81–90 of 149 posts
I lived out in Berlin where basically nobody except the police and the (really) bad guys are armed. Sure, there's burglary, but much more likely was bicycle theft... I had three stolen in one calendar year. To be honest, I was more comfortable that none of my a-hole neighbors were armed, because they would have pulled a gun on you for leaving out the rubbish an hour too early or talking to loudly after 8pm.
It is so weird to see Americans talking about guns... When you live in a society without guns everywhere, the notion that law-abiding citizens don't need and don't want guns is just plain obvious, like "water is wet and the wind blows". Civilized life is life with low crime so you don't need guns. They're far more trouble than solution. But talk an American talk about gun control and they go full crazy on "socialist…
We have no defence against the government and its agents. You may think the government is benign - I do not.
I could ignore government a lot easier, and its abilities to write special laws to sanction it doing whatever it likes, if I had the ability to defend myself.
So, you and I had better convince ourselves that the government really does have our interests at heart, because we have no other options.
I lived out in Berlin where basically nobody except the police and the (really) bad guys are armed. Sure, there's burglary, but much more likely was bicycle theft... I had three stolen in one calendar year. To be honest, I was more comfortable that none of my a-hole neighbors were armed, because they would have pulled a gun on you for leaving out the rubbish an hour too early or talking to loudly after 8pm.
I literally can’t imagine Germans pulling a gun without just cause. We’re talking about people who won’t even jaywalk. I suppose most Berliners aren’t German anymore though. Edit: If I’m somehow wrong I respectfully ask that you please correct me.
I found some of the Berliners/Germans near where I lived (less affluent part of the city) to be very quick to extreme anger over any perceived social slight, amplified more so if done by an obvious foreigner like myself.
Mostly it's these older guys, who grew up in a totally different culture, and absolutely it's only a tiny fraction overall.
For example, I read this only today, and it really resonated with what I (very very occasionally) experienced.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/22/in-no-city-hav...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Targeting and burglarizing homes of known gun-owners seems like a great way to have a very short criminal career.
Guns are one of the most common things burglars are looking for when they’re robbing a home. Contrary to some popular rhetoric, people with guns effectively never stop crimes in progress.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/intruder-shot-in-armed-...
Have you considered the possibility that your media sources intentionally withhold such news cases such that you’ve evidently been left with a confused view of the reality?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you were armed too they probably would think twice.
I really doubt the narrative that someone who would pull out a gun over trash would spare the time to think twice.
It would go like this: 1) I leave trash out 2) Neighbor yells and pulls out gun 3) I put up trash 4) I call police, neighbor is arrested and gun is taken away forever.
I think there’s a perception of “crazy people owning guns” means they are just randomly doing things. Gun owners are typically pretty responsible or self-destructive.
Half the US owns guns and there aren’t many crimes percentage wise. So the vast, vast majority just never do stuff with their gun.
The actual argument is about the extreme outliers who murder people and commit mass shootings. There’s 20M firearm homicides [0] so that’s still super rare as a rate but the impact of each event is super impactful.
An armed society is a polite society. -- RAH
It is so weird to see Americans talking about guns... When you live in a society without guns everywhere, the notion that law-abiding citizens don't need and don't want guns is just plain obvious, like "water is wet and the wind blows". Civilized life is life with low crime so you don't need guns. They're far more trouble than solution. But talk an American talk about gun control and they go full crazy on "socialist…
It is so weird to see Americans talking about guns... When you live in a society without guns everywhere, the notion that law-abiding citizens don't need and don't want guns is just plain obvious, like "water is wet and the wind blows". Civilized life is life with low crime so you don't need guns. They're far more trouble than solution. But talk an American talk about gun control and they go full crazy on "socialist…
I lived out in Berlin where basically nobody except the police and the (really) bad guys are armed. Sure, there's burglary, but much more likely was bicycle theft... I had three stolen in one calendar year. To be honest, I was more comfortable that none of my a-hole neighbors were armed, because they would have pulled a gun on you for leaving out the rubbish an hour too early or talking to loudly after 8pm.
I literally can’t imagine Germans pulling a gun without just cause. We’re talking about people who won’t even jaywalk. I suppose most Berliners aren’t German anymore though. Edit: If I’m somehow wrong I respectfully ask that you please correct me.
Come on man. This is a stupid stereotype.
To relate to the initial post, it is also very wrong that only police and the most dangerous parts of organized crime are armed. Germany has masses of inherited guns. They are just not visible. Breaking and entering are also a very real and common thing, although focused on when the owners are (presumed) away.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> How can a blind person shoot a gun in a responsible way? Don’t be simple-minded. Blind people can shoot a gun responsibly the same as anyone else: be sure of your target and what’s behind it. Yes, that’s more difficult for persons that have impaired or even no usable vision, but knowing many legally blind persons I can assure you that they are responsible firearms owners.
...be sure of your target and what’s behind it. How?