Twostep
Well-known Member
- Location
- Tiny town Oklahoma, OK
I have yet to pay over a nominal co-pay and know of nobody who does pay for medication out of pocket.
Newsweek reports United States is the 2nd most hated country in the world
- Thread starter Paco Dennis
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Twostep
Well-known Member
- Location
- Tiny town Oklahoma, OK
I have yet to see a gun which killed. The nut who pulled the trigger is the same all over the world.
Yes, I carry. Yes, I pulled it once and would do so again. Under certain circumstances I, me and myself have priority.
Good grief, are people still using that old line? It's usually followed by... "The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." That doesn't seem to be working either. Oh, I almost forgot, they also wanted to arm the teachers! Can you imagine the employment interview... "Well Ms. Smith, your resume looks great, there's just one more thing, we need to take a trip down to the local shooting range to check your accuracy with a 9mm".
Who_so_ever
Saved By Grace
- Location
- Grateful American
I actually liked the places where our veterans stepped up and basically said - go through me to get to those kids. Older people who had military experience volunteered to protect the schools and some did/do.
I don’t think anyone here is arguing that gun violence isn’t a serious problem in the USA. That being said, you're mistaking emotional appeal for substantive analysis. The U.S. has over 330 million people, a uniquely violent criminal underclass, a 2,000-mile porous border with cartel activity spilling over, decades of failed urban policy, and massive socio-economic stratification. So, I can only opine that comparing that to Austria or Japan is like comparing a jet engine to a bicycle pump. And yes, the Second Amendment is treated with caution in the USA, as it should be. It’s not an outdated “relic.” It’s part of a Constitutional framework designed specifically to limit state overreach and ensure individual autonomy. Now, that may offend modern sensibilities, but it exists for a reason. The fact that other countries don’t have it doesn’t mean we should toss ours out in a panic every time someone posts a chart with out-of-context numbers. As for your claim about constitutional hypocrisy, defending the Second Amendment while supposedly eroding the First, I'd argue the reverse has been more true lately: speech is being criminalized or censored across platforms and institutions, while the right to bear arms is one of the last things some Americans feel they still have left. That sense of erosion feeds gun ownership, not the other way around. You're looking at the symptom, gun deaths, and demanding the scalpel, without diagnosing the patient. The reality is that many of the places with the strictest gun laws already have high levels of violence, and many lawful gun owners aren’t the problem. What you're advocating is a sweeping overhaul of Constitutional protections based on an emotional reaction to symptoms that are, in fact, rooted in much deeper societal decay. So, until we’re willing to have an honest conversation about why violence happens, who commits it, where it’s concentrated, what cultural and policy failures brought us here your charts and lectures won’t solve anything.
NotCompSavvy
Senior Member
- Location
- Florida
I have a friend here who carried with a permit as years ago you needed one not anymore and he had to shoot an escaped PB which ran at his granddaughter think this was like 10 years ago .
He saw the dog coming the owners dog chasing him with leash in her hand , he threw his granddaughter on top of a parked car and the dog was about to go up that car and he put two rounds into him .
Police came sided with him , owners dog took off so that was that .
NotCompSavvy
Senior Member
- Location
- Florida
Do you have gun laws in Thailand ?
I only know some amazing wildlife there and love reptiles / birds / fish .
Twostep
Well-known Member
- Location
- Tiny town Oklahoma, OK
Please tell me what is not true about the old line.
I pulled up stats for my town 2020 to ytd. One in 2024 and it was a family dispute.
Do you prefer a teacher who is trained or a dead child?
Twostep
Well-known Member
- Location
- Tiny town Oklahoma, OK
We had an initiative for crisis management and volunteers from retired medical, law enforment, K9, EOD, rotary - you name it applied. Some nut cases went through Freedom of Information Act requesting personal information. The sheriff's office closed the project due to that.
Twostep
Well-known Member
- Location
- Tiny town Oklahoma, OK
Where exactly are you getting your misinformation about it “not working”? I ask because I know from personal experience that it does. On December 23, 1976, I shot a man who had just robbed me at gunpoint while I was driving a taxicab. And on November 11, 1975, I stopped my cab on Market Street in San Francisco, jumped out with my revolver, and put a stop to a gang assaulting a man. In both cases, an armed citizen prevented further violence. So, you may roll your eyes at “the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” but that phrase exists because it reflects reality for countless people who’ve faced life-or-death situations. It might not fit neatly into the narrative you prefer, but that doesn’t make it untrue.
Twostep
Well-known Member
- Location
- Tiny town Oklahoma, OK
You may want to specify "shot".
The statistics tell the story. The number of people killed via gun violence far exceeds the number of "bad guys" killed while inflicting the violence.
I prefer a country where it's not necessary to arm the teachers. Not sure why you find that difficult to grasp.
Statistics are only useful when they’re applied with context and that’s exactly what’s missing from your response. You're comparing the total number of gun deaths (which include suicides, gang violence, domestic disputes, etc.) to the far smaller subset of defensive gun uses, and then acting as if that disproves their effectiveness. It doesn’t. The fact that violence exists doesn’t negate the value of stopping it when it happens.
My point wasn’t that armed citizens stop every act of violence, it’s that they can and do stop it, often decisively, when they’re in the right place at the right time. I’ve personally been that person twice. And there are tens of thousands of defensive gun uses every year in the U.S., many of which don’t involve a shot fired, and thus never show up in your fatality stats. You’re treating statistics like they’re the whole story, when in fact they’re just one piece. Real life doesn’t always follow a spreadsheet. Sometimes it looks like a cab driver in 1976 refusing to be a victim.
Twostep
Well-known Member
- Location
- Tiny town Oklahoma, OK
What country has not had gun/knive violence in schools over the last years? Oh yes, I would prefer Mayberry but ... .
David777
Well-known Member
- Location
- Silicon Valley
As I posted earlier,
...The rise of Television, Hollywood movies, the Internet, and Smartphones has allowed vast numbers of people elsewhere on the planet to view Americans and what the USA does more than ever before...
Whether or not some of the issues some members are posting about like gun ownership or medical care are valid and fair, the thread topic is not about whether they are valid or fair but rather about perceptions of other people in the world about the USA. On that count, it is our media that dominantly drives perceptions not whether or not the issues are valid reasons for them to feel so.
Anyone watching American TV shows or Hollywood movies will have warped views of what is going on here because for the sake of advertising interest and ratings, such fictional shows tend to exaggerate violence, sex, crime, moral decay, attitudes, etc. And on the other side, few of the good things Americans can be proud of reach them as media in other countries has little reason to present such to their own people as they would just be bored.
No other country over decades has had so much fictional garbage constantly spewing across the world. So no wonder other people have warped views as it is our own fault as the 800 pound gorilla of media.
And then there is the Ugly American Tourist issue. (Rick Stevens essay)
Ugly American Sentiment Abroad
Europe sees two kinds of travelers: Those who view Europe through air-conditioned bus windows, socializing with their noisy American friends, and those who are taking a vacation from America, immersing themselves in different cultures, experiencing different people and lifestyles, and broadening their perspectives.
Europeans judge you as an individual, not by your government. A Greek fisherman once told me, "For me, Bush is big problem — but I like you." I have never been treated like the Ugly American. My Americaness in Europe, if anything, has been an asset.
You'll see plenty of Ugly Americans slogging through a sour Europe, mired in a swamp of complaints. Ugly Americanism is a disease, but fortunately there is a cure: A change in attitude. The best over-the-counter medicine is a mirror. Here are the symptoms.
...The rise of Television, Hollywood movies, the Internet, and Smartphones has allowed vast numbers of people elsewhere on the planet to view Americans and what the USA does more than ever before...
Whether or not some of the issues some members are posting about like gun ownership or medical care are valid and fair, the thread topic is not about whether they are valid or fair but rather about perceptions of other people in the world about the USA. On that count, it is our media that dominantly drives perceptions not whether or not the issues are valid reasons for them to feel so.
Anyone watching American TV shows or Hollywood movies will have warped views of what is going on here because for the sake of advertising interest and ratings, such fictional shows tend to exaggerate violence, sex, crime, moral decay, attitudes, etc. And on the other side, few of the good things Americans can be proud of reach them as media in other countries has little reason to present such to their own people as they would just be bored.
No other country over decades has had so much fictional garbage constantly spewing across the world. So no wonder other people have warped views as it is our own fault as the 800 pound gorilla of media.
And then there is the Ugly American Tourist issue. (Rick Stevens essay)
Ugly American Sentiment Abroad
Europe sees two kinds of travelers: Those who view Europe through air-conditioned bus windows, socializing with their noisy American friends, and those who are taking a vacation from America, immersing themselves in different cultures, experiencing different people and lifestyles, and broadening their perspectives.
Europeans judge you as an individual, not by your government. A Greek fisherman once told me, "For me, Bush is big problem — but I like you." I have never been treated like the Ugly American. My Americaness in Europe, if anything, has been an asset.
You'll see plenty of Ugly Americans slogging through a sour Europe, mired in a swamp of complaints. Ugly Americanism is a disease, but fortunately there is a cure: A change in attitude. The best over-the-counter medicine is a mirror. Here are the symptoms.
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go and seek the teachers advice and opinions?
Yes, of course there are gun laws here in Thailand. However, I'm an American and therefore as a non-Thai I cannot own a firearm here. However, unlike when I lived in the USA, I have never felt the need to have a gun while living here. Regarding reptiles, I have killed several snakes in our yard including one Cobra. I had the other Cobra removed by professionals. We did have a huge Python in our community a while back that had to be dragged out of a tree and removed from the area. Anyway, the only reptiles I will tolerate in my home are Geckos----who are essentially guardians of our health because they eat insects.
Who_so_ever
Saved By Grace
- Location
- Grateful American
That is very informative and very true!
Dave03
Member
- Location
- Dunder Mifflin, Scranton Branch
Went from most hated thread to gun control.
And only took 15 pages of bickering, name calling, stat slinging and emojis to get there.
Well, this has been entertaining.
And only took 15 pages of bickering, name calling, stat slinging and emojis to get there.
Well, this has been entertaining.
the root cause of all the gun deaths are the result of easy access t o guns and gun culture - nothing else in US is so different from anywhere else.
Yes it is that simple - but you can continue to write paragraph after paragraph trying to blame everything else if you wish.
Most of us have tried hard to avoid name calling
And yes I guess gun control is relevant to people's perception of US - and understandably so.
yes of course they all have - but no other place has had ongoing episodes of Sandy Hook and co.
yes, sure - there are episodes of good guy with gun saved the day - but overall the more people with more guns to stop more other people with guns - not reducing gun deaths.
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