Wow, alot here to digest, here we go.
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Originally Posted by Riko
As a non-American, I find this whole thread kinda funny  and it makes me curious at the same time :)
I am tired of asking myself the same question all over again "what is it with Americans and their guns"  so I'll just assume it's a historical thing/tradition :)
Much like the Dutch do iceskating, the Belgians love cycling etc I guess.
ps: talking about Belgium, any of you guys own a FN-weapon of some sort? (one of our most infamous export products)
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I like FN products, especially when they were partnered with John Browning (The Master) and produced alot of his designs. Currently I have a few fn guns and a few browning as well, plus I have alot of licensed built copies of fn/browning firearms. Not much better product to be had.
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Originally Posted by JThiessen
I have a Savage 30-06 that was built in Belgium. It was one of thier lines that had a little fancier engraving and action in it.
Guns are like any other product. There are many different types of enthusiasts - collectors, sportsmen, defense, guys that learned everything they know on a playstation, and constitution owners (because its my right!).
To those that buy a 9mm pistol to defend their home - I say you haven't done much shooting and testing of your abilities to shoot under extenuating circumstances, and what a bullet does in with different materials. Paper targets at the gun range are NOT real life. If you really want to defend your home, and minimize potential risk to your family and neighbors, you'd have a shotgun under your bed, not something that is going to go through a couple walls and still have the ability to kill your daughter in the next room. Yes, a shotgun blast will go through two pieces of sheet rock, but it will only injure a person on the other side, not kill them. Plus I'd prefer to have the foot wide kill shot area rather than a 1/4 inch zone.....have you ever had the shakes when shooting? Makes it really hard to aim. How many of you will be calm if you actually had someone standing in your hallway? Anyone that says they will is a liar, and has probably never had their guns sights on something living.
The thought of protecting yourself with a gun is idealistic for 99% of people - it will NOT go down like it does in your head.
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I am a collector and an informal target shooter. No hunting, and I mainly like to see all of the crazy and inventive mechanical actions available. Plus guns always go up in value, so they are a good solid investment.
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Originally Posted by Unsullied_Spy
Gotta love gun threads, all the foreigners like to come in and act all self-righteous and pretend they know everything. It is a part of our history and culture and will continue to be as long as we value our freedom and safety, get over it!
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I guess they just do not understand that there are alot of guns floating around this country, and it is easy for a criminal to arm themselves to commit a crime. A gun is a tool, but it is a powerful tool. I will say that is you look at the statistics, violent crime goes up massively when a country disarms its citizens... Just look at AU and the UK... The numbers are out there, and you would be surprised. I am not talking about just murders, but violent crime.
Someone once said an armed society is a polite society. Makes sense, you do not start carp with people if you think they are armed, especially if you are not. A gun is a great equalizer. A 90lb woman can defend herself against a 250lb rapist very well with a 38 snubbie, not as good with her hands (unless she happens to be some sort of black belt ninja chic). A gun is a tool, and it should be kept off people who will use it incorrectly. People who go to work and pay their taxes are not those people, yet they are the people who follow the laws, not the criminals. So gun laws are by and large a waste of time. I have guns cause I can ,and for defense, and cause I just like collecting them.
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Originally Posted by Riko
woow, hold your horses cowboy :) I suppose you are refering to me with "all" foreigners?..(since I am the only non-American who posted in this thread)
But if you would read my post carefully, I was not judging, let alone be "self-righteous"
I actually was trying to understand it. I even thought it had to be something historical that is now part of the "American culture" if it is so deeply rooted.
So who am I to be self-righteous and tell a big nation like the USA what to do, right? :)
ow, maybe a wiser option: having no fire arm in the house in the first place = no risk at all of anybody getting shot...
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Until someone comes into your house with a gun, then you are a bit lacking, and potentially dead...
If there were no guns we would be clubbing each other with sticks like we did in the good old days. Then the advantage would go to the person who was the strongest and quickest. You cannot change human nature. We get mad, we attack each other, we covert thy neighbors ass (hahahaha) and that is just how it is. Civilized society has no place for any item that can be used as a weapon. Pity that civilized society is only skin deep...
Maybe you do not have as much "scum" where you are than we do here in the US. I can definitely see a direct corolation (sp?) to IQ amount and lower violent crime. It may be hard for you to understand, but that is how it is over hear. I would not drive my car in some parts of New Orleans, and if I did my 9mm would be on my lap, my doors would be locked and I would think twice at stopping at red lights, especially at night.
When you find yourself in a gunfight with a cricket bat, you will come to the realization that you are at a huge disadvantage. The cricket bat extends your reach a few feet, most handguns are quite accurate to 50 feet with the worst shot behind the trigger. I can hit a coke can 100% of the time at 75 feet with my 40cal, and can usually follow it in the air shooting from the hip...