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Gun control is a complex and interesting issue to deal with, which I read about recently. Although gun ownership rates have gone up in recent decades in the US, violent crimes are way down.
Also, not sure what this post has to do with Chengdu or anything. Fortunately China is very safe, especially so for foreigners.
What are the rules about guns in China? Not that I want one, but can citizens carry guns for any reason at all? The only people I’ve seen with guns so far are cops and military.
Quote:What are the rules about guns in China? Not that I want one, but can citizens carry guns for any reason at all? The only people I’ve seen with guns so far are cops and military.The rules are no guns allowed anywhere, ever. Only special police and armed bank guards have guns, basically. I have heard that there’s a black market for guns in China but in general you almost never even see guns in China. Unless you go to the Tibetan district, you see assault rifles there sometimes.
I just looked at this figure myself (as disconnected as it is to Chengdu!) to quiet my own disbelief, and turned up some other verifiable figures that show more Americans have died by gunfire (including self inflicted incidents) since 1968 than the casualties of all American wars in history beginning with the Revolutionary War. 1.4 million since 1968 vs 1.2 million casualties of war.
Taking guns away from Americans is akin to abolishing slavery. Not likely, but by an ordure persistence, possible.
Abolishing guns would certainly not make Americans safer nor reduce gun related deaths because any legislation would only affect law abiding citizens who are not the problem. States with concealed carry laws and higher gun ownership have less violence than states with very strict gun laws. It’s nice that China doesn’t have to worry about this issue because I agree that no guns in a society is better, but that will never be an option in the US.
I don’t necessarily agree that no guns in a society is better, but I do agree that it isn’t an option in the US.
Too many people in the US, if asked why they want guns, would say “to defend myself against the government in case they go power mad and start trying to take away my rights.” Then it’s sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy as the only way you are going to get those people to give them up is by force, which of course would justify their thoughts.
Personally, I don’t own any and don’t really care to. But, I would like to keep the option available should I ever change my mind.
Ok I’ll bite a little even though this thread needs shooting dead…
Anytime the idea of abolition is mentioned, discussed, or pondered for even a moment, it meets with a history so entrenched that it’s impossible for the majority of Americans (or any other nationals) to imagine anything but guns guns guns. America was born of the gun, still haunted by a confederate state of mind. A state of mind that perhaps now faces more challenge than at any time in history. Of course it runs deeper than a few hundred thousand bunker bound keepers of faith, there’s a very real and tangible purpose to ‘gun control’ that rarely finds it’s way into media discussion… gun manufacturers need to sell what they produce. Lobbyists are working hard to keep crack dealers packing heat. Simplification, but ultimately a truth of circumstance. Add to this a media that only perpetuates the presence of firearms in news and entertainment every minute of every day, and there’s little escape from the mindset.
With all this and more in mind it’s next to unfathomable to imagine the passing of the gun. Short of a Police State, and a serious reversal of fortune for those who currently profit, it’s not likely I’ll see abolition in my lifetime. Paradoxically it’s not unlikely either should this issue ever come to an impasse, the whispers of which have been drawing closer since 2008.
Quote:When I were in America I visited a Gun store….it is fantasitic that I have never seen.I’m in San Francisco now… a few hours ago I was in a taxi with two Chinese colleagues and they both said they wanted to visit a gun store. When I told them we can just go to a range and shoot, they got super excited!
AK47 the very best there is, when you absolutely positively got to kill every motherfucker in the room – accept no substitutes.
Quote:This is going to get me some shit, but here goes…Who is that?
The vast majority of gun-related murders are committed with handguns for a number of reasons, but principally because they’re so easy to use and to conceal. The ban of things like assault rifles is ironic because such a relatively tiny number of murders are committed with them, while handguns will never be outlawed in the states (they have been specifically declared a constitutional right).
Quote:AK47s are a blast to shoot! I highly recommend that you try it if you get a chance.I’ve never shot one before, but I would be up for that. I held one in Denver last year after meeting a lawyer who had one – unregistered!
Guns don’t kill people rappers do
Or to continue with this – Lazers!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chxC7ZLR_w8
Interesting comparisons though – American Civil War and the Chinese Taiping Rebellion were the first domestic conflicts to fully deal with the complexities of newly developed automatic weaponry. Both ended up pretty bad for all and sundry. The American civil war had the highest percentage death toll per person involved and the Taiping the highest in a civil war ever. Bad news all around. No winners in this conversation I think.
The redhead, if that’s a serious question, is James Holmes. He’s the guy who showed up dressed in costume, at a movie theater near Denver and opened fire at the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises. 12 dead. Interesting that the guy had been in a PhD program in neuroscience, but dropped out. He was seeing a psychiatrist, but was still able to amass an arsenal. US Congress can’t even get it together to pass a law requiring background checks on all gun sales, although I don’t know if that would’ve helped in this case anyway. Not likely much will happen legislatively in the near future to reduce gun violence.
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