(06-26-2013 10:53 AM)CJ_W Wrote: I lived in Japan for five years. . .a country that has the strictest gun controls laws I've ever seen.
and it WORKS. (of course they heavily enforce it as well)
This stuff isn't always as transferable among cultures as you wish to think. Case in point, communities in America with the loosest gun control laws have the lowest crime rates in the nation, and in many cases, the lowest in the world.
You can bitch and moan about people using culture as a scapegoat all you want, but it doesn't change the fact that it's true. As someone who has lived abroad before, I would think you'd understand that cultures ARE innately different.
Quote:The only justification I can think of for less gun control laws would be if the gov tried to go all dictatorship on you.
THIS is the real reason for gun rights in America and the one I think the OP should have focused on, though I believe in the right to defend yourself on all fronts.
Judging by the American gov's actions over the past few decades, dictatorship is a very serious threat and would have happened already if it weren't for the sheer number of unofficial militia who still believe in independence and would die for it in a heartbeat (even though it's largely gone as originally intended).
It blows my mind how so many Europeans criticize American citizens for allowing the government to act as much of a dictatorship as they do yet also criticize us for holding on to the one thing that's kept them from getting more powerful.
Quote:but if its at that point and you haven't left the country yet then that's your fault (haven't seen the signs and figured out how to hop on over to Canada. . .)
So half the country should hop over to country if they don't like the way things are going rather than hold on to the one thing that preserves their freedom (or what's left of it)? I'm sure Canada would LOVE that.
Hell, America is even trying to make it impossible to leave in the first place!
Look, I'm totally favor of running for the hills when shit gets goofy - and in a large way I've done it already.
But to ask the normal citizen to leave their home and family and everything they know rather than preserve their god-given right to protect themselves is ludicrous. Would you ask the same of Italians, Germans, or Spaniards? Tell them they should run, all of them, instead of stay put and reclaim control?
I think not.
I'm an independent and I would probably excuse myself from the situation rather than get involved - I'm largely an outcast and reject society on about every level - but I'm not so blind to reality as to ask the general population to do the same.
Quote:Also, even if everyone HAD guns, if the military,cia,nsa wanted to eliminate you, or a lot of people, your puny pistol or assault rifle is NOT going to do you any good.
This is such a tired argument that it pains me to reply.
1) If the American government declared actual war on their people, it would be all over the media across the world - no doubt about it. This is something they don't want. It's more about "discouraging" abuse of power, if you will - not WINNING a civil war. Neither side would want things to get that bad.
Now, as far as an individual goes, yes, you're right. They'd stand no chance. But if the people ever organize. Watch out.
2) Much of the police forces and military are far more anti-gov and at least pro-gun than you might think. Many would turn if asked to shoot down their own people.
3) Many civilians have plenty of military skills, both strategical and technical. They also have very many high-tech weapons. Believe it. Many have worked at every level of the military, and once out, if the become anti-gov, they pass their techniques along.
4) It's been shown again and again, from Vietnam to Afghanistan and beyond, that the American government's "omnipitent" power doesn't really play out against lesser-armed geurilla forces as well as they'd like to believe it should. No matter what their egos tell them. And this is especially true when their enemy is more passionate.
Throw in the fact that you're asking a civilian army to blast on their brothers, and you can guarantee morale would diminish.
The American public is often chastized for the passive response to politicis, but there is also a sleeping giant there - you can be sure of it.
Quote:I don't get why us Americans are so gun crazy.
Clearly.
And just as clear is the fact that you've decided to label them "crazy" rather than consider their very logical arguments.
To be sure, anti-gun folks have some good arguments as well, but your post makes it clear that you haven't paid much attention the arguments on either side, making your accusation of "crazy" no more than a gut reaction.
A flinch, in other words. Look deeper. Whatever your opinion.
Quote:I kinda think its because people just want to be "right" instead of looking at all the facts. Ive had people dismiss the effectiveness of Japans gun laws, saying it was because of the "culture" . . .yeah well if it was because of the culture, then they wouldn't need gun laws . . .like Canada.
You ignore facts as well. Canada and Japan are not the only anti-gun countries and communities on the planet. I could break out examples of my own but have done so on plenty of gun threads on this forum before, and anti-gun people, just like pro-gun people, would rather be right then listen to facts.
It's a human nature thing (typically reserved for those uneducated about the given discussion) that says nothing about either side of the issue.
Quote:Japan needed them, so they implemented them, the U.S. needs them but people are afraid too, and we still have the highest gun violence rate of the G8 countries Canada didn't need to so the laws weren't implemented.
the thing is, WE NEED these laws, as we're killing each other, and innocent people.
You really think a sudden implementation of tighter gun controls would change things in the United States? This is fantasy. Anyone who understands the deeply-imbedded outlaw culture in America, the belief that the right to bear arms is a God-given right, and the sheer number of pieces available knows this would not be the case.
Suddenly implementing Japan-like gun control in this country would lead to the biggest black market on guns the world has ever seen - if it didn't spark a civil war first. And the crime problem in the country is so bad that tighter gun laws could never stop it. Look at the worst places in Mexico for an inkling of what America would become with tighter gun control
Quote:I don't tolerate people who are anti-gun control. Main reason being, they'll see some tragedy like Sandy hook, and instead of having some sort of respect for the Victims and they'll families, they'll say something like: "oh that's just a ploy to get us to give up our guns" or they'll just rush to defend gun control, and diminish the seriousness of their needless deaths.
No. I'm sorry but your wrong.
When things like this happen, it's the anti-gun crowd who raises the issue first, as most gun rights activists instinctually realize it's a good time to close their mouths. But anti-gun folks, many of them only becoming a part of that crowd due to the tragedy, often attack gun rights leaders in their emotional state. Sometimes even showing up to stop them from organizing, even if the organizing was planned before the incident occurred.
The so-called "experts", in turn, capitalize on the sudden fervor and harness these tragedies, which constitute less than 1% of gun deaths in America (not to mention they always happen in GUN-FREE ZONES and have even happened without guns being involved), to attack the overall issue.
The gun activists then, believing passionately that taking away our guns is the greatest threat to our freedom, naturally assert their belief in response, as anyone would do when being attacked.
Then the anti-gun crowd points the finger and calls them insensitive, blaming them and leveraging pity for the fallen children to make their point. And say silly stuff like they're diminishing the all-too-real deaths of the children.
It goes down the same way each and every time.
I think you know this yourself even - consider that you said "they rush to DEFEND" gun control. Not to assert it. That's the action of someone who is being attacked in the wake of a tragedy, not someone who is using a largely irrelevant tragedy to assert their stance, as anti-gun activists do.
Quote:I find those people sickening.
I'm sure the feeling is mutual.
Not to make it personal, but again, you may want to look into arguments that go against your own before throwing your emotions at them.
(06-26-2013 11:11 AM)Quintus Flaminius Wrote: Japan still has a pretty strong nuclear family, very few bastard thuglets= less crime.
Last time I checked, Switzerland had NO gun control, and is just as safe as Japan, if not more.
I've talked to some Swiss and the situation is not as cut and dry as many people think. I think to say Switzerland has no gun control misses the mark by a long shot.