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

reply to post by IkNOwSTuff

1) Would you want your country to change its gun laws so that the average citizen could arm themselves?

I live in the UK on a small island off the west coast of scotland... To answer your first question, NO i really really never ever want that to happen... I absolutely abhor guns and their many varied malicious uses.. and i think it would be a terrible idea for the average citizen (with let's say for argument's sake) with no training in how to use or look after a gun... bad things would happen... they already do.

2) Do you think everyone having a gun would make your country less or more safe?

IMHO i think it would make it far less safe... There would be fights, stand offs etc... That already happens with gangs who have illegal guns... and im sure many people american or not have seen some of the atrocities on the news.. Also i know a few people who do own guns - legally that is, and they are ghillie's, game keepers, rangers etc... and from mine own personal experience with these people, when they have a gun in their hand, they seem to think that they can do whatever they like with it... including shoot anything they like - i.e. last year we had 21 cats disappear in our area.... only one body was found and it had one of the ghillie's pellets in its head....
they have also intimidated people with their guns... a big NO NO from me...
So if the average citizen had their own gun - with no training or experience, i would imagine that they would use it, not only to defend themselves should the time come, but to intimidate people they dont like, or shoot someone's dog or pet that they dont like...

To me a gun is a symbol of power, and not a nice power at that.
I dont think there should be guns... anywhere !!

But then this is just my opinion....
Good questions btw... s+f for thee

Originally posted by Trolloks

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......

I understand what you are saying also - I wish we lived in a world of peace but that is not reality.
As far as I am aware - USA citizens have the right to bear arms for good reason which is written into their constitution - we in Britain however are an older nation/s and domesticated by our lords and masters - If the police and army were true servants of the people then all would be well but they are not they are being used as fodder for the ruling elite and their agendas

reply to post by iamdavid

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?

Can i ask whereabouts you live in the UK ? For me it would take the police over 2 hours to come and help me... but i would never point a gun at someone... i dont think i could physically do it.
If 3 men broke into my house - the dog would firstly have notified me, most likely well before they even reached the house... phone the police anyway then I would get up, arm myself with something - then ring a few men friends (im female, so having brute force helps ) also a spotlight of some sort is useful to have, like a 1,000,000 candle power big torch... shine it on them and they'll scatter....

but not a gun... i really dont like them. i think they are quite possibly one of the worst things to ever come into existence in humanity... but only IMO.

reply to post by Samuelis


i couldn't agree more with you on that one !!!

From Canada,

I would feel less safe if it wasn't for the current regulations on firearms.

Even the roughest places here sound quiet compared to many american cities.

Never saw or heard anyone unload a weapon around here. When it happens elsewhere in the country, it makes the news.

As probably most people have put...


No I wouldn't.


I believe it's literally only an American mentality that draws the conclusion that everyone having guns makes things safer.

I'm glad we have the current laws and regulations on guns.


I'm in the UK and like most people in this country, we don't want guns.


In fact most people in the world feel this way...

Strangely America doesn't...

Hmmmm

well im from UK and gun laws here prohibit certain guns (all but air rifles and shotguns)
i think we dont need guns until the time calls for it
if everyone could own a gun..
i would feel alot safer knowing i could shoot the person who trys to rob me
but more likely they will have a gun too (and probabaly have used it before)
but britain is a land of fists and possibly slowly turning to a land of knifes?
it has long been the case the big guys beat the smaller guys
with guns/knifes it levels the playing field and makes it more dangerous
(would you want some skinny addict pointing a gun at you?)
with no guns/knives he is helpless to your onslaught

if it comes down to civil war in UK
then the underworld dealers who sell guns now will merely push up their prices a little
right now u can get a fully loaded AK47 (IN THE UK!!!) for around 600 pounds (2 weeks wages)
but if you get caught with it you are looking at an automatic weapons charge (very bad)
u can get a 9mm for less than 100 pound (loaded) and shotguns for a little more than that
im pretty sure there is enough guns to go around already even though they are illegal
alot of farmers hold mutiple shotguns (civil war in english countryside would be difficult)
in the citys it may be worse since as i say there are gangs who own/sell automatic weapons

but it is not guns what kill people
people kill people...

Canada.
No. I would feel less safe if there were more people carrying hand guns. Guns should be left at home.

Rifles are different, I guess I'll have to learn the laws about carrying hunting equipment. I've seen guys around here with them set up on their quads. They seem safer.

Gun violence is really low here, and probably half the people that get killed by guns here, are innocent citizens caught in the cross fire (not aimed at), usually in the city. If people were armed and carrying everywhere they went, there would be more deaths.
Guns should NEVER be brought into a bar. They don't mix well with drunks.

I do wish we had better laws for defending our homes though, we should have the right to shoot intruders that mean to do us harm. We're supposed to somehow run away instead
To only use the amount of force absolutely necessary, but how does one determine that? If I was a 200 lb guy, I would have a better chance of fighting off an intruder. As a 120 lb woman, I have to rely on having dogs, and hope they can do their job with being harmed. If someone gets through my dogs, I would like to be able to shoot to kill, because by that time, I would know the intruder meant to harm or kill me.

Home defense laws here are so murky, I could go to jail for defending my own life.
Thankfully, in the country, intruders would expect to run into rifles, and with our wide open wilderness, they might also expect to never be heard from again........We also have backhoes for digging deep holes....

At least they finally killed the long gun registry, so I'm allowed to have a rifle, but proper storage is an issue. Guns locked in one safe, ammo in another.....

Every time we hear this question get raised the brits all chime in with a resounding NO!
They dont need guns they dont want guns and they want everyone else to be like them......
Unfortunately, the world is not the size of a postage stamp in the North Sea.
many of us live with things like rattlesnakes, alligators,predators of cattle and pets, even children.
Thats right, children!(Cougars have stalked my kids ,my wife, and me)
So, until the world gets tame and civilised just like merry old Briton,perhaps they should give over a bit....
As regards to concealed carry of personal weapons....
It is a PROVEN FACT! Over and over.......
When the populace is allowed to carry a self defence weapon, All Gun Crimes statistics go down!
(along with other violent crime statistics, In Florida, the first year of CCW permits, the populace stopped far more crimes in progress than the police!)
I live on the outskirts of a Canadian city, the police response time for most is around forty minutes......
But it can take days....
IN Briton the common assault and such crime rate is much higher than many other contemporary places....
The licence to mayhem which a disarmed populace presents hooligans and gangs,is open cities for the looting as we saw in the last riots.....
If these people had met the armed and determined store owners who held off the LA rioters from looting their small shops,they may teke another view of armed self defence.
It is plain to me that bullies come in all stripes,that people with mental aberations connot be prdictable, that gang and mob scenes can and do develop anywhere.
In my estimation Switzerlands example is the ultimate response to gun ownership.......
Draft everyone to their two years military duty......arm them with an automatic weapon, and send them home with same.......require they requalify every so often.
Ever hear of Swiss gun crime??????????

I am from the UK, I live near the city of Nottingham. Which is quite well known in the UK for being called Shottingham!! As gun crime in the city did peak a few years ago, even taking this into consideration I would still not want the police or citizens carrying guns at all.

You will find this a common point of view from nearly all british people and police.

reply to post by IkNOwSTuff


absolutely not.
while i think i understand where the notion came from (eg. the philosophical thinking that was adopted by Founding Fathers and the appreciation of the relation between a citizen and the government) and i kinda feel sympathy for the argument (people must be able to defend themselves against tyrants), reality looks totally different these days.

i do lack the time (and the inspiration) to start searching for statistics, so please contradict me if the next assumption is wrong: countries that allow gun ownership do have higher homicide rates and higher suicide by gun rates.... if it's available, chances that it will be used are higher.

i would feel safe if i were to understand that military capacity was distributed more equally over the globe so the US government (please don't confuse the leaders with the people) would be less arrogant in the way they deal with the rest of the world (and hey, sure, the same can be said for Putin's Russia).

we will never ever solve anything as long as violence, whatever form it takes, can be used as a means to get rid of issues.

With me being british, my in-depth knowledge of American history is limited, of which I am sure I will be corrected.

Isn't the ownership of a gun, the right of every american in the constitution.

I thought that this was in the constitution due to the civil war between the americans and the english, so that americans could defend their homes against the british at that time.

For a law that was in place hundreds of years ago, it seems strange to non-americans that such an old outdated law still be hotly debated and defended.

For Example, in England it is still law that - ''All males over the age of 14 must carry out two hours a day of longbow practice.'' I would hazard a guess that less than 1% of the population own a longbow, letalone do that.

Gun laws are strict here in Germany and this is as it should be. We feel rather safe here in the streets. And one reason for this is, that even people who are looking for trouble usually don't have a gun in their pocket.

I often read, it is not the gun, but the person that kills. But there is a natural selection, because only criminals and fearful persons have the desire to have a gun. I feel good to know, those people cannot get a gun that easily.

Another argument is, that the criminals will get their guns somehow. That's true, but it is more complicated and they must hold it in secret, because the gun identifies them as criminals. And it is not the case, that each and every one is confronted with criminal gunmen. We usually hear about them in the news sometimes. Not necessary to have a weapon in every household.

The third argument, that people must have weapons, when the government and the police have them is beyond me. As everywhere we are not satisfied with our politicians sometimes and police makes mistakes, overreacts or even shoots people wrongly sometimes. But the situation is not so bad that we have the feeling, we must be prepaired for a revolution. And I don't think a shooting with the police would make the world better.

No, we don't need guns over here. It only would make life more dangerous.

1) Would you want your country to change its gun laws so that the average citizen could arm themselves?
NO. The average citizen gets rabies from someone getting ahead of them in everyday traffic. And we have seen what happens in America, kids take their guns to school and kill their classmates, if parents have access to guns kids do too.

2) Do you think everyone having a gun would make your country less or more safe?
I don't think the safety of a country depends on citizens carrying guns, I do not think my country is safe, and I don't think it'd make it safer or more dangerous if people had guns with them. It'd just be a different scenario, and as usual we'd get used to it and start to accept that in certain streets at certain hours you just can't walk by.

Could you also let us know what country your from: México.

Originally posted by pigsy2400
With me being british, my in-depth knowledge of American history is limited, of which I am sure I will be corrected.

Isn't the ownership of a gun, the right of every american in the constitution.

I thought that this was in the constitution due to the civil war between the americans and the english, so that americans could defend their homes against the british at that time.

For a law that was in place hundreds of years ago, it seems strange to non-americans that such an old outdated law still be hotly debated and defended.

For Example, in England it is still law that - ''All males over the age of 14 must carry out two hours a day of longbow practice.'' I would hazard a guess that less than 1% of the population own a longbow, letalone do that.

The right to bear arms in the USA is written into their constitution to defend against tyranny It was deemed by their Founding Fathers as the duty of all citizens to stand up united against such tyranny by governments who broke the rules of Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness but I am not American so perhaps an American of the USA could define this clearer

Canadians can already own guns. I have several. It's just harder to get them here than in the US, especially hand guns but you can own them. I think it is a good idea for a populous to be armed as long as they are trained in the use of them. I don't think we need the freedom that the US enjoys though as far as weapons go. Who really needs a piece of artillery for personal protection. It would be nice to be able to purchase a hand gun though without the enormous amount of red tape we have to go through now.

reply to post by IkNOwSTuff

Hell no. If you could see who lives a few doors away from me in Canada, you'd understand. Devout beer drinkers, partyers and chest thumpers, they'd be whooping it up and firing rounds outside at 4AM until I put them out of their misery.

I'm from the UK and I don't want to see guns in the hands of the general public.

My 1st major concern would be that I seriously don't trust myself, I don't get angry quickly or easily but when I do there is no telling what I could do and I wouldn't want to put myself.. or my target.. in that position.

My 2nd concern would be the reverse of the 1st reason. Britain is a lot smaller than the US obviously, so more chances of coming into contact with loons... what if I accidently took a wrong turn and ended up on someone's property, they might shoot me in "self defence".. scary stuff.

Another Canuck here. I have firearms, it's not uncommon in Canada but we don't define ourselves by being armed. And no, I wouldn't feel safer. Firearms are serious business. I was taught at a young age how to use them properly. Would that be the same for others? I don't know.

I must be a very unique individual. Because I am staunchly for the 2nd Amendment as I am a very strong believer in our constitutional rights. I believe that everyone has a right to own a firearm. I am strongly opposed to any form of firearm control.

But I am not a gun nut. I don't believe everybody should be armed. There are some people who are very irresponsible and neglectful and are incapable of handling a firearm in a responsible manner. So I say these people shouldn't have it. BUT I WOULD NOT MAKE A LAW REQUIRING THAT because I believe that adults should have the right to make their own choices and people who think otherwise should butt the frak out and mind their own business. You're scared of firearms, so what? Stop trying to take them away from people and let people make their own choices. Realize the fact that not everybody who has a firearm is a criminal who is out to get you. Stop being afraid and stop being paranoid or you're going to create the very situation you're afraid of.

A firearm is only a tool, and as a tool it can be used for both good and evil. Firearms do save millions of lives in this country each year.

Adults have the rights to make their own own choices. That's what America is supposed to be about. That's what LIFE< LIBERTY and the pursuit of HAPPINESS is all about, allowing people to live their own lives and make their own choices for themselves.

I am also against collective punishment and judging and guilt by association.