Man killed for not walking fast enough

That's what the media's for, eh?


Sorry, that was low.... I apologise.

On a side note though, I constantly suspect that the 'bear arms' thing was actually a typographical error and what they were actually promoting is the right to not wear clothes as a testament to show that the government could not control the people.

 

let's blame guns on rap music and MTV.

 

From Bristol Zoo to B&Q.

 

Just wanted to test that little theory out, and you are right, a very law abiding bunch you Texans! Your folks tell you not to do a thing, you stick to your proverbials!

http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/txcrime.htm

Only having a dig, basically because it's the individual irrespective of the weapon at hand. Sadly, a more gun tolerant society tends to have more weapons to hand ergo they are more readily available at the point when aggression is displayed.

It's a bit disconcerting to be reminded that the "Founding fathers wrote it into the American constitution" produced in 1787 at a time when you could potentially be scapled by a pissed of Sioux or meet a grizzly bear in your path, plus you had civil unrest every few decades! They clearly had no idea that little over 200 years later that the 14 colonies would go from being 2,776,000 (approx) population stretching across the vast wilderness, to 301,139,947 (July 2007) often grouped together in vast numbers, diverse social strata and very different economic & ethnic backgrounds! (Today 2,750,000 people equates to the population of Cape Town in South Afrika!)

America has not had to deal with a revolution since the 1780s (The Civil War does not count because it was infact a war), when in actual fact it was we Brits trampling on US toes. Time to put down your right to bear arms in case of civil disobedience perhaps? France went nuts in 1780s too, with a little thing called the French Revolution (let them eat cake! etc) now the most deadly thing to offend you in France is a sharpened Baguette or a particularly unwise rendition of La Vie en Rose!

I think the whole American gun ownership thing is a smoke screen for the real truth which is that it would be a case of "You put it down", "no YOU put it down", "No YOU put it down!" - too many, too big an issue, too powerful a lobby, weak political will and an ingrained culture that feels safe (ironically) around guns inspite of the alarming number of gun crimes.

However, I hasten to add the whole American gun ownership & law debate has been played out on AG several times and you wouldn't believe what a hot potato it can become!

I no longer tend to get involved, but the idea that people do as their parents tell them is just not true.

So, often it is better to let someone else say the words you find hard to be heard. I've always loved America, we gain a great deal from America & American culture, but I shall never understand certain aspects of the American psyche, especially when people say things that are genuinely said out of great concern!

This is a particularly damning set of statistics: http://my.telegraph.co.uk/phil_slocombe/may2007/guncrimes.htm (Source)

"According to the CDC article, in 2004 there were 29,569 gun deaths in America:
16,750 suicides (56% of all U.S gun deaths),
11,624 homicides (40% of all U.S gun deaths),
649 unintentional shootings, 311 from legal intervention and 235 from undetermined intent (4% of all U.S gun deaths combined).

The fact a few people might be saved by carrying a gun cannot justify the number of deaths that occur as a result of their ubiquitous presence in American homes.

Contrary to what the gun-lobby argues, tough gun reforms do work, and it's worth noting that the gun homicide rate has fallen in Canada since tough gun laws were introduced in 2001."


And with people like this at your side to defend you, my guess is the culture is never going to end: http://www.bainfiles.com/PracticeAreas/Weapons-Offenses.asp (Source)

I particularly liked this bit:
Our state criminal defense and federal criminal defense lawyers are available to defend you against all felony and misdemeanor gun crime and weapons offense charges, including those related to:

• Possession of Handguns without a Permit
• Carrying a Concealed Weapon without a Permit
• Possession of Illegal Knives (switchblade, butterfly knife)
• Possession of Brass Knuckles
• Deadly Conduct with a Weapon (Discharge of a firearm)
• Possession of a Weapon in Prohibited Places (bars, schools)
• Possession of a Firearm by a Felon

:thumbsup:

Frankly, in the UK if you thought you could simply dial up a defence solicitor to "smooth" your way through any of those charges, you'd have another think coming - you'd be toast!

Anyway, please feel free to flame grill me etc...

 

I wanna rob, I wanna rhyme
Heard it in a song now im into gun crime

A class parody if ever I heard one

 

I remember when staying in a motel in Las Vegas I looked through the tourist brochures and found one for trying out shooting with machine guns O_O

"Stop by and shoot a live machine gun on our air conditioned indoor ranges" WTF?!

 

What's really bad is living in redneck territory and hearing crazy neighbors that have liscenses for such weapons shoot them at targets or what-have-you (it doesn't happen often but it happens).

Automatic weapons are overdoing it.

As far as those numbers went... I'm not going to bust out a calculator and everything, but the numbers seem to stay proportional as population grew throughout the years (save for in the late 80s), and also, if you noticed, the crime rate seems to be going down in recent years too. Also we've had quite a population boom down here thanks to illegal immigration, as well as displacement due to Hurricane Katrina and (God I hope nobody takes this the wrong way) crime seems to follow both of those along with other problems such as homelessness and unemployment, among other things.

And, as far as the whole thing about kids not doing what their parents tell them to, you're right on that one, but being told not to play with guns without actually ever shooting one is a totally different thing. Guns are scary as fuck, I'm not going to lie (and I'm one of those guys who isn't fazed by much), but you can't fully grasp that until you've shot one. They're not like the little hole-punchers glorified in action movies and FPS titles or anything.

 

illegal immigration has always been at the same rates for the past 20 years. it's just getting more coverage now

 

What do you know, Parris? You're just a foreigner.

Population grows, so does crime rate. Gang and drug activities grow, so does violent crime. That's just how it has been Countries in South America have strict gun policies yet violent crime is growing in those countries.

Regardless of laws, someone will get a hold of something lethal and commit a crime, almost every time it will be senseless..

What a shock. Just please, don't put people and their way of life down just to make a point on how America sucks because of one senseless crime and that you just had to google data to make it support your inane point.

Don't worry, I still like you and all of you regardless of what you view this country as.

 

You call it Stupid. Thats what i call anger.

 

Quoted again. I think this makes the most sense.

 

With that kind of intellect, I'm surprised he didn't hold it the wrong way and shoot himself.

 

A certain dirty colour comes to mind....

Or on a different topic:
As does Switzerland, where every man has a gun but there are very few murders, or Finland (yes, yes I know, but that was the only incidence like that in the nation's history).

I think it proves that it isn't the guns, its the people who use them. Without bashing your nation too much, the US has one of the lower standards of living and highest seperation of rich and poor in the western world. Poverty and race segregation are still quite visible (as they are in the UK, one of the reasons I left there) and that reflects in the crime rates. Most of the violent crime is by black teens\young adults and white "trash" who have often been abused as kids. What do these two groups have in common? Poverty. It's the same in the UK with the black teens and "chavs" (except in the UK it's stabbings more than shootings). Poverty, segregation and poor education only equal one thing: crime. On top of parents who want the government to look after their kids cause they're too lazy to do it themselves and media that's obsessed with war and how everything's going to shit, not only do you have poor kids with a poorer education and next to no future, you have poor kids who view the world as a violent, evil place where no one gives a fuck about you or your problems and that turns to them fucking themselves up with drugs and booze and\or getting a gun becasue they have no way of settling disputes, or drive to get over things peacefully.

$0.02.

 

San Fransicko
I hate that city.....I hate the whole west coast.

 

*Hides*

 

I'm afraid I don't fully understand what my being "foreign" has to do with my point-of-view? Does it somehow not count for something? Surely outsiders can look in and have a different perspective, one which is not necessarily accepted by those living in the United States, but is none the less accurate and or displaying foreign attitudes to an American issue?

America is a nation built on massive influx of nationals from far flung corners of the globe. It is still in relative terms a fairly young nation and many of those who populate it are originally immigrants.

You may or may not be aware of things going on in other parts of the world, but trust me the world knows what happens in American, because it tends to have a rippling effect. Perhaps not as well as an American national, but the rest of the world is literally bombarded with American culture, politics, TV, films, food (not always the best stuff either), literature, social comment etc. The list goes on.

Being "foreign" in the World means a lot less than being "foreign" in the United States.

Which is exactly the point I am trying to make. In 1787 they could not have realised how the American colonies would have grown into an entire nation with one of the largest populations on earth. It wasn't until the Industrial Revolution arrived and engulfed the planet (actually beginning in rural England at around the same time the American Constitution was being drafted) that social issues began to emerge on a huge scale (industrial even).

The Founding Father's were at best ill-equipped to deal with society as it grew out of all recognition. Surely, they simply attempted to establish a new country where in actual fact "Freedom" was at the core of the American expression & dream? This much as a "foreigner" who studied American history (albeit briefly) understands.

However, since then the American nation and infact the World has change out of all recognition. In those 200 years or so the original ethos and message may actually have been lost through time & tide.

What I was simply saying was that perhaps, given the fact that "the right to bear arms" has been somewhat a disaster since the people of America stopped defending themselves from bears and Native Indians and turned the weapons on one another. Perhaps gun culture should be looked at with a fresh perspective?

My knowledge of South America is limited, but having read a few books on various countries it does vary from place to place. Overall there is a great deal of lawlessness in countries such as Columbia, which is precisely why tourists from the United Kingdom are advised to visit said region with great caution.

Wealth isn't exactly distributed terribly evenly and poverty is something, as you know that often (and does) tend to lead to crime.

Luckily, I don't think you can compare the South & North Americas in one breath as if they are on equal footing. The South is where the gun battle has been pretty much lost in many regions.

http://www.iansa.org/regions/samerica/samerica.htm (Source)

I'm not putting anyone down in the slightest? I merely suggested that Texas is not the peaceful, law abiding, gun wary state that the poster suggested. He is an individual, therefore he gives his opinion and I only expressed concern that not everyone considers the law & gun usage with as much respect as he does. I think the posters eloquent reply to my posting suggests we understand one another and that it was not meant as a put down.

America does not suck... nor did I say it did. Re read what I wrote and you'll see how much respect I have for America, it's people and the culture. What I cannot understand is the fierce opposition to anti-gun opinion. It's almost as to express such a view, and to back it up with evidence from ANY source you run the risk of being de-cried as a foreigner and being anti-American.

A safe, secure, well balanced nation does not hide behind it's issues, it delves into them and pulls out the rot.

I'm not having a go at any one individual, nor am I anti-American, nor is my only source of information Google (laugh!), but given the "popcorn" nature of this discussion I didn't realise I would be expected to write a well versed thesis! I posted the information up as it is pertinent to the discussion and the Internet is the medium we all have in common.

It's a discussion and I can't see why liking anyone or respecting them really comes into it? We can all hold our own opinion and of course there are those who feel equally strongly that guns are a positive part of American culture and that they'd protect that civil right to the hilt!

Seriously, I tend to get caught in most American gun debates primarily, because contrary to your opinion that "Johnny foreigner" doesn't have a say, I believe that the whole world would benefit from a less enthusiastic gun culture in America, because it also tends to be exhibited in foreign policy decisions too.

Anyway, I've said my piece - that's it! No arguement with anyone, so don't imagine I am attacking anyone. Madhatter I don't dislike you either!

 

How the FUCK could you hate the west coast????

 

Oh good grief, from the spelling change I imagine that this isn't going to be a pleasant explination full of social tolerance and understanding.

 

:banghead:

wow...