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The rarity of guns also affects the mentality and the culture. My son, who had a nerf gun battle at his last birthday party and owns an arsenal of them, was so shocked and uncomfortable being near the gun counter at a US Walmart that he asked if we could leave.
In Canada don’t have guns available for purchase all over the place. You don’t see people carrying guns. In rural areas many families have hunting rifle, but I have NEVER known someone who wasn’t a cop to own a handgun. That affects the culture and attitudes of the people.
Once my husband and I were playing D&D at his coworker’s condo. One of the other players brought a silver case and proudly showed off his new HAND GUN. My husband and I got the hell out of there. Was this guy a drug dealer or criminal of what?
To us, as Canadians, where handguns are considered the sort of thing that only cops and criminals own, the sight of one makes you alarmed. On your guard.
What kind of normal-ass person needs a handgun in Canada? Bears and cougars are a big safety concern here, but we can scare them off with Metallica.
google.ca/amp/s/www.cbc.…
google.ca/amp/s/www.cbc.…
Americans say that gun control only makes it harder for law abiding people, and then only criminals will have guns. It’s true. But then when you see a hand gun in someone’s house you think “oh shit this person is a criminal”. That attitude, that assumption, makes a BIG difference
It’s the culture that America needs to change, and gun control is an important first step. The real problem with mass shootings in American is the normalization of murder.
If regular every day normal people in America walk around with hand guns, that normalizes violence and murder. That has to have an affect on children, much more so than video games which keeps guns firmly in the realm of the imaginary.
Once, out of curiosity, I ran a poll in an online group I was in. It consisted mostly of moms/women. Normal everyday good people. I asked them if they would consider shooting/killing an intruder who was not visibly armed and was stealing their TV.
“If you woke up in the night and saw someone stealing your TV and they were not threatening you or visibly armed, would you shoot them if you had the means to do so?”
The difference between Americans and non-Americans was striking.
The difference between Americans and non-Americans was striking.
The Canadians, the British and the Australians/New Zealanders all had the attitude of “this person isn’t threatening me, why would I risk killing them? I would just go lock myself in my room and call the police.”
Americans had a very different answer.
Americans had a very different answer.
The Americans mostly said they would absolutely consider killing an unarmed intruder because the person COULD be armed and they were willing to kill or maim someone in order to protect their families.
That led to arguments because the non-Americans said they would too, but...
That led to arguments because the non-Americans said they would too, but...
The Non-Americans were all willing to kill someone in order to save their children/families TOO.
The difference between the groups was their perception of the intruder and the level of threat.
The difference between the groups was their perception of the intruder and the level of threat.
To the Non-Americans, this unarmed intruder was a common thief who would probably take off as soon as they realized they had been spotted.
To Americans, this intruder had ALREADY harmed and attacked their family.
To Americans, this intruder had ALREADY harmed and attacked their family.
The Americans saw the act of breaking and entering/theft as an act of violence which threatened their family and merited a violence response even if it risked killing the unarmed intruder. They saw that as protecting their family.
The non-Americans were like, “it’s just a TV.”
The non-Americans were like, “it’s just a TV.”
The non-Americans I polled valued that thief’s life over their television and while they would be willing to shoot someone who attacked them or threatened their family, they weren’t willing to kill someone over a television.
The Americans were.
The Americans were.
America needs to start valuing human life. It needs to say “it isn’t okay to kill people.” Regular every day good people should not not ever expect to take a human life. A police officer may have to but they shouldn’t expect to. It should be a once in a lifetime kind of thing.
Canada needs to improve in this respect too. Canadian officers have shot black people. Our First Nations people are continually devalued and harmed by police.
But we’re a hell of a lot further along in the “human life has inherent value” journey than America is.
But we’re a hell of a lot further along in the “human life has inherent value” journey than America is.
