Are you an opponent of American Gun Culture, a proponent of American Gun Culture, or does American Gun Culture simply confuse you. Let the forum know your opinion.

Articles and links on American Gun Culture:

AMERICAN HERITAGE

America as a Gun Culture

It's the only industrial nation in which the possession of rifles, shotguns, and handguns is lawfully prevalent among large numbers of its population.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_culture_in_the_United_States

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-020-0520-6

Wake Forest News

Unpacking gun culture in America | Wake Forest News

Professor of Sociology David Yamane, an internationally recognized authority on gun ownership in the U.S., offers insights about the nearly 100M American civilians who own firearms.

https://compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/soc4.12497

Pew Research Center

Key facts about Americans and guns

About six-in-ten U.S. adults (58%) favor stricter gun laws. Another 26% say that U.S. gun laws are about right, while 15% favor less strict gun laws.

"America as a Gun Culture: Hofstadter's 1970 Classic

In his influential 1970 essay published in American Heritage, historian Richard Hofstadter examines why the United States stands alone among modern industrial nations in sustaining a widespread gun culture. He describes America as the only developed country where lawful ownership of rifles, shotguns, and handguns remains common among large segments of the population, even as other nations adopted strict controls.Hofstadter traces this phenomenon to deep historical roots. Guns arrived with early English and Spanish colonists in the 1600s and became essential on the expanding frontier. For centuries, firearms served practical purposes: hunting to supplement diets, controlling predators and vermin, and defending settlements against Native American attacks amid brutal conflicts like King Philip’s War. Children learned to use guns early, turning boys into skilled hunters and defenders.The American Revolution reinforced this bond. The Pennsylvania rifle, accurate and suited for guerrilla tactics, helped colonists outmatch British forces, fostering belief in the armed citizen's superiority. This tied into Whig political ideas fearing standing armies as threats to liberty, leading to the Second Amendment's emphasis on a "well regulated Militia" for collective defense—not individual rights, as later interpretations sometimes claim. Hofstadter notes Supreme Court rulings, like United States v. Miller (1939), affirming the amendment's militia focus.Despite the frontier's end generations earlier and urbanization reducing farming to a tiny fraction of jobs, the attachment persists. Other frontier nations like Canada, Australia, and Japan implemented tight regulations during industrialization, yielding far lower gun violence rates. Hofstadter contrasts U.S. figures—such as 2.7 gun homicides per 100,000 people versus Britain's 0.05—and highlights post-WWII gun surpluses flooding markets.He critiques myths that guns protect democracy or counter tyranny, calling them stubborn and politically costly. Lax laws, influenced by rural politics, the NRA, and federalism's patchwork regulations, enable high violence levels, including murders, suicides, and accidents. Hofstadter laments missed opportunities for reform after 1960s assassinations, arguing America's gun culture privileges disorder over safety in an otherwise orderly society.(Word count: 378)Key Takeaways

1. Historical Origins: America's gun culture began as frontier necessity for survival, hunting, and defense, evolving into a symbol of liberty during the Revolution and enshrined in the Second Amendment as a collective militia right.

2. Unique Persistence: Unlike other industrial nations that tightened controls, the U.S. maintains widespread civilian gun ownership due to enduring myths, political inertia, and lobbying, leading to exceptionally high gun violence rates.

3. Cultural and Political Critique: Hofstadter views lax gun laws as an anachronism that abets crime and assassins, calling for recognition that armed citizens do not safeguard democracy but exacerbate societal risks."

Original source: America as a Gun Culture by Richard Hofstadter (American Heritage, October 1970)

Not sure I'd call it a culture, but obviously I'm for rights to own firearms, and carry. Prefer no license necessary to carry, once trained & approved to carry.

My local chief of police, had to sign off on concealed permit to carry, and wouldn't do so, unless you attended and were approved, trained enough to carry, and at least hit what you are aiming at. Then county sheriff department, and maybe state police had to approve same application. Along with 2 character witnesses.

And NO, not everyone passed. Unfortunately, that's not the countrywide standard. Still a loophole or 2 in some states that need to be closed.

But the fact is, sadly, more laws and restriction, won't really stop felons, or future felons, from acquiring firearms.

More emphasis on parenting and family structure, teaching your damn kids, the value of life. It's not a video game.

If I ever, even threw the first punch, my father would have kicked my ass. Probably the same if I backed down from a fight, but violence is always the last resort.

Parent first need to show up, and, stop being the kid's friend, they have plenty of them. Be the mentor, the kid will be proud of, when an adult.

34 minutes ago, Base32 said:

Are you an opponent of American Gun Culture, a proponent of American Gun Culture, or does American Gun Culture simply confuse you. Let the forum know your opinion.

Once upon a time, It was confusing to me.

I work for an American company, mostly Americans on the rig.

I asked my co-workers, why do Americans own so many guns, they replied... they need them to protect themselves.

They replied, they need their guns to protect themselves from their government.

American gun laws are in modern perspective crazy, as your statistics shows, and was made for a different time and different area.

I can own weapons in Norway, and grew up with weapons on the wall, and amunition in the drawer. Dynamite and detonators since I was a farm kid.

Shooting airguns since I could walk almost, and live amunition since god knows how old I was, but at 12 I often just picked down what I wanted and went shooting at our own range, and detonating dyamite since same age alone. Also had extended weapon training in the army as well explosives.

I think truly believe Americans have to many crazy individuals who got guns, and guns are necessary some places, but when kids can kill other kids as many as they do, ?

Look at Canada and Finland? More weapons pr capital, but not the same statistics as usa.

Edit note

Usa 120 guns pr 100 people, Falkland Islands 60 guns pr 100 is nr 2

Canada and Finland got 30+ pr 100 people.

We used to get a lot of European service guys over to Texas and Oklahoma for oilfield training. After work, we'd take them to the gun range or just out to a farm and shoot targets or clay pigeons. Most of them enjoyed the hell out of it, and lamented that they couldn't do it back home.

There's something cathartic about poking holes in paper from a distance, along with the bang. But it's one of those things that you have to experience, not just watch. Some of our Euro trainees even admitted that it was a guilty pleasure.

I have a deep fear of guns and firmly believe that only the government should possess them. This conviction influences my choices, which is why I choose to wear panties and carry a man bag (purse).

Shooting sten guns in Houston with my cousins is very stimulating ,shooters all have a smile on their face at the shooting range ,all of em have Glocks for protection ,shooting guns isa good hobby i would say,

4 hours ago, KhunLA said:

My local chief of police, had to sign off on concealed permit to carry, and wouldn't do so, unless you attended and were approved, trained enough to carry, and at least hit what you are aiming at. Then county sheriff department, and maybe state police had to approve same application. Along with 2 character witnesses.

Personally I believe that anyone granted a Conceal Carry permit should have a minimum of 20 hours of training including practical theory, firearms handling, and state law regarding the use of firearms - and not be a felon.

8 minutes ago, connda said:

and not be a felon.

That goes without saying as felons in the US are prohibited from being in possession of any firearm and know no no state that could possibly allow otherwise, but then again anyone from the US who understands guns and US law would know this as probably 99% of the adult population there does.

15 minutes ago, connda said:

Personally I believe that anyone granted a Conceal Carry permit should have a minimum of 20 hours of training including practical theory, firearms handling, and state law regarding the use of firearms - and not be a felon.

And make manufacturer, produce firearms, only the buyer can shoot, via bio tech ID (fingerprint scan) built into the firearm or RFID chips.

Would eliminate accidental kids shooting kids if getting access, which they should never have, but sh!t happens.

3 hours ago, impulse said:

We used to get a lot of European service guys over to Texas and Oklahoma for oilfield training. After work, we'd take them to the gun range or just out to a farm and shoot targets or clay pigeons. Most of them enjoyed the hell out of it, and lamented that they couldn't do it back home.

There's something cathartic about poking holes in paper from a distance, along with the bang. But it's one of those things that you have to experience, not just watch. Some of our Euro trainees even admitted that it was a guilty pleasure.

I agree - there is something enjoyable about shooting guns... at the range, or for hunting.

But - thats different from 'every day carry'... I think gun culture in the USA is nuts.

The Weekly news and mall / school shootings - is enough to say, enough !!!...

We recently had Australia - and that was a massive shock event - the same thing happens in the USA and the rest of the worlds thinks "not again"...

There is no reason for anyone to carry guns - I've never seen one argument that convinces me otherwise...

... and the "criminals carry guns" argument is weak...

15 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

But - thats different from 'every day carry'... I think gun culture in the USA is nuts.

It's not my cuppa, but I don't begrudge those who do carry as long as there are people still walking around free after 10 or 20 or more violent convictions. Turned loose by bleeding heart lefties who blame society for their violence.

I grew up with guns. My Grandpa was in WW1, my Dad was a "lifer" and my Uncles were in WW2. I got my first rifle when I was 5, and the first pistol I ever shot was a 1911a1.

Nobody in my family ever killed anybody and none of my guns ever did.

They are both important tools and the source of amusement and hobby.

As Jefferson said:

"As to the species of exercise, I advise the gun. While this gives a moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise, and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body, and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be the constant companion of your walks."

https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/let31.asp

Poll is a little strange, as a non-American their gun culture is their own affair, not my concern. Though personally, I find it sad that people living in a developed country should feel the need to go about their day to day life armed. I'm grateful that in all my travels and nearly 50 years of living working as an expat I've never felt that unsafe.

4 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

The Weekly news and mall / school shootings - is enough to say, enough !!!...

Tragic and horrible but statisticly infinitesimal.

4 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

There is no reason for anyone to carry guns - I've never seen one argument that convinces me otherwise...

Ever lived in Alaska? Rural Wyoming? Ever owned a bodega in NYC? Or a jewelry store in NYC? Or been a diamond merchant? Or owned a gas station in the rural south? Or been a nurse in an urban VA hospital working the night shift? Or a female jogger in an urban environment?

6 hours ago, KhunLA said:

And make manufacturer, produce firearms, only the buyer can shoot, via bio tech ID (fingerprint scan) built into the firearm or RFID chips.

Would eliminate accidental kids shooting kids if getting access, which they should never have, but sh!t happens.

Could this also be done to retrofit older guns ? Would be a good idea and like you say would eliminate accidents.

12 hours ago, Base32 said:

Are you an opponent of American Gun Culture, a proponent of American Gun Culture, or does American Gun Culture simply confuse you. Let the forum know your opinion.

Articles and links on American Gun Culture:

AMERICAN HERITAGE

America as a Gun Culture

It's the only industrial nation in which the possession of rifles, shotguns, and handguns is lawfully prevalent among large numbers of its population.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_culture_in_the_United_States

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-020-0520-6

Wake Forest News

Unpacking gun culture in America | Wake Forest News

Professor of Sociology David Yamane, an internationally recognized authority on gun ownership in the U.S., offers insights about the nearly 100M American civilians who own firearms.

https://compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/soc4.12497

Pew Research Center

Key facts about Americans and guns

About six-in-ten U.S. adults (58%) favor stricter gun laws. Another 26% say that U.S. gun laws are about right, while 15% favor less strict gun laws.

I voted "neutral" because I don't really care, it's none of my business. However I think the gun culture is absolutely NUTS, I'll never understand it, and neither will most of the civilised world.

A baiting troll post and a reply has been removed.