I’ve been thinking about something and want to check an assumption I have. I only hear directly from other people in the USA, and interract with the global community through memes. How are the gun regulations/laws different from yours in terms of strictness, and do you wish there was more or less where you live?
Not looking for a debate here, discuss cold drinks vs hot drinks instead. Appreciate either answer. ❤️
Edit: Thanks for the answers all. I’m super proud how productive eveyone kept this talk. I figured most of you had very different experiences than I. I’ll share my most recent experience. I don’t have a firearm, but have considered it after being trained enough. When sharing this with “normal” people around town, I had multiple people offer to sell or gift me a gun where the serial number was scratched off and non-traceable. I ofter heard, “oh man, yeah. You need a gun.” I have literally never needed one. The fact that people offer to give me one when I don’t have a liscence or training shows the mindset of the minority here and how much of a problem a few individuals can make to safety within the current system.
Also knife laws are pretty strict for anything not a pocket-knife and certain length the last time I looked into buying something.
Australia here - our change to gun control was well covered by John Oliver some years back but, in short, we had a mass shooting in 1996 (Port Arthur) that resulted in 35 deaths and 23 wounded, that changed Australia’s mindset forever.
Our Prime Minster at the time worked with all states and territories to enact stricter laws on licensing and obtaining firearms. Yes, we’ve had crimes classed as mass shootings (4+ casualties) since, but nothing on the scale of Port Arthur - primarily because the change in laws reclassified semi-automatic weapons, and made them harder to obtain.
Before then, I’d shot guns with my dad - we’d enjoyed target shooting as a moderate hobby. But, aside from that, we had no other good reason to keep firearms, and my dad handed them in during the buyback scheme. We played our part in over a million weapons being handed back and destroyed, and I have no regrets. I’m now raising my child in a society where gun violence is considered rare, and I’m happy with that.
As a fellow Australian, are you starting to reconsider that last sentence?
Gun violence was rare and still is compared to a lot of countries but shootings were once BIG news and now it’s about every month or two someone is shot dead with an illegal firearm. Big increase since 2019
are you starting to reconsider that last sentence?
No, not really. Even though there’s been an uptick in gun violence, it’s not the sort of indiscriminate violence that would keep me (as a parent) awake at night. Many of the gun crimes we see are targeted or specific - gang and organised crime, murder suicides, familicides, etc.
Even though those are very troubling, they’re still largely distant from the average Aussie. Unlike, say, in America where there’s now a market for school backpacks with Kevlar inserts.
Gun deaths in Australia are at an all time low over the past 5 years
While the best I can get on mobile is this, all gun violence (including lethal and non-lethal) is also way down on long term trends.
German here, I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen a gun irl, except when used by the police or military. They are just not really a thing here. Nobody I’ve ever met owns one, nobody wants or needs one, nobody even talks about them.
There are legal ways to get a gun, but I never had to care about the details. That’s pretty amazing imo, if you consider how big of a topic and problem they are in the US.
There are stories from a company I used to work for, where the CEO was walking through the office with a rifle. He apparently kept his hunting rifle in a gun safe in his office on days when he was planning on going hunting. And I have fired several guns at a shooting range in Hamburg. As I didn’t join the army this was my first time operating a firearm. Quite intense and interesting experience. Overall I agree with you, seeing firearms not carried by the police is such a rare experience here.
Well, we have the “no speedlimit on Autobahn” thing instead. But at least that is less harmful
I would gladly take my chances on the autobahn over the freeways in California. I feel that I’m much more likely to get killed in California by somebody texting while driving.
I feel like the nature of the autobahn makes it so drivers actually have to pay attention, but I could be wrong.
Also, the kind of cars that are popular in Europe actually drive and perform well. Our freeways are filled with pickup trucks and large SUVs, where the driver can’t see anything in a 10 foot radius around their truck, and if they have to perform a quick maneuver at top speed, it’s pretty much impossible.
Road safety here means to just be in a bigger vehicle, not to have a nimble well handling vehicle like most Europeans seem to prefer.
Apparently the number of deaths on the Autobahn is pretty average compared to other european countries, but it could still be much lower with speed limits.
Norway - Similar to many European countries, owning a gun requires a certifiable reason to do so, which basically means hunting or target shooting. Loads of guns here, as there’s a lot of moose and deer. Obtaining and owning a hunting rifle requires skill tests and a theoretical exam, and you need to be part of a hunting group.
ARs are banned for obvious reasons. The only exception is for people who are army reservists who are (were?) allowed to store their service weapon at home, if they have proper secure storage options available. This may have changed since I was a reservist myself, but those were the rules in 2007 at least.
Pistols are legal for target shooting, but with strict background checks and so forth. Plus you have to be part of a target shooting club. Getting a pistol is generally harder than a rifle, as a means of preventing pistols from ending up on the streets. Gun voilence happens, but it is extremely rare, and mostly tied to gangs and/or organized crime. Except from this asshole in 2011.
Carrying permit for guns is pretty much none existent. To/from hunting or shooting range.
Self defense is not a valid reason for obtaining and carrying a gun. You don’t really need it either. The only exception is Svalbard where is is possible due to polar bears. And even then, you can’t be an idiot about it; a few years ago this dumbass got permanently banned from the Svalbard territory after intentionally provoking a polar bear, then shooting it, claiming self defense.
As is Denmark, but with even fewer rifles, owing to a noticeable lack of big game.
I think it’s important to mention that, like with medical products, we don’t generally get adverts for firearms. I want to say it’s illegal, but I’m not actually sure. Regardless, the lack of advertising for weapons contributes to the absence of firearms and related items in the public consciousness. You don’t really get people over here standing around talking about guns the same way they’d talk about sports cars or tools. Guns are very much a serious topic reserved for law enforcement and military matters.
In Canada you can buy hunting rifles at some Canadian Tires (think Target). You must get a PAL license and do some in-person firearms safety and training, store the rifle in a locked and certified gun locker, and can only carry it around to the range and for hunting.
It’s fairly strict on who gets a PAL (I can’t get one ever in my life because I was hospitalized for major depressive disorder when I was 18 and am 30 now).
Most people don’t care about guns here. They’re good for moose hunting and little air rifles are fun to shoot when one goes up to a cottage or something. There’s a small minority here that is very passionate about gun laws, but that same group also is usually very keen on the first and second amendment and often need to be reminded that those are American laws, not Canadian.
My dad has a gun licence (Canadian) and interestingly, he mentioned there was a place in the application where your spouse (and/or former spouse) must sign off on your application too. I can see how that might hinder a few violent exes.
Another Canadian. I don’t know the gun laws well, nor do I shoot, so I judge mostly based on the consequences.
Yes, we have gun violence, but it doesn’t dominate the headlines daily. Homicides are still remarkable and mass shootings are still shocking. I suppose this means that we haven’t made guns too easy to acquire, at least relative to the wishes of our population at large.
I don’t think I need stricter controls, but I wouldn’t support looser controls. I support things as they are, largely speaking. I’m prepared to be schooled by a fellow Canadian more in the know.
What I dearly wish to avoid are the conspiracy fantasies of the government coming to take our guns as well as a retroactive insertion of the myth that our country was born in, by, and through guns. It wasn’t. As long as we avoid those two things well enough, we don’t seem to need urgent change regarding gun controls.
