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Why? (Continued)

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Rippon

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The following is taken from American Gun Facts: A Factual Look At Guns In America

The top two countries having gun ownership is America and Switzerland.

The top two counties with gun fatalities are Honduras and El Salvador --where there is restrictive control.

Honduras has a population of 8.2 million. It has the highest homicide rate in the world. Citizens are banned from owning guns.

Switzerland has 8.2 million citizens. It has the lowest homicide rate in the world. Guns are not banned in that country -- citizens are encouraged to but them.

The most violent country in the EU is the UK.
There are 2,034 violent crmes per 100,000 people each year. The UK has violent assaults every two minutes.

The crime rate in the UK is higher than 16 other industralized nations --including America.

America, in contrast has 466 violent crimes per 100,000 people each year.

In the U.S.A. 606 violent criminals were killed by police.

But 1,527 violent criminals are killed by citizens.
 

supersoldier71

Active Member
Statistically speaking, more heterogeneous populations tend to have more violent crime, and poverty tends to increase the rates of crime overall with a proportionally higher rate of violence. The Western Hemisphere is more diverse than Europe, our collective national identities much younger and our concepts of what it means to be a citizen are necessarily different than those in Europe.

Of course, perceived homogeneity or heterogeneity are largely psychological constructs, so perhaps violence would be reduced if by some means, our collective national identity were solidified?
 

TCassidy

Late-Administator Emeritus
Administrator
so perhaps violence would be reduced if by some means, our collective national identity were solidified?
But by so doing wouldn't we abandon the one thing that has made us a great nation, the fact that we are a bunch of free thinking individualists?
 

supersoldier71

Active Member
But by so doing wouldn't we abandon the one thing that has made us a great nation, the fact that we are a bunch of free thinking individualists?

No. That implies that in times past, when we had a more unified national identity, our forebears weren't capable of free thought. I think it's more accurate to assume that they believed that personal sacrifices for the collective good were worthwhile.

Also, individualism is overrated.

And I say that as a person who prefers to work alone rather than in teams.


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Rippon

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Taken from an article (10/2/2013) called Are Guns the Problem? by Walter Williams.

"By 1910, the National Rifle Association had succeeded in establishing seventy-three NRA-affiliated high-school rifle clubs. The 1911 second edition of the Boy Scout Handbook made qualification in NRA's junior marksmanship program
a prerequisite for obtaining a Boy Scout of America merit badge in marksmanship. In 1918, the Winchester Repeating Arms Co. established its own Winchester Junior Rifle Corps. The program grew to 135,000 members by 1925. In New York City, gun clubs were started at Boys, Curtis, Commercial, Manual Training and Stuyvesant high schools. With so many guns in the hands of youngsters, did we see today's level of youth violence?"
 

Earth Wind and Fire

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Are guns, knives, bow and arrows, ropes, hammers even in the hands of a depressed person a good idea? If a person exhibits anti social (perhaps violent) behavior, what then?
Can anyone, after observing mood swings with a neighbor, report this to “Big Brother” for further observation without repercussion? Can we potentially ruin a persons very life by these actions?
 

Rippon

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Continuing with a bit more (certainly not all) of the article:

"What about gun availability? Catalogs and magazines from the 1940s, '50s, and '60s were full of gun advertisements directed to children and parents. For example, 'What Every Parent Should Know When a Boy or Girl Wants a Gun' was published by the National Shooting Sports Foundation. The 1902 Sears mail-order catalog had thirty-five pages of firearm advertisements. People just sent in their money, and a firearm was shipped. For most of our history, a person could simply walk into a hardware store, virtually anywhere in our country, and buy a gun. Few states bothered to have to have even age restrictions on buying guns."
 

Earth Wind and Fire

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No. That implies that in times past, when we had a more unified national identity, our forebears weren't capable of free thought. I think it's more accurate to assume that they believed that personal sacrifices for the collective good were worthwhile.

Also, individualism is overrated.

And I say that as a person who prefers to work alone rather than in teams.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If individualism is overrated, then what does America really have to offer the world? We have always had the distinction of leading through innovation, taking risks, being outspoken and allot of times being rewarded for it. So is that now a thing of the past? And if so, what are the implications moving forward?
 

Earth Wind and Fire

Well-Known Member
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Continuing with a bit more (certainly not all) of the article:

"What about gun availability? Catalogs and magazines from the 1940s, '50s, and '60s were full of gun advertisements directed to children and parents. For example, 'What Every Parent Should Know When a Boy or Girl Wants a Gun' was published by the National Shooting Sports Foundation. The 1902 Sears mail-order catalog had thirty-five pages of firearm advertisements. People just sent in their money, and a firearm was shipped. For most of our history, a person could simply walk into a hardware store, virtually anywhere in our country, and buy a gun. Few states bothered to have to have even age restrictions on buying guns."
Yes, absolutely and you don’t have to go back there that far to recall a time at least a gun was in every home... they were useful tools, for varment eradication, hunting, sports like trap shooting etc. Right up until the time your neighbor shoots his wife then himself, or the kid/young man down the block has a meltdown and randomly shoots 5 passers by. Then we get exposed to the other side of gun use. Now the question becomes, do we as a distinct American society choose to accept it as our own distinguishing characteristic...ie, elevated gun violence or do we do something about it?
 

supersoldier71

Active Member
If individualism is overrated, then what does America really have to offer the world? We have always had the distinction of leading through innovation, taking risks, being outspoken and allot of times being rewarded for it. So is that now a thing of the past? And if so, what are the implications moving forward?
Ideas are the domain of the individual, historically. Execution is the domain of the unified group.

The US would not have become the US if a number of men hadn't, for a greater cause, repurposed their individual talents for the benefit of the many.

African-American history would be very different if individuals hadn't found ways to align their abilities with the furtherance of a goal that they themselves would not realize in their own lifetimes.

Neither Nazi Germany nor the Empire of Japan were fully prepared for the unified force of the United States, and millions of Americans who "more than self their country loved...." and were willing to sweat, bleed and die to preserve it and its ideals.

The United States of America's greatness stems not from everyone doing solely what was in their own best interest: that brand of individualism has never caused nations to prosper. The United States was great when individuals found ways to use their individual gifts to serve a transcendent cause.
 

Earth Wind and Fire

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Ideas are the domain of the individual, historically. Execution is the domain of the unified group.

The US would not have become the US if a number of men hadn't, for a greater cause, repurposed their individual talents for the benefit of the many.

African-American history would be very different if individuals hadn't found ways to align their abilities with the furtherance of a goal that they themselves would not realize in their own lifetimes.

Neither Nazi Germany nor the Empire of Japan were fully prepared for the unified force of the United States, and millions of Americans who "more than self their country loved...." and were willing to sweat, bleed and die to preserve it and its ideals.

The United States of America's greatness stems not from everyone doing solely what was in their own best interest: that brand of individualism has never caused nations to prosper. The United States was great when individuals found ways to use their individual gifts to serve a transcendent cause.
I totally agree... and we also allow for ingenuity & innovation which distinguishes us as both distinct and focused. I totally believe in our American system of capitalism that rewards hard work, intelligence and creativity.
 

TCassidy

Late-Administator Emeritus
Administrator
when we had a more unified national identity
I'm sorry, but that is ridiculous. The whole point of the united States is that there was no such unity. The US was a group of independent, autonomous states. That is why, in the Declaration of Independence, the word "united" in "united States" is not capitalized. Prior to the Civil War the US was referred to in the plural, "The united States ARE." After the Civil War the US is now referred to in the singular "The United States IS."

our forebears weren't capable of free thought.
Nonsense!

Also, individualism is overrated.
Only by slaves.
 

TCassidy

Late-Administator Emeritus
Administrator
Are guns, knives, bow and arrows, ropes, hammers even in the hands of a depressed person a good idea?
Such persons are already prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm.

If a person exhibits anti social (perhaps violent) behavior, what then?
Prohibited person.

Can anyone, after observing mood swings with a neighbor, report this to “Big Brother” for further observation without repercussion?
The Florida shooter was reported 34 times, first to the Sheriff's Department, which ignored the reports, then the FBI which also ignored the reports.

Can we potentially ruin a persons very life by these actions?
How is exhibiting psychological stability better than being killed by those defending the children, or rotting in prison for the rest of your life, convicted of mass murder of children.

This is the problem we face. HIPAA laws make our medical records confidential. When a person is a danger to himself and others his records can not, must not, be kept secret. That derangement must be part of the meta-data set the NICS system accesses. If not this sort of thing will continue to happen.
 

Earth Wind and Fire

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Such persons are already prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm.

Prohibited person.

The Florida shooter was reported 34 times, first to the Sheriff's Department, which ignored the reports, then the FBI which also ignored the reports.

How is exhibiting psychological stability better than being killed by those defending the children, or rotting in prison for the rest of your life, convicted of mass murder of children.

This is the problem we face. HIPAA laws make our medical records confidential. When a person is a danger to himself and others his records can not, must not, be kept secret. That derangement must be part of the meta-data set the NICS system accesses. If not this sort of thing will continue to happen.
So what is now being done to address this?
 

TCassidy

Late-Administator Emeritus
Administrator
So what is now being done to address this?
And therein lies the problem. 48,000 felons and fugitives lied and illegally tried to purchase guns during the Obama administration and they prosecuted only 44 of them.

What's that tell you. Hopefully the present administration will do a better job. (But I'm not holding my breath.)
 

Adonia

Well-Known Member
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Taken from an article (10/2/2013) called Are Guns the Problem? by Walter Williams.

"By 1910, the National Rifle Association had succeeded in establishing seventy-three NRA-affiliated high-school rifle clubs. The 1911 second edition of the Boy Scout Handbook made qualification in NRA's junior marksmanship program
a prerequisite for obtaining a Boy Scout of America merit badge in marksmanship. In 1918, the Winchester Repeating Arms Co. established its own Winchester Junior Rifle Corps. The program grew to 135,000 members by 1925. In New York City, gun clubs were started at Boys, Curtis, Commercial, Manual Training and Stuyvesant high schools. With so many guns in the hands of youngsters, did we see today's level of youth violence?"

Let us not forget that it was also the NRA which fought those "Jim Crow" laws in the south that made it virtually impossible for the freed slaves to own firearms. The NRA seeks to uphold everyone's constitutional rights and I am a proud Lifetime member.
 
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