This, @l5taylor, is what everyone bangs on about in the UK, and I think they just don't get the fact that America is literally built on the principle of gun ownership, amongst other things, of course. Blandly telling Americans to tighten up their gun laws is like trying to tell someone to take their shoes off whilst keeping both feet flat on the floor, or trying to tell a bear not to sh*t in the woods. People in the UK don't seem to get that it is incompatible with being American and the concept of America as a place. Well, the UK did lose against them in the War for Independence, so perhaps it's not unreasonable that they still don't understand. It is said that "A well armed populace is the best defence against tyranny.", and, after some consideration, I think this is a good point.
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Wow, you really get it. Following you. People don't realize why the Constitution and our border security remains intact. The Second Amendment.
We are not even encouraged to think about it in the UK. The whole thing is presented as barely worthy of debate - literally bordering on insane. Hah, ha, you know Americans, they're crazy, with their crazy gun laws. That's it, that's as far as most people ever go. The whys and wherefores are completely ignored. Hell, great swathes of American academia is studiously ignored too - some of the greatest thinking and reasoning the world has ever seen. Don't even get me started about the music. It's a disgrace. Brits don't know what a great friend we really have got in America.
I'm a voluntaryist who would gladly see even state governments go away, but Virginia's Declaration of Rights, written well before the US Constitution, explains it very well:
Section 13. That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.
It's almost funny, as someone who obviously was just brought up with this narrative to finally come to understand it - thanks for the elucidation. I honestly think that the official line from the powers-that-be over here has always been something like "Those crazy Yanks!". Over here we are thoroughly brainwashed into the idea of America as a zany but somehow flawed place. It has been surprising, over and over again, for me, to find elements of American culture displaying wisdom and understanding that is up there with any culture the old world has to offer. This approach to freedom, when looked at closely, is clearly the only mature route. And yet, like I said, in the UK people rarely, if ever, seem to say anything about it other than, as I have said, "Oh Americans and their crazy gun laws". We are like the farmyard dog that laughs at the free wolf because it has no collar and has to hunt its own food. We are kinda cute, but, ultimately, kinda domesticated. Not saying that's necessarily a bad thing. Depends how you feel about calling someone else "Master" I suppose. We claim to have given up on the "Divine Right of Kings" and yet there the Royal Family are and there is "Her Majesty's Government".
And people like you highlights exactly why things won't ever get better. Same mindset and same ' Americans beat the Uk' crap. It's a boring argument. All due respect of course. It will get to the point where other countries, not just the UK will stop having sympathy for a country that doesn't at least attempt to kerb these massacres.
Thank you for the due respect and I apologise if I came across as rude or ignorant. I am from the UK, never even visited the US but I have studied US culture as much as I have been able. For much of my life I assumed that things were as simple as most people in the UK seem to believe i.e. the Americans just need to sort out their 'crazy' gun laws. Time and experience have gone some way to convince me that it is not that simple. I'm going to leave it there because my wife has pointed out that it is poor taste to debate such things in the immediate aftermath of such horror, regardless of ones political views, and I think she's right. My apologies if I have offended you or anyone else on this thread. It's a bad business, I think we can agree on that at least.
Not at all. You didn’t offend me whatsoever. I appreciate the reply. Not everyone has the same idea as everyone else. Makes life more interesting. It’s defintely a bad business as you say. As your wife says, it’s in poor taste to debate such things but what are we seeing online at this exact moment... people saying the same things. And it is always after one of these atrocities. It’s just a shame that lessons are never learnt again and again. All the best!
I’ll just add.. I have spent time in the US with friends and family and never in my life have I seen guns more in real life than when I go there.
Tis the reason no one invades, even though we have made a few enemies.