How do you Americans react to this ?
 

Besides in the military and in the holster of policemen, as far as I can remember, I have not come in contact with any fire arms at all during my 41 years of life.

I think that´s good.






I am in that kind of mood today. ;)
Almost midnight here. On call, pretty slow so far.

Re: How do you Americans react to this ?
 

Well, like a guy who has never had a really hot chick or nice car, you don't know what you are missing :D

Marcus,

How did you have a run in with a solder fielding a firearm? :)

Its OK with my red neck..But I would feel naked without my firarms. Considering in the US, only the bad guys would have them then..

The vast majority of Americans own a firearm! They are not going anywhere anytime soon..

Sticks and stones may break my bones but bullets really hurt.

Marcus,

To stir the pot again..You should have titled this thread " I think Americans shouldn't own Firearms. I have never needed to shoot anyone in Sweden".

:)

I'm really OK

The only time I need a gun is when someone else is planning to harm myself or my family. I don't put up with that crap, and I don't rely on someone else to take care of me.

Having weapons helps me sleep better at night, even if I never use them.

The Swiss males all have a fully automatic weapon at home. No issues there...

I touch guns every single day and don't want to be without them. I've never seen a cop stop a dangerous situation, but I've seen plenty of them. Best not to rely on anyone else for your safety.

I have heard about hot chicks. Didn´t think it was all that cracked up... Maybe I should try it some day. What´s the going rate these days?

I can see your point if living in a society with a significant crime rate that, without a personal canon, will statistically drastically lower your expected time on Earth. Unless you accidentally shoot yourselves in the foot or hurt your family members instead..

Still, does it not feel a tiny bit sad that matters are the way they are in that respect ?

Incidentally, Mr. Moore did have a relevant point asking: Don´t you think it is kind of risky handing out guns in a bank (for opening an account) ??? :D

NRA files Butte Montana
November 5, 2006

Home invasion gone wrong for criminals.


Two illegal aliens, Raphael Resindez 23, and Enrico Garza 26, probably believed they would easily overpower and rape a home alone 11 year old Patricia Harrington after her father had left their two story home.

It seems the two crooks never learned two things, they were in Montana, and Patricia had been a clay shooting champion since she was nine.

Patricia was in her upstairs room when the two men broke through the front door of the house. She quickly ran to her father's room and grabbed his 12 gauge Mossberg 500 shotgun.

Resindez was the first to get up to the second floor only to be the first to catch a near point blank blast of buck shot from the 11 year'olds knee crouch aim. He suffered fatal wounds to his abdomen and genitals. OUCH!


When Garza ran to the foot of the stairs, he took a blast to the left shoulder and staggered out into the street where he bled to death before medical help could arrive.


It was found out later that Resindez was armed with a stolen 45 caliber handgun he took from another home invasion robbery, where the victim, 50 year old David Burien, was not so lucky, as he died from stab wounds to the chest.

Had this happened in CA, the ACLU would be out in force suing the 11 year old girl. (Not to mention the LaRaza groups claiming she was discriminating.)

Nice'Shootin', Patricia!


That is what we call gun control!

Actually ... it`s more like 'criminal control' by using gun control ......

I look upon my firearms the same way I do my health insurance...
I hope I don't need to use it, but when the s#it hits the fan, I don't want to be caught with my pants down!

-Nick

+1 Nick! Stay proficient. Neither myself or my wife have ANY problem in making the decision. There would be NO hesitation if the situation required deadly force.

That is scary. On one hand her actions possibly saved her life. On the other hand - how does a little girl react on the fact that she has shot and killed two persons (whether they deserved it or not).

One topic that will always bring out quite diverse opinions is the subject of firearms. I, for one, do not at this time own any, but I respect the right of those who do. It is just unfortunate that so many of us feel that having a firearim for protection (rather than hunting or competition) is necessary. It is a problem that seems to grow more serious with time, and I wish I knew why.......Perhaps it is the flawed nature of humanity and the need to counter that flaw..

Well, better than living in fear the rest of her life if they only raped & beat, mutilated her & left her for dead. I would rather live knowing I that I did the world a favor and saved who knows how many others from those too, of course just the fact of still being alive would be enough for most. I look at my guns like some of my cars, do I really need them, no, but they are styles I like (914-6GT, RSR, AR-15, ect) and how they preform, I love shooting targets, frozen 2 liter bottles, ect.

Livi:

Questioning the right to bear arms in America is like a foreigner questioning Abba, or vodka or Lutfisk in Sweden. No good can come of it.

Would be great if guns were only for sport (hunting and trap shooting).
But with a country of 300 Million (Versus 9M in Sweden), there are definitely different issues.

My wife is Swiss and every single man in her family has a gun (big deal). They too skipped WW2.

Swedes are pretty cool, and your women are awesome (I have worked with Ericsson a lot). The fact that your country was not even a consideration for invasion during WW2, stresses the countries ability BE neutral through even difficult times.

That's revisionist history.

The Swiss profited handsomely from their "neutrality". And they only reason Hitler didn't take Switzerland was because it suited him. It certainly wasn't - as the Swiss would have you believe - because of the fearsome Swiss military.

As for Sweden, it's neutrality suited Hitler and it was of no strategic significance. Besides it was pretty firmly in his pocket, and "why buy the cow when the milk is free?"

Dottore,
I know and I believe you are correct on both counts in both posts regarding Sweden. We (thankfully) were allowed to 'chicken out' - and we (our government) chose that option. Double standard in all it´s beauty.

However, in my opinion you may question Lutfisk any day. It it simply awful. Vodka too, but at least it has a nice effect.

The story posted by Ron is an urban legend. On the other hand I believe in being prepared. The crime rate in my town is extremely low, probably lower than where you live Marcus. I don't care. I keep a gun readily available and hope I never need it. But should someone break into my home while my family is inside they will not be leaving it alive.

Markus,

In America, we live in a society where politicians make excuses for people entering the country illegally who commit violent crimes against its citizens. Our criminal justice system turns violent criminals loose for lame excuses like: He was angry at society because he felt he was discriminated against as a minority. Child molesters and rapists are sentenced to counseling and such nonsense. Unarmed citizens who have their homes invaded by criminals are found dead by incompetent law enforcement.

Our constitution was written to to keep power-drunk federal government in check under the threat of an armed militia. I am a sport shooter. My purpose is primarily for recreation. I am also aware that being a gun owner gives me a better chance of defending my family and me in the event that someone shoud target my house while I'm in it.

I've never been scared by the mere presence of a gun in the posession of law enforcement, the military or a law abiding citizen. The idea of disarming the law-abiding and leaving weapons to the law breakers does scare me.

cars kill more people than gun owners, turn in your car

Revisionist history. NO $%^T Sherlock! OH my God. History by definition is revisionist. That statement is as intelligent as like saying "liquid water."

Since you felt like including my wife's Swiss heritage in your comments, lets go there!

I did not say anything positive or negative about Sweden or the Swiss with regard to WW2.
The issue at hand is why the US are OK with guns. My response was not about why a country partipated, but to commend Sweden for being truly neutral.

Should move the discussion to how England fights wars and how they thier past imperialist ways are still having effects around the world today.........

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1183252307.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1183252268.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1183252520.jpg

The legislation in Sweden also leaves a lot to be desired in terms of the right to defend yourself and your property. A burglar tripping and hurting himself on an object on my property will be able to sue me. A burglar getting beat up by the home owner in his own bedroom will likely win a law suit. A burglar getting killed by the owner while protecting his children will send said owner to prison for a long time. It is in my opinion really f¤%& up.

Too all and every person her body and soul as well as property should be sacred. Mess with either and you are out. In Sweden you get therapy and a pat on the back..

Ronin, I do like that poster!

Markus,

I fear you're getting a skewed sample here. I for one, am a 48 year old American man. I do not, nor have I ever owned a gun of any kind. I have never felt the need for any reason to do so. I have never been threatened, attacked, or otherwise experienced any event that would lead me to consider owning a gun.

I have three young kids. I'm of the belief that the presence of a gun, with ammunition available, presents more risk than it resolves. It makes sense to me that the odds of a horrific accident are far greater than the odds that I'll ever need it, have it available, and use it successfully for self defense. Hence....no guns here.

I suppose if I lived in a high crime area, I might feel different. But, I wouldn't live in a high crime area. I'd rather live where I can relax and enjoy life rather than live in an evironment where the need for a gun is overwhelming. It's all about choices.

Hey Markus, if you feel left out, we could probably schedule some time to take over Sweden. Give us a couple of weeks, looks like there are a couple of other countries in line :p

Hey, keep ABBA and lutfisk out of this pls ;)

(but you might try the surströmming, it's fermented herring.....pretty lethal actually)

....and yes, you Americans are gun nuts, no doubt.
Living in a society where you need to have a firearm to feel safe, damn that must be tough. :(

Then don't let them find the body, we have Gators in FL. for that;) http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1183253461.jpg

Boy are you wrong, if you taught your kids at a young age (like my father did) to respect and how to handle fire arms they would be much safer than trying to hide them from guns. :(

I've never lived in a house that wasn't full of guns. Somehow I made it without ever coming close to getting hurt with one. But I sure have had some injuries with cars, bicycles, motorcycles, kitchen knives, cooking, you name it. Guns are the least of my worries.

Chocaholic, that is nice to hear.

Dave, I appreciate the irony.

Racer, that is not an authentic pic, is it??

Yes Marcus it is just a bit sad.

Growing up, I wasn't aloud to have a BB gun, so my dad gave me a Shot Gun when I turned 12:D

We also had a real one of these when I was growing up, and I knew better than to ever touch or mess with it, or I would really get hurt:eek: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1183255923.jpg

Thompson 1927A-1 model T1

All the classic details of the time honored original are reproduced in today's semi-auto Thompson. The frame and receiver are machined from solid steel. The wood is genuine American walnut. This .45 caliber carbine features a 16 1/2" finned barrel, compensator and is available with a blued steel receiver.

50 Round Drum, 30 Round Stick Magazine

I have no guns in my house and besides seeing sidearms on Police have never been around guns in day to day life.

My dad hunted and has guns and they were in my house growing up. Dad took me ou tin the woods when I was about 12 years old and blew the side off a tree with his shotgun. It scared me. That was the point he wanted me to understand that playing with the gun would end up with someone looking like the last 1/2 of the tree just add blood.

I got the point and never touched his guns. Conversly a neighborhood friend, who was a detectives son, took out of of his dads many gus to show us when we were about 13-14 years old and no parents were home. I left immediatly after I was teased for begging him to put the gun away. I did not want to die.


In my adult life I have chosen not to have any guns in my house, I do not feel the need for them, I do not hunt and do not feel threatened in day to day life to neccesitate owning a gun for self defense. If I lived somewhere that made me feel threateneed I would move.

My personal view - and I'll take some flack for this - is that there is a fairly high correlation between the love for guns and a deep emotional immaturity. The owner of the gun believes he derives a certain strength from his weapon that he himself sadly lacks as a human being.

I lived in Switzerland for a good many years and always thought there was something deeply juvenile about the military service there, and the manner in which Swiss men dealt with this. There's a kind of adolescent locker room mentality it about it all. If you (Wickd89) ever want to amuse yourself ask your Swiss in-laws the next time just why it is they have a compulsory military service and have guns under their beds. Is it the Austrians they're afraid of, or the Italians?

And I echo what Flattbut says, there is something very sad about Americas infatuation with weapons. And very immature. As the replies to this post will surely demonstrate.

Racer: Is Chocoholic really "wrong" or do you just differ in opinion? Seems as if this is a subject of individual decision and not "rightness" or "wrongness". Your preference is simply that. A preference, not right for everyone or wrong. A lot like religion...............

that is the truth, i remember when i was young when my dad was cleaning his guns that it was all business and no play.....period, there wasn't a second option.

The simple fact is, when things go wrong, as they tend to, its best to rely on yourself.

You can call it childish, sad, immature, irresponsible, wrong headed, foolish, or what not. I don't care.

Perhaps the difference between both sides is I'm responsible for my safety, and even the safety of other's from any weapon I own.

Your safety depends on the government, and society.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/crime/homeinvasion.asp