BREAKING: OREGON COLLEGE SHOOTING

[Thumpalumpacus]

Nice straw man. It apparently escaped your notice that I was trying to explain cultural differences in attitude, not trying to explain current gun usage.

Pearls in front of swine, and all that. Do try to understand what is being said ... and do avoid deliberate misrepresentation, as seems to be the case here.

You did kind of imply what I said though [...]

Nonsense. You may have inferred it base on your own views, but I was not trying to explain why guns are used currently, and asserting that I was is dishonest. Here is what I wrote:

You also have a different culture and society. Characterizing gun-owners as fearful is not really reflective of our society. Britain is a small country well-tamed long before the age of gunpowder; America is a trans-continental nation that was wilderness where a gun was as much a tool as a plough in its taming, which happened much more recently than the settling of Britain. It's all good and well to look down your nose, but the fact is that the backdrop renders the picture entirely different, and failing to take those differences into account is not very useful.

You will hopefully have noticed the use of the past-tense, and with the use of "backdrop", it is clear that I'm providing context about the relative attitudes towards guns. Asserting that I was trying to explain current use is either a gross misreading on your part, or simple dishonesty.

[...] and it stands that it doesn't apply if you live in the middle of a large city, even in the 1700s. Regardless of the fact, culture evolves and has to move on. If it didn't then I'd still be living in a country where people would be burned at the stake for heresy.

Culture also persists, and pretending that it doesn't is not a point you can support.

I'm also finding your answer here going down the lines of "well it's our culture" cultural relativism, which I hate. "It's cultural attitude" means nothing if you're the grieving parent of a murdered child within said apparent culture.

Tough shit. We do indeed have cultural differences. This appeal to emotion you're making here is horseshit because I'm not trying to console a grieving parent, but trying to have an intelligent conversation with you. Nor was I excusing my nation's murder rate; there is a difference between excusing and explaining. Confusing the two only makes solutions harder to find.

Seriously, read what is being written, rather that what you wish to see. It's offensive when you stick words in my mouth, and can only make this conversation prickly.