I just don't see how I can make "so the government could monitor an unarmed population" any clearer.
Is there a specific word's definition that escapes you?
www.dictionary.com

Ownership of handguns in the UK was banned due to the Dunblaine massacre.....not so that the government could monitor an unarmed population.

General ownership of weapons was not a major part of our culture anyway.....hasn't been for centuries.

When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns. Think that's a catchy but ridiculous claim? Apparently the UK police don't think so now.

We have had many examples of home grown terrorism over the years, most notably the bombing of the federal building in Okie City, the murder of Dr. King The I had a dream speech still moves me. JFK, and his brother. The FBI attack on Mt. Carmel, And Ruby ridge.
Their are more, and I find it sad that we can't get along. Maby the social Utopians were right, we need to come together and think about our differences. This does not mean we need big brother, or any other totalitarian government. People have to be allowed to live there lives as they see fit. IMHO we can get along if we try. We Americans want to be friends with everybody, granted we have our bad apples KKK and others, but they are less than 2% of the population.

In the words of Rodney King "Why can't we just get along".

But notice that there aren't scores of articles - from any area of the press - demanding we be given the right to carry guns. It really isn't considered an aspect of freedom in this country - as Dana said it's not been part of our culture for a very long time.

So to hear your countrymen described as weak, undeserving of freedom and generally pathetic for letting a fascist Government ride rough-shod over them is really baffling.

As I've said before, I know the UK does not have all the answers. Not when it comes to weapons, drugs, terrorism or healthcare. But I refuse to believe this country is sliding into dumb, drone-like slavery at the hands of The State. I also think that anyone who believes that should come and visit us for a while and talk to real Brits on the street. I don't mean the reasonably literate, reasonably liberal people who have the time and money to post here. I mean real, passionate, ignorant and blinkered Brits. The dry humour, lack of respect for authority and general all-round awkwardness of the average Brit in the street should reassure you that we don't do dictators here. Not since we woke up after Cromwell's death and decided, "I'll dance if I fucking well want to" anyway.

I really appreciate the diversity of views on here, but railing against what foreigners choose to do with their own country rarely gets you anywhere. Least of all when your opinions simply don't connect with people of that nationality.

I don't live in the land of the free. Fair enough. My upbringing in this country means I value things differently, and what you call freedom doesn't really concern me all that much. I'm not whistling past the graveyard - I'm a product of my upbringing. Much as Duck Duck is unable to understand how her perception of crime in America concerns anyone here.

Quit thinking you know all about life in Great Britain, will ya SG? Sheesh. ;)

I really do like to hear about how things are...not the version we think we know from whatever sources we are subjected to here.

I'm not commenting on the thread, I just noticed the occasional people telling you what it's like in your homeland.

I just wanted to make sure you were suggesting what it appeared you were before I told you what a stupid statement it was.

Thanks for that.

Nice post up there SG. I think you've summed it up very nicely.

I would suggest that it's much the same in Australia.

Edit: decided not to bother after all.

"Stupid", I'm dazzled by your articulate, poignant, point-by-point reply.
Yeah, "we are just different" sure makes perfect sense... freedom changes with distance. How could I have not seen that before? :p

Perception of freedom changes with culture.
In the same way perception of acceptable crime levels changes with culture.

Why is that so hard to grasp?

Nope, I just don't agree with it.
However, I have stated MANY times that most people are just not cut out for freedom.

I think most people have different ideas of what freedom is.

No shit, do you think we aren't aware of that? Not everyone is Duck Duck, but we hear it every fucking day from one Brit/European/Aussie/Oriental or another, who feel quite free to criticize everything about the US. We don't do anything right, everything is our fault from the economy to the god damn weather.

I posted that article about guns in Britain to demonstrate to the all knowing, that just making a law against guns doesn't instantly solve the problem. This is an excellent example because Brits are not a gun culture, and if there is still a problem there, imagine how bad it would be here.

OK, so this thread is degenerating into another gun debate. Oh what joy!

rkz, you seem to think that no one here owns a gun. Many people do. You are simply not permitted to carry concealable weapons, however, if you belong to a pistol club for example, you may own a hand gun which is licensed. People may not own semi-automatic weapons.

Your idea of freedom is very much different to mine. I like the feeling of not needing to own a gun in order to feel safe. If I did wish to own a gun however, I could certainly do so. That's it.

That is why your statement was stupid. You don't know what you're talking about.

Bruce, of all the users on the internet something like 70% come from the US. Most message board sites revolve around US issues or people.

If the general trend is to talk about US politics as it is here, rather than british, asian or australian, then of course members from other nations will comment.

Why are you arking up at SG for explaining that the US perception of other nations isn't entirely accurate? Surely that means both sides are guilty of the same thing?