'No Way To Prevent This,' says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens

HeavyG

WildmanWilson said:

Why don’t you gun hating libs post a sign on your house or on your car or on your person telling everyone you are a gun free zone and you own no guns ? I’ll tell you why. You stand like cowards behind the people that do own guns. You can be smug about guns being bad yet you do not want a criminal to know because you are then an easy target. You still have the element of surprise because others aren’t afraid to do the dirty work for you. 

That's some next level Walter Mitty/cosplayer sh!t right there!

How often do you and your fellow larpers get together?

Thank you oh brave warrior!

lousubcap

I posted this link several days ago here-but to those who wonder how we as a nation have been pushed to where we are with guns and testosterone, this is worth your time:
Perhaps some hard-over believers will see the path they have been led down.  Follow the money!! 
From the Atlantic-
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/07/firearms-industry-marketing-mass-shooter/670621/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=atlantic-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20220725&utm_term=The Atlantic Daily

Botch

caliking said:

WildmanWilson said:

Why don’t you gun hating libs post a sign on your house or on your car or on your person telling everyone you are a gun free zone and you own no guns ? I’ll tell you why. You stand like cowards behind the people that do own guns. You can be smug about guns being bad yet you do not want a criminal to know because you are then an easy target. You still have the element of surprise because others aren’t afraid to do the dirty work for you. 

Tell me more about this fantasy... are your shoulders disproportionally larger than your waist, do you wear an outfit with boots, and your undies outside your pants? Maybe fly around with arms outstretched, and an animal sidekick of some kind?

Heh, I'd just like to see the latest Wilson family Xmas card, or latest posting on GunzR-Us.com...  

The Cen-Tex Smoker

lousubcap said:

I posted this link several days ago here-but to those who wonder how we as a nation have been pushed to where we are with guns and testosterone, this is worth your time:
Perhaps some hard-over believers will see the path they have been led down.  Follow the money!! 
From the Atlantic-
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/07/firearms-industry-marketing-mass-shooter/670621/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=atlantic-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20220725&utm_term=The Atlantic Daily

That was a good read. This is exactly the way I feel about it. I live on a ranch, own multiple guns and shoot a couple times a month most months, way more certain times of year. I just feel like the gun industry has gone fvcking insane. It’s all a bunch of coal rolling white knight wannabes with a hard on to be Kyle Rittenhouse. 99.99% of these people will never squeeze off a meaningful round in their lives and have a much, much 
Stronger chance of a tragedy happening with their guns than ever saving some poor libs life. That is a fact, not an opinion. 

I guess when all you consume is media and social media telling you the invasion is coming for your comfortable suburban life, you get scared and buy a lot of tough-guy guns. Your echo chamber feeds you more and more every day and pretty soon, an election is stolen and your country needs you! More guns. You now have 20 ar-15’s, a few helmets, tactical pants, maybe a vest or 2 and now a new gun safe for your ammo. More media, more ads served, more fear, more guns. 

When these are the ads you are served:

You end up with all these dip$hits running around with white knight complexes. In reality, the vast majority of these people are clowns. And the ones that aren’t, are still in far greater danger of having their guns used against them or a family member, or god forbid a child gets hold of it than ever saving some poor lib or ever being the wet dream of the “good guy with a gun”. 

The vast majority of these numb nuts are more like these people:



According to guns.com, a survey a career police officers, 27% ever fire their service weapon. IN THEIR ENTIRE CAREER. These people are on the front lines looking for trouble 40 hours a week for 20 years. 30% white males, 20% non-white males, and 11% females use their service weapon at least once during their career…which is a discussion for another day. 

So as far as saving me? No thanks. You can keep your cosplay Call of Duty $hit as far away from me as possible. The most meaningful shots 99.99% of you guys will ever fire is from your keyboard. And you need way better ammo. 

Botch

lousubcap said:

I posted this link several days ago here-but to those who wonder how we as a nation have been pushed to where we are with guns and testosterone, this is worth your time:
Perhaps some hard-over believers will see the path they have been led down.  Follow the money!! 
From the Atlantic-
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/07/firearms-industry-marketing-mass-shooter/670621/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=atlantic-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20220725&utm_term=The Atlantic Daily

Guys, I didn't read this article when the good Cap'n first posted it, it looked way too long from the scroll bar on my screen.  But, it's over half pictures, and only a ten-minute read or so; well worth your time.  On the WAYBRN thread, there was a post of a holster, that featured "Hello Kitty"-style graphics, and I didn't understand that at all; reading the above article, it makes more sense now, and makes me wretch.  
 
I normally try to avoid this topic, but a couple of weeks ago Bill Maher posted the video below, which also opened my eyes about certain things (the revenge storyline in Hollywood).  A brilliant monologue.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebg2YnBj9II
 
  

The Cen-Tex Smoker

That was great Botch. Thanks for posting that. I would say that young people all over the world watch those movies without having the gun violence we have. That’s obviously because they don’t have access to the guns. 

It made me think, we don’t show cigarettes in movies and frankly, cigarettes are harder to get than an AR15 for an 18 year old here. Smoking rates among younger people are down here but in Asia, where cigs are seeded into movies and kids hav unrestricted access, underage smoking is an epidemic. 

At least on the surface you could assume that we would have the issues with cigs and they would have the same issues with guns if our cultural norms aligned. Made me think. Thanks for that. 

Botch

There have been attempts to study gun control in various nations, to find a solution for the US, but every single time funding is requested, for such a study, in our Congress, the NRA nixes it (via their toadies/congresspeople).  Some interesting facts:
- Sweden has at least one gun per adult, nationwide; it's required
- Japan leads the world, by far, in violent video games; very few gun owners
- I knew a few others, but my mind's gone blank right now (post happy hour for us retirees)
 
Would love to read a comprehensive analysis of all the world's countries on this, but the NRA doesn't want that.    

lousubcap

Echoing the above from @The Cen-Tex Smoker, thank you for that. That pretty much captures where we as a society are-
I am still wondering about the US Constitution and how the hard over gun rights advocates square with the front end piece ,"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
I have yet to see a reasonable answer.  But to expect such here is not gonna happen.  
We have lost our way and doubt we will get it back.  That is my sad assessment of our society today.  I am old and have young grand daughters.  I have always thought that the future generations would carry the responsible torch-I'm not so optimistic anymore.  I hope I am wrong.  

dmchicago

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

lousubcap said:

I posted this link several days ago here-but to those who wonder how we as a nation have been pushed to where we are with guns and testosterone, this is worth your time:
Perhaps some hard-over believers will see the path they have been led down.  Follow the money!! 
From the Atlantic-
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/07/firearms-industry-marketing-mass-shooter/670621/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=atlantic-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20220725&utm_term=The Atlantic Daily

That was a good read. This is exactly the way I feel about it. I live on a ranch, own multiple guns and shoot a couple times a month most months, way more certain times of year. I just feel like the gun industry has gone fvcking insane. It’s all a bunch of coal rolling white knight wannabes with a hard on to be Kyle Rittenhouse. 99.99% of these people will never squeeze off a meaningful round in their lives and have a much, much 
Stronger chance of a tragedy happening with their guns than ever saving some poor libs life. That is a fact, not an opinion. 

I guess when all you consume is media and social media telling you the invasion is coming for your comfortable suburban life, you get scared and buy a lot of tough-guy guns. Your echo chamber feeds you more and more every day and pretty soon, an election is stolen and your country needs you! More guns. You now have 20 ar-15’s, a few helmets, tactical pants, maybe a vest or 2 and now a new gun safe for your ammo. More media, more ads served, more fear, more guns. 

When these are the ads you are served:

You end up with all these dip$hits running around with white knight complexes. In reality, the vast majority of these people are clowns. And the ones that aren’t, are still in far greater danger of having their guns used against them or a family member, or god forbid a child gets hold of it than ever saving some poor lib or ever being the wet dream of the “good guy with a gun”. 

The vast majority of these numb nuts are more like these people:



According to guns.com, a survey a career police officers, 27% ever fire their service weapon. IN THEIR ENTIRE CAREER. These people are on the front lines looking for trouble 40 hours a week for 20 years. 30% white males, 20% non-white males, and 11% females use their service weapon at least once during their career…which is a discussion for another day. 

So as far as saving me? No thanks. You can keep your cosplay Call of Duty $hit as far away from me as possible. The most meaningful shots 99.99% of you guys will ever fire is from your keyboard. And you need way better ammo. 

This is brilliant. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

I will ad one more thing. If you guys showed up out here to shoot with us in your tac-gear clown suits and your ridiculous peen extensions you call a gun that has never been off-range telling us how you are going to save us, you would get laughed out of the county (one of the reddest in TX). We have names for guys like you. I’ll save you the embarrassment. 

JohnInCarolina

WildmanWilson said:

JohnInCarolina said:

WildmanWilson said:

Why don’t you gun hating libs post a sign on your house or on your car or on your person telling everyone you are a gun free zone and you own no guns ? I’ll tell you why. You stand like cowards behind the people that do own guns. You can be smug about guns being bad yet you do not want a criminal to know because you are then an easy target. You still have the element of surprise because others aren’t afraid to do the dirty work for you. 

I go to work every day in a building that has signs like that posted on the door.  Somehow I go inside every day unafraid that I’ll be shot and killed.  You may say that I just don’t appreciate the risks, when the truth is I’ve lost two close colleagues to gun violence: Bill Klug at UCLA and Liviu Librescu at Virginia Tech.  You might want to google the latter if you don’t recognize the name, and ask yourself if he was a coward that day.  

I won’t hold my breath.  

If you are talking about a government building then most likely they have security. 

It’s not a government building.  Good Lord man, you can barely pay attention to anything.  

fishlessman

saw someone have a defund the police up by the camp in maine, got to thinking about it and never even seen an officer in town. we dont even have a station, had to google it.......911 takes you to the county sheriff department which has about 50 more officers thn the little town im in in massachusetts. thats a whole county verse a little town

littlerascal56

80 year old store owner shot the robber in the arm before he could harm him.  Pretty good aim for an old guy huh?

dmchicago

Good use of a gun.

HeavyG

I was gonna ask if the robber was armed...

dmchicago

WildmanWilson said:

littlerascal56 said:

80 year old store owner shot the robber in the arm before he could harm him.  Pretty good aim for an old guy huh?

I’m not sure this story is real. I mean how can an old man with a simple shotgun take out a guy with a weapon of war that shoots 500 rounds a second and blows people to dust? 

Dunno...ask the cowards in Uvalde.

caliking

Its not the guns, you dolts! It's the liquor stores that are the problem...

https://www.foxla.com/news/1-dead-in-covina-liquor-store-shooting

See?

JohnInCarolina

http://twitter.com/nanwhaley/status/1554888578743746560?s=20&t=dE4lQGCE3ce6KNkl-tYJqg

caliking

WildmanWilson said:

JohnInCarolina said:

http://twitter.com/nanwhaley/status/1554888578743746560?s=20&t=dE4lQGCE3ce6KNkl-tYJqg

It would be better if they just waited on the police….

Or use a hot tub time machine to un-invent  guns. 

Putting up a sign telling crazy people to not bring them in has a great track record so maybe expand that with bolder fonts. 

Or... wait for it... support gun control that would let responsible citizens still keep their non-Rambo guns, while keeping them out of the hands of less responsible (aka loony)  folks.

I know its a novel idea, but whodathunk it would work for so many countries?? 

AnothaStolenGenrator

caliking said:

WildmanWilson said:

JohnInCarolina said:

http://twitter.com/nanwhaley/status/1554888578743746560?s=20&t=dE4lQGCE3ce6KNkl-tYJqg

It would be better if they just waited on the police….

Or use a hot tub time machine to un-invent  guns. 

Putting up a sign telling crazy people to not bring them in has a great track record so maybe expand that with bolder fonts. 

Or... wait for it... support gun control that would let responsible citizens still keep their non-Rambo guns, while keeping them out of the hands of less responsible (aka loony)  folks.

I know its a novel idea, but whodathunk it would work for so many countries?? 

Only in socialist paradises like Norway where they have free healthcare free college and a higher GDP per capita than the … United States. Wait…. what? 

caliking

How'd I miss this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCI4bUk4vuM&t=5s

AnothaStolenGenrator

WildmanWilson said:

caliking said:

WildmanWilson said:

JohnInCarolina said:

http://twitter.com/nanwhaley/status/1554888578743746560?s=20&t=dE4lQGCE3ce6KNkl-tYJqg

It would be better if they just waited on the police….

Or use a hot tub time machine to un-invent  guns. 

Putting up a sign telling crazy people to not bring them in has a great track record so maybe expand that with bolder fonts. 

Or... wait for it... support gun control that would let responsible citizens still keep their non-Rambo guns, while keeping them out of the hands of less responsible (aka loony)  folks.

I know its a novel idea, but whodathunk it would work for so many countries?? 

Gun control....let me think...Oh yeah... I think I remember hearing about this somewhere. So besides being unconstitutional, explain how you can remove the many millions of guns already owned that you label Rambo guns? Are you on the panel that decides who "loony" is? Who makes that call? 

We notice how well drug control laws work. People drop dead at a much higher rate than from Rambo guns. I'm not sure why they don't listen to all the laws.

But tell me your idea of non Rambo guns that we should be "allowed" by your good grace to won.

It’s Friday night.  Get a life man.

caliking

WildmanWilson said:

caliking said:

WildmanWilson said:

JohnInCarolina said:

http://twitter.com/nanwhaley/status/1554888578743746560?s=20&t=dE4lQGCE3ce6KNkl-tYJqg

It would be better if they just waited on the police….

Or use a hot tub time machine to un-invent  guns. 

Putting up a sign telling crazy people to not bring them in has a great track record so maybe expand that with bolder fonts. 

Or... wait for it... support gun control that would let responsible citizens still keep their non-Rambo guns, while keeping them out of the hands of less responsible (aka loony)  folks.

I know its a novel idea, but whodathunk it would work for so many countries?? 

Gun control....let me think...Oh yeah... I think I remember hearing about this somewhere. So besides being unconstitutional, explain how you can remove the many millions of guns already owned that you label Rambo guns? Are you on the panel that decides who "loony" is? Who makes that call? 

We notice how well drug control laws work. People drop dead at a much higher rate than from Rambo guns. I'm not sure why they don't listen to all the laws.

But tell me your idea of non Rambo guns that we should be "allowed" by your good grace to won.

I dunno where to start with this. Its like you're all out of rant, so you're circling back. Or, maybe you just can't keep track of your drivel. 

Firstly, and you may find this hard to believe, the US Constitution was designed to be amended. To account for the evolution of the polity... its mores, public opinion, etc. And, it has been amended many times. That's how slavery was abolished, women got the right to vote, people could sell/buy alcohol (again!), among other things. 

What to do about the millions of guns already out there? Some ideas (I've posted this for you before, but you don't read) - 

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/25/world/europe/gun-laws-australia-britain.html

Yes, The New York Times. Go ahead and fact-check the article. "Fact" being the operative word. Google up!

Lastly, I'm not the one who gets to decide who the loons are. They declare themselves (at least they do on here). Voters vote for their representatives, who are then expected to enact policy for the betterment of our communities, and society. That's not always straightforward, but that's supposedly the aim. 

If it were up to me though, you, particularly, would be flinging peas with a slingshot. 

Botch

WildmanWilson said:
Gun control....let me think...Oh yeah... I think I remember hearing about this somewhere. So besides being unconstitutional...

Re-read the 2nd Amendment.  There, gun control is a requirement.  

caliking

Botch said:

WildmanWilson said:
Gun control....let me think...Oh yeah... I think I remember hearing about this somewhere. So besides being unconstitutional...

Re-read the 2nd Amendment.  There, gun control is a requirement.  

Let’s not forget the part about “ a  well regulated militia” , which so many conveniently gloss over. 

HeavyG

WildmanWilson said:

caliking said:

Botch said:

WildmanWilson said:
Gun control....let me think...Oh yeah... I think I remember hearing about this somewhere. So besides being unconstitutional...

Re-read the 2nd Amendment.  There, gun control is a requirement.  

Let’s not forget the part about “ a  well regulated militia” , which so many conveniently gloss over. 

You guys really are very one tracked and simple minded. Ever hear of Heller?  The Supreme Court ruling that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects an individual's right to keep and bear arms, unconnected with service in a militia. Also look up "shall not be infringed" while you're at it. Then a homework lesson for all of you is "weapon in common use".  

And the Heller decision was the first time a SCOTUS had decided that there was an individual right to own a gun - and specifically handguns - for home protection purposes. Antonin Scalia wrote the majority opinion and he said this:

“Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited. It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.”

So neither Heller nor any SCOTUS case since has decided that "shall not be infringed" means what you like to believe it means.

JohnInCarolina

I don’t think you could convince some people the sky is blue if it meant that even citizens with mental health problems would have restrictions on their rights to amass their own private arsenal.  They don’t call them gun nuts for nothing.

caliking

WildmanWilson said:

caliking said:

WildmanWilson said:

caliking said:

WildmanWilson said:

JohnInCarolina said:

http://twitter.com/nanwhaley/status/1554888578743746560?s=20&t=dE4lQGCE3ce6KNkl-tYJqg

It would be better if they just waited on the police….

Or use a hot tub time machine to un-invent  guns. 

Putting up a sign telling crazy people to not bring them in has a great track record so maybe expand that with bolder fonts. 

Or... wait for it... support gun control that would let responsible citizens still keep their non-Rambo guns, while keeping them out of the hands of less responsible (aka loony)  folks.

I know its a novel idea, but whodathunk it would work for so many countries?? 

Gun control....let me think...Oh yeah... I think I remember hearing about this somewhere. So besides being unconstitutional, explain how you can remove the many millions of guns already owned that you label Rambo guns? Are you on the panel that decides who "loony" is? Who makes that call? 

We notice how well drug control laws work. People drop dead at a much higher rate than from Rambo guns. I'm not sure why they don't listen to all the laws.

But tell me your idea of non Rambo guns that we should be "allowed" by your good grace to won.

I dunno where to start with this. Its like you're all out of rant, so you're circling back. Or, maybe you just can't keep track of your drivel. 

Firstly, and you may find this hard to believe, the US Constitution was designed to be amended. To account for the evolution of the polity... its mores, public opinion, etc. And, it has been amended many times. That's how slavery was abolished, women got the right to vote, people could sell/buy alcohol (again!), among other things. 

What to do about the millions of guns already out there? Some ideas (I've posted this for you before, but you don't read) - 

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/25/world/europe/gun-laws-australia-britain.html

Yes, The New York Times. Go ahead and fact-check the article. "Fact" being the operative word. Google up!

Lastly, I'm not the one who gets to decide who the loons are. They declare themselves (at least they do on here). Voters vote for their representatives, who are then expected to enact policy for the betterment of our communities, and society. That's not always straightforward, but that's supposedly the aim. 

If it were up to me though, you, particularly, would be flinging peas with a slingshot. 

I can't read your link without signing up. I see its about Australia though. The old lib go to...

Quite a different country from America don't you think? Their population is about like Florida. They also never had a very high homicide rate. If you look at the data you will see the rate of murders goes up and down a little just like it does here. They have gun control and we don't. We still see these fluctuation regardless. Only thing is, if they have 30 less one year vs 30 more another, it makes it look like a big difference statistically. 

Americas homicide rates dropped from the 90s and that's with a huge influx of gun ownership and carry permits. According to you clueless fools, we should have a dramatic increase in homicides as more guns are sold. What we are seeing in the last year or so is an uptick and its likely due to the democrat policies of turning people back on the street and defunding the police and not prosecuting criminals. 

And its predictable that you are butt hurt and want me disarmed because I stand up against the radical left wing commies on here. For nothing more than voicing an opinion, you want my rights taken because you don't like what I say. There, is why people like you and your entire radical jerk buddy boy band are dangerous to the Republic.

By the way...have you seen how the government is treating the citizens of Australia now? Although y'all probably like it.

Source? Did you get that from the party in your inbox?

What else happened in the 90's in the US? Maybe a ban on assault weapons? But, that could only be a coincidence, right?

You'll have to explain to me what you mean by Australia being the "old lib go to...". I imagine it has something to do with how effective their gun control policies have been, and hence often being cited as an example of what could work. Also,  I don't think you actually know what's going on re: human rights violations in Australia (hint: its not quite their citizens who are suffering these). Once you find out who they are mistreating, I'll bet you and your ilk will be all in. 

Lastly, I'm not worried about responsible, sane gun owners. Its the paranoid delusional ones that concern me. You're doing a good job of demonstrating which one describes you.

Kudos for attempting to put together a cogent argument. Even if it was feeble. 


PS: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/25/world/europe/gun-laws-australia-britain.html

Other Countries Had Mass Shootings. Then They Changed Their Gun Laws.

Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway: All had a culture of gun ownership, and all tightened restrictions anyway. Their violence statistics now diverge sharply from those of the U.S.

A prayer vigil for the victims of the Uvalde Elementary School shooting held in downtown Houston on Tuesday.Credit...Mark Felix for The New York Times

By Max Fisher

May 25, 2022

The world over, mass shootings are frequently met with a common response: Officials impose new restrictions on gun ownership. Mass shootings become rarer. Homicides and suicides tend to decrease, too.

After a British gunman killed 16 people in 1987, the country banned semiautomatic weapons like those he had used. It did the same with most handguns after a 1996 school shooting. It now has one of the lowest gun-related death rates in the developed world.

In Australia, a 1996 massacre prompted mandatory gun buybacks that saw, according to some estimates, as many as one million firearms melted into slag. The rate of mass shootings plummeted from once every 18 months to, so far, only one in the 26 years since.

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Continue reading the main story

Canada also tightened gun laws after a 1989 mass shooting. So did Germany in 2002, New Zealand in 2019 and Norway last year.

Only the United States, whose rate and severity of mass shootings is without parallel outside of conflict zones, has so consistently refused to answer those events with tightened gun laws.

Though such restrictions have always brought some controversy, most were broadly embraced by voters in other countries.

Even in Australia, where conservative-leaning politics and rural traditions had long favored gun ownership, citizens broadly accepted the buyback. Some even surrendered weapons they were legally permitted to keep, in a show of support for their country’s tightening gun laws.

Every mass shooting is, in some sense, a fringe event, driven by one-off factors like the ideology or personal circumstances of the shooter. The risk is impossible to fully erase.

Still, the record is clear, confirmed by reams of studies that have analyzed the effects of policies like Britain’s and Australia’s: When countries tighten gun control laws, it leads to fewer guns in private citizens’ hands, which leads to less gun violence — and to fewer mass shootings.

Britain: Sweeping Bans

Image

Scenes in Hungerford, Berkshire, following a shooting in the town that became known as the Hungerford massacre, on Aug. 19, 1987.Credit...Reading Post/Mirrorpix/Getty Images

Britain today has one of the strictest gun control regimes in the developed world, with even many police unarmed. But it was not always that way.

The country’s history of sport hunting had ingrained a long cultural tradition of gun ownership, especially in rural areas.

That began to change in 1987, with the so-called Hungerford massacre, named for the small English town where it took place. A 27-year-old local man used two semiautomatic rifles and a handgun, which he owned legally, to kill 16 people. His motives remain unclear.

Britain’s Conservative government swiftly banned rifles like those he had used and mandated that shotgun owners register the weapons with police.

The 1996 school shooting in a small Scottish town, where a local man killed 15 students and one teacher, prompted more sweeping changes. A government inquiry recommended restricting access to handguns.

The Conservative government went even further, banning all but the smallest-caliber handguns, which a subsequent Labour government banned the next year.

The reforms also require owners of permitted firearms to pass a strict licensure process, which involves interviews and home visits by local police, who can deny approval if they deem the would-be owner a potential public safety risk.

Mass shootings did not completely disappear in Britain: An attacker killed 12 in 2010, and another killed five in 2021. But all forms of gun-related violence have dropped significantly.

Today, there are about five guns per 100 people in Britain (except in Northern Ireland, where this number is higher), one of the lowest rates in the developed world. The gun homicide rate is about 0.7 per million, also one of the lowest.

Australia: Nationwide Buybacks

Image

Family and friends of those killed in the Port Arthur massacre during a memorial service in 2006 to mark the 10th aniversary of the shooting in Port Arthur, Australia.Credit...Ian Waldie/Getty Images

American gun control activists often cite Australia’s sweeping buybacks. Though no country rivals the United States’ gun ownership rate, which is more than double that of second-place Yemen, Australia has had similar cultural and political affinities for gun ownership.

Despite this, after a mass shooting in 1996 in which a gunman killed 35 people in the town of Port Arthur, authorities successfully imposed sweeping new restrictions.

The nationwide buyback ultimately took between one in five and one in three privately held guns out of circulation. This mostly targeted guns like semiautomatic rifles and many shotguns that, under new laws, were no longer permitted.

The country also reframed gun ownership from being an inherent right, as it is in only a handful of countries like the United States, to becoming a privilege that citizens had to affirmatively earn.

Australia’s would-be gun owners now face a national registry, a 28-day wait period and a licensing process that requires demonstrating a valid reason for owning a gun.

Since then, mass shootings have effectively disappeared in Australia. What was once an almost annual event has only happened once since the reforms, with a 2018 attack that left seven dead.

But the greater impact may have been on other forms of violence. A 2011 survey of crime and suicide data concluded that the program “seems to have been incredibly successful in terms of lives saved.”

Australia’s gun-related homicide rate subsequently halved, as did the rate of firearm suicides, the study found. Non-firearm homicides and suicides did not increase. Subsequent research confirmed these findings.

The reforms were initially controversial, including within the ranks of the conservative government that passed them, as well as some rural communities. But fears of electoral backlash or even violent resistance — Australia’s prime minister, John Howard, wore a bulletproof vest during one address — never materialized.

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“Few Australians would deny that their country is safer today as a consequence of gun control,” Mr. Howard wrote in 2013 in The New York Times.

Still, Australian gun ownership rates have crept back up in recent years, as have rates of gun-related killings.

Canada and Norway: Gradual Change

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Mourners filing past caskets at the University of Montreal on Dec. 10, 1989, as they pay their respects to some of the 14 women killed in a shooting at the university.Credit...Tom Hanson/Canadian Press/Associated Press

Not all reforms have been as dramatic as Britain’s or Australia’s.

Canada tightened restrictions on gun ownership in response to a 1989 mass shooting that killed 14 female college students. Licenses became required for shotguns and rifles, and those firearms had to be registered with authorities. Similar rules already applied to handguns.

But the new rules, which proved controversial in rural communities, were not applied until 1995, six years after the shooting, and were mostly abolished in 2012.

While Canada’s gun rules remain far stricter than those in the United States, they are looser than in most other countries. Its gun ownership rates, gun homicide rates and frequency of mass shootings all follow a similar pattern: a fraction of America’s, but higher than in most other developed countries.

Norway, too, has moved relatively slowly in the wake of a 2011 far-right terrorist attack that killed 77 people.

Though the country has one of Europe’s highest gun ownership rates, it has relatively lower rates of gun-related violence. The country has had strict rules for years, including mandatory gun safety classes and an involved licensing process. But it took seven years after the 2011 massacre to enact a ban on semiautomatic weapons that was inspired by the attack. It went into effect at the end of last year.

New Zealand, which like Norway has traditionally had a high gun ownership rate but tight restrictions, along with low rates of gun violence, moved more quickly.

When a far-right extremist killed 50 mosquegoers in 2019, authorities took less than a week to announce a ban on military-style semiautomatic rifles and high-capacity magazines like those the attacker had used.

But Norway, New Zealand, Canada and Australia are all outliers in one important way: Each began with high rates of gun ownership, relatively few restrictions or both.

In most countries, there are fewer guns or pre-existing gun rights to restrict in the wake of a mass shooting — and, perhaps as a result, there are also far fewer mass shootings in those countries.

Still, such governments often act. In Germany, after a gunman killed 16 people, the government raised the minimum age for carrying what few weapons were permitted to 21 years old, from 18.

When another attack hit Germany seven years later — both were exceedingly rare events in a country with little gun violence — lawmakers set new rules allowing for random police checks on gun owners.

With gun ownership already strictly controlled, there were simply few other measures left to impose.

Max Fisher is a New York-based international reporter and columnist. He has reported from five continents on conflict, diplomacy, social change and other topics. He writes The Interpreter, a column exploring the ideas and context behind major world events.

Botch

Good read, @caliking.  Thanks for posting that.  

FlyOverCountry

Right on brother Wild!  Everyone knows common cents is a gift from God.  That’s why libs don have any.  They don believe in HIM!  LOL!