I live right across the border up north and I can tell you that if I saw a regular person just carrying a gun around, I would be running for my life. There is a reason that it is illegal in many places to do that, because its extremely dangerous. You could literally kill a huge group of people without even having to get near them.

I live across the border up North as well backwards gun laws are one of my gripes about this country but at least they loosened them recently... somewhat. For now I make do with taking two or three knives with me...

Are you in BC? Where do you live?

Most gun crimes are committed with illegal weapons. Switzerland has guns and people consider them "advanced".

Or is it a doubled standard? What another country does, America can't.

What other countries do, America does a lot worse.

No other developed country even comes close to the amount of people killed by guns here.

American Gun Homicides

2009-2011 33,672
2011 11,101
2010 11,078
2009 11,493

Switzerland Gun Homicides

2009-2011 61
2011 22
2010 15
2009 24

Source
Source

Population of USA = 317,928,000 (source)
Population of Switzerland = 8,014,000 (source)

317,928,000 / 33,672 = 9,441
1 in every 9,441 people in the U.S. is killed with a gun each year.

8,014,000 / 61 = 131,377
1 in every 131,377 people in Switzerland is killed with a gun each year.

131,377 / 9,441 = 13.9
You are 13.9 times more likely to be killed with a gun in the U.S. than in Switzerland.

As I just showed, Switzerland may have guns (all countries do), but the U.S.'s problem is a lot worse, even when you adjust for its very large population. The U.S. has the worst rate of gun homicides out of all the developed countries in the world.

My country gives me the right NOT to be one of 12,000 people killed by guns every year. I'd much rather take that right than the right to kill and be killed by an unncessary military weapon.

So, so proud of this.

65 million of us crowded onto an island and we have one death thanks to a gun per 400,000 people. Amazing.

How many of the 11,000 homicides a year that are gun related come from illegally held guns?

Sorry to say but your country has a history of not respect freedom, that is why you STILL have no constitution or constitutional rights, and this is why the US is now independent I can't get into the whole nanny-state thing.

There is no " right to be killed by military weapons", not sure where you got that from. I'm pretty sure the military doesn't use handguns much anymore, this is not the life and times of Wyatt Earp, these days it's all about Predator drones and machine guns.

Me, I'd feel much safer and happier living in Atlanta Georgia than living in some place like Birmingham, Liverpool or Glasgow where it's illegal to efficiently protect yourself or enjoy certain sports and hobbies.

You can stop with your comments about my country from back in the 18th country, because if you're going to do that, let's talk about freedom in YOUR county. Slavery lasting until WAY after every other developed country banned it, segregation lasting until the 1960s, race still a HUGE issue nowadays, and immigrants routinely denied entry into the 'land of the free' based on their skin colour and nationality at the beginning of the last century.

And yes, it's awful that here in England you don't need to be rich to get treatment to survive an illness that you had no control over, or that you can get government help when you're made redundant as a result of America's financial crisis, or that a good education is a right, not a privilege enjoyed by those who can afford it. What an awful thing the 'nanny state' is.

So don't come for my country when your country's record on 'freedom' is the WORST in the developed world.

And honey, a constitution is not needed in order for a country to be 'free', and if a constitution includes the right to kill others with unnecessary weapons then I'm fine the way I am thank you. But keep on thinking we're some undeveloped, freedom-hating country cause we want to protect our citizens from being killed.

And is it not true you can purchase military assault rifles without a permit in your country? Weapons the military used being allowed on the streets of your biggest cities?

And those beautiful cities you listed have a lot lower crime rate (and as a country, our crime rate fell 15% last year by the way!) than Atlanta, Georgia. Are you just pressed that our country is proof than fewer guns = fewer deaths?

It's only a matter of time until Texas passes something like this. Disgusting. Rednecks are the scum of this country.

Excuse me? My country is Canada, we are pretty progressive hunty. Underground railroad? Same-sex marriage nearly a decades before you British had it? Please.

Confused again because we have healthcare here


The worst? yours is worse than ours.

Sorry, no bill of rights, no constitution, you simply have less rights than Americans and there's no way around that. Perhaps some of those rights you wouldn't use anyways - but you don't have them so we won't know.

False, in Canada you need to take a safety course and obtain a licence, however once you get that it's simple process to purchase them. Just click "add to cart" and wait for it to arrive at your doorstep.




In the USA you also need a licence if you want military assault rifles, and you need a background check from the Federal Government, and you need to register them. And you're not allowed to take them "on the streets" as if anyone does that, it's kind of hard to hide them.


Those "beautiful" cities aren't worth living in IMO, they are restrictive and it's more dangerous in my opinion, not only can't you have a gun or knife, but you can't even have simple things like pepper spray or tasers! Like, what?

And even more to the point, people who like guns can't pursue their hobbies living there. Would you like to live in a country that banned most pop music? Same thing, it's ridiculous.

Never heard of a really safe country before?

In these countries, people don't feel the need to carry around weapons so they don't complain about them being outlawed. They don't feel the need to carry around weapons because their country is SAFE.

I visited Japan last year, it's the safest place I've ever been.

How many of those guns are from licensed and illegal holders?

Many crimes are committed by illegal guns. Also there's a much different mentality. When these criminals have guns it's because of a failed system and society. Switzerland does not have this problem because they don't have a culture that celebrates violence. Even in the states with the toughest hand gun laws, guns are still obtained through the Black Market. We can remove all the guns in the country making it illegal to have one. And there will be the a similar amount of homicides regardless. Even then taking all the guns period we'll still have crimes with other weapons. What I'm saying is, the country needs to fix itself socially, guns are not the problem. They aggravate it for sure, but it's a problem that needs to be rooted at the core.

I mostly agree with this. However, I think that the widespread access to guns that the lax laws here in America permit is also a factor in the very high amount of gun deaths. Just think what would happen if you adopted European or Japanese gun laws. Even though homicides committed with illegally obtained guns would still be prevalent, the overall number of gun deaths would be a lot less.

I think you're mistaken on how easy it is to obtain a gun. It's harder than you think to illegally get a gun, unless you have some major connections.

The social beliefs in this country regarding guns definitely need to be altered.

First, my country is just as safe as yours, second, no country is perfectly "safe" yours has a much higher murder rate than say Germany, and third, let me quote Ben Franklin:

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."






So harden up a bit and stop cowering from normal items like guns and knives. As for Japan it's a terrible place where private life and society is strictly regulated, it may work for Japanese culture but it's nothing like the freedoms we enjoy here.

I hate it when people say this. Banning guns obviously won't remove thoughts from people's heads if they want to kill someone, but it definitely makes the weapon more inaccessible. Also, banning guns means a lot of people without the means to get one illegally (such as kids) move on to less deadly weapons such as knives. A gun can kill 30 people in 2 minutes whereas a knife is generally easier to escape from and doesn't lead to massacres as seen in America.

Why do you think places with banned guns such as Australia have such low massacre rates and America literally has a school shooting every 5 minutes?

Is that a light saber? (top middle silver)

No it's a flashlight.

Some people feel a flashlight is a necessary item to carry around at all times I don't get it but whatever works for them.