Now before you all go off and flame me..hear me out first.

I have been thinking a lot after seeing all the news reports and posts on ATS regarding the whole gun debate and global financial crisis. and i have come to a conclusion.....America is a nation of people who are terrified.

And its not your fault. People in their teens and twenties are really the third generation of americans to have fear control their lives. think about it. those above 50 lived through the days of the cold war. fear of a nuclear attack and the whole cuban missile crisis, the korean and the vietnam wars etc. if you search you can find old video of kids (who would now be older than 50) at school being taught to jump under their desks if there was an attack. its really when the first bomb shelters etc became popular.

then you have the next generation between ages of say...30 - 50. now this generation has grown up with the whole fear of the middle east with the first iraq war in the early 90's and then a fear of saddam for a whole decade till the 9-11 attacks and the afghan/iraq war. this generation is also the most effected by the whole global financial crisis. most in this age group were the one that lost their jobs and houses.

then you have the generation of teens to 30's. this generation has grown up with having the terror alert being raised and lowered...airport screening...their parents losing their jobs and the homes they grew up and where they felt comfortable disappearing.

add to that the last 20 years with an explosion of violent video games/movies and news footage becoming much more graphic. also add to that the last 10 years which has seen the growing trend of drinking energy drink which heighten your senses.

when you are frightened you go into a state of whats medically known as fight or flight. chemicals are released into your body which determine if you stay and fight or you run for safety.

so here is my point.....is the whole gun debacle and mass shootings just a reaction from a population who the majority have lived with fear for years and years ???? does your government keep you in this constant state of fear with the whole lowering and raising of terror alerts ???? are the media to blame ????. has all of the above led to a feeling of "every man for himself" thus raising the crime levels ????

for the last few months it has seemed that here on ATS and other places it has been a fight between the US and the rest of the world. i will be honest...we just dont get the whole gun/violence thing. here in australia i can go to the local pub and walk home at 2am laughing and chatting all the way home with friends without the fear of someone shooting me because they think im about to do a home invasion..steal their car...rob their house etc.

We are cautious....you wouldnt walk around on your own in the early hours of the morning on your own without being aware of where you are and who is around you. were not stupid. yes we have security doors on our front doors to stop breakins if your not home or that you can lock and leave the solid door open while letting the breeze come through. but we dont live with that constant fear of getting a home invasion..robbed..raped..assaulted..we dont keep guns so we can rise up against our government.

so in conclusion.....are americans living in a constant state of fear that leads them to keep and carry guns ???

Originally posted by bellagirl

for the last few months it has seemed that here on ATS and other places it has been a fight between the US and the rest of the world. i will be honest...we just dont get the whole gun/violence thing. here in australia i can go to the local pub and walk home at 2am laughing and chatting all the way home with friends without the fear of someone shooting me because they think im about to do a home invasion..steal their car...rob their house etc.

I think that about sums about the ignorant perspective of the entire OP. Im not being insulting at all, either. That sentiment right there though shows profound ignorance of what actually goes on in the US and within the minds of its people, at least from my lifetime of experience.

You are buying into the garbage the media is feeding you about singular incidences being indicative of the whole. Thats called logical induction, and it is extremely weak, producing incorrect conclusions the vast majority of the time it is used. Horrible if used for scientific endeavors that demand accurate results, but fantastic when employed in a propaganda campaign to skew entire countrys opinions about another.

Originally posted by bellagirl

so in conclusion.....are americans living in a constant state of fear that leads them to keep and carry guns ???

If youve been keeping up with the debate on this forum, youve obviously chosen to simply ignore the numerous users and multitudes of explanations of why we desire to remain free enough to bear arms.

ETA: I guess Ill post it again, as I see it personally:

The right to bear arms is to deter/prevent a tyrannical out of control government from completely steam rolling the public with impunity. The founding fathers knew that a disarmed public were basically nothing more than serfs to those who had the guns and ability to use them to control and restrict freedom.

As the country was founded on freedom and liberty for the common man, and that continued freedom and liberty was dependent on the common man being able to resist tyrannies himself, the 2nd amendment was drawn up so that he do just that and be justified in his actions with the blessing of the founders of the nation.

You may call the wishing that the 2nd NOT be destroyed a reaction of fear, paranoia, whatever it is that your hyper limited outside perspective sees it as, but I would much more call it prudence, and the ability to see where other disarmed nations have gone, and the desire to NOT end up like them, because at least to some of us, freedom and liberty still hold great value on both a personal, and national level.

thankyou so much twosides for actually getting what i said. i was worried that the first reply would be an attack.

i really am just trying to understand what is happening. i have had many fights on here over gun debates etc and instead of just attacking...being a smart ass..or ignoring other opinions..i am just trying to really understand.

The only fear I have is of being shot full of holes like a dog without being able to return fire. I just gots to return me some fire.

I was being held up at gun point one night. With a gun in my face and some craked up fool behind it, I said to self "self what you need is a gun". So I took his and cracked him over the head with the dang thing.

Originally posted by Logarock
The only fear I have is of being shot full of holes like a dog without being able to return fire. I just gots to return me some fire.

I was being held up at gun point one night. With a gun in my face and some craked up fool behind it, I said to self "self what you need is a gun". So I took his and cracked him over the head with the dang thing.

You need to call the cops! Have emergency numbers on dial! Problem solved!

Originally posted by Leuan

Originally posted by Logarock
The only fear I have is of being shot full of holes like a dog without being able to return fire. I just gots to return me some fire.

I was being held up at gun point one night. With a gun in my face and some craked up fool behind it, I said to self "self what you need is a gun". So I took his and cracked him over the head with the dang thing.

You need to call the cops! Have emergency numbers on dial! Problem solved!

Do you honestly think you can say, 'Excuse me, Mr. Gun-in-my-face, do you mind if I make a quick emergency call before you rob/kill me?'

And why would you trust a Police Officer (who is just another human being) more with a gun than you would yourself with a gun? So long as a person is properly trained, I guarantee you they would be able to protect themselves just as much, if not more, than an emergency call to the cops would.

Originally posted by bellagirl

now this is the part i dont understand. most quote the 2nd amendment about protection from government yet in the same breath say how tyrannical the government is. and im not being a smart ass...i just dont understand.

Not trying to be a smart ass either, but what part of 'The government is tyrannical and we need to protect ourselves from it' do you not understand? (<< Genuine question.) Neither of those statements are contradictory.

Now, if we were saying "We love the government and they will always take care of us, but we still need to protect ourselves from them!" then that would be contradictory and not make sense.

Originally posted by Leuan

Originally posted by Logarock
The only fear I have is of being shot full of holes like a dog without being able to return fire. I just gots to return me some fire.

I was being held up at gun point one night. With a gun in my face and some craked up fool behind it, I said to self "self what you need is a gun". So I took his and cracked him over the head with the dang thing.

You need to call the cops! Have emergency numbers on dial! Problem solved!

Yes and most of the crack robbers around here have a 20 second rule where they will allow you one call out. Sadly I didnt have my phone with me.

what is your source ?

internet ? TV ?

Originally posted by eleven44

Originally posted by bellagirl

now this is the part i dont understand. most quote the 2nd amendment about protection from government yet in the same breath say how tyrannical the government is. and im not being a smart ass...i just dont understand.

Not trying to be a smart ass either, but what part of 'The government is tyrannical and we need to protect ourselves from it' do you not understand? (<< Genuine question.) Neither of those statements are contradictory.

Now, if we were saying "We love the government and they will always take care of us, but we still need to protect ourselves from them!" then that would be contradictory and not make sense.

ok..i will try to explain myself better. your last comment is what i understand. if you were happy with your gov but wanted to be armed for "just in case"..i get that.

but the part i dont understand is that a large majority say they need to be armed to rise up against bad government, yet most think they have a bad government. so when it all boils down...all you have is a nation armed to the back teeth.

and dont get me wrong....im not suggesting you all rise up and take on the government...lol

Originally posted by bellagirl

Originally posted by eleven44

Originally posted by bellagirl

now this is the part i dont understand. most quote the 2nd amendment about protection from government yet in the same breath say how tyrannical the government is. and im not being a smart ass...i just dont understand.

Not trying to be a smart ass either, but what part of 'The government is tyrannical and we need to protect ourselves from it' do you not understand? (<< Genuine question.) Neither of those statements are contradictory.

Now, if we were saying "We love the government and they will always take care of us, but we still need to protect ourselves from them!" then that would be contradictory and not make sense.

ok..i will try to explain myself better. your last comment is what i understand. if you were happy with your gov but wanted to be armed for "just in case"..i get that.

but the part i dont understand is that a large majority say they need to be armed to rise up against bad government, yet most think they have a bad government. so when it all boils down...all you have is a nation armed to the back teeth.

and dont get me wrong....im not suggesting you all rise up and take on the government...lol

Aaah, I see. You think we're saying we need these weapons so we can go attack the government as soon as it is 'bad' (which it already is.) But not quite so.
We're saying we need these so the government can't come after us. I'm not promoting people go riot in DC and have a coup d'etat.
But, just in case the day comes when our government starts putting armed soldiers on our streets, in our neighborhoods, knocking on our doors, dragging us out of our homes, putting us in camps, etc, etc, THEN people will see why we need the Second Amendment.

The 2nd Amendment is a last resort. It is reserved for when ALL other rights have failed. It is a 'Dooms Day Prevision.' It is not a route to be taken just because our Government is full of $#!t. We still have other avenues to go through. Other ways to try to take our government back.

But, in the meantime, guns also protect people on the daily. No, not every town is dangerous. Far from it really. Cities, sure. I'm pretty certain that's how it goes in any country.

I grew up in a neighborhood where I freely walked the streets at all hours of the day and night without EVER having a single dangerous encounter. However, now I live in Savannah, GA, where 20 years ago was the Murder Capital of the US. It's not anymore, but there are definitely still some very unsafe areas (even the areas that seem safe are only a block or two away from the ghetto.) I have heard many gunshots since living here. I live on a particularly dangerous street (can't beat the rent!) I sleep with a loaded shotgun next to my bed, but have never had to touch it. I hope to keep it that way.

In a word "No". I dont drive around wondering all the time who's gonna shoot at me. I don't lay in bed wondering if I will be killed in the middle of the night. I walk freely around downtown from bar to bar without fear as well, but, I do have guns. I dont think about them much at all unless im shooting for fun or hunting. I dont carry all the time, but if im going to a high crime slum area, then I will. Its also why i sleep well at night not worried about a group of thugs with baseball bats invading my home. Its also comforting to know a tyrannical government is concerned about them, hence trying to take them away. They WILL NOT get them, and if you live somewhere that took away your right to own a gun and your happy there, then stay there. I'll stay here and keep my mouth shut about a country that has no spine and gave their right to bear arms away. (starting now)...