Steve,
In Australia, when we see the need to change the constitution, we hold a referendum which requires every person on the electoral roll to vote 'yes' or 'no' to the proposed amendment.
Yes, our countries are different. Whether one way is better than the other would be hard to say.. When not on the military or the short time (4 years) I was a cop, I spent a lot of time overseas and I've seen it done many ways. Usually what's being used in the way of policies fits.. I had friends from many countries, but more than a few from the UK, Oz, and even kiwis.. I find the people of Oz to be the most "American like", but that's only my opinion. But yet, I'm very familiar with guns laws and policies in other countries because they interest me, I contrast and compare.. More than a few of my Aussie friends don't agree with what happened with gun control there.. and they have personal stories about how it's impacted them.
The problem with America is that you have a 'gun culture', and cultural influences tend to be deeply embedded at an early age. I recall as a very young kid being rather impressed by the typical American Western movies of the times when two adults, with guns strapped around their waist, would stand facing each other at a distance. The first to draw would kill the other, provided his shot was accurate. How exciting! I also recall re-enacting such scenes with my playmates, at the age of 5 or 6.
As much as I've learned about other countries, I know America better.. and sometimes it's surprising how little one knows about their own country.
We do have a gun culture though I find the term misused, typically to make political points. We've had western movies, played with toy guns and all of that type of thing far before we've had serious issues with guns. The cowboy movies of the past were far from realistic and the topical part not really something you could relate to popular culture.. or in other words we knew "it was just a movie.." So despite the grand era of spaghetti westerns we never had gun problems.
But not we do. We also have tons of ultra realistic shooting games that take place in modern scenarios and they're so real you can even think the spurting blood with get your fingers wet. We also have gang culture, a drug culture, and other forms of violent behaviours we should be dealing with.
So I really don't think the likes of Bonanza and Gun smoke are responsible.. but I do think a lot of the music culture (gansta rap and other violent rap), movies, video games.. these are real problems.
What I find difficult to understand, Steve, is your general line of reasoning that guns are okay and we shouldn't ban them, but rather we should address the social issues that cause people to go bonkers.
Surely we should be doing both.
Maybe I can help you understand where I'm coming from here.
First, it should be obvious to everyone that addressing the core issues of violence is something we should do regardless of anything else. Violence is bad. Violence gets men, women, and children hurt.. it ruins families. It's just bad. And as a society (and from what I've read observed from UK tourists, the UK is even worse in this regard) we stand only to benefit from addressing these issues.
A violent individual determined to cause harm will find a means to kill. Evil will find a way. Whether its a gun, a hammer, or a battery operated nail gun as mentioned earlier.. and as mentioned earlier the average person can kill and individual or a group using just what they find in an ordinary hardware store. If they need help google will help you kill. For some reason we're discussing gun control when bomb and choline gas instructions abound with a few simple keyboard strokes.
Guns have many legit uses other than for killing. Many of us grew up using guns as tools and still do. They're used to hunt, to protect livestock from dangerous wildlife (does the UK still have grizzlies, brown bears, cougars, mountain lions, alligators, and other dangerous wildlife? People that live in certain areas actually need firearms to be safe from the such), rodent eradication, and so much more. There are also scores of competitions I've been competing in since I was a child. To think that someone would take these things away from me because we've been negligent with our society is confounding.
But perhaps the biggest reason is self-defense.. and it's also the reason I'm really big on training. You need to reach a certain level of competency when using/carrying firearms to not be a danger to others. With even more training you benefit others. As our society (and yours) grows more violent the need for the average person to defend themselves becomes greater.
Also, with CCW (carry concealed weapon) permits
MOST states show a marked decrease in violent crime. Criminals tend to be bullies and do not want to invade a home or attack someone unless they're sure they're not armed (schools, malls, bars, temples, churches are other easy targets for the violent) States that don't, given time I think will.
So in our violent times I think guns are the lesser of the two evils assuming proper training.
Can I ask you something? Don't you feel a responsibility to protect yourself? How about your family and home? Wouldn't you just feel plain negligent (and terrible) if a member of your family was hurt/killed/raped when you had it within your power to have protected them?
And no, that really isn't what the police are for. Ask them. They are incapable of protecting you. Do you know the response time for police in your area? You should. In my area it's 8-11 minutes but "could be significantly longer depending on circumstances." Not terribly encouraging. I need to be able to ward of ahome invasion, a home intruder, etc,, for 8-11 minutes. And if we leave our home.. then too.
Great discussion so far! Thanks