted and filtered).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate

 

Doesn't make it less true. With a weapon that doesn't require physicality she has a chance. Without she is at the mercy of a criminal. FACT.

Just because old ladies that live in the hood don't buy guns doesn't change anything about the logic.

 

But despite being such a small demographic, it does happen.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/06/12/grandma-72-shoots-at-intruder-misses-in-calif/

 

The dirty little secret is that the majority of the gun murders occur in the heart of the cities like Chicago, Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, etc. Once you exit this ring of death, the murder rate is negligible in comparison. I might also add thta we are not Syria, Australia or Sweden, nor do we choose to be. I've lived long enough to know that all that glitters is not gold, and that there is a tradeoff for everything in life. You foreigners can keep your form of government, and we'll keep ours. This is still the country where people risk their lives and fortunes to come here. If they wanted to go to your nirvana countries, they would find a way to get there as well. If you want our illegals, I'm sure we can arrange to send them to you so you can see how much fun they are to have around.

 

They don't buy the guns, they send their grandkids out to get them from the guy on the corners who specializes in breaking & entering.

 

Agreed, my MIL lives alone and now keeps a loaded gun we trained her to use. IMO, it is unwise for anyone to not have one at home, especially older single women. We hounded her to shoot and keep a gun ready. After shooting it, she was no longer afraid of guns.

 

Projection is such an ugly thing.

 

Fancy words, but they don't change the facts.

How about doing something to try and fix the problem rather than saying the murder rate is fine because your country is so darn awesome?

 

If we locked up all the gang bangers closed the public housing projects the murder rate would drop by 50%. But you'd rather we did something that looks good but doesn't really solve the problem.

 

And we don't even have to justify it to the graboids and it really pisses them off and they wee wee on themselves.

 

Actually, it completely debunks the logic. The question is, why do Americans value the ability to own firearms. Grannies aren't buying guns to defend themselves from gangbangers, so it's not a logical answer to the question. It's a fantasy.

 

But it is not a valid explanation for America's love of firearms. The fact is, the demographic with the most guns are white men, aged 50+, in rural locations. And they aren't buying them to defend granny from gangbangers, unless they are completely deluded.

 

Thank you for proving my point on Classical Liberalism in the US vs. Positive Liberalism in the rest of the world.

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Because Conservatism, Marxism, Socialism, Fascism, really any ideology isn't a theory?

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What's the thread title called again? What is my point in this thread? It's not about what I think, rather the mentality of why the US likes guns.

 

You are so wrong about that.


True story out of McGregor, MN from a State Trooper...

I made a traffic stop on an elderly lady the other day for speeding on MN State Highway 210 at Mile Marker 197 just East of McGregor, MN.

I asked for her driver’s license, registration and proof of insurance.

The lady took out the required information and handed it to me. In with the cards I was somewhat surprised (due to her advanced age) to see she had a Conceal Carry Permit. I looked at her and ask if she had a weapon in her possession at this time.

She responded that she indeed had a .45 automatic in her glove box.

Something - - - body language, or the way she said it - - - made me want to ask if she had any other firearms. She did admit to also having a 9mm Glock in her center console. Now I had to ask one more time if that was all. She responded once again that she did have just one more, a .38 special in her purse. I then asked her what she was so afraid of.

She looked me right in the eye and said, “Not a f---ing thing!”

http://12160.info/photo/pistolpackinggranny?context=featured

Do a search for "pistol packing grannys". Too many for me to list. But how can you post about guns when you don't know what you're talking about?