Do Americans have an obsession with Guns?

this should be in off topic doe

Yes... it freaks me out how people are much more concerned about gun rights than other issues in our nation.

Yeah, and the unholy focus on it sometimes leads to more shootings like Brenton Tarrant

Not really, other nations have fire arms enthusiasts as well. It's a minority that get blown out of proportion that are obsessed with them.

I for one find firearms to be fascinating and have gone to the range several times with my late father so I may be a bit biased though. I just like military history in general so I like firearms by extension.

Yes, we do. As a Texan, I see this obsession up close.

Not all Americans, but some of them do.

However, I do feel like gun rights are definitely important, and many countries overlook this completely.

Yes

Exactly. At the end of the day, your safety and your family's safety is in your own responsibility, not the police's or government's responsibility.

As an external foreign observer, pretty much everyone around me agrees that they give guns a lot more importance than we do.

BS, I have no idea what made you think that

@joviolma: Dude he's just using those to protect his family

I think Americans tend to believe more strongly in the right to arm ourselves against potential threats to our persons than the citizens of other nations and I think that leads to a greater number of gun nuts overall. Whether or not that's a bad thing is up to the individual judging these things.

Yes, but it’s not a bad thing. Self-defense is something we take seriously.

This should be an Off-Topic thread.

Most people in America don't even own a gun. Substantially less then that have a real interest in guns and even less then that have an obsession.

Obsessed is a strong word. No.

Yes

In general no we're not obsessed with guns. You might say we feel pretty strongly about gun rights though.

There are some people who are obsessed with guns but most of those people just enjoy shooting as a hobby. They don't have any ill intent to harm anyone.

Yup

Pretty much.

Yes. But to be fair, any country with gun laws that lax will have a gun obsession. It's just animal instincts.

Basically this, only I'm a Floridian. Just sayin', they don't call us the 'Gunshine State' for nothing.

Should be in off topic but yes

Compared to most of the west yes massively and the amount of mass shootings is nvm small scale shootings are insane.

That is a hard YES. We love guns.

You know it bb

Yes absolutely

Every American over the age of two goes to bed with a gun under the pillow and those under two have a toy gun. Every American back yard is a shooting range.

Schools teach guns in every lesson, Maths of how to buy guns and measure ammo and calibre calculation etc. English involves gun stories. History of guns. Guns in humanity. Philosophy of guns. I mean it's ridiculous how obsessed Americans are with guns

Yes and its pretty obviouse.

Some dont even see this whole guns thing as a problem when its obviously is one.

but tbh , its still better than other countries who forbid basicly everything.

While americas “freedom“ is fucked up from the core , they atleast have some freedom.

I think most of it is that guns have been around for so long and been so instrumental.

I can not think of a single household without at least 3. However most of them are hand me down from parents or grandparents.

Ex. I am not a gun person, like at all. I live in a subdivision, can’t shoot the broad side of a barn and have always been more into martial arts weapons. My wife owns 3 though. She has one that was her grandmothers, her father gave her an old revolver when she started college and she has a modern pistol she keeps in her car due to her job.

Let's be honest, Americans are obsessed with far more embarrassing things than firearms.

Im not an American but I think it is more of a cultural value than obsession.

I think it's a product of their society that have heavy emphasize on being independent and personal responsibilities.

Americans are traditionally viewed as decisive, action-oriented problem solvers.

So personal defense is promoted as an acceptable contigency.

Though it is understandable that some people may become obsess with it in their appreciation of the usefulness, functions, and engineering of firearms.

This is no different to other machineries and tools having their own population of hobbyists and enthusiasts.

Yes, and most of their attempts at justifying it is laughable.

A lot of them do

Yes, very, very obsessed! They like show guns all the time, and how they can easily kill you with this. A lot wild savages with no respect for human life!

Yes especially compared to other nations

You know in Cuba, immediately after the revolution, Castro said that the people shouldn't be concerned about having guns and ordered them taken from the people - and the people said nothing. Then he took away the right of the free exercise of religion and forbid any new church building being built, and the people said nothing. Then he took away the right to a free press, and the people said nothing. He took away people's right to their homes, businesses, and property, and the people said nothing. Then he took away the right for people to freely assemble and protest, and the people said nothing. Today, the people wish they had kept their guns and said something.

If you won't speak up for the second amendment, then when it is taken away from you, you won't speak up when your other rights are taken from you. Get use to staying quiet.

@just_sayin:

This doesn’t take into account how much the two countries differ. Such as Cuba not being a first world country. The type of government America has established and the fact no single person in America has the power to take away our rights the way Castro did, the fact that a country who had a new form of protest every other month will go quiet when our right are being violated etc.

I have no problem with owning a gun to defend yourself with... but when we bring up mass shooting me the first thing people think about shouldn’t be centered around protecting our guns but protecting people.

Will not be infringed.

@crater_maker: We're concerned about safety overall, but guns are part of that safety, as well as the 2nd Amendment. We have to protect ourselves first, that way we know we're safe when dealing with other problems. Simple as that. And why that freaks you out is beyond me. Can you elaborate more on the why?

Yes.

@iron_tiger:

My last post literally said I have no problem will people defending themselves with guns. My stance is that it this really shouldn’t be as high as a priority as making sure people are actually safe from mass shootings. I’m mostly talking about the mentality of people in America and where their minds tend to go when tragedy strikes.

I own a 12 gauge and AR-15. I’m for people owning guns. I’m against however the wrong people owning guns and the fact that it is incredibly easy to bypass background checks and purchase guns from private sellers.

What I am for is more frequent mental health evaluations for those who own firearms.

@crater_maker: My bad, didn't see it at first.

Cuba was the richest most well developed Caribbean country at the time the revolution began. It is now one of the poorest Caribbean countries. You think Cuba is unique. In Germany, before they sent the Jews to gas chambers they made it illegal for them to own a gun. Then they made it illegal for Jews to own businesses. Then they required them to wear a star to identify them. I'm sure many Germans just prior to Hitler's rule could never have imagined what would happen either. You know how you get 6 million Jews to march to their deaths - you take their guns from them.

A few facts for you:

1) More people are stabbed to death in the US than killed with rifles. Are you going to ban knives too?

2) A majority of violent crimes committed with a gun are committed with an illegal one. When you take away the legal guns, only criminals will have them.

3) Only 3 percent of homicides involve a rifle. Hand guns are the real problem. Are you willing to ban hand guns?

4) Gun violence is much more concentrated than you think. Murders in the United States are very concentrated. According to the Crime Prevention Research Center, over 50 percent of murders occur in 2 percent of the nation’s 3,142 counties. Are you willing to ban guns in high crime areas where mostly minorities are gun victims? Well, are you?

5) The number of homicides by guns has been going down since the 1990's, with gun deaths less than half of the number in the 90's.

@theinsufferable: We don't have to justify a damn thing...