Support for Gun Control in US at its Lowest Level in More than 50 Years

[Husar]

Oh yes mister Cube, if you were to join the chat more often you'd find me rant about european issues quite often as well.

Just out here in the open I adopted the American idea of corporate identity and would never say anything bad about Europe, we're the greatest, we rule, our kindergarten kids could beat your marines and then conquer China without even using guns, man!
Europe is far from being ideal, it's just annoying when Americans try to tell us our countries would be more secure if we had a similar love-relationship to guns like they do.

In the same way it has to be annoying when I tell them that their country still is more violent and would be better if they didn't have that gun-culture.

But the difference is that I'm right and they're wrong.

For the US to ban guns now it's a bit late indeed, but maybe if you stopped embracing violence as your favourite means of "getting things done", there'd be less violence around overall.

Europeans trying to rely on the state and getting everything from the state is a myth anyway as you said yourself, not to forget that the Americans harping on that always assume that most Americans would completely rely on welfare if there were a little bit more than there is today as well.
So that effectively means most Americans would want to be more like Europeans but the good, american, hard-working folks are preventing that?

Now that would be an unfair view as well, my point is actually to vote democrat!
Because a donkey logo is more peaceful than an elephant logo.

As for our own faults and problems, well, we currently have a president who likes to threaten the press whenever they want to release an article about him that he feels uncomfortable with.
Then he promises unforeseen transparency and to answer 400 questions before taking that back and releasing nothing.

Arguably that has nothing to do with Americans loving violence and having power phantasies about guns like never before though.

In other news a man who got sentenced to a year on probation for not paying 44k€ in welfare for his employees didn't just walk out of court, he shot at the judge (and missed) and the prosecutor instead, killing the prosecutor. Happened in Bavaria. Link.
I'm not sure what that says about guns being a good thing, especially since his was illegally obtained.

As for the opinion of the german people on this, I actually read comments saying that it is understandable given how the german state harasses the small job creators with these insurance payments...
Sounds quite American, doesn't it?

How it's understandable to shoot a prosecutor doing his job over a monetary and political issue is beyond my neo-liberal euroweenie brain though. I think it's just nuts.

[rvg]

... it's just annoying when Americans try to tell us our countries would be more secure if we had a similar love-relationship to guns like they do.

It's not about guns. It's about freedom, specifically the freedom to possess and carry them. I do not own a gun, but if I wanted one I could walk into a sporting goods store today and pick me up a nice rifle. Just like that. This kind of freedom deserves all the praise it gets and should be defended at all costs.

[Tellos Athenaios]

It's about freedom, specifically the freedom to possess and carry them.

Funnily enough you have that same freedom in Europe as well. All you need to do in order to exercise such freedom is obtaining a licence which is not too difficult.

Us Europeans walk into a bar at age 16 and buy a drink, just like that. A matter of priorities, I guess.

[rvg]

Funnily enough you have that same freedom in Europe as well. All you need to do in order to exercise such freedom is obtaining a licence which is not too difficult.

Us Europeans walk into a bar at age 16 and buy a drink, just like that. A matter of priorities, I guess.

In Germany for example you have to get a separate permit for each firearm you're planning to buy. Oh, and you have to prove that you *need* a gun (i.e. being a hunter or a professional marksman). That's not quite free. That's almost freedom but I prefer to be free, not almost free.

[Husar]

What about your freedom to smoke weed? When was the last time you praised and campaigned for that? I know some do, but there is no National Weed Association yet.
We don't have that freedom here either mind you, but what makes the freedom to buy guns so much more precious when most people never really need them anyway (just like weed)?

And there's the argument we had before. What about the freedom to buy a working tank or F-22? The freedom to check everything your government does? There are quite a few things governments reserve for themselves almost exclusively and whether guns are one of them or not doesn't seem like the biggest freedom issue to me. As Tellos said, your 16 year olds aren't even free to buy beer while ours are.

And please don't say guns keep the government in check, your hear about as many complaints about congress than almost any comparable european institution.

The notable difference seems to be that despite guns, more Americans are really worried about someone coming into their home and harming them or their family.

Here we prefer to be free of such worries.

[rvg]

... but what makes the freedom to buy guns so much more precious when most people never really need them anyway (just like weed)

Because guns allow you to protect yourself.

[Husar]

Because guns allow you to protect yourself.

So does a bullet proof vest.

Are they legal in the US?