To all NON AMERICANS, would you feel safer if your country allowed its citizens to carry/own guns?

Hey all,

I recently got involved in one of the numerous gun threads that have popped up lately, I really have a problem understanding Americans desire to have everyone armed.
To me it just seems self defeating.

Im personally glad that my home country (Australia) and the country I currently call home (Malaysia) have very strict gun laws and firearms are very rare.

So my questions are these

1) Would you want your country to change its gun laws so that the average citizen could arm themselves?
2) Do you think everyone having a gun would make your country less or more safe?
Could you also let us know what country your from

EDIT: PLEASE INCLUDE WHAT COUNTRY YOU ARE FROM

I appreciate Americans more than anyone else will most likely want to post on this thread but I ask as a courtesy that you let at least a few non Americans get there say in first.
I really dont want this thread to turn into another one of the numerous verbal slinging matches that are floating about.

Look forward to seeing what people have to say.

Cheers

reply to post by IkNOwSTuff


i would feel safer if everyone had guns because the people who want guns for malicious activities WILL get their hands on them i would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it (im australian and i dont have one unfortunatley)

People who want a gun will get one! We also have very, very strict laws here, but somehow there's shootings anyways.

I would love to own a gun, I would feel a lot safer knowing that I can defend myself if needed!

It will take the police at least 30 minutes to come and help me, what should I do if 3 men broke into my house?

I would feel much more secure without gun's being owned by the general Australian public. Some of these people shouldn't be allowed a drivers licence, let alone a gun. to guns to fist's

Im from the UK and i prefer guns to be kept illegal.
The only times that guns become useful is if you are threatened by someone with a gun in the first place, or a civil war, and if there were a civil war, im sure guns would be widely availible to anyone who asks someone down the street.
Yes i know at the moment, it could be fairly easy to get a gun in the UK, may have to walk around Nottingham or other such places all day asking people (which to be fair sounds dangerous in itself), but with it being illegal less people have them. If they were legal many more people would have them, and the ammo, and with this, a huge increase in gang violence that result in death, robberies at gun point, shop hold ups, etc etc.

Guns cause nothing but problems.

Im in the UK and I think we have a good balance when it comes to gun laws!

We have very strict gun laws making any hand gun illegal along with most firearms however there are exceptions such as shotguns which provided you dont have a violent criminal record you can apply for a shotgun license and legally own a shotgun.

The gun problems we do have in this country are all gang related and this gangs are usually made up of teenagers 16 to 18 from poor deprived areas.

The gang problem is what really needs solving in the UK and the reasons for youths wanting to join gangs.

I dont own a gun I keep a metal bar in my bedroom though just incase someone tries to rob me, I dont think owning a gun would make me feel any safer than my metal bar already does.

Originally posted by iamdavid
People who want a gun will get one! We also have very, very strict laws here, but somehow there's shootings anyways.

I would love to own a gun, I would feel a lot safer knowing that I can defend myself if needed!

It will take the police at least 30 minutes to come and help me, what should I do if 3 men broke into my house?

In Australia, those three men are unarmed and will run if you come at them with a cricket bat. It's possible for a society to protect themselves without using deadly force.

I live in the UK, gun crime is relatively low, especially compared to the USA.

Most police here do not have guns, only special armed response teams. Most gun deaths are by criminals, and the occasional fruit cake that decides he wants to die, so goes on a killing spree before he tops himself.

It's also 99.9% males that kill people with guns here.

Basically, stop all guns and there will be less gun deaths. Take the guns from the police and from citizens, and you will see a difference. Guns are like an obsession in the USA, and an unhealthy one at that.

Criminals will always get guns, but they need to be taken away from most people.

If the army and police have guns then yes all citizens should also have the right to have guns.
The army and police are supposed to be servants of the people and so representatives of the people the public is people too. The only reason we are not allowed to bear arms is because we would be seen as a threat to the blatant corrupt status quo. The law is not made for the sake of fairness the law is to maintain a corrupt fews power over us.
Yet I would feel safer if we lived in a world where guns were not neccessary

I personally dont trust alot of the british people to have the basic brain functions to be able to walk and breathe at the same time let alone allow them to carry a lethal weapon and given some of the people who are cantancerous and rude as it is with firearms will mean that theres going to be alot of bloodshed, plus its not part of our national psyche like it is in America so the best thing we can do in blighty is to make the best guns and flog em to the yanks for extortionate money and retire on the profits

Originally posted by tetriswoooo
reply to post by IkNOwSTuff

 

i would feel safer if everyone had guns because the people who want guns for malicious activities WILL get their hands on them i would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it (im australian and i dont have one unfortunatley)

Yet Norway is a perfect example that this theory is not exactly true. The only real shootings we had here was that incident with Brevik. Otherwise gun deaths are extremely low and most murders are actually done using different measures like people being stabbed to death, which is nowhere as lethal and has a very low range.

I do understand how Americans want to keep their gun rights though and doubt criminals would hand in their guns if they were banned.
Also I think an armed population could be a good thing once # really hits the fan so that the people can fight back against governments that is not in the best interest of the people.

But that gun laws here has saved life there is no question about. When you have hardly any guns circulating around it is even hard for criminals to get hold of them.
I personally have not even seen a real gun here in Norway as not even police are allowed to wear arms unless there is a special situation.

If the State has guns then the People should have guns.

Originally posted by Samuelis

Originally posted by iamdavid
People who want a gun will get one! We also have very, very strict laws here, but somehow there's shootings anyways.

I would love to own a gun, I would feel a lot safer knowing that I can defend myself if needed!

It will take the police at least 30 minutes to come and help me, what should I do if 3 men broke into my house?

In Australia, those three men are unarmed and will run if you come at them with a cricket bat. It's possible for a society to protect themselves without using deadly force.

just the other day a few people got shot in sydney and in an unrelated incident that same night a man was pulled over and had a 9mm so like i and iamdavid said if people want one bad enough they will and i mean WILL get one

Originally posted by artistpoet
If the army and police have guns then yes all citizens should also have the right to have guns.
The army and police are supposed to be servants of the people and so representatives of the people the public is people too. The only reason we are not allowed to bear arms is because we would be seen as a threat to the blatant corrupt status quo. The law is not made for the sake of fairness the law is to maintain a corrupt fews power over us.
Yet I would feel safer if we lived in a world where guns were not neccessary

edit on 9-4-2012 by artistpoet because: add

I understand what you're saying, about if the police are allowed to enforce the law with weaponary, then the citizen should also be allowed to lawfully have that weapon. This, I believe, is a big problem.

The main point in this is that because they have weapons, it doesn't mean you should. It means they shouldn't. Armed officers should be called out when there is a weapon involved in a crime yes, but ordinary? No.

And the reason the police in USA have guns in the first place, is because the public have guns. You can't expect a person to enforce a law, without a gun, against someone who has a gun, who the hell would go for that job?! It'll be near enough suicide!

As for armies, thats how they work. They fight other armies who have weapons, and like i said before, you can't expect a soldier to go to war, against other armies, without a weapon.

Until martial law comes and soldiers begin shooting at their own public, I see no reason for guns.
And to be honest, i've seen threats of martial law come and go over the last 4/5 years......

Visit any major UK town or city on a Friday or Saturday night and then imagine that with an armed populace.

No thanks, I'm all for regulated gun control here in the UK.

As for the USA, I think that is a completely diffrent scenario.
Guns and American culture seem intertwined and it's really an issue for Americans.

I just wish they'd stop mentioning it in threads and discussions where it has no relevance whatsoever.

Citizens in my country should not be allowed to own/carry guns. As a country with a multi ethnic population guns could complicate matters like what is happening in other countries. Owning/possessing a handgun may make you FEEL safe but in reality you are not because everyone possesses one so you are not in an advantageous position unless you walk around town with a gun in your hand ready to pull the trigger which is absurd in this day and age. No..I would not like to see possession of firearms in my country legalised. Its just human nature for people to want to be prepared so having a handgun makes them FEEL....prepared. By the way I am from Malaysia

The arguments for allowing an armed population in case of the need of having to fight the government and military during martial law dont stand in my view.

Take America for example if martial law was declared and the people were not happy with it and decided to fight the military the people would get destroyed. The American armed civilians would not stand a chance against the American military hardware the soldiers would be using.

Its a crap situation unfortunately but armed or not civilians are not going to be able to defeat there own military in western countries.

Canada - Guns No Thanks.

People say that "oh criminals will get hands on guns if they want one" well you just making it easier for them to obtain one and actually encouraging them to use gun as a first resort.

Gun related violence is low in Canada, i only see it increasing by allowing guns to be purchased.

Edit: This is mainly directed at Urban, subUrban, Downtown etc... if you live in a farm, where you have houses every 5km, then i would suggest one. NOT IN A CITY or a TOWN with bunch of houses.

Originally posted by RandalFlagg
The arguments for allowing an armed population in case of the need of having to fight the government and military during martial law dont stand in my view.

Take America for example if martial law was declared and the people were not happy with it and decided to fight the military the people would get destroyed. The American armed civilians would not stand a chance against the American military hardware the soldiers would be using.

Its a crap situation unfortunately but armed or not civilians are not going to be able to defeat there own military in western countries.

They surely stand much more chance than a non armed one. The army would be in minority so even with their fancy technology there might be a chance then. Even army would be afraid if they had an entire population armed to teeth and willing to kill them.

reply to post by juleol


But if the entire population wanted change things could be changed without a civil war between the population and the military.

If the entire population stopped cooperating with the system and developed a better fairer system the country / world could become a better place.

I also dont believe that if martial law was imposed our military would start systematically annihilating the civilian population even if that was there orders!

People join the army to protect there country and the people from it. How would they be protecting the people in their country by killing them?