@randahl and don't forget, the US's "winning argument" for having lots of guns is so they can stand up to tyrannical government. That didn't turn out so well.

@randahl
Switzerland:
Most everyone has not a gun
But automatic rifle.
How many school shootings here?

Its not guns killing people,
Its people killing people.

@randahl
13K is way too low. The last year figures are available, 2024, there were just under 45K gun deaths. 120-130 per day! It's a self inflicted loss. So sad.

@randahl

I read somewhere years ago in a article/commentary that the entire German police force fired less bullets in an entire year during execution of their duties (meaning it excludes the training on range etc) than a single US police officer in a single shootout with one lone gunman. The number quoted was something like 38 bullets for the ENTIRE German police force. A country of over 80mil with a gun-culture stemming from hunting & sport.

The entire US is just bonkers.

@randahl
I guess it won't change even if US prohibited Gun. there will be knife, bomb, or other kind of crime in replacement.

the gun is kind of media, while the real reason is hatred and extreme polarisation their politicians and celebrities created.

@ri I have never touched or seen a gun in the hands of a non-police person. Europe 🤟

@randahl What scares me, is that while we have guns in private hands for hunting and target shooting, we still experience way lower gun-related incidents than the USofA.

I have used guns, have been a gun safety instructor, and won't even disclose if I own guns. Still, you can handle guns safely. I lived few years (totally unrelated to guns) in the US, and encountered some pretty lunatic folks there. That society is way, way different from Europe, and it can be pretty scary.

@randahl You live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world (without the type of wealth disparity we have in the States).

Gun violence in the U.S. is a symptom of much greater problems. Our Canadian neighbors have plenty of guns but they don't have the gun violence problem we have.

@randahl I am not "impressed" by that "small" number of dead people. Why? In South Africa we have on average of 70 murders EVERY DAY. It is a GOOD idea to have a FEW guns here.

@randahl I've never fired a gun in my life, and I never will. Fetishising tools for killing is a vile sickness, especially the guns designed and optimised to kill people. I hate guns and I hate shithole USA which worships them.

@randahl

And it shows that the US is a poor and underdeveloped country. I'm living in Germany 67 yrs old and never had to use or own a gun. We pay professionals to do it. We call them police, military, Forest ranger and body guard.

And the are a small number of gun athletes, using them in sports. Professionals like Olympic biathlets are from the above groups too and paid users too.

Amateurs are rare. People can afford to let professionals do the shooting.

@randahl what about knife stabbings?

@randahl I don't know if you care about facts, but if you removed the top 5-6 cities in which gun violence occurs in the US (cities which are Democrat/left leaning and the victims and instigators of gun violence come from a decidedly singular demographic), then the US is pretty darn safe despite the number of guns in circulation.

It ultimately comes down to culture and has absolutely nothing to do with the issue of guns. Look at Switzerland, which allowed it's veterans to take home their military issued rifles. Dare I say they have very few issues of gun violence.

The great thing is that freedom allows you to have the choice of NOT owning a gun. But you should never tell another people what they should or shouldn't be allowed to have.

@randahl Same in Australia. I've never touched a gun and I'm 74 yrs old.

@randahl Don't disagree, but when the enemy has AR-15 assault weapons, multiple pistols, carries them openly in public, and the law gives victims no recourse against shooters if shooters "feel threatened" and "have no duty to retreat" in public, the ONLY sane option is to arm up so you can shoot back.

@randahl That's the thing that drives me crazy about how people act like getting rid of guns is some new, untested concept. A lot of the world has done this long ago and proven year after year that it actually works.

And the one thing people claimed they needed guns for here, they're literally not using them for...