Politicians and the media have given the non-gun owning public the wrong impression about gun culture in the U.S.
It's true. Guns are a big deal in the United States. Loads of people have them (41% of all American households, at last count), and loads of money is made from their manufacture and sale. And there is, indeed, a "gun culture" that exists in this country, especially in rural areas and in the south. But, contrary to popular belief among the uninformed, this gun culture is far from a hotbed of violence.
I am a gun owner and enthusiast, and I work in a gun store in North Carolina. (That's in the widely ridiculed and reviled American south, for all of my foreign friends.) Here are some things I wish more people comprehended about American gun culture.
The "gun-toting redneck" stereotype is total BS.
Ask someone uninitiated in the ways of American gun culture what a gun owner looks like, and you'll probably get an answer along these lines: White, male, middle aged, republican, fundamentalist Christian. If the person is particularly anti-gun, they might throw in a few more adjectives for fun: stupid, uneducated, redneck, racist.
This stereotype is total BS.
In the store where I work, I am part of a diverse staff that includes people from multiple races, religions (and lack thereof), and sexual orientations. Our customers also run the gamut of possible ethnicities, nationalities, belief systems, political opinions, genders, and walks of life. The vast majority of our customers strike me as intelligent and educated individuals. Not like this guy.
Would it surprise you to know that on a recent Friday, I sold guns and/or ammunition to two gay couples, an elderly Korean man, a single mother, a transgendered person, and a young man with cerebral palsy? And this is in the south, remember. I can only imagine that in more metropolitan areas the clientele is even more diverse. The spirit of unity in American gun culture transcends these types of superficial differences. It is not an uncommon occurrence in my store to see strangers from completely different walks of life discussing the relative merits of using a revolver as your concealed carry weapon. I see the same thing when I go to the shooting range. Black and white, gay and straight, Christian and Muslim and atheist, their mutual interest in guns and self-protection brings them together to admire each other's pistols and criticize each other's shooting technique.
The most common reasons for buying a gun
We sell all types of guns in the store where I work. Well--all the legal types, anyway. From AR-15s to tiny competition revolvers and everything in between. But what are the most common reasons people come into the shop to buy a firearm?
The most popular motivation is probably home protection and self defense. These folks are following a very natural, universal urge to keep themselves--and those they love--safe from potential danger. They are pragmatists at heart. They know that bad people are out there, and they figure it pays to be prepared in case you ever encounter one. A common gun owner joke is: "Why do I carry a gun? Because a cop is too heavy." In other words, it would be foolish to risk your life on the assumption that law enforcement will be able to reach you on time in a true emergency. Another adage to express the same truth is "When seconds count, the cops are minutes away."
Another common reason people have for purchasing a gun is that they enjoy gun sports. Whether it's hunting, competition shooting, or gun project builds, there are a lot of hobbyists, hunters, and marksmen out there for whom guns are a way to put food on the table, let off steam, or just enjoy quality time with friends and family. There are also collectors--people who are fascinated with the history and craftsmanship of firearms.
Probably the third most popular reason why people come into my store is to protect themselves from wildlife. In our area, there are a lot of farmers, as well as a robust outdoors culture. So we have a lot of folks who want to buy guns to keep themselves, their children, and their pets safe from potentially dangerous wild animals. Some keep a shotgun by the door in their cabin in case a pack of coyotes attacks their livestock. Others want to carry a heavy-caliber revolver when they hike in the woods, in case they meet an angry bear. And some people who live up in the rockiest part of the highlands are worried about encountering a rattlesnake.
Gun owners tend to be highly competent and safe with their weapons.
Having spent so much time around gun owners and second amendment enthusiasts, I am convinced that the majority of them are highly informed on gun safety and highly competent with their weapons. I would even venture to guess that the average concealed carry permit holder has more comprehensive gun training than the average police officer.
Why do I say this? Because most of them consider it a duty to stay in practice with their weapons. American gun culture drills this philosophy into people: If you are going to own or carry a gun, it is incumbent upon you to know your weapon and how to use it. Just buying a gun and a box of ammo is not enough to enable you to defend yourself from criminals.
Taking a gun safety class is a good start (and it's required by law in my state if you want to concealed carry), but it's still not enough, and gun owners know this. They go to the shooting range regularly. They stay abreast of industry news. They take extra courses on gun safety and tactical defense, beyond what is required by the state, and they always make sure their weapons are clean and in tip-top shape. These are the kind of people you definitely want around if, heaven forbid, you are caught in an active shooter situation and no cops are available.
Buying a Gun is Not as Easy as the Media Makes it Sound.
To hear the media tell it, buying a gun in the U.S. is as easy as going to down to the corner store for a coke. Or, in the words of President Obama, "We flood communities with so many guns that it is easier for a teenager to buy a Glock than get his hands on a computer or even a book."
Different states have different laws on the books to deal with gun purchases. Some states (like Texas) have fairly lax laws, while others (like California) have laws that look draconian by comparison. But there is a federal background check requirement in place, which any person attempting to purchase a firearm in any state in the U.S. must pass. In order to even get the background check done, you must be 21 years of age (for a pistol purchase) or 18 (to purchase a long gun). So that rules out teenagers below the age of majority from legally buying guns at all. The only exceptions to this background check are where the state already has its own background check system in place, which must be equally or more strenuous than the federal background check. For instance, in my state (which is politically pro-gun), a person who wishes to purchase a pistol must either be a concealed carry permit holder (which requires a criminal and mental health background check) or they must obtain a pistol purchase permit from their county sheriff (which also requires a criminal and mental health background check).
And licensed gun dealers are not in the business of fudging the rules. For one thing, if they are caught doing so (and they will be caught), they will lose their FFL license, pay hefty fines, and more than likely end up in jail. But even more importantly, gun dealers don't want to contribute to criminal activity anymore than the average, law-abiding citizen does. They do not take delight in gun violence or bloodshed. They are in business to sell guns to responsible adults. At my store (and I believe most gun dealers follow a similar policy), we even go a step beyond the state requirements. We practice our right to refuse gun sales to anyone who even strikes us as suspicious or who we feel might have nefarious intent.
Chances are, you are surrounded by people with guns.
A certain, large-but-shrinking percentage of the population are what we in the gun industry call "hoplophobes". These are people with an irrational fear of firearms, who appear to ascribe mal-intent to the gun itself, regardless of the intentions of its user.
Hoplophobes and other anti-gun people might be horrified to discover that they are probably surrounded by guns everywhere they go. Every state in the United States now allows concealed carry, though states vary widely as to the requirements necessary to obtain a permit. Chances are, several people in your neighborhood have guns in their home. It's likely that someone is peacefully carrying in line with you at the grocery store or at the next table in the coffee shop.
In my state, where it is comparatively easy to satisfy the permit requirements, there is one concealed carry permit holder for every 16 non-permit holders. And that doesn't even account for open carriers (it is legal to open carry without a permit in my state) and folks who keep their guns at home. This fact might make hoplophobes cower in fear, but it's a completely unreasonable thing to be afraid of. A recent study by the Crime Prevention Research Center shows that concealed carry permit holders are one of the demographics least likely to commit a crime in the United States--with even fewer convictions than police officers.
The AR-15: What's the appeal?
There's a lot of media hype about AR weapons; all negative. Because of this, many misinformed Americans believe some fantastically false things about these weapons. Like that they are machine guns or "military grade assault rifles" (they're not). Or that they are fully automatic (they're not). Or that they are capable of shooting something crazy like 500 rounds per minute (they're not). Or that they are more powerful than other types of rifle (they're not; in fact, most ARs are chambered for a round that is lower powered than big game hunting rifles.)
So why is the AR-15 the most popular rifle on the market? What do gun enthusiasts love so much about them? Well, for one thing, they're fun to shoot. And for another, parts and accessories for them are widely available and affordable. But here's the really cool thing about AR-15s. They are great project guns. They're like old Cadillacs or electric train sets: perfect for tinkering. You can build one from scratch (you have to pass a background check to purchase the base component, however), and you can add all kinds of gizmos to it, like scopes and lasers and pistol grips and quad rails and collapsible stocks. Some of my customers spend years playing around with their AR's configuration, changing around components until they get it just right, and thoroughly enjoying the process.
None of these gizmos actually make the rifle more dangerous; but for the average, misinformed American, they appear more dangerous (so black and tactical!) than a sensible-looking, wood-stock hunting rifle. Politicians and media people use this fact to their advantage when pushing for more gun control legislation. They want the public to believe that black, polymer framed rifles with pistol grips and tactical accessories are more deadly than other types of guns, even though they're not. Several pieces of state legislation and one since-repealed federal law have even banned rifles that have these gizmos on them, while leaving functionally identical guns alone--just because they look less "scary"!
By and large, American gun owners are good people.
The customers who shop in my store are regular, decent folks. Of course, there's no store of any kind in the world that never had an asshole customer, but they are the exception. For the most part, the gun owners I've had the privilege of meeting are kind, respectful, tolerant people who emphasize peace over violence and who sometimes bring me doughnuts at work. They are doctors, firemen, military veterans, teachers, sanitation workers, paramedics, entrepreneurs, waiters, pilots, and professional dog walkers. They raise families. They volunteer in their communities. They try to get along with others. And they would risk their lives to save strangers in a criminal or terrorist attack.
I wish more people would take the time to learn about guns or get to know some gun enthusiasts. If you're interested, I guarantee you that if you go down to your local gun store or shooting range, you will find a friendly gun totin' American eager to help.
Thank you for reading!
Hi! My name is Leslie Starr O'Hara, but I go by Starr. I live in the mountains of North Carolina and I write fiction, satire, humor, and the odd anarchist think piece here on Steemit. Follow me if you're interested in stuff about sci-fi, writing, homeschooling, productivity, or just stuff that will make you laugh your britches off.
Buy me ammo!
"in gun culture, we do not do this. The gun is always loaded, even when we KNOW the gun is not loaded."
safety first!
SPOT ON! GOOD WORK!
merica!
As a Canadian, I always question my American friend's aversion to firearms. Considering the obesity problem in America, you have a much higher chance of dying from heart disease than you ever would from a gun wound. But, I don't work for a media outlet, so what do I know?
I think most people who are scared of firearms simply don't know much about firearms.
Very informative for those like me that come from another country. The media does portray the American people as just a little(!) crazy with their guns. In South Africa it is only possible to obtain a gun permit with great difficulty. Most ordinary people don't have one. The criminals have tons.
It makes sense that the criminals would have tons of guns. Criminals don't, by nature, follow laws, after all. And none of their law-abiding targets have guns to defend themselves. I hope that, as the gun rights battle rages on here in the U.S., some other countries will experiment with loosening their own gun restrictions. Especially those with high crime rates, so that ordinary people will have a means to protect themselves.
Australia used to have a high crime rate involving guns and then they banned guns after a particularly heinous crime some years ago. It's now one of the safest countries in the world.
Australia's gun ban only netted an estimated 20% of the privately owned firearms in that country. And Australia only had a few hundred thousand guns to begin with. Imagine if the U.S. instituted a similar (mandatory) buyback program, and only netted 20% of our over 300 million privately owned firearms. What a folly that would be. First off, the only people who would comply with such a ban would be people with crappy guns sitting around the house that they didn't want anymore. No one is going to take their valuable guns down to the police station and turn them over for a check worth less than half the value. Especially not Americans, whose right to bear arms is enshrined in their country's founding documents and deeply sown into the fabric of their culture. So, such a ban would turn 41% of households into criminals in one fell swoop. And you can be certain that the real criminals (the violent ones) are not going to be giving up their guns. So there would be literally no impact on actual crime rates, just a whole new class of non-violent criminals where none existed before.
Further, Australia was already one of the safest countries in the world prior to their gun ban. Eight or nine shootings over the course of five years, with a handful of victims apiece is not an out of control crime problem.
I think you are misinformed. The statistics and data clearly show that gun violence is UNCHANGED since the gun ban in your country.
You work in a gun store ... that's pretty hot. :)
And I don't even try. ;)
Thank you for your informative post. As an outsider (I'm from the Netherlands) guns just scare me. In fact the first time I ever held/used a gun was in the US when I shot a Beretta in a gun store in Las Vegas. Shooting Bin Laden did feel good though. But nothing compared to the grannies next to me shooting a M16, as an outsider wow that was crazy. (and cool).
I think the American gun culture is what it is 'a culture'. Nothing bad or good about it. Just a culture like most countries have.
In the Netherlands marijuana is readily available in coffee shops and that must be strange for some. Then again we don't have bears trying to kill us :)
Cool photo btw! Pretty badass!
If you are afraid of lightning storms
Take up a hobby photographing lightning.
If your are afraid of guns
Take up plinking as a hobby.
Thanks for reading, @exyle ! It's good to have a healthy wariness of guns--it makes you safer. That's why we always follow the five rules of gun safety:
I think a lot of Europeans and other outsiders would be surprised to see all the grannies at the gun ranges here in the US! They are so badass.
Your picture at the end just made the article even more compelling, thanks.
This is great. I was just talking with a friend in the UK about guns in the US. I think I'll send him this article :)
Cool! Let me know what he thinks!
Our part of the country has a lot of firearms. And there is no permit required to carried concealed. Some open carry, which I can appreciate. It's comforting to know that there's someone there in case something goes down. I don't like to open carry because it makes some people nervous.
Yes, open carry does seem to make people nervous, especially hoplophobes. There's been a nationwide trend lately of anti-gun activists calling the cops on people who are legally open carrying in public. I guess their goal is to piss off the cops? Idk. But open carrying can also be practically an open invitation to get your sidearm stolen, in some places. So it's probably better all around to conceal.
Around here it's really a non-issue. More homes have guns than not in our area, by far. The cops know it and are comfortable with it. it's just part of the culture. And violent crime is almost non-existent. If someone called the cops here because someone was wearing a gun, two things would happen - 1, they'd be calling all the time and 2. the cops would laugh at them. :)
Posts like this remind me how happy I am to be living in Canada. I went on a road trip with friends to California (from Vancouver) about five years ago and less than an hour from the border on the way to Seattle had a car drive up beside us on the freeway. Inside, several men began hooting at us but we ignored them and carried on. Five minutes later, there they were again but this time two had pulled out guns and pointed them at us, calling us stuck up bitches who needed to change our attitudes. We took off quickly, turned off at the next exit, returned home and booked cheap flights to Belize instead. I don't think Americans realize just how insane it is to live in a country where so many people carry guns. Sports hunting is one thing--I have an uncle who hunts--but the casual use of guns among people in the US has created a lack of respect for human life. I've travelled throughout Spain, Italy, France, Belguim, Argentina, Beliz, Cuba, New Zealand, Thailand and Canada but have never felt uncomfortable in any of those countries. I've visited the States three times in my life--twice for work conferences--and will never visit again if I can help it. In some parts of the country, illiteracy and poverty is so high you'd think you were in a third world country. A third world country where so many, including the very poor, have a gun and are willing to threaten you for having "attitude."
Edited to add: Another potential problem would be vigilante justice like what it is happening with Brock Turner. He should have received a long prison term but he didn't. Will having armed men outside his home deter him from ever thinking about raping another woman? Probably not. What's more likely to happen is that one of these guys pulls the trigger out of a sense of entitlement and metes out his own justice.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/06/brock-turner-stanford-sexual-assault-case-ohio-armed-protest
It's interesting that your horrifying experience with guns happened in California, which has the strictest gun laws in the country.
There are parts of the U.S. that have high rates of gun violence: Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit, and others. These are almost all cities where gun control is very strict. The people who are perpetrating the gun violence somehow find ways around the laws (who knew criminals didn't follow laws?) Then you have Texas, which has the slackest gun regulation of any state in the country and extremely low rates of gun violence, comparatively. (Except at the border with Mexico, where there is a lot of cartel violence.)
I might be wrong, but it seems to me that perhaps you did not read the entire article. Maybe you missed the part where I cited a recent study showing that American concealed carry permit holders are one of the least likely demographics in the country to commit a crime? Or it's possible that you already had your mind made up on the subject before reading the article.
I know I won't convince you of anything, but I will say that I have lived among people who own and carry guns all my life, and have never encountered any gun violence or even irresponsible use of guns. But every one of them is trained and ready to defend themselves and others, in the event that someone with bad intentions produces a gun in their presence.
Also, lest you start to feel too safe in your northern clime, insulated from all the out of control gun violence to the south, I feel the duty to remind you that one out of every 15 Canadian adults owns a gun.
I know that--but we don't have a gun culture. And one in 15 isn't too bad considering the most gun owners in Canada are our First Nations communities who still hunt. Unlike Americans, we don't carry guns to protect ourselves against our neighbours or because we think our own government will turn on us. Guns in Canada are used to hunt animals be it for food or sport. And our gun laws are pretty tough--federal laws severely restrict the ability of civilians to transport restricted or prohibited (grandfathered) firearms in public. Of course, things are changing in Canada and gun crimes, once pretty rare, are becoming more common.
See, that's the thing that doesn't make sense to me. You are relieved that it is illegal to transport weapons in Canada (so that Canadians can't use their guns for self defense), and that Canada doesn't have a gun culture like the US (although my article demonstrates that American gun culture is really a bunch of nice people who are highly competent and safe with their weapons). You say that 1 in 15 Canadians owning guns "isn't that bad", but then you say that gun crimes in Canada were once rare but are now becoming more common.
...Given that it is very illegal to transport weapons of any kind in public in your country, what exactly is the connection between legal gun ownership and gun crime in Canada? Apparently there are some people who are willing to flout the rules on transport, if gun crime is on the rise.
And what about in the United States? What exactly do you believe is the connection between American gun culture (as I described in the article) and areas that experience high rates of gun crime?
What about other countries that have very strict gun laws? Have the laws in France and Germany prevented any terrorist attacks, do you think? What about Brazil, where guns are almost completely illegal, yet they have one of the highest gun crime rates in the world, with 60,000 murders per year? Or what about Venezuela, where guns are not allowed, yet the capital of Caracas is "the most murderous city outside a warzone in the world"?
Carrying a gun for self defense seems to be a frightening idea to many people. They sometimes mask their fear in pity, by saying things like "I just feel so sorry for anyone who feels like they have to carry a gun all the time." That's funny. Would they feel sorry for someone who kept a fire extinguisher in his home, or a first aid kit in the car? Probably not. See, the real reason people are scared of guns is because they're scared of criminals and perhaps terrorists, but they subconsciously attach their fear to the gun itself. After all, criminals are completely unpredictable and unpreventable. But you can ban guns! It worked in Europe and Australia! ...or did it?
The best medicine for fear of guns is learning how to shoot. Learning to shoot is like learning to swim. It's fun to practice, but it'll save your life--and the lives of others--in an emergency.
The Guardian:
"No other developed country in the world has anywhere near the same rate of gun violence as America. The US has nearly six times the gun homicide rate as Canada, more than seven times as Sweden, and nearly 16 times as Germany, according to UN data compiled by the Guardian. (These gun deaths are a big reason America has a much higher overall homicide rate, which includes non-gun deaths, than other developed nations.
The US has by far the highest number of privately owned guns in the world. Estimated in 2007, the number of civilian-owned firearms in the US was 88.8 guns per 100 people, meaning there was almost one privately owned gun per American and more than one per American adult. The world's second-ranked country was Yemen, a quasi-failed state torn by civil war, where there were 54.8 guns per 100 people. Another way of looking at that: Americans make up about 4.43 percent of the world's population, yet own roughly 42 percent of all the world's privately held firearms.
That does not, however, mean that every American adult actually owns guns. In fact, gun ownership is concentrated among a minority of the US population — as surveys from the Pew Research Center and General Social Survey suggest.
There is a very strong correlation between gun ownership and gun violence — a relationship that researchers argue is at least partly causal. And American gun ownership is beyond anything else in the world. At the same time, these guns are concentrated among a passionate minority, who are typically the loudest critics against any form of gun control and who scare legislators into voting against such measures.
Opponents of gun control tend to point to other factors to explain America's unusual gun violence: mental illness, for example. Jonathan Metzl, a mental health expert at Vanderbilt University, told me that this is just not the case. People with mental illnesses are more likely to be victims, not perpetrators, of violence. And while it's true that an extraordinary amount of mass shooters (up to 60 percent) have some kind of psychiatric or psychological symptoms, Metzl points out that other factors are much better predictors of gun violence: substance abuse, poverty, history of violence, and, yes, access to guns.
Another argument you sometimes hear is that these shootings would happen less frequently if even more people had guns, thus enabling them to defend themselves from the shooting.
But, again, the data shows this is simply not true. High gun ownership rates do not reduce gun deaths, but rather tend to coincide with increases in gun deaths. And multiple simulations have demonstrated that most people, if placed in an active shooter situation while armed, will not be able to stop the situation, and may in fact do little more than get themselves killed in the process.
The relationship between gun ownership rates and gun violence rates is well established. Reviews of the evidence by the Harvard School of Public Health's Injury Control Research Center have consistently found that when controlling for variables such as socioeconomic factors and other crime, places with more guns have more gun deaths."
You can read the rest of this article and view a very interesting video showing, in a simulation, that people repeatedly fail to shoot an active shooter before they're shot. Link: http://www.vox.com/2015/10/3/9444417/gun-violence-united-states-america
Let's just agree to disagree. As far as I'm concerned, every child who is killed at the hands of another child, every woman shot by an abusive partner, every colleague gunned down by a revengeful employee--all or nearly all could have been prevented.
Not California--Washington State. We were about halfway to Seattle.
And yes, hard to convince me as I think the biggest issue is cultural. The idea of wanting or needing to carry a gun for self-protection is completely foreign to me. I was born in Vancouver but raised in a small pastoral community on Vancouver Island. I'm back in the city and even though Vancouver has some crime, I've always found it to be very safe. I understand that there are many people who own and carry guns responsibly but there are too many who don't. Every time I hear about a child shooting a sibling or schoolmate, I just shudder. My cousins in Boston tell me that their kids practice "shooter drills" beginning in kindergarten. They're taught what to do in the event of a school shooting... I mean, holy Jesus. How is this okay? (And yes, I know guns don't kill people, people kill people--but they do it a lot easier with a semi-automatic rifle!).
The thing is, semi-automatic rifles are already here in abundance, and it would be impossible at this point to get them out of the hands of criminals. So the best thing we can do to protect ourselves from criminals with guns is for ordinary people to have guns.
You see, that's exactly it. I can't understand how people can tolerate living like that--needing to have guns in order to protect yourselves from everyone else. Americans treat this as normal...but it's not, at least not to many other people in the world. And in the middle of a crisis or shooting incident, how are the good guys supposed to know which are the bad guys when EVERYONE is carrying a gun, when everyone could potentially have been the shooter. In any case, not trying to convince anyone of anything. Just counting my blessings that I don't live in the US.
+1 great Post
omg ! FUNNY !"Buy me ammo!"
Pic of you at work ... holding one handed, jus plain Sexy !!!
Real rule #1 .. Don't pull it, unless your going to use it. (and Quick)
I have to admit, the serial # stamped into the forehead does LOOK COOL !
USED to own ... 357 mag. Strurm & Rugar SS Security six
six
and Thompson 44 contender w/14" barrel and competition sights
Man Killers, NOT Toys ...
Great article! German hoplophobe here that is at least trying to understand you guys and I kind of got it, I guess:
https://steemit.com/life/@fabio/german-angst-fear-and-loathing-in-berlin
Very clear and to the point.
If a person is committed and predisposed to committing an act of violence on such a mass scale, the only thing that will stop them is someone prepared, trained, and capable of defending life. It’s time to tell the liberals that we are tired of being held to the mercy of the criminals and the mentally ill, while we wait for standard emergency response times.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” ― Edmund Burke