Pulaski

Exactly this! During the hours of daylight, at least, there isn't much, if any more risk to walking around cities in the US than in the UK, and I suspect that the risk of being attacked and robbed may be greater in parts of some cities in the UK than here in he US.
I worked from home one day a couple of weeks ago so I could sign for Mrs P's new cell phone. Late in the morning I went to front door having not heard the doorbell all morning, only to find a new smartphone, along with a couple of other deliveries from Amazon, just lying on the front porch! The delivery driver, UPS I assume, hadn't even rung the doorbell to alert me to the delivery, much less called and asked for a signature!

chawkins99

Note to self: Don't move to San Franciisco

Where I lived in Alabama, I felt the same but 30 miles north (Birmingham), nope!

Rete

We have that done here as well. UPS and FedEx will leave it in front of the door without ringing the bell. Had a settlement check which was sent by my attorney via USPS certified, return receipt requested, signature required left in the mailbox across the street (our mail is not delivered to the door) with a stamp notice "signature waived" where the signature was to go.

malch

When I first moved to the USA I was very worried about the whole gun thing so I can certainly relate to your concerns.

However, in practice, it's a non-issue assuming you don't plan on dealing drugs, joining a gang and generally taking your career in a criminal direction.

Over time, I've come to understand and respect the 2nd Amendment and the few folks I know who do own guns. I have considered one myself -- we live in a suburban part of the San Francisco Bay area and I do worry about the possibility of looters in the event of a major earthquake. However, I have children at home -- they can get curious and mischievous so I prefer to eliminate the risk of them getting their hands on a weapon by not having one.

Pintage

I read these pages with interest. When I was 14 years old a guy called Michael Ryan pointed a carbine at me and for some reason he didn't pull the trigger. I was one of the lucky ones that day. Sadly i got to see exactly what these guns can do to a person. I was not in America but in the UK.
Now I have grown up around guns (family and friends shoot) but never got involved with them myself. I will be honest after that day I was terrified of guns.
My best mate took me to a gun range in Las Vegas many years after and I was nervous as hell. But the guys in the gun store showed all the safety protocols and how to handle a gun safely and I shot. It was only then I realized a safe gun will never jump up and kill anyone it is always the operator that will pull the trigger. Much that a car is safe if operated correctly.
I have now owned guns, I hunt, I clay shoot and target shoot.

I think stricter gun controls wouldn't hurt but would be very difficult to implement. But here in the South gun ownership is a way of life. many people have permits to carry and do so. (conceal and carry not open carry).

I have lamented on what would have happened that day if more people had guns in the UK but the truth of the matter is I think the outcome would have been pretty much the same.

Still gun ownership is almost a way of life for many Americans. rightly or wrongly it is the country I live in and I have no issue with law abiding gun ownership.

Giantaxe

I guess! However, crime rates here are middling for a US urban area and rates of violent crime below average.

ABD79

Just in reply to somebody's comment about the UK...I have parcels left outside all the time, never have they been taken. So I guess that again it depends on where you live, both here and in the US. What scares me I think about the US is even if you live in a "safe" neighbourhood, you're still surrounded by shootings and the like and that scares me. Just that they're so close. Just a few streets away. I wouldn't want a gun in the home with three small children. I feel that if you own a gun for protection it kind of needs to be loaded and close at hand...and with children around that just scares me.
The drink drivers is another thing! I actually hadn't given that much thought but come to think of it I now remember when I was in Texas for 6 months all the horrific stories day after day on the news about accidents caused by drink driving. My husband's job is on the road so I would worry sick out there. It's a shame...I'm convinced that if you took guns out of America (with a magic wand), people took drink driving seriously and religion wasn't a factor in government or schools (and everyone across the country was just left to be whatever they wanted (it seems in the UK you're kind of left alone with no questions asked as to your religious or political viewpoints compared to the US), then the US would be frickin' fantastic! America was so close...it literally COULD have been the greatest country on earth (oh, and if you took that mentality away from a lot of Americans too. Sadly I've met my fair share of "MERICA!" people and it's never attractive and always intimidating and sadly obnoxious). I'd live there in a heart beat that all aside. Oh, health care...and THAT! There's still a draw there for me...especially with family there. It's just a reall tough decision to make when you have children. I just want them to be safe.

ABD79

I think just living in Texas for the past 13 years has ruined Texas for them They want to move to upstate New York now. Too cold for me!!!

Asg123

I just read that a 10-month-old baby was shot in Houston.

Marc_ely

I've been here 3.5yrs and have never seen a gun in public apart from on a police officer.

However I do still have worries. Just recently my 12yr old boys school was put on lock down and all kids were confined to their classrooms for the best part of a day. The authorities had picked up a cellphone signal that they though was from an escaped convict. To cut a long story short the number had been re-used by the carrier and was now assigned to a kid at the school! Scary stuff as a parent as the information coming out was sketchy.

Given the choice of USA or Oz I'd go under I think, but that's more to do with quality of life and less religious nuts etc than guns.

MidAtlantic

This simply is not true. I think you are not recognizing the totally different scale of the US.

chawkins99

When not being carried, my gun is kept on the bedside table. When my daughter was young (she's 25 now), I didn't own a gun.
If we have visitors (adults or kids), the guns are locked in the safe. I would be much more concerned if we had kids around.

Smartyy

This is the same as me. Although I do not have kids, so I can keep them outside of a safe. I really need to save up and buy one of those...

chawkins99

They're not that expensive (unless you have an arsenal).

https://www.amazon.com/Fortress-Alar...words=gun+safe

This is the one we have. Nice thing is I can open it in the dark in a couple of seconds. It's securely fixed to the wall in the closet.

Lion in Winter

My BIL, who lives in the UK and therefore only has shotguns for hunting purposes, keeps them unloaded and locked up in a cabinet on the second floor of his house. The shells are kept locked up in a separate cabinet in the attic which you can only get to up a ladder and through a trap door. Their children have left home now, it isn't for their sake. His rationale? If someone breaks in, he doesn't want them being able to get and load the guns and use them on him.

Totally different mindset to here.