I certainly didn't mean to submit that story as "evidence", and even called it an anecdote myself. All it is, is a funny story that is quasi-related to the debate you guys are having. I'd have thought we could just all agree that it's a rather silly situation and have a laugh about it.
Ban every gun
- Thread starter Charlie Don't Surf
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I still don't agree at all. I'd say if you're accosted by a couple of drunk guys in a park, they'll ask you for directions back to the frat house or a pizza shop.
Don't make generalizations like everyone here packs heat. We really don't.
M
Magister Moonie
Bubble181 has a doctorate in Americology.[DOUBLEPOST=1344551397][/DOUBLEPOST]
If you ever want to make your anecdotal evidence sound more reliable, just refer to it as a case study.
There really aren't a lot of people walking around carrying guns.
I'm not saying they are all carrying guns. I'm not saying most people in the US carry guns. I'm not even saying a large percentage of Americans are carrying guns. I'm not even saying a lot of Americans are carrying guns.
I'm most certainly not saying that, when you're approached by a couple of, let's be negative here, drunk, aggressive, intimidating, men who seem like they want to harm you*, they're likely to carry a gun, or that it would be a good move to pull your own gun.
I am saying that, from the point of view of a paranoid idiot, it "makes sense" to carry a gun because you might run into someone carrying a gun. In, say, Belgium, even for a paranoid crackpot, it doesn't make sense - even most bank robberies are done here without fire arms. Housejackings, carjackings, whatever are done mostly always without weaponry (seriously, I saw the statistics a few weeks ago, and the number of violent crimes with a fire-arm in the past year was somewhere in the low hundreds, for all of Belgium. About the same amount of people as New York, though we're obviously not one big city
).
Say that, upon being accosted by two men in a park, there's a 1% chance they're up to no good*. If they are, let's say there's a 1% chance of them having a gun if in a big US city. Let's say there's about a 0.01% chance in Belgium. See the difference? In the one, you might run into a gun-wielding criminal once every 10.000 times.*** In the other, once in every million.
I think that you're underestimating the complete culture of fear being brought down on us (especially the Americans) by the media all the time, and how many people really do believe whatever's in the paper. If you're told, every day, for years on end, how dangerous the city is, how dangerous the parks, how all criminals have guns, how everyone's out to steal/abuse/kill you...In the end, some people will believe it, and start carrying a gun for "protection".
*Not saying this was the case in Calgary. The guy's a nutjob and they were probably two upstanding gentlemen who just wanted to be polite. I'm talking from the perspective of a paranoidandroid idiot here.
**and started making trouble in the neighbourhood. You got in one little fight, and your mom got scared....
*** And yes, even that's probably still on the high side. I'm exagerating here.
I'm most certainly not saying that, when you're approached by a couple of, let's be negative here, drunk, aggressive, intimidating, men who seem like they want to harm you*, they're likely to carry a gun, or that it would be a good move to pull your own gun.
I am saying that, from the point of view of a paranoid idiot, it "makes sense" to carry a gun because you might run into someone carrying a gun. In, say, Belgium, even for a paranoid crackpot, it doesn't make sense - even most bank robberies are done here without fire arms. Housejackings, carjackings, whatever are done mostly always without weaponry (seriously, I saw the statistics a few weeks ago, and the number of violent crimes with a fire-arm in the past year was somewhere in the low hundreds, for all of Belgium. About the same amount of people as New York, though we're obviously not one big city
).Say that, upon being accosted by two men in a park, there's a 1% chance they're up to no good*. If they are, let's say there's a 1% chance of them having a gun if in a big US city. Let's say there's about a 0.01% chance in Belgium. See the difference? In the one, you might run into a gun-wielding criminal once every 10.000 times.*** In the other, once in every million.
I think that you're underestimating the complete culture of fear being brought down on us (especially the Americans) by the media all the time, and how many people really do believe whatever's in the paper. If you're told, every day, for years on end, how dangerous the city is, how dangerous the parks, how all criminals have guns, how everyone's out to steal/abuse/kill you...In the end, some people will believe it, and start carrying a gun for "protection".
*Not saying this was the case in Calgary. The guy's a nutjob and they were probably two upstanding gentlemen who just wanted to be polite. I'm talking from the perspective of a paranoid
**and started making trouble in the neighbourhood. You got in one little fight, and your mom got scared....
*** And yes, even that's probably still on the high side. I'm exagerating here.
Ok, now I get what you're saying. Thanks for clarifying.
It is one of the reasons why New Yorkers don't have particularly high opinions of tourists. I was once asked for directions from a family who literally went pale when I told them that the best way to get to the American Museum of Natural History was to take the subway in broad daylight.
When I was a tourist in NY, Itook the subway every day, in daytime and in the evening. It was cleaner, easier to understand, and generally more fun to be in, than the Brussels subway system. I'm sure there are hellhole lines among them, but in general I got the impression it wasn't al lthat bad. NY subway just gets a bad rep in tv shows and movies.
Right? It's really kind of perplexing. I know NYC was a really bad place for a long while, but that was 20 years ago (25 if you're only counting substantially cleaning up the subways).
The hell hole rep came from the 70's and 80's when it was quite dangerous. It is a real disservice to the subway that the reputation continues.
Before I became ill, I was a competitive fencer. Since becoming progressively more and more disabled, I can barely walk around the block, let alone engage in any kind of sport.
Then I took up target shooting, since I'm married to an ex-military gun expert (not a "gun nut"). I've been delighted to find that it's something I can do without ending up in total hell for the next week, and also a sport Mr. ZM and I can do together since we can no longer hike, play tennis, etc. Sighting down the barrel gives me the same mental release that fencing did: everything in the world goes away and my attention is completely focused on one tiny point. After an hour at the range, I'm physically exhausted but my worries and all the shit I have to deal with trying to exist solely from my bed allllll go away. For that hour I'm able-bodied again -- and as it turns out, not a bad shooter!
Just a little perspective on "never done anything productive."
Exactly. The MTA are a bunch of corrupt, thieving assholes, but the subways have been reasonably safe for decades.
Hey, here's a pretty letter that just shows, quite plainly, the cultural divide Canadians and Americans have on this issue of guns.
http://www.calgaryherald.com/opinio...makes+visitors+feel+unsafe/7050028/story.html
http://www.calgaryherald.com/opinio...makes+visitors+feel+unsafe/7050028/story.html
BananaHands
Staff member
BAN EVERY FRANK
Then if they live in a large town and watch the news daily... then that choice is taken away from them. Because it sounds like a daily occurrence that someone getting murdered in a town of any size.
Right, most of Africa is safer ffs.
GasBandit
Staff member
A demotivational with a spelling/grammar error? CALL GUINESS, it's UNPRECEDENTED!
Necronic
Staff member
This is a joke right? You're saying that most of Africa is safer than America? This may take the cake for one of the dumbest things I have ever read on this forum.
GasBandit
Staff member
... you win this round. But I'll be back.
Africa is a very large continent. And there are a few hot spots. If you are not in one of the nations that is in open warfare, or in a gang ran slum in South Africa, you will not face the chance of being shot.
Now you may not live long do to sanitary and environmental issues...
No, "ffs" is the dumbest thing I've read on this board.
I completely agree with you, except with the slight addendum that Morocco and such aren't exactly tiny. In 2010 numbers, Egypt, Tunesia and Libya all had lower homicide rates, too, but I guess their numbers have shot up since.
But generally, Africa has a much higher homicide and violent crime rate than the USA. You're not that backwards
Necronic
Staff member
Ok, so yeah, rural areas aren't that dangerous in Africa. As opposed to that corn field in Iowa where people are being murdered left and right.
But please, go on, I would like to hear more about all the people that are fleeing the dangerous land of America for the safety of Africa.
GasBandit
Staff member
That article is rather misleading. It was not an "on campus." It was off campus. Constables had gone to serve him eviction papers, he opened fire killing a constable and a bystander, and wounding 4 other people. The gunman died of his wounds in the shootout with police.
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