Guns, Guns, Guns. America loves Guns.

When making a post, please ensure it complies with this site's Main Rules at all times.
  • Hundreds of thousands of Americans are expected to turn out for rallies across the country later on Saturday in support of tighter gun control.

    March For Our Lives grew out of a movement calling for change after 17 people were killed by a gunman at a high school in Florida last month.

    On Friday, the White House said it would ban bump stocks, which give semi-automatic guns rapid-fire capability.

    But many activists are calling for more extensive legislation.

    American students aren't letting the issue of gun control fade away, but is a country obsessed with guns really ready to take meaningful measures on gun control?

    The ban on bump stocks is a good sign.

  • Schoolchildren across the US walked out of their classrooms on Friday morning to demonstrate against gun violence.

    The National School Walkout marked the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado.

    Connecticut high school pupil Lane Murdock set up the event in the wake of the Parkland shooting in Florida.

    Only one hour before the walkout was due to begin, authorities say a student in Ocala, Florida was shot in the ankle at the Forest High School.

    I'm glad that the American kids are keeping up their pressure against guns, but as that last sentence shows, gun violence in schools continues unabated.

  • An off-duty FBI agent who accidentally shot a man while dancing in a Denver nightclub has been charged with second-degree assault.

    The agent, named by police as Chase Bishop, was performing a backflip in a nightclub when his gun fell out of his pocket and shot a bystander in the leg.

    Ok, this story isn't about a mass shooting, but it does illustrate what can happen in a gun culture. Why the FBI bloke thought it was necessary to taken his gun with him while he went clubbing, would be known only to him.

    (click on the orange link above to read the BBC article and watch the video)

  • The U.S. is the only country in the world that has more guns than people, according to a new report.

    America is home to 393.3 million civilian-owned guns and has a population of 316.5 million, amounting to 120.5 firearms per 100 people, according to a report by Small Arms Survey, a Geneva-based think tank.

    It's significantly more than in Canada, where a population of 36.6 million people owns 12.7 million guns, equating to 34.7 firearms for every 100 people. And Mexico, home to 130.2 million people and 16.9 million guns, has a concentration of just 12.9 firearms per 100 people.

    I've continually talked about America's gun culture in this thread, but as this article says, other countries have gun cultures too, but they don't have anywhere near the gun violence of America. I wonder why that is....?

    Perhaps its time to stop being PC and say why American has such high gun crime.

  • Eleven people have been killed, officials say, in a gun attack on a synagogue in the US city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

    The gunman, who opened fire as the Tree of Life synagogue held a service, was later taken into custody.

    President Donald Trump said "a lot of people" had been killed and injured in a "wicked act of mass murder".

    This mass shooting is a bit different to the usual ones which normally happen in schools, as this was a religious motivated attack against a Jewish community. And what was the American president's wonderful response to this atrocity? He stated that if the synagogue had a armed gun, probably no one would have got killed except the attacker. What a fucking idiot he is.X(

    When will Americanicans learn that more guns is not the answer to these mass shootings?

  • This mass shooting is a bit different to the usual ones which normally happen in schools, as this was a religious motivated attack against a Jewish community. And what was the American president's wonderful response to this atrocity? He stated that if the synagogue had a armed gun, probably no one would have got killed except the attacker. What a fucking idiot he is.X(

    When will Americanicans learn that more guns is not the answer to these mass shootings?

    so what do you say we do then. good luck trying to persuade people to give there guns in. i agree the US needs tighter gun laws but not a complete ban. all that will happen if you ban guns is violent cartels will form to smuggle guns in. also I wold like to see you run a country any better :thumbdown:

  • Imagine the deaths that would occur if Police tried to disarm America , you will never get a politician in the US to put forward a ban on guns .Just be thankful this is one Americanism we can stop .

  • We stopped it by never having guns to be begin with and events like Dumblane just sealed their fate further.

    I agree that if American authorities did try to disarm some Americans, there would be a bloodbath and so a voluntary handover would be needed.

    so what do you say we do then. good luck trying to persuade people to give there guns in. i agree the US needs tighter gun laws but not a complete ban. all that will happen if you ban guns is violent cartels will form to smuggle guns in.

    I think that's a good point. The current drugs gangs would start to smuggle guns too, so it would be impossible to control in such a large country, however I would like to see some attempt to curb them, starting with machine guns.

  • AND/OR HORIZON

    President Donald Trump said "a lot of people" had been killed and injured in a "wicked act of mass murder".

    He stated that if the synagogue had a armed gun, probably no one would have got killed except the attacker. What a fucking idiot he is.

    When will Americanicans learn that more guns is not the answer to these mass shootings?

    So what do you say we do then. good luck trying to persuade people to give there guns in. i agree the US needs tighter gun laws but not a complete ban. all that will happen if you ban guns is violent cartels will form to smuggle guns in. also I wold like to see you run a country any better :thumbdown:

    I can't see how connecting this with Trump's simplistic/populist vocabulary and/or the Second Amendment is going to address the core of the problem. Most other presidents would have spoken to the nation in a more dignified way, uttering the usual/useless "something must be done" sentiments. The way Trump expresses himself often makes me cringe with embarrassment - it is the very opposite of gravitas. Yet he is right that if the synagogue has armed guards it could have been prevented what happened. But no one can ever accuse Trump of being a visionary, of realising the ultimate consequence of what he has suggested that one ends up in a situation where no place is safe from a lunatic's attack without armed guards and, at that point, America's new norm is to be under siege from itself. The idea that the attacker is going to weigh up different targets to decide where his act of lunacy will have the best chance of success would be hilarious if it wasn't so tragically stupid.

    Antisemitism has been around for a couple of thousand years. One could list numerous causes, many of which will continue indefinitely, just as long as Jews seek a distinct and undiluted identity, which is entirely their legal and moral prerogative but, it has to be said, often does them no favours in these fractious times of identity politics. There have been periods when most Jews tried to keep a low profile to avoid being targeted. As their wealth, power, influence and self-confidence increased (with the birth of Israel as their proud safety net), their identity became high profile, so that antisemitism that had been lying dormant or low-key became re-energised.. But antisemitism can't be blamed solely on Jews maintaining a high profile, becoming wealthy and influential, aggressively lobbying the US (and UK) into supporting and protecting their tenure and refusing to split/share/relinquish part of their homeland (which is either 50 or 2000 years old) with Hamas-led Palestinians. These are valid factors for criticising or questioning the morality of Judaism's exceptionalism, but they hardly explain a hard wired hatred of Jews that can turn disapproval or even detestation into systematic mass annihilation that has taken place over the centuries, culminating in the pogroms and the holocaust. I think I know the reason and also the remedy but I doubt that this forum is inclined to dig that deep. So I'll just provide an "appetiser" of the origin of the "The Jewish Problem" by googling this:

    You People - The Pawnbroker (3/8) Movie CLIP (1964) HD

    But antisemitism is just a specific problem calling for a specific remedy. The horrible truth in America (and increasingly beyond) is that any or all citizens are vulnerable when the root cause isn't a fermenting hatred of specific targets but instead madness, mental instability, uncontrollability, perversion, nihilism or whatever you want to call it. Trying to find out why such demented people target one segment in preference to another (if indeed they have any consistent preference rather than just bees in one's bonnet for a while) is a pointless quest unless the prescribed remedy is to have armed guards everywhere, or for citizens to keep themselves under the lunatic's radar, or to just stay at home with windows made of bullet proof glass.

    If one is looking for reasons why these seemingly mindless acts of barbarism are on the increase across such a wide range of segments (pop concertgoers, schoolchildren, shoppers, pedestrians at Westminster Bridge, Las Vegas attendees, etc) I would suggest it is causally-related to these upward trends:

    a) Impressionability / Copycatting

    b) Identity politics / Tribalism

    c) Aggression / Mental ill-health

    d) Reaction formation against tolerance / PC / Neo-Liberal fascism

    e) Popular Democracy and its inevitable morphing into Mob Democracy

  • It was amazing how leftwing commentators made this a Mr Trump issue and immediately attacked him , funny how Saint Obama who did jack all to stop guns in 8 years never , ever gets a mention.

  • We stopped it by never having guns to be begin with and events like Dumblane just sealed their fate further.

    I agree that if American authorities did try to disarm some Americans, there would be a bloodbath and so a voluntary handover would be needed.

    I think that's a good point. The current drugs gangs would start to smuggle guns too, so it would be impossible to control in such a large country, however I would like to see some attempt to curb them, starting with machine guns.

    How many Americans would lose their jobs if the US disarmed through legislation?? , it would be political suicide on a scale never seen before from the instigators.

  • This is something the Left always cite that it's one massive money making machine. The defence companies keep making the guns, the gun lobby keeps promoting them and pressures politicians to prevent gun legislation and the gun violence continues. Personally, I think life is more important that jobs.

  • I can't see how connecting this with Trump's simplistic/populist vocabulary and/or the Second Amendment is going to address the core of the problem

    Simple. He is advocating more violence to curb violence. Having more of something will not mean it will reduce.

    But as you said on the letterbombs thread, the attacker could simply be totally nuts regardless of anything else. But having a fruit-loop in a culture where you can buy a gun in a supermarket, will lead to only one outcome.

    Yet he is right that if the synagogue has armed guards it could have been prevented what happened.

    Not necessarily and if there were armed guards, a lot more people could have been killed as they found themselves in the middle of a shoot out.

    The idea that the attacker is going to weigh up different targets to decide where his act of lunacy will have the best chance of success would be hilarious if it wasn't so tragically stupid.

    I think that's probably right, but until the attacker is found, his motivations are unknown.

  • 1) Simple. He is advocating more violence to curb violence. Having more of something will not mean it will reduce.

    2) But as you said on the letterbombs thread, the attacker could simply be totally nuts regardless of anything else. But having a fruit-loop in a culture where you can buy a gun in a supermarket, will lead to only one outcome.

    3) Not necessarily and if there were armed guards, a lot more people could have been killed as they found themselves in the middle of a shoot out.

    4) I think that's probably right, but until the attacker is found, his motivations are unknown.

    1) You've obviously discovered a source that confirms Trump is advocating violence to curb violence. Do let me in on it. I assume you're not just talking about national defence against countries that might otherwise be disposed to fire missiles at America. I also presume you're not talking about Trump's suggestion to have armed guards to protect unarmed citizens - there are some bereaved people from that Westminster incident wondering if their loved one would still be alive if our police were armed.

    I don't understand your point that "having more of something will not mean it will reduce". How can adding more of the same to something end up reducing that something? The point is that it's not more of the same. The loony with the gun (Mr Nutter) is trying to kill innocent people (The Unchosen). The guard with a gun (Mr Bronson) is there to deter or destroy Mr Nutter. It's not a dead cert that Mr Bronson with a gun is going prevent or destroy the threat to innocent life of by Mr Nutter but it's surely a no-brainer that Mr Bronson will reduce rather than increase the risk, certain moreso than will an unarmed Dixon of Dock Green. I think if you want to play the tiresome game of Devil's Advocate as a stimuli for forum exchange your counter argument needs to make sense (or as you would put it, not be rubbish!). Otherwise I'm just talking to myself.

    2) Your definition of the problem has no solution if no one in authority, not even the police, knows he is a nutter or they are unable or unwilling to prevent the nutter from getting a gun. Remember here that if the nutter can't get the gun from an ordinary gun retailer because his identity card has a coding that reveals him to be a nutter, then he can get the gun from some underworld gun dealer or get a friend to buy it for him. There is no way you can stop nutters from getting a gun. And arguably there is no way you can stop non-nutters from buying a gun - and probably no way you should stop them, if only because they need the gun to defend themselves against the gun-owning nutter

    3) You are just elaborating on your thin argument in (1) but you'r not taking it further. It's dead easy to produce a counter scenario by prefacing it with "could" and "if". But you know very well that we are dealing with probabilities and no one in their right hand could argue that the presence of armed guards are more likely to increase the chance of innocent people being killed by a nutter than the absence of armed guards. I presume you're not making an argument on the basis of cost-effectiveness! You might argue that seeing all those armed guards accompanying Jews visiting their synagogue might turn a moderate peaceful antisemite into an armed-nutter antisemite but that's a bit of a stretch. Look, I don't like this gun escalation any more than you do but until people-monitoring techiques for crime prediction or anti-social mental deterioration gets a lot more sophisticated (and there goes the privacy of innocent citizens) I think there is no choice but armed guards in this mad mad world.

    4) Glad we agree on something! It's my primary motivation!

  • Inside US training course to arm teachers

    In 14 US states, there are already schools in which some teachers carry guns. Here's what they're taught.

    (Reminder: to read the articles, click on the orange links where it says "Quote from...")

    This is just depressing. Why don't they just go the whole hog and arm all the kiddies too? Give them nice big machine guns.:(

  • Rather than discuss the legality of guns in America, which is talked about anywhere,

    What is causing the increase in gun crime? Media?

    The increase in mental health issues seems more prevalent.

  • True Royal, but the easy access to guns is still a significant factor in gun crime over there which enables any nutjob to get hold of military grade weapons, if they so wish.

    Rather than discuss the legality of guns in America, which is talked about anywhere,

    What is causing the increase in gun crime? Media?

    The increase in mental health issues seems more prevalent.

    it is a mix of both. but banning guns is much easier and cheaper than changing peoples mindsets

Participate now!

Don’t have an account yet? Register yourself now and be a part of our community!