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Originally Posted by alpha66
i always find this topic amazing .... it seems to be a very american thing to want hand guns in peoples hands!!! i really don't see the logic at all! a gun is used to kill people ... nothing more, you don't use a hand gun to go hunting, assult weapons are of no use to anyone apart from killing other people.
here in australia and in many other parts of the world gun ownership is restricted people in the cities generally don't have guns and have no use for them. thus we have bugger all gun related crime!
i really don't get the obsessive need many of you have for owning a hand gun, it's crazy,
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Maybe I can help you understand why some of us in the U. S. debate passionately over some issues (not just guns).
I'll avoid a discussion of firearms for now and just explain why we get so worked up:
First realize that the United States is, at it's very core, a country evolved from an expressed recognition of
individual rights and
personal freedoms. This is why we argue over everything from banning smoking in all public venues to a person's "right" to have physician-assisted suicide if in severe chronic pain due to terminal illness.
Folks in the U.S. get very defensive when legislation is proposed that will limit such freedoms for a segment of the population.
For example, I'm a physician with a particular interest in prevention of heart disease .... still, I believe in a person's right to smoke tobacco if they want. In the U.S. we have more and more laws that gradually restrict smoking in most public areas. Smoking is a prime risk factor of vascular disease and heart disease in particular ... but I don't think that restrictive laws are a solution. I believe that people should be allowed to make their own decisions.
This is why people still argue over the legalization of recreational drugs. I don't have to be an addict to support legalization. It's about the right of "self-determination" which is at the core of our consciousness as U.S. citizens.
The U.S. doesn't derive its identity from any singular ethnic culture ... it's a country that,
by its very definition, is "multi-cultural" and recognizes, above all, the right of the individual.
(*I'm only talking about the
principles ... the U.S. does have puritanical roots and has strong Christian influence but those arise as a consequence of our founding history ... and are not beyond scrutiny and criticism when they manifest in our laws.)
I'm not forwarding this argument to justify complete gun ownership ... I'm only explaining why folks in the U.S. can get so passionate about this discussion. It's no different than when we discuss Affirmative Action, Euthenasia, Legalization of Controlled Substances, Income Tax and the National Speed Limit.
I hope that makes some sense.