Hiya, how nice of you to stop by! I was quite overwhelmed with the sense of 'stupid' a few days ago, reading about mass shootings and crazy abortion laws! America: Shiny on the outside, rotten on the inside ;-)
Good to hear we can agree partially! Luckily we don't have to agree on everything.
You know, I will probably never understand an american's view on guns. They do not protect you, unless maybe you carry one 24/7 on high alert, but that's no way to live. In any other given case, you're probably not close enough to your gun to even use it for protection. I also don't see why you'd want them as a hobby, but I'm not a man and as a female, a little lower on that whole testosterone thing. At the very least though, even if only for a hobby, I think you'd need LOTS of better rules than something like 'Oh hey, you're 18? Here, buy this gun on a whim without any checkup at all', which seems to be the case in a couple of states?
I know I feel a lot safer in my country, where there are various checkups and you can't own a gun unless you keep it in a safe and only once you've spend atleast a year frequenting a gun range, using one of theirs which stays on the gun range. I think you're even obligated to continue frequenting one and there can be checkups at home for how you keep your gun. You're not allowed to carry guns on the street here, nor bigass knifes. I think maybe you can get away with a pocket knife, but I'm not entirely sure about that one... More knifes amongst kids is a troubling development here though, so I hope we can turn the tide there.
If military and law enforcement possess firearms, I think everyone deserves the same right
I honestly don't see why. They carry them, because they are needed for their job. I would think they get checked out mentally and they will be well trained for this. If they tend to misuse them, maybe the US should work on a better hiring policy for these professions. And maybe a random police officer shouldn't carry a gun without question (I don't think they do in our country), but then I'd lean towards taking away guns from them, instead of releasing even more into the general public. What does a random citizen need a gun for? If there aren't many guns around in the first place, you won't need one either. Here, petty criminals can't get a hold of guns. Here, disturbed people can't get a hold of guns. Organized crime can, but they don't go around causing random mass shootings. They either shoot rival criminals, or on a very rare occasion, one innocent person for a very clear motive. All very bad, but well thought out and very few random victims, as opposed to what a deranged mind can do on a whim.
I just don't see the use of so many dangerous weapons spread out amongst the general population. There are too many stupid and/or troubled people amongst us to make this a good idea.
But I also know the US already screwed up with so many guns in the country and I wish you good luck in correcting that mistake.
P.S.: I'm not sure I'll reply again, because starting a new job soon! Gonna be tiiiiiired 😴😴😴
Thanks for pitching in though! I think Americans and Europeans will mostly just be too far apart on this subject.