Mrs Danvers

It's often been said that gun ownership in other nations isn't so much of a problem because cultures are different. That perhaps it isn't the guns.

Given how many guns are privately owned in the USA, it's little wonder it happens so often. Or to look at it another way, so seldom. So many guns, so many not being fired?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number...ita_by_country

I see the case that was presented by the OP as a couple of separate issues, road rage that was ultimately decided by the gun.

When I was teaching my daughter how to drive the manual Focus we got to a four way stop at the end of our street. We had done parking lots a couple of times and this was the real deal on roads. She waited for someone in a large truck to stop before she crossed the intersection and because she was a little hesitant (2 seconds) and he began to go anyway. Well, he ended up behind us, but he clearly felt slighted and thought that the best thing to do was to follow the Focus at a distance of around 4ft behind on a 25 mph neighborhood road. Once we got onto the main road which was two lanes in both directions he did the trick of getting right ahead of us and then braking to about 25mph on a 40mph road. This behavior is attempted assault, no ifs or buts. So I can see how someone in a road rage incident may have felt that it was a threat on their life. However, once one gets to safety, there is no excuse to pull a gun.

The problem here is not only is someone that pulls this sort of trick a nefarious fool, they also have the anonymity. If for example you got in someones way in a pedestrian scenario, he'd have maybe been able to see that my daughter was an inexperienced walker and though might be grumpy wouldn't have threatened us.

The anonymity that car driving affords us also allows us to dehumanize. "Some asshole is trying to kill me" You don't even see the whites of their eyes, they're just an asshole.

The US culture also appears to have issues with conflict resolution and many seem unable to admit fault or say sorry because that is tantamount to weakness.

It appears that in this particular confrontation, nobody was willing to back down until someone got killed.

I notice that it is mainly men, and mostly British men commenting on this thread. I simply don't remember this amount of anger, aggression in the UK from men. The most I remember is sometimes when the pubs shut there maybe would be a fist fight between young men who were obviously very drunk anyway.

Most random shootings, planned mass shootings are coming from men. Rather than talk about knives, why do you think this happens here so frequently and not in other advanced countries?

scrubbedexpat091

Good thing this guy only had a chain saw...Imagine if he had a gun, he may have just shot the family.

Quebec man arrested after chainsaw used to threaten family - Montreal - CBC News

RoadWarriorFromLP

It's just easier to do it here due to the access.

There is also a subculture of fear in American gun culture that you won't find in well-armed countries such as Switzerland and Israel where gun ownership is a matter of duty to defend the nation rather than a manifestation of paranoia to protect oneself. That element of American gun culture is narcissistic, an attitude that does not go well with weapons.

Giantaxe

I see this all the time with my condo neighbour. Even if he's blatantly responsible for something, he'll blame me. I just laugh.

Trying to move the discussion to knives is essentially a lame attempt to move the debate from what is used in a large majority of violent killings.


I'm not sure one way or the other that there are more violent incidents in the US than other western countries. But the reality is if guns are present in a potentially violent confrontation, there is a much higher probability that lethal violence will ensue.

RoadWarriorFromLP

I don't see that as being an American issue. There are self-centered jerks everywhere you go.

Giving guns and carry permits to those self-centered jerks is a uniquely American trait.

SultanOfSwing

Yes, if it's someone I don't know. It's a bloody sandwich for crying out loud. I'm not missing out on lunch to save some stranger's life

There is a sandwich place not far from my house called Epic Deli. They do one called the Viking Quest. Here's the entry from their menu:

"turkey, pastrami, salami, bacon, ham, pepperoni, roast beef, pepperjack, provolone, cheddar, banana peppers and ghost pepper ranch. VICTORY!"

I'm that one.

RoadWarriorFromLP

Sanwich (sic) control may be called for here:

The hottest pepper in the world is the bhut jolokia chili pepper, also known as the ghost pepper, and according to Dr. Paul Bosland, the man who discovered it, enough of this pepper in a short period of time can surely kill you.

"A research study in 1980 calculated that 3 pounds of extreme chilies in powder form — of something like the bhut jolokia — eaten all at once could kill a 150-pound person," Bosland, told Live Science. "However, one's body would react sooner and not allow it to happen."

Can Eating The World's Hottest Pepper Kill You? How Spicy Foods Affect The Body

Lion in Winter

I'm sure I'm just missing something, but what do the vikings have to do with this sandwich?

SultanOfSwing

Their ghost pepper ranch isn't all that spicy. I think they just show the mixture a photograph of one when they make it or something.

****ed if I know, I don't write their menu. It is a hell of a sandwich though

Plus, they sell poutine there. If anyone's been to Canada, they'll know why that's a good thing

RoadWarriorFromLP

Before they discovered Minnesota and started an NFL team, the Vikings were known for their love of bloodshed, large wooden warships and unhealthy sandwiches with some kind of lethal pepper dressing.

French Canadians must hate potatoes. (I don't really get poutine, and I've had it more than once.)

excpomea

Not any more, you know once it was given that title some clown would try to grow something hotter.
That pepper has now been relegated to position #7 via genetic manipulation ect

https://www.crazyhotseeds.com/top-10...ttest-peppers/

Lion in Winter

This.

I have never been in a country where people are so governed by fear and where fear enters common activity and everyday life so pervasively. And this includes countries where there really was something to be frightened of, such as Guatemala when it was under military rule.

The fear ranges from the childish word "scary" used by adults for any number of very every-day activities, to the constant question of "is it safe" when referring to a place to go, or buy a home, or leave the car, to the locking of car doors when driving in "unsafe" (usually means poor and non-white) areas, to the more bizarre fears that the government is out to get you, to the fear of "immigrants", and the list goes on and on.

scrubbedexpat099

The local ish not very good supermarket had a curry sauce called Ghost Pepper, tried it and quite hot but 6 bucks a jar.

RoadWarriorFromLP

I do think that you're overreaching just a wee bit. Some words don't mean much, locking ones car doors is generally a good idea, and the US has no monopoly on xenophobia. (The UKIP isn't exactly known for its embrace of multiculturalism.)

I wouldn't even say that most individual gun owners in the US are problematic per se. What I was noting that there is a segment of gun owners here who own guns because of their paranoia, and we shouldn't want paranoids to own guns.

I would trust the average Swiss militia member to keep a machine gun and (sealed) ammunition in his home before I'd trust one of these anti-government gun freaks over here. The Swiss citizen has a gun in his home just in case it is needed to defend his country, while the gun nut here wants to carry a piece around so that he can attack his fellow citizens. Very different mentalities.

scrubbedexpat099

I have an old truck and it has been a few years since the locks last worked reliably. So never used, and anyway I have the back window open so my puppy can get into the truck bed as needed.