Yes let me come back with something I think we are starting to hit on in the urban vs rural environments. I think you are correct in that the American society does have a violent problem which is rooted in our metro cities. We have a lot of large cities and many more than the countries you are giving examples of. These cities can be greatly more dangerous than anywhere else in the country. This is where the majority of all murders take place. Most mass shootings are done with handguns by gang members with drive bys or other ambush style attacks. Typically gangs are dealing drugs as their financial income which leads to the American drug problem.

As far as leathality which I think you were hitting on when saying knife vs gun yes I agree that guns have a higher damage potential vs a knife. Guns are also much more regulated vs a knife. To legally purchase a firearm you have to meet specific criteria set by the state you live in which at the minimum would require a federal background check. Most firearms in mass shootings are obtained illegally usually through theft.

Finally no one likes to talk about defensive gun use which is very hard to actually record but it is the use of a firearm to defend oneself but is not limited to actually discharging a firearm. So that means if you draw a gun and the person runs away and you don't have to shoot them that would count as a defensive gun use and really is the best scenario. The range is really huge though. The lowest estimate is around 67,000 with the highest estimate pushing something like 4.5 million this is per year. Even at the lowest possible amount it still very much outnumbers the total number of deaths that occur by firearms.

I think what I am getting at ultimately is does the good of having an armed society outweigh the bad at having an armed society. That is the question that is so hard to answer as each society is unique which I think we can agree on and what might be good for one may not be good for another. The founding fathers of America wanted an armed society. They wanted the people to have the power and not the government. This is why it is written into law. This is why this is a such a gun loving society. If they were to see what we are today I still think they would prefer it this way rather than a people a slave to their government. If a few thousand have to die to keep many million free than that is the price.

The problem we run into is that rather than having a rational sit down conversation over what can we do about making things better for everyone turns into "lets just Ban things" vs "don't touch my guns" mentalities. We have a two party system that makes it impossible for people to just sit down and work together. Basically if one party thinks yes this is good the other things no this is bad no matter what it actually is.

Well I can try to throw some info out if you really want. Basically the sweeping gun reform/buyback program that worked in Australia would never work in America. There are far too many guns both legal and illegal. The Americans who do own guns most are so much against gun grabbers that you would literally start a civil war with the kind of policies that went into effect in Australia and I can attest that gun owners vastly outnumber and outgun the law enforcement that would be given the task of trying to collect the arms. Lastly, the argument can be made that "gun deaths" (mostly suicides) would be replaced by other methods of violence which would as a whole not create the effect that people think. Example, people think if a person does not have a gun they can't actually hurt/kill another person or themselves which we know is not the reality. The fact is that violent crime in America has actually been on a steady decline even as gun ownership steadily increases over the last few decades. Most American Anti-Gun advocates live in metro areas where gang violence is a real issue and the root cause of most gun homicides while most gun advocates live in rural areas where police officers are no where near to respond to an actual emergency so safety is indeed in the hands of the people. You can see this as states with very high city populations have very strict gun regulations where the opposite is typically true for high rural populations in a state. The media exaggerates the "gun problem" of America so most people get a distorted view of reality. Our murder rate in America is 94th with 1 being the highest in the list of countries which report such data yet we have more guns per person than any country in the world. If guns = violent crime rates than we should be number 1 by far yet no where even close is the reality of it. So we can see that gun ownership does not increase murder rate.

See, if he would have already had the hammer back he would have got em. This is why you carry condition 1 people!

I didn't know Junkrat played CS:GO

wow... and this is the guy teaching others how to shoot. Whatever happened the to old "always keep the gun pointed downrange" idea? Also, who teaches totally new people how to shoot with a 44. Mag revolver.. give me a break. This is the kind of guy who gets people hurt. But at least we will have video of it when it happens.. near miss this time. Next time.. maybe it will have to be posted to HiddenLOL.

Yeah I agree. While they do make double stack 14 round 45 cal 1911s, this one in the pic is obviously a budget 1911 looking at the weak finish and solid trigger. On top of that with target sights on the rear really a poor choice for quick moving targets. He needs to clear that backpack too before firing or he risks jamming up after his first shot if that slide doesn't have enough clearance to move so having his finger already on the trigger is poor discipline.

If you want to go with the Glock option they do make 33 round 9mm magazines that will fit in any double stack Glock frame chambered in 9mm so yeah that would work better. Plus you could fit quite a few extra mags in a backpack.

Anyone else automatically hear the BF music when looking at the pic? I know I do every time.

weird, me too