Weapons Carried In Car...

[skippybangkok]

Well, wadda ya know..........

I typed in google " highest gun related deaths in the western world " and you get 3 guesses which country hit the top of the list ( Japan - nope !....2 more tries left )

I dont think i would trade the freedoms enjoyed in Europe for a US version of "Freedom"

Google Gun Search Results

[bazmlb]

Statistics dont prove much really, interestingly enough in a country where there is a gun in every household - Switzerland the murders by guns are lower than countries with vitually no legal guns

"Switzerland, which is awash in guns and has substantially lower murder and robbery rates than England, where most guns are banned."

US vs Switzerland gun laws

[skippybangkok]

yes, but then there was the Von Trapp Family which sang so nicely which made Swiss people happy and loving people.........

[Thaiboxer]

Some of you people make the US sound like a total war zone...wake up and smell the coffee; it's not THAT dangerous. Sure, we have a bad govt (look at Bush) and yes there is a lot of gun crime but Europe isn't all roses either. You may not get shot in England, but you could still get stabbed or beaten for wandering into the wrong pub. Same goes for lots of other European countries. In Italy for example, there is loads of gun crime and murdering going on in the south and this came from an Italian by the way.

Skippy...the entire US is not a slum and those who think so think so know little about it. I grew up in a nice area that would put many European places to shame. I have been in Europe and it's a great place but if you think it's all safe and secure, you're living in a dream world.

Switzerland has a very high rate of gun ownership as most people participate in military training and belong to local militias, yet they aren't running around blowing each other away. The problem isn't the guns or even easy access to them...it's society in general and how people are being raised.

[PREM-R]

The problem isn't the guns or even easy access to them...it's society in general and how people are being raised.

Rubbish, if people do not have easy access to guns then they cannot fire them at one another when they are in a rage. The US has a problem that its citizens do not want "Gun Crime" but they are unable to equate this with the ease of availability of fire arms. Get rid of the guns and you will reduce the level of "Gun Crimes".

[bazmlb]

The problem isn't the guns or even easy access to them...it's society in general and how people are being raised.

Rubbish, if people do not have easy access to guns then they cannot fire them at one another when they are in a rage. The US has a problem that its citizens do not want "Gun Crime" but they are unable to equate this with the ease of availability of fire arms. Get rid of the guns and you will reduce the level of "Gun Crimes".

"Get rid of the guns and you will reduce the level of "Gun Crimes"."

Get rid of cars and you will reduce road deaths

the tools arent to blame, its the way they are abused, sure taking anything away will reduce the abuse of it, but would we want to live in a world where we arent allowed to have anything that may hurt us or others because we do stupid things.

Now whilst i am on that point how stupid is it to take away metal knives on planes but leave the metal forks?

[Crossy]

"Get rid of the guns and you will reduce the level of "Gun Crimes"."

Get rid of cars and you will reduce road deaths

Whilst I am in no doubt that this is absolutely true a simple point:-

Use of a vehicle is, to most people, essential to go about their daily business.

Use of a gun is (to most people) not essential in order to go about their daily business.

I have never been to the US, and have no intention of going either, not because of their gun laws, apparent (from what we get fed on TV) violence or anything like that. Pretty well every American I've met in a professional role has been totally competent and a perfect gentleman (can I say 'gentleman' in this increasingly PC world? ).

I just object to having to get a visa to visit a country whereas their citizens can visit MY country for pretty well as long as they like with only a passport.

[percy2]

You may not get shot in England, but you could still get stabbed or beaten for wandering into the wrong pub.

Its a good job they don't have guns then hey

[Thaiboxer]

I have never been to the US, and have no intention of going either, not because of their gun laws, apparent (from what we get fed on TV) violence or anything like that. Pretty well every American I've met in a professional role has been totally competent and a perfect gentleman (can I say 'gentleman' in this increasingly PC world? ).

I just object to having to get a visa to visit a country whereas their citizens can visit MY country for pretty well as long as they like with only a passport.

Thanks Crossy...at least somebody from Europe doesn't think we're all a bunch of gun toting cowboys. The visa thing isn't fair, I agree. As an American, I can travel pretty much anywhere with no visa (Spain for up to 90 days for example). I didn't know UK nationals needed a visa to visit the States...I thought it was just a passport with a fingerprint whereas the Americans only need the old fashioned kind. It's all politics and this has been made even worse by the 9/11 incident five years ago. US security is still not that great despite what happened in NYC and it's caused a lot of problems for travelers who have no bad intentions. I think the US govt should worry more about the people living in the States already rather than those coming in from abroad. Look what happened in April of 1995 with the Oklahoma City bombing...that was done by one of our own.

[Crossy]

I didn't know UK nationals needed a visa to visit the States...I thought it was just a passport with a fingerprint whereas the Americans only need the old fashioned kind.

Actually a 'normal' UK passport is OK for visa waiver entry up until later this year when we will all need the 'biometric' passports.

My problem is that my passport was issued by Rome embassy (replacement for a stolen one) and is not 'machine readable', on mine the white bit at the bottom of the photo page where all the computer readable text lives is blank.

Never causes any problems except for the good old US of A

[skippybangkok]

The problem isn't the guns or even easy access to them...it's society in general and how people are being raised.

Interesting point !! Agreed about switserland having guns in every house, and not having this problem. So if its not the guns, then what is it ?

"it's society in general and how people are being raised" (in the US ? ) ????

Just the gun touting comment of "the feeling of freedom a gun brings" might sound cool to a person from the US, but I am prety sure the rest of the western world does not share the same views.

[Lacoste]

It may be the yank way...guess you never tasted the freedom of owning a firearm Conners. You're still a troll though

Freedom? your not even allowed to smoke a Cuban cigar in Thailand, We from Europe are however.

[Thaiboxer]

"Interesting point !! Agreed about switserland having guns in every house, and not having this problem. So if its not the guns, then what is it ?

"it's society in general and how people are being raised" (in the US ? ) ????

Just the gun touting comment of "the feeling of freedom a gun brings" might sound cool to a person from the US, but I am prety sure the rest of the western world does not share the same views."

As for the rest of the Western world not sharing the gun ownership=freedom point of view, I guess it would have to do with not having had a history of easy access to guns plus the input from the media concerning gun violence in the States. For your question regarding just what creates so much gun violence in the US as opposed to Switzerland, here's my two cents:

The US has always had firearms as part of its culture...similar to fish and chips in the UK. In past years, virtually everybody had some shooting skills and guns were owned by men/women from all social backgrounds. Yet despite such widespread gun ownership and no gun control laws (first big law came in 1934), school shootings and stuff like that just didn't happen. It's interesting because as time went on and more gun control laws were implemented, crime actually increased and society grew more violent; shouldn't the firearms restrictions have reduced the violence? The rational behind gun control laws is to keep guns out of the hands of those who shouldn't have them (mentally ill people, criminals, young kids, etc) and I agree with this thinking. Why allow some nut to have a deadly weapon? However, it seems that although the idea is good, the actual laws seem to be counterproductive in many ways. This, I believe, comes down to our society in general...violence is glorified through TV/movies and made to look "cool" and at the same time, many children in the States are not being raised with the same sense of morality/responsibility the older generations were raised with. The guns themselves have always been there and have always been the same thing...just tools. Now we're trapped and it seems that the only thing to do is to keep coming up with strict gun control laws and hope they can stifle some of the crime. This is a problem that could have only been solved since day one; through education and a good upbringing.

The good news is, that most Americans who own/use firearm use them responsibly and not to cause problems for society. However, like the old saying goes, "One rotten apple spoils the whole barrel." We have a lot of rotten apples in the US who have ruined one of our traditions. Gun control laws generally only affect the good apples which allows the psychos to run rampant. It's a shame.

Lacoste...somebody mentioned the Cuban cigar thing to me recently. That's not so bad though...you shouldn't be smoking those things anyway:)

[tigerbeer]

totally off topic. but while we're at it. maybe poverty rate in any country has something to do with the number of gun related crimes? i don't think the swiss have many poor people living there. maybe the great USofA has one too many poor people with easy access to guns.

[PeaceBlondie]

A question for you to ponder while I'm preaching here: according to the FBI's reported crime statistics, the average American is the victim of personal violence how often? Once every_______ years.

As Thaiboxer says, violence is glorified. Yes, violence is worshipped, deified, and excessively, slavishly, devoutly committed. Most cultures, East and West, believe in the myth of redemptive violence. Superman, Batman, Popeye, as long as your gun is the strongest. Let me guess: Thai history glorifies its war battles as much as it glorifies some peaceful teachings of the Lord Buddha.

My daughter is a public school teacher in the USA, and she's never been attacked in 18 years of teaching. The last time I got "assaulted" was by two school mates in 1954; they only pummelled me.

There are millions of non-violent Americans, including Amish, Mennonite, Hutterites, Quakers, Bruderhof, Church of Brethren, and countless non-pacifists who don't carry weapons, and don't use them.

How many adult Thais own an operable handgun? If a farang avoids dangerous places and keeps his temper and shows respect and doesn't do public drunkenness or drive recklessly or rape and pillage, what are the chances he will need a handgun?

The average American is the victim of violence once every 200 years. Allow for under-reporting and maybe it's once ever 123 years. That includes assault, rape, personal robberty, and murder.

Thanks; sermon's over. Have a nice, peaceful day.

[Thaiboxer]

Tigerbeer...funny avatar you have there! Poverty is definitely a factor concerning gun crimes or any crime for that matter. I agree about Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries; there is very little poverty there. I once had a Swedish roomate in college who said how he couldn't believe that there were so many homeless people in the States versus his country. What he didn't seem to understand, is that the tax rate in Sweden is VERY high compared to the States so all the potential homeless folks are being taken care of by your money. Works both ways. In Thailand, there are far people living in poverty than in the US, yet the Thai govt also doesn't take your tax money and give it to them. Too bad it goes into the pockets of corrupt politicians instead.