To all the Europeans and Aussie's on this forum...

[Mariena]

I am European and I *have* a gun. A rifle. A very shiny black stainless steel Sako TRG-42.

Owning a rifle is legal, in the Netherlands. It's just a lot of paperwork, background checks, police visits... You also need to use your weapon regularly at the shooting range, so you collect x amount of required shooting sessions.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

I think attitude is more important than guns. Marketing guns as expensive toys and luxury goods isn't just stupid, it's immoral.

As someone who has fired weapons before, seeks to buy a handgun in the near future and hopes to become a professional shooter, I endorse this single sentence highly. Gun-rights advocates have gone too far in the other direction and glorified gun ownership, leading too many people to think that guns are nothing more than loud toys. In my opinion, applying for a license to own a weapon should include a mandatory video detailing the exact damage a common handgun round can do to the human body- sort of like those grisly car-crash videos some places play for driver's ed or drunk-driver re-education.

Seriously, it is a blight on every responsible gun owner when an eight-year-old boy is given an Uzi submachine gun and accidentally shoots himself in the head [http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/10/boys_dies_in_sh.html].

You know, we keep talking about banning things... when do we get to ban stupidity?

 

[Sennz0r]

I don't need one. Plus in West Europe you can be taught martial arts techniques that would make your average U.S. gun slinging mugger look like a castrated Easter Bunny.

 

[XT]

I am European and I *have* a gun. A rifle. A very shiny black stainless steel Sako TRG-42.

delicious

 

[DoomedChild]

I would, but only for life threatening situations, so the guns are tagged and they keep files on everybody who owns one, so it is illegal to have them in unnecessary day-to-day life.

But that's too smart for anything near me. :[

 

[teh_gunslinger]

No. If someone breaks into your house the element of surprise and a tazer are more effective than a gun.

So you want to entrust your life to a device that can be rendered ineffective by my ten dollar furry sweatshirt?

The thing is, I don't really need a gun in case of a break in. The guy knows I don't have a gun, so there is no need for him to have one. If I suddenly start waving around a gun it ups the stakes. This way I take a beating (maybe) and loses some stuff. Better than people getting shot. The second a gun is pulled things go down the drain faster than... a very fast thing going down the drain.
The same goes for getting mugged. I take a beating (maybe) but most likely that's it. If I pulled a gun and he did too someone would end up hurt, me, him or a bystander.
The only thing guns do is up the stakes needlessly.
That said, people who wants hunting rifles and the like gets the permits. No big deal. But the proliferation of firearms to everybody and their dog is pointless if not making it worse. I prefer a society where weapons are either in the hands of the cops or the criminals. Much easier. We don't get a lot of people shot because the cops were afraid he pulled a gun.
I have no quarrel with the US, in spite of the last 8 years, but seriously, the gun fetish is fucked up. I might be able to accept the desire to have a firearm for defence. I will never accept the need for that firearm to be an assault rifle. The name kinda gives it away: assault rifle. Not defence rifle.

Also, damn, I saw this program on the telly 2 weeks ago about some insane Americans teaching 5-8 year old kids to shoot assault rifles. I almost puked in disgust. Never in my life have I been so utterly creeped out.

 

[forever saturday]

dont tell my hillbilly relatives, but i think that gun ownership is massively overrated. i mean what are you ever going to use them for? i guess hunting but im totally against that, cuz its as pointless as having a gun. what are they for anyway? are you compensating for something? is it cuz theyre fun? whats so fun about going to a target range and shooting at a cardboard target? does it make you feel manly that you killed an inanimate object? the only thing i can think of that would be actually fun is to give an infinite number of hillbillies an infinite number of shotguns and ammo, an infinite number of pickup trucks, and an infinite number of stop signs, and see how long it takes them to write shakespeare in braille.

 

[BallPtPenTheif]

The idea is that if no one has guns, there isn't a need to have one to protect yourself.

And what a magical idea that was. If I could emote a rainbow right now, I would

 

[O maestre]

im doing quite well without a weapon and i lie in a relatively big city, the good thing about have tight restrictions on firearms is that only few criminals manage to smuggle weapons. plus if someone all of the sudden clicks, they wont be able to do harm to others than themselves, just look at america, every month you hear about a school shooting, or some other civilian going postal, granted america is big, but that shouldn't make any difference.

we cant stop people from flipping a lid, but at least we can restrict the extent of the damage they can cause. think of it like explosives, you dont have explosives or recipes to make them floating around the place, because someone might just want to go boom one day. if i had my say no one should have guns, and if you have to hunt do it like a man, using either your bare hands or a knife, where is the challenge in hunting with a weapon when you have no way of losing.

 

[[Gavo]]

]Speaking as an American...

I like how the Swiss do it. Then again I'm not even legal to own a gun yet...but I like the idea

Are you clinically? Have you ever committed a felony? If not, you can buy a gun.

Anyway, most people in America that have guns just have gun collections, the guns are there to look nice and maybe occasionally take to the shooting range.

As far as gun violence, there was some study awhile ago where they got everyone in two cities that were incredibly similar and close to each other to participate: they got every house in City A licensed to buy a gun, and gave them money to buy them. However, they asked that City B remain with however many guns they already had.

City A was the successor in getting less crime: the fact that anyone could have been armed scared all the criminals off the streets.

I'm 16...

 

[Arsen]

I originally meant something along the lines of "do you wish you had the same liberties to own a firearm as Americans do"...

Edit - ...and originally whenever I said "Europe" I was thinking of Great Britain only for some reason. Oh well...

 

[jdog345]

I think the only reason to own a gun is for hunting.There is NO GOOD REASON to own one of these.

http://www.wbhickokarms.com/DSC00228.JPG

that's ironic because that gun is used predominately for hunting.

Holy shit. I had no idea. That's inhumane, if you ask me, but that is a different argument. I understand hunting, but not with that.

 

[Washboard]

Do you wish you all had the legal authority to own a firearm? Or do you believe America has been completely irresponsible with it?

I like how Switzerland does it. You join the military and you get to keep your rifle in case you are called back in to duty.

no, in our countries its safe to paint "man love rules, ok" on your car (Topgearftw)

 

[Brett Alex]

City A was the successor in getting less crime: the fact that anyone could have been armed scared all the criminals off the streets.

Any chance of statistics? By the same logic couldn't that also be:

"Every house has a gun, means we can steal someones gun and use it to rob a bottle shop?"

or:

"Every house has gun, that means if I file the serial number off mine and use it rob a bottle shop there is a lot more suspects to sift through."

or even:

"Every house has a gun. So what? I have two. And my mate has three. And his mate has a Benelli Tactical. [http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb227/SIGERMP9/Military%20FireArms/M1014M401.jpg] The the bottle shop owner only has one. And he often leaves his at home."

 

[Lazzi]

I have two becuase i live in the city and one of my nieghbors get roob every 4 for 5 years, not when theyre home. But i still keep it around for ust in case, i mostly just shot it for fun though (at a legal indoor shooting range).

If i want to shoot stuff at hoem ill jsut use my airsoft gun (biggest thing i can kill is a finch)

 

[SkinnySlim]

I was wondering when this topic would come back around. Someone above put it well in saying that you immediately up the stakes by pulling a gun. Now, suddenly it is a life and death situation, and the criminal is much better prepared to take a life. That being said, I own several firearms, and have a concealed weapons permit, but I understand folks mistrust of gun owners. When kids come over to play with my kids, I have no problem disclosing my gun ownership, and take no offense if people want to verify that they are safely put away. However, I will point out that most gun crime in the US is criminal vs criminal gun crime, and most is related to drug crimes, so perhaps drugs are the problem, not the guns? I don't know, I am not a criminologist. I am, however, a responsible gun owner who supports more education and regulation to ensure that legal purchases of firearms are made by qualified people. Unfortunately, the illegal gun trade makes it virtually impossible to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals in this country. But, my piece of advice to all potential purchasers of firearms is to not buy one for protection, that's ridiculous. I do however feel that it is entirely reasonable to want to be a hobby shooter or hunter, so have at it. At the end of the day, this is a difficult topic for folks from different countries to discuss. It's kind of like Vegemite! You aussies love that stuff, and I just don't get it. You can tell me that unlike guns, Vegemite has never killed anyone, but I would find that hard to believe! OK, I'm done making Vegemite jokes...

 

[Scolar Visari]

First of all why are a bunch of europeans with almost no firearms experience telling me, someone in an entirely different continent what what I should be doing like they're my fucking mom or something. Second, the amount of european hypocrisy and elitest attitude in this thread is amazing. The Euros talk about how closed minded and idiotic we are when they don't even take the time to see things from my point of view. Tl;Dr If you want to take my firearms your more than welcome to try.