Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Guns

Now this is in response to Limeys post as it is something that I am strongly opinionated about.

Of course I grew up in England where there were very few if none guns around. I can remember the police asking people to surrender any ammunition's, guns, swords or weapons that could be classed as dangerous.

They were absolutely flooded as many of it was war paraphnalia that people did not want anymore but were not sure how to get rid of . After all you cannot just shove it in a bin bag and give it the dustbin men!

In NH the state moto is "Live free or Die" so people have a lot of freedom. For example they do not have to wear seat belts as it is their choice whether they live or die.....daft really!

As I live in the countryside it is very common for people to hunt. Children are given Bee Bee guns before they are 10 years old. Birthday parties are often air gun or paintball parties as children hit their tweens...it makes me shudder. Many a ten year old has a mounted deers head on his wall.

Every hunting season there is always without fail a few human tragedies. From a father accidentally shooting his son or friends bullets hitting a tree and hurting someone. Where is the pleasure in this so called sport I often ask myself? How would you ever get over such a tragedy?

The school killings that are becoming more and more common are a result of what? Too many violent TV shows or video games, or warped minds? Are guns too easily accessible...oh yes even our tiny village has a gun shop!

Why are guns classed as a sport? They are not for pleasure they are a weapon that is used in war.

I often hear that they may be needed in self defense however if you shoot a burglar you are still going to be dragged through the court systems and you are not in the right for killing another.

I am sure that I will be nailed down in this post by people who are "Pro Guns." I do not wish to offend them and my views maybe due to the fact that I grew up in the UK and this is a culture clash!

However I still believe that people should not own guns!

5 comments:

MikeH said...

In the gun-arena, it is a lot easier to move from the US to the UK. As someone who grew up in the UK and how lives in the US (and in a part where hunting is a part of life) it must be difficult, and a little frightening.

I am (or was) a gun owner, but I can't say it is difficult living without them over here. If we went to live in the States, however, my wife would surely freak out.

LHA said...

Daffodilly - as you know, I wholeheartedly agree. Here is a direct link to my post if anyone is interested.

Almost American said...

Hmm - hunting for sport - yeuch! Hunting for food - not so bad. I've had some very good venison at friends' houses! I couldn't ever bring myself to go hunting with them though! Other than for hunting, I see no reason for people to have guns though, and even then a lot of the people who have guns really shouldn't!

I remember being very taken aback arriving home in the UK and finding the police at Manchester airport carrying submachine guns!

Expat mum said...

As I said when we debated this over at Pond Parleys, when there's a gun in the house, the chances of the "wrong person", ie. a child or the owner, getting killed or injured with it are ridiculously high.

Expat mum said...

Have tagged you BTW. If you can be bothered!