Lion in Winter

Most people, wherever they live, even in the poorest and most desperate areas, are just normal people like the rest of us, trying to get by and live their lives. They aren't out to attack people and do them harm. The people most at risk are teenagers and young people who actually live in the neighbourhoods, for all sorts of reasons. As I say, I used to live in such an area and saw guns often and heard them being used on many summer nights especially - but they weren't ever aimed at me since I was irrelevant to their activities.

chawkins99

Back in the '80's, I went on a company sponsored clay-shooting day. I loved it and decided I would take it up more seriously.

I jumped through the hoops necessary to get a shotgun license but never took it any further.

A year later, I had a PC Plod knocking on the door wanting to inspect my guns. When I told him I didn't have any, he then asked if I planned to get any. When I said "probably not", he asked for, and took away the shotgun license.

ABD79

Yes with us having children there's just no way I could have a gun that would be accessible if needed, so there wouldn't be any point in having one. Although my only thought was if I was out on my own with the children...would I want one in my bag. But when I stop for a second and realise what I'm suggesting...to even consider having a gun...it just brings me down to earth with a crash and I think "what the hell are you thinking???!!!"
The neighbourhood thing I mentioned (fearing living in a safe neighbourhood but with crime going on around that) was actually all from neighbourhood scout the website and another proper wen site (I forget the name now) where it maps crime hot spots by colour and all the ones I found that were dark blue for being safe had very light blue all around them for being dangerous :-/ I also stumbled across an interesting site that mapped murders in the state with dots you could click on and it tells you who the victims were, their age and cause of death. Now if you want to get freaked out about living somewhere in the US, that's the way to do it. I stumbled across some horrific things that are just umimaginable - a lot of deaths of children who were murdered. I have to say I am totally in shock at some of the seemingly complete random, weird, physchotic thijgs that seem to happen in the US. People being kidnapped like you see in horror films and tortured, horrific murders. I just don't understand how so many nut cases managed to end up in America? I don't mean that in a nasty way - I genuinely can't work it out. I mean, the violence tolerance level is interesting, (what's with horror films being on in the middle of the day? And physcho thriller type films. They'll edit out any sex references but happily keep people being shot in the head etc. in the film? That has to account for some of the number of crazies over there surely? Growing up with an inbuilt desensitisation to that kind of thing?) Although, saying that, the Japanese have turned out OK and they do the same. But then again, as a culture I guess they're extremely respectful, thoughtful and gentle (the insane films aside). I just can't figure America out

ABD79

But that's the kind of approach that's ended up with the U.K. having 20 deaths a year via guns as opposed to nearly 30,000

ABD79

Very interestingly, while I was just reading another reply to this post, I suddenly noticed an ad on the side of the page by the NRA ...for a free knife when you join! A knife that would most definitely be banned in the UK I hasten to add. I guess they're in low supply of their usual semi automatic weapon give-always?! Speaking of knives, you often hear the argument that without guns, people would still find a way to kill so it wouldn't be any different and it's often brought up by Americans about knife crime here. However, the US actually has more deaths by knives than the UK...so there's that problem too! It never ends

mrken30

I would imagine the US also has more Povs per capita .

Nutmegger

Yes, there can be "safe" neighborhoods and "no go" neighborhoods in the cities. You think you live in a nice suburb that does not have a gun culture. Then, a parent in your pretty little picture-postcard Connecticut town thinks that it is a good idea to teach her mentally unbalanced son how to interact with guns. Twenty-six innocent people later . . . You can never say never, in the US, in the UK, in Australia, anywhere.

ABD79

Povs?

Asg123

No, apart from guns I don't think America is worse than other countries. What about Fred West and Dr Shipman (just 2 that I remember), they were as bad or worse than anything I've seen here.

kimilseung

While the gun issue does have to be taken in context, (we still drive and walk on sidewalks despite the obvious danger, we hardly even think about) I do not understand the "its just bad neighbourhoods" argument. Most people I know travel from one area to another and use facilities in other neighbourhoods. People are shot by accident as shootings on the street often seem to catch bystanders and those driving through. The bad neighbourhoods takes in to account the lumpen-proletariat and their neighbours are much more in danger than outsiders, but outsiders still are victims in their cars as they drive through. (Other cites may have 'no go zones' which Seattle does not)
Work place shooting we are all susceptible to if we have a job.
- A qirl I worked with (providing a service for) was shot dead by her boyfriend)
- My old boss was shot in his office by a love rival
- My nephews school friend/acquaintance was arrested for armed robbery
- A friend of the family's brother shot his dad dead in a hunting accident
I feel safe in the US from guns, as the odds are still low, but my experience of shootings, second hand or not, was much lower (zero) in many more years in the UK

ABD79

Yes but that's only two you remember And there are probably only maybe 4 or 5 total that you or anyone would know. You only need to look at one state in America and the information of the murders to be totally shocked...and that's without the other 49 states. Trust me, you won't sleep at night ever again� ����� ����

Try this link. This is Jacksonville FL alone.� ����http://jacksonville.com/homicides

Giantaxe

Yes, this is pretty much my view. When I wrote my earlier comment about my UPS delivery person being shot dead at his workplace yesterday, I should have mentioned the other incident that brought home the gun issue for me. An old boss of mine who I'd worked with on and off for 25 years shot his girlfriend dead and then turned the gun on himself. Yes, you could obviously call this domestic violence etc., but what shocked me was I knew this person so well and thought he was entirely level-headed. And yet he turned out to have a small arsenal in his house (some legally owned, some not) that he ended up using to lethal effect. And this was in Sausalito, which is just about as far as you can get from being a "bad neighbourhood".

civilservant

I have a CCP, and carry everywhere I go with the exception of my workplace. If I could carry it in and leave it in a lockbox, then I would. I feel slightly naked without my Glock 43. Even then it's in my truck, so only about 45 seconds away.

Am I scared? No. It's like car insurance, I hope I never need it.... but I will have it, carry it, and practice with it for at least an hour a week (yes I blow through alot of ammo) because I want to be as safe and as accurate as I can.

You can chose not to own a gun, and that's fine, but ultimately it someone can break into my house carrying one then I want one in order to respond appropriately.

It should be noted that I do not have children.

Living in TX, you might want to keep these views to yourself. Texans (and most others south of the Mason-Dixon line) think of guns and hunting as their birthright.

Rete

You are excessively fearful of guns and, it appears to me, of life in America. Your fears are real for you.

I raised two children in the US and never saw a gun, nor did they, until they were adults in their 20's when they moved away from home and married. I sent them to school with a hug and a have a good day. They do the same with my four grandkids.

I don't worry about guns, knives, terrorists or bad guys harming my family. I refuse to live my life in such a manner of fear and anxiety. I don't worry about drunk drivers either. I drive defensively and cautiously. Worry will not change the course of action put into play by someone else drinking and driving.

Honestly, I don't feel that the US has an abundance of wackos. We are a large country geographically and with a very large and diverse population. There are wackos all over the world not just here.

The one and only thing that makes me fearful for my grandkids is pedophiles. I don't know the statistics but I would think there is a greater risk for a child to be accosted by a pedophile than to be accosted by a person with a gun. And this threat is not just in the US but a real threat throughout the world.

scrubbedexpat097

I have been in Texas for 28 years now, we don't own any guns we have never been threatened by anyone with a gun but everyone one we know owns at least one gun.

When my kids were young I was very strict about whose house they could play at and I always encouraged sleep overs at our house because of the gun thing. We live in a rural area about 35 minutes out of Houston. Most shooting fatalities we hear about are in Houston. And most of those are in certain areas of Houston. You learn where to avoid going.

My daughter lives in Houston, she has also lived in LA and Oakland. She has said she felt safer in Oakland than anywhere else which considering the reputation Oakland has is surprising!

What I'm getting at is, yes there is a lot of gun violence in the US and yes you will be exposed to guns in Texas one way or another. You might get used to it or you might be like me and accept it but not understand it!

If I was moving here now I think my biggest concern would be healthcare....now that is scary !
(and Trump)