American here. This is sadly very true and I find it unbelievably distressing. For me, after Sandy Hook happened (the mass shooting of over 20 elementary school aged children) and nothing changed, it became clear nothing would ever change. And I feel completely helpless about it. I used to be highly opposed to having a gun in my home but it’s gotten so bad that I’m starting to consider getting one for our safety…which pisses me the fuck off because then I feel like I’m forced to be part of the problem. I went to a big trick or treating Halloween event last weekend in a major part of town with lots of kids and adults, and in the back of my head I definitely had a little fear that this would be the kind of thing that would get shot up these days. It’s so far out of control, it’s so disgusting.
Nonameuser678@aussie.zone 1 year ago
Australian here. We had one really bad mass shooting and then our government (who was also one of the most conservative governments in the last 50 years) banned guns. Haven’t had one since. Guns just aren’t a thing here and we kind of think you’re a weird country for being so obsessed with guns. I also personally think it’s weird that guns are like the symbol of your freedom, yet you don’t have universal healthcare. Universal healthcare offers so much more freedom than guns do.
In saying that a lot of countries have guns and don’t have the same problem with mass shootings. What the US has is a cultural problem in terms of your relationship with guns and violence. Unfortunately, doing a mass shooting is now a normalised way to deal with your problems. Not all of you, obviously. But enough of you that it’s gotten completely out of control. In Australia I don’t think it was just the banning of guns that has reduced mass shootings. We have a culture in Australia of ‘don’t be a dickhead’. I think when we had our mass shooting we all collectively just said yeah nah mass shootings are next level dickhead behaviour.
MudSkipperKisser@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Nonameuser678@aussie.zone 1 year ago
I actually don’t blame you because I would feel the same way if I lived in America. I hate guns, but would feel the need to have a gun if I lived there. It seems like such a cycle of mutually assured destruction that just keeps escalating out of control.
Honytawk@lemmy.zip 1 year ago
Yeah indeed.
But if you require a gun to feel safe in your own country / home, you live in a shithole.
Cringe2793@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I don’t think they’re denying they live in a shithole. It’s just that there’s no easy way out.
BlueEther@no.lastname.nz 1 year ago
I feel sorry that your home (town) feels so unsafe, I don’t know how you (as a people/country) get somewhere back to ‘normal’
Psychodelic@lemmy.world 1 year ago
My reaction was, instead of feeling hopeless, I’ve started to call for abolishing the Second Amendment. I’m done trying to compromise with people that care more about guns than children.
jasory@programming.dev 1 year ago
Being paranoid has that effect.
Mubelotix@jlai.lu 1 year ago
Except that when a revolution becomes necessary we will all be fucked. Citizen’s most important duty is ensuring the State stays true to democracy
SCB@lemmy.world 1 year ago
You’re never going to fight in a revolution, and if you did you’d lose because you’re not a good fighter.
Mubelotix@jlai.lu 1 year ago
This mindset is the primary reason we live in this world
SCB@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I’d be the guy you’re fighting a revolution against, so that’s great to hear.
I don’t want to tear my government asunder. I want to fix the few broken cogs in the machine.
Honytawk@lemmy.zip 1 year ago
Revolutions are fought with torches, pitchforks and guillotines.
Guns are far from necessary.
Mubelotix@jlai.lu 1 year ago
They had guns in 1789. That was the main reason they took the Bastille. Everything changed after that day
cedarmesa@lemmy.world 1 year ago
This is quite grandiose yea? I for one want to thank you for being a brave warrior for freedom whilst youre leaving panera at the strip mall.
Mubelotix@jlai.lu 1 year ago
I’m french, we do not laugh about these things
Nibodhika@lemmy.world 1 year ago
So, do you have a hunting or an sporting shoot license for your guns? France laws are the same as the rest of the EU, guns are very controlled, people in Europe don’t talk about guns as a means of revolution against the government. Unless you meant you’re french in the way 'Muricas say they’re Italian or Irish, i.e. they have a great grandfather that once passed through that country.
CameronDev@programming.dev 1 year ago
We do have guns though, they are protected behind proper background checks and licences. And we dont fetishish them the same way many Yanks do. Definitely far fewer semi-auto and full auto guns though.
If you keep your eyes open, there are a number of gun shops around, often in quite unexpected locations. There is one near my local kebab shop, and its very subtle, so many people dont even notice it.
BlueEther@no.lastname.nz 1 year ago
The Au and NZ experience with guns and pop culture vs the US is vastly different.
NZ is up there with gun ownership (in the top 20 per capita), but we have a very different culture around them, they are a hunting tool and not a misogynistic tool here. There was a bit of backlash with our last tightening of our laws - but to be frank, I got my licence after the law change with little difficulty, and who needs a semi auto AR style rifle other that those that can apply for for the appropriate licence?
StorminNorman@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Australian here, I’m literally less than ten metres away from 2 rifles and a shotgun. Used for pest control, which is mostly eaten cos rabbit and goat is delicious. Haven’t been bold enough to eat a fox yet. But yeah, they’re there. Have been visited by the cops a couple of times over the years to make sure they’re appropriately stored. Hell, you can even get a handgun here. The kicker is, you have to be a member of a gun club, regularly compete in competitions through said gun club, and the gun has to be stored at said gun club (although it can be transported from gun club to another venue for competition). So, yeah, they’re out there, but they’re heavily controlled. And we actually had an Olympic shotgun shooter get in shit a while back cos his gun was improperly stored in his car between competition and home. Nobody wants what happened in Port Arthur to happen ever again. Kids fucking died. That’s fucked. How America didn’t do something after Sandy Hook absolutely blows my mind…
BlueEther@no.lastname.nz 1 year ago
I hear you, I have 5 rifles about the same distance, locked in a safe. The bolts and ammo are both in seperate lock boxes and not stored with the firearms; the keys to all are not store with any normal keys.
I think Australia has about 15-20 firearms pr 100 people and New Zealand about 25-30 (depending on where you get the stats from), compare that to the US where it’s above 150.
The whole culture around firearms is screwed there - you have senators posing for Christmas card photos with the whole family posing with a small arsenal of military firearms, or a guy guys caught on camera (clearly carrying side arms) saying “I feel threatened”, in a power pose/alpha-male stance, while advancing on some other guy in a mall.
From here, on the outside, the whole US feels quite fucked; and it’s not just gun violence…
slazer2au@lemmy.world 1 year ago
You don’t have to store it at the club. It can be stored in your own premises. …gov.au/…/safe-storage-weapons-and-ammunition
Zippy@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Curious here. Just moved to a large acreage and have some 5 bears and about 10 wolfs that pose a risk to my dogs mainly. I grew up with guns so comfortable around them but had not really used one in twenty years. Now the laws require them locked up at all times but I literally need access in seconds. Have a few times have had to scare of the bears but it is the wolves that are my biggest concerns.
I can’t really lock them up or more to the point is that they would have near zero value locked up. I can’t imagine most farmers lock them up. What is the general idea around this?
Dimand@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I’m not an expert in this stuff but my whole life I have been told to avoid eating mammals that primarily eat meat. Eating a fox just seems wrong, especially when there are so many good to eat rabbits.