Sally Redux

I guess I have that breath of fresh air feeling having left the US on the day of the Ferguson shooting. It actually did make me appreciate Britain more. I have left my son there, otherwise I would not give that crazy place a second thought.

chris955

We loved our visit to America years ago, we went to Florida for the Daytona bike racing and had a great time. In the 3 weeks we were there we had a young girl on the counter of KFC ask us if we owned guns and took great delight in telling us about hers. We had a bloke nicknamed Weirdbeard offer to show me the alligator he had shot earlier in the week. I was also offered coke in Miami, I told the seller I was more into Pepsi, not sure he understood. He then offered me a lovely gold chain, not sure it was his to sell though.
Couldnt live there in a million years.

dunroving

I think most BE-ers are lucky enough to not be touched by some of the gun crime in the US (unless you happen to be a bystander on some school or college campus at the wrong time).

I lived there and visited there (including some pretty rough areas) for 23 years and other than seeing them on policemen was lucky enough to have NEVER seen a gun in 23 years, and didn't know anyone who owned one (or owned up to owning one - contrary to the horror stories on here about being being "proud" gun owners).

In the Bahamas on the other hand, I was threatened with a gun following a minor road incident.

It fails to amaze me, though, how little people in the UK and other countries seem to care about deaths on the road, which are a much greater cause of mortality. Different to packing a gun, of course, but I think that's half the problem - too many idiots on British roads don't realise they are in charge of a deadly weapon. Binge drinking, recreational drugs, other much more damaging mindless causes of death in the UK, and other countries, that don't seem to bother people half as much as ranting about guns.

Doesn't stop the UK being great, but I think some balance of opinion is needed.

Beaverstate

I have lived in the US 56 years and not once have I seen someone carrying a gun in public, not including police. As you also stated. Though I do know many who do own guns.

chris955

To be fair it would be pretty unlikely you would see someone carrying a gun in public.

bigglesworth

I did.

Driving through the Blackwall Tunnel in London in the early 90s. Young men in a new BMW shooting at cars. Despite the police actually having an office in the tunnel itself, WITH CAMERAS, they never caught anyone.
It cost me over a thousand quid to get the damage repaired.

Bud the Wiser

Nothing to do with what makes Britain great, but seeing as we are quoting anecdotal stories..........

I was more than a little concerned about gun crime before moving over to the states in 1995. Literally, just a few days before I moved over I called into a small convenience store in a small village just outside Bedford. I'd no sooner got through the door and I was told to take cover by a man who came into the store after me and informed us he was an undercover police officer and I was not allowed to leave the store.

Seemingly the police had been tipped off about an armed raid on the post office opposite. Sticking my head above the shelves to have a look see, as you do, I saw about 30 police, some, if not all, armed. two would be robbers, lying prostrate on the floor, surrounded by armed police, an officer filming the incident and taking note of the robbers gun and a plastic fairy liquid bottle that I was later told contained ammonia.

All I could think of afterwards was the irony of my fears of US gun crime when I had just witness my first, and to date, only incident of actual gun crime, in a tiny village in England.

Having said all that, the incidents of gun crime, in the neighborhood where I work now, are truly horrendous. Though thankfully, I haven't witnessed any personally.

Bud the Wiser

And so, back on topic.

What makes Britain great for me, is that it is the place where I 'feel' I belong. Simple as that.

I only hope that 'feeling' is not misplaced upon my eventual return.

spouse of scouse

Of course there are too many vested interests. The power of the US gun lobby is legendary.

That fact doesn't mean that there aren't millions of people in the US who deplore the gun culture, and who do what they can to dilute or eradicate it. Ordinary citizens in ANY democratic country have 3 avenues to effect change - their vote, which often is a choice between the better of a herd of donkeys, and no come-back if they don't carry out their mandate - lobby - and try to teach their children a better way.

I still get gobsmacked by the number of people who are happy to condemn a whole nation, based on the decisions of their leaders and a culture they have inherited and grew up in. Don't denigrate those who oppose the US gun culture by sticking the entire population in a homogeneous pot. It's akin to taking the least desirable element of British* society and culture, and saying you're all the same.
* substitute any nationality/culture/religion you like.

dunroving

Having sat transfixed (and disgusted) in front of the telly last night, couldn't resist it!

spouse of scouse

Heehaw!

chris955

Yes absolutely, I agree wholeheartedly. Its just such a shame that Americas gun culture is so strong and so powerful. Like I said we had a great time in Florida and want to take the kids to all the usual theme parks etc over there.
Something else that happened while we were there, the day after we picked up our hire car a disgruntled ex employee in the car yard immediately next door shot his boss and a couple of others. The problem with a society armed to the teeth is too many of them act on impulse and blow someone away over often trivial matters. I feel extremely sorry for those trying to do something about it because there is next to no chance of significant changes being made to the gun laws.
Tight gun control is one of the things that make Britain great

spouse of scouse

Agree totally with that, particularly about the ease of access to weapons for the disgruntled, the mentally ill and the arseholes of society.

Obama did mention using the successful Australian amnesty on illegal guns as a starting point for tighter gun control in the US - in my opinion, it was a sop to the calls for gun control, as he knew damn well it wouldn't happen in the US. I used to be hopeful that Obama would make a difference in this area, but he's bent over for the gun lobby as well. I'm sad for all the decent Americans who just want their kids to be able to walk around and go to school without the risk of being shot.

Mallory

Why are you discussing Obama in the What Makes Britain Great thread? Why don't you open a thread called Why I Dislike America?

Just got back from three weeks in Britain - it's still lovely, and weather was perfect most of the time. Was in Glos and Dorset, picture perfect countryside.

Only county I don't much like is Herefordshire. Would never want to live there.

dunroving

I hear the people still have tails down there.