In my country, to own a gun, you need:
- a membership from a shooting range
- you need to be active in the shooting range (at least a dozen times a year)
- you need to take an exam every 5 years
- you need to pay extra tax every 5 years
- your doctor needs to sign a weaver that you are capable of owning a gun
- you need a special cage to store your gun
- you need a signature of every person over 18 years old, living in your house
- certain calibers are just illegal, no normal civillian can own them... Period (it's pretty hard to own a firearm other than caliber 6 and 9 mm)
- the amount of ammunition you can own is limited (i think you can have 10.000 cartridges as a private citizen)
So it's basically almost impossible to own a gun legally (many people own guns illegally tough). However, gun related deaths are pretty low.
EDIT: even after all these thing, the government can change gun controll laws whenever they want. If you stop complying to the new laws, you have to turn in your firearm with the police for free, even when you bought it legally... (this actually happened on two occasions the last couple of years)
- a membership from a shooting range
- you need to be active in the shooting range (at least a dozen times a year)
- you need to take an exam every 5 years
- you need to pay extra tax every 5 years
- your doctor needs to sign a weaver that you are capable of owning a gun
- you need a special cage to store your gun
- you need a signature of every person over 18 years old, living in your house
- certain calibers are just illegal, no normal civillian can own them... Period (it's pretty hard to own a firearm other than caliber 6 and 9 mm)
- the amount of ammunition you can own is limited (i think you can have 10.000 cartridges as a private citizen)
So it's basically almost impossible to own a gun legally (many people own guns illegally tough). However, gun related deaths are pretty low.
EDIT: even after all these thing, the government can change gun controll laws whenever they want. If you stop complying to the new laws, you have to turn in your firearm with the police for free, even when you bought it legally... (this actually happened on two occasions the last couple of years)
this seems overkill. but tbh, i'm torn on the subject. on one hand, i'm generally for minimal government control. on the other hand, i think the pro-gun culture where i live (u.s.a.) is very destructive and contributes to the significantly higher gun violence here than other places.
i don't have a problem with guns, per se. my problem is with the mass of idiots that worship them and believe they are part of their own identity.
The image of the redneck with his confederate flag in the back of his F150 being the biggest gun buyer is not flying anymore...
Women fastest growing demographic for gun buyers
i'm not sure what point you are trying to make. the fact that women might increasingly be becoming gun owners doesn't really have anything to do with what i said.
"i don't have a problem with guns, per se. my problem is with the mass of idiots that worship them and believe they are part of their own identity."
I had a caricature of the iconic redneck with a pickup truck when I read that. For everyone reading this thread it is important to note that caricature is evolving as more and more women understand why the gun is called the great equalizer and this is an amazingly good development. It is not a reply to what you've said directly but more of an update of who the mass of idiots are nowadays. That is all.
God made men, but Sam Colt made them equal. Col. Samuel Colt's revolver continues to serve as an equalizer. Being bigger, tougher and meaner than the next guy isnt worth much if the next guy carries a gun.
Bad attitude and big muscles make a poor match for a lead slug.
The reason is simple: Firearms reduce the power difference between the weak and the strong. They make it harder for the strong to prey upon the weak. Being strong doesn't help much when you're dead.
http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~jj832/The_Great_Equalizer.html