Why More Americans Want to Own Guns

[God of Mr. Hanky]

If I knew someone around me had a gun, I would be shit scared. I've never even seen a real one. I'd probably start shaking and perhaps run off.

This isn't an argument by the way, it's just how I am, having lived in (safe parts of) England my whole life. I do plan to visit America eventually, and just knowing people can be walking about with guns has put me off for a long time. I think I can come to terms with it, and hopefully I'll stop thinking about it after a while when I get there.

Somebody around you most likely does have a gun, Rob. If your law enforcement officials carry guns (are they still called "Bobbies"?), and they are anything like our shit-crazy American cops, then I'd be nervous to see one patrolling my street with a gun. Chances are you have a neighbor who does this, and sleeps within shooting distance of your house - you'd best presume they don't check their guns in at the end of their shifts, or they keep a personal gun at home. Why shouldn't they, when on or off duty they never stop being cops? Chances are fairly good there's a gun behind the counter of a business or two which you patronize on a regular basis, because they don't like getting robbed / can't afford insurance. Do you take to the highways on a regular basis? You probably passed at least one in which somebody carried a gun, legal or not.

When you really think about it, whether or not you know who has a gun doesn't really matter, as it doesn't change the reality that this is a violent world, and a lot of people are determined to protect themselves with the hardware which makes them feel safe. Therefore, it's best to deal with that reality by the presumption that the person you are talking to is armed, because you never know if he really is. This, by the way, is the basis for one of the Texas gunners' favorite arguments, and while I'm generally not a fan of Texan ideas other than their food, it's hard to argue contrary to the point that when you don't know who's packing, you think twice about starting a fight, or about committing a robbery in a mall parking lot. This actually happened in SC on a recent Black Friday - somebody with a gun witnessed a robbery in progress, fired her gun into the air, and the robbers scampered off. They probably won't try that again!