Thread by @ChrChristensen

1) Getting gun in Sweden: apply w/police after 6 mos active membership in registered gun club. May not be carried in public. Gun safe req'd. Hunting in Sweden: written theory test (70 qs, min. 60 correct); 3 different practical tests (security, accuracy); license. #Nashville

2) Don’t let gun nuts bullshit you about Europeans "having their guns taken away." Germany, Sweden, Finland, Norway all have many legal weapons. Gun control is about testing, training, licenses and restricting access to high-powered weapons no civilian would ever need. #Nashville

3) Swedes treat guns like any other dangerous instrument requiring knowledge, training & responsibility. Like cars. Swedish driving test is very difficult. Result? Sweden one of lowest road fatalities per capita in world despite harsh winter climate. 4x lower than US. #Nashville

4) Here's my favorite argument against gun control: "Gun control laws don't work because criminals don't follow the law." Shit, well, in that case, let's get rid of Stop signs, traffic lights...and immigration laws. Because, you know, criminals will always break the law. Idiotic.

5) Traffic laws exist to regulate behavior of people who are perfectly law-abiding. Not just nut-cases who want to drive drunk. Speed limits, traffic lanes, Stop signs, driving tests are set to reduce deaths among usually good, honest citizens. Same principle with gun control.

6) The Big Lie of gun lobbyists is about self-protection & they point at Europe. Here’s a secret: US w/the most guns in the world and the UK w/very few guns have the same per capita homicide rate using knives. Now, how is that the case if guns protect you? Because it’s bullshit.

7) In 2021, 46 people killed in Sweden (pop 10.3 million) w/a firearm: one of worst years on record. That's 0.44 per 100,000 people. In 2020, the rate in the US was 6.1 per 100,000. So, one of Sweden's worst ever gun homicide rates was still 14x lower than the US rate. #Nashville

8) US gun nuts: "In Europe you don't have guns to protect yourself so you get stabbed!"

Guns per 100 civilians (2017)
England & Wales: 4.6 per 100
USA: 121.5 per 100

Knife homicides (2020)
England & Wales: 0.48 per 100,000
USA: 0.54 per 100,000

#Nashville