*** Please read through before jumping the gun (no pun intended) and replying, so you guys can get a good understanding of where this thread is coming from ***
Ok guys, this is something that's baffled me for a while. You have to remember that I'm in the UK and people are from different places too so we need to have this conversation with a respectable vibe as I know it can be a bit controversial but I'm sure we're all adult enough to be able to do this.
I was just reading about the shooting in Cincinnati on here and every time I read and hear about these things it just makes me think about this whole gun law thing that the US have.
For me I've never understood the need of it. I hear about these things a LOT in the US and sure the US is a bigger place (hence more crime) but it's always in the US where I hear these things more often than not and it does make me think 'Well if there wasn't any access to guns there would obviously be less killings'. People always say things like 'Yeah but if someone wants to get a gun they can' but I don't personally buy that because say for example if I wanted to go out and get a gun and shoot someone, I would have NO chance, therefore that person wouldn't be shot and killed. In the US people can go into a local store and get a gun so easily and go out and shoot someone, it really baffles me as to why this is in play.
No other country in the world (that I know of) has this easy access to guns and when you think about those places there is less killings with guns too. Australia, UK, Europe etc... and if people say 'Well people can kill people in other ways' I also can't really buy because it's much easier to kill someone with a gun than it is say with a knife where that person who is stabbed is more likely to survive or fight someone off than someone who has been straight shot. It's much harder to stab someone than it is to shoot someone which can be done so quick and from a distance too, it's awful.
I just think about it from this perspective. Most people do things irrationally, say like if someone is angry with an ex or jealous or something and they're not thinking straight. At least here it's so hard to get a gun that by the time I did (which I couldn't do anyway) I'd have calmed down and would have thought more rationally and saved myself from shooting someone and getting myself in trouble too. Double bonus there (not that I would even think of this but in theory). Then things such as crazed fans such as this Christina Grimmie situation that happened recently, that NEVER happens here in the UK and why, because these idiots can't just go out and get a gun and shoot someone. I really don't see the benefit of having guns what so ever.
Also, the other question that comes to mind for me is why does the US need guns so badly? What is so different about the US that you need to have a gun to protect yourself? I definitely don't and neither do people in other countries so why does the US need this so much? (again, these are things I'm genuinely interested to hear and understand).
Is that right really just down to having a right? Is that worth people's lives just for the sake of having a right to own a gun?, this is what I don't get.
Also the other thing as well is suicides too, now I know people can do this in various ways but this still to me seems like the easiest and quickest way that if a gun is in a house the temptation to someone in distress is much easier to grab the gun and pull the trigger than it is to hang themselves or whatever, which although can be done, it's not quite as easy and is a longer process to do but there which means more chance to think rationally to bare in mind too.
Then again things like accidents, I've heard of kids and babies accidentally getting the gun and pulling the trigger and killing someone. Now I know the parents should be more responsible in this sense and not have the guns easily reachable but not all of them are and of course the risk comes with this also in regards to that.
So many people lose loved one's due to idiots who can easily get hold of a gun. If I lost my mum or anyone due to this I would be completely heartbroken which is why I feel completely glad to live in a place where guns are pretty much impossible to get hold of. I'm sure you guys here would feel the same about your loved one's in that sense also.
Please bare in mind, I RESPECT people's opinions on this even if I don't agree with them. I genuinely have NO understanding or see NO beneficial reason to have a gun but remember, I'm from the UK so I don't live in the US to see it from a US perspective and I respect that. But I just find it very very hard to understand why SOME people are so adamant to the right to have guns.
When I saw this Christina Grimmie situation I saw some people in the US saying about the right to have guns and raving about it arguing with other people in the US (and other places) who felt that if there were no guns she would still be alive right now. It's definitely so much easier to kill someone with a gun and if that guy who shot her wasn't able to get one, chances are he would have been stopped and that girl would still be alive. A lovely innocent girl who lost her life for no reason leaving others completely heartbroken too. Drive by shootings too we never hear of and same with mass killings too when someone goes on a shooting spree, we never hear of. When I hear of these things it's from the US all the time. It kinda makes me think if these people who rant and rave about the right to have a gun had their mum, sister, brother or any family member/close person to them killed like this, maybe they'd change their tune about the right to have guns for people so easily.
Why do the US need to have the right to have guns when no other country in the world feel the need to have this, so why are they different?
This is something I've wondered about so much and of course, I don't live there so I could be naive to these things also. The whole need to have a gun to protect yourself just makes me think you're protecting yourself from other people who can easily get guns though. It just seems to go round in circles for me and if there were no guns then there would be less killings which is pretty obvious really.
I know in the US it's divided in regards to this whole right to have guns thing. Though I'm not sure which end of the scale is the highest but maybe you guys can shed some light
I love the US and it's one place I've always wanted to go, none of this puts me off though in any way shape or form as the US is my favourite country in the world that I would love to visit and it's beautiful, as are the people (I have a few friends in LA, Vegas and New Jersey) but I've just never been able to understand this whole right to have guns mentality. It makes no sense to me and all it does is allow people to easily go out and shoot people and mess up lives.
Specially when it's in cases of irrational thinking which is never good. It's scary shit.
So what are your thoughts? Can we have a nice little debate here in regards to this as I would love to know. Please keep it respectful though between each other, this is something I've been curious about for a while but always hesitated cause I know it can be a little controversial, however I'm sure we can have the conversation as adults respectfully anyway.
So thoughts, why is this right to have guns such a big thing for some people that they're so adamant about. It doesn't make any sense to me at all. People are going to have different opinions so lets keep it respectful. However I am genuinely interested to hear the various vibes in regards to this here from you guys
I look forward to hearing from you guys soon