America's Gun Violence

PJPOWER said:

PJ_Soul said:

mace1229 said:

PJ_Soul said:

I agree it's totally stupid to say that guns bought for protection should be locked up. If they're locked up with the ammo kept separate then they aren't really for home defense anymore, so what's the point? Gun advocates know that. They just spew that shit as a defense mechanism.

I believe this came up again recently in response to a kid getting a hold of a gun and accidentally shooting it. I 100% believe guns should be locked up with kids in the house. Most gun owners I personally know who have guns for protections have a small hand gun safe under the bed or near by, which would prevent access from a kid but allow access for self defense.
Personally I dont both, I lock all mine up in the safe. But I'm not worried about people breaking in my house in the middle of the night either. I have no problem admitting my gun collection is for sport

Yes, and I think that those whose interest in guns is related to sport/collecting are usually the most responsible gun owners. The thing is, those folks are usually the ones advocating for guns, based on their specialized perspective. I feel like they may often have a somewhat skewed view simply because they are the ones mired in the whole issue of gun safety, while those who are dangerous with guns or doing it irresponsibly are the problem in terms of death and crime stats (though not so much in terms of American gun culture, which is the biggest problem of all).

If you are concerned with the "culture", the best place to start pointing fingers might be Hollywood and toy manufacturers...

PJPOWER said:

oftenreading said:

Funny how quickly the narrative that pretty much every gun owner has these safes falls apart, and how the only response is "well, buy them one, then". 

I'm not sure how one or two examples makes the narrative fall apart.  Maybe in PA, there is a much more laxed culture regarding safety...but riotzact's experience is far different from mine.

RiotZact said:

In their defense I do live in Pennsyltucky, or northern West Virginia as I like to call it. So their experience is likely one extreme and mine is the other, so the average and the reality is somewhere in the middle. 

PJPOWER said:

RiotZact said:

In their defense I do live in Pennsyltucky, or northern West Virginia as I like to call it. So their experience is likely one extreme and mine is the other, so the average and the reality is somewhere in the middle. 

Very likely.  Seriously, though, I would hound the shit out of your stepdad to secure that firearm.  Just freaking irresponsible of him.

mace1229 said:

PJ_Soul said:

PJPOWER said:

PJ_Soul said:

mace1229 said:

PJ_Soul said:

I agree it's totally stupid to say that guns bought for protection should be locked up. If they're locked up with the ammo kept separate then they aren't really for home defense anymore, so what's the point? Gun advocates know that. They just spew that shit as a defense mechanism.

I believe this came up again recently in response to a kid getting a hold of a gun and accidentally shooting it. I 100% believe guns should be locked up with kids in the house. Most gun owners I personally know who have guns for protections have a small hand gun safe under the bed or near by, which would prevent access from a kid but allow access for self defense.
Personally I dont both, I lock all mine up in the safe. But I'm not worried about people breaking in my house in the middle of the night either. I have no problem admitting my gun collection is for sport

Yes, and I think that those whose interest in guns is related to sport/collecting are usually the most responsible gun owners. The thing is, those folks are usually the ones advocating for guns, based on their specialized perspective. I feel like they may often have a somewhat skewed view simply because they are the ones mired in the whole issue of gun safety, while those who are dangerous with guns or doing it irresponsibly are the problem in terms of death and crime stats (though not so much in terms of American gun culture, which is the biggest problem of all).

If you are concerned with the "culture", the best place to start pointing fingers might be Hollywood and toy manufacturers...

There are a lot of places to point. I think I'd personally rather start with the NRA.

The NRA is always painted by the left as this big bad monster. I don't get it. Especially when it comes to blaming gun culture. 
Maybe I just don't pay close enough attention, but I never give the NRA a second thought until someone anti-gun brings it up.
I've never seen them advocate for gun violence or unsafe practices. Yes, they do advocate for gun rights that most anti-gunners would deem unnecessary (like high capacity mags). But I don't think that makes them this evil empire. 
At least in my experience the only pro-gun people who care about the NRA are those who fear losing their gun rights. Not people who want to expose everyone to gun culture. NRA and pro gun people don't care if you don't want a gun, they don't try to sell the gun image on people.
So to me it seems like they have zero impact on gun culture, and get a lot more attention by the anti-gun that pro-gun people.
Am I wrong? I just view them as fighting for gun rights, and you can agree or disagree with what they want. But they have little impact on gun culture and image, and therefore no impact on gun violence.
I would agree that the NRA helps with the gun rights phobia and helps spread the fear of losing your gun rights. But I don't see a connection between that and gun culture and/or violence.

PJ_Soul said:

PJPOWER said:

PJ_Soul said:

mace1229 said:

PJ_Soul said:

I agree it's totally stupid to say that guns bought for protection should be locked up. If they're locked up with the ammo kept separate then they aren't really for home defense anymore, so what's the point? Gun advocates know that. They just spew that shit as a defense mechanism.

I believe this came up again recently in response to a kid getting a hold of a gun and accidentally shooting it. I 100% believe guns should be locked up with kids in the house. Most gun owners I personally know who have guns for protections have a small hand gun safe under the bed or near by, which would prevent access from a kid but allow access for self defense.
Personally I dont both, I lock all mine up in the safe. But I'm not worried about people breaking in my house in the middle of the night either. I have no problem admitting my gun collection is for sport

Yes, and I think that those whose interest in guns is related to sport/collecting are usually the most responsible gun owners. The thing is, those folks are usually the ones advocating for guns, based on their specialized perspective. I feel like they may often have a somewhat skewed view simply because they are the ones mired in the whole issue of gun safety, while those who are dangerous with guns or doing it irresponsibly are the problem in terms of death and crime stats (though not so much in terms of American gun culture, which is the biggest problem of all).

If you are concerned with the "culture", the best place to start pointing fingers might be Hollywood and toy manufacturers...Many movies show plenty examples of normalized irresponsible gun usage.  Hell, even Joe Biden said you should just go outside and fire a gun in the air...which is highly illegal and unsafe.  I'll stick with law enforcement professionals for my advise on firearm usage and storage and whether or not the general public should be armed.

And since you added, I'll add a point too... Canada and many other countries are are just as exposed to Hollywood and toy companies as America is, and they don't have this gun culture. So I really don't think this has as much of an impact on the formation of the problem as you think it does. I'm not saying it doesn't play a role, but I'd say that the way Americans in particular respond to or absorb this information because of the gun culture is the issue, not the content on its own.

PJPOWER said:

RiotZact said:

PJPOWER said:

RiotZact said:

In their defense I do live in Pennsyltucky, or northern West Virginia as I like to call it. So their experience is likely one extreme and mine is the other, so the average and the reality is somewhere in the middle. 

Very likely.  Seriously, though, I would hound the shit out of your stepdad to secure that firearm.  Just freaking irresponsible of him.

I have, he is very defensive and I like having a free place to live until I finish college, so I try not to piss him off too bad. 

Oh I see, in other words you are dependent on him so you enable/accept his behavior.  You must not feel very unsafe, because if you were concerned for your or someone else's life, I'm hoping that safety would outweigh convenience.

oftenreading said:

PJPOWER said:

RiotZact said:

PJPOWER said:

RiotZact said:

In their defense I do live in Pennsyltucky, or northern West Virginia as I like to call it. So their experience is likely one extreme and mine is the other, so the average and the reality is somewhere in the middle. 

Very likely.  Seriously, though, I would hound the shit out of your stepdad to secure that firearm.  Just freaking irresponsible of him.

I have, he is very defensive and I like having a free place to live until I finish college, so I try not to piss him off too bad. 

Oh I see, in other words you are dependent on him so you enable/accept his behavior.  You must not feel very unsafe, because if you were concerned for your or someone else's life, I'm hoping that safety would outweigh convenience.

That's kind of a shitty response. It seems that Riotzact made clear his/her efforts around changing the situation.  How would you suggest forcing someone to change their behaviour around gun use and storage?
 
People live in unsafe situations all the time if they don't have much choice. 

PJPOWER said:

PJ_Soul said:

PJPOWER said:

PJ_Soul said:

mace1229 said:

PJ_Soul said:

I agree it's totally stupid to say that guns bought for protection should be locked up. If they're locked up with the ammo kept separate then they aren't really for home defense anymore, so what's the point? Gun advocates know that. They just spew that shit as a defense mechanism.

I believe this came up again recently in response to a kid getting a hold of a gun and accidentally shooting it. I 100% believe guns should be locked up with kids in the house. Most gun owners I personally know who have guns for protections have a small hand gun safe under the bed or near by, which would prevent access from a kid but allow access for self defense.
Personally I dont both, I lock all mine up in the safe. But I'm not worried about people breaking in my house in the middle of the night either. I have no problem admitting my gun collection is for sport

Yes, and I think that those whose interest in guns is related to sport/collecting are usually the most responsible gun owners. The thing is, those folks are usually the ones advocating for guns, based on their specialized perspective. I feel like they may often have a somewhat skewed view simply because they are the ones mired in the whole issue of gun safety, while those who are dangerous with guns or doing it irresponsibly are the problem in terms of death and crime stats (though not so much in terms of American gun culture, which is the biggest problem of all).

If you are concerned with the "culture", the best place to start pointing fingers might be Hollywood and toy manufacturers...Many movies show plenty examples of normalized irresponsible gun usage.  Hell, even Joe Biden said you should just go outside and fire a gun in the air...which is highly illegal and unsafe.  I'll stick with law enforcement professionals for my advise on firearm usage and storage and whether or not the general public should be armed.

And since you added, I'll add a point too... Canada and many other countries are are just as exposed to Hollywood and toy companies as America is, and they don't have this gun culture. So I really don't think this has as much of an impact on the formation of the problem as you think it does. I'm not saying it doesn't play a role, but I'd say that the way Americans in particular respond to or absorb this information because of the gun culture is the issue, not the content on its own.

And how do you suggest that a culture be changed?