Fear… or Hope?

This is a rather long question and comment thread, but I always appreciate rational and deliberate communication when it comes to controversial topics…

Posted 3Aug18.

“Why do Americans live in such permanent fear that they need guns when no other country has this problem?”

I, personally, do not live in fear — permanent or temporary — that I need firearms for any reason.

I live in hope that I may never need to use them… but they are accessible if needed.

It is has been a common theme here on Quora to see questions like these, and at the moment I am typing this on a phone with little convenient access to the original posters’ location or identity.

However, I will wager a guess that most folks who subscribe to the rationale presented in the question are the types which find it easy and smugly gratifying to compare the U.S. to every other country while missing one key point: we aren’t them.

Most of the time I carry with the understanding of the responsibilities inherent in the right to do so, and with the hope that, at the end of the day, my pistol will return to it’s safe place without being used. (I say “most of the time” only because my routine and travels often preclude the legality of carrying.)

I don’t go though the day hoping I get to use it, but I know that, if the situation goes unrecoverably south, it is there.

“No other country has this problem,” you say?

[Skeptical eyebrow raised]

How are we doing in comparison to places where warlords are a fact of life? How about where corruption and persecution are a constant threat? For the most part, we seem to be doing fairly well in ensuring the safety of those within our borders. Yes, there are outliers and exceptions… but I cannot imagine that Colombia or Venezuela are burdened with an influx of those seeking asylum or security in the scale that we are.

If we are such a hotbed of fearful gun owners, why are we the destination for those who truly know fear? Why do some who choose to call this country home proudly become the owners of the tools their homelands forbade them to have with the promise that their safety was ensured?

Look, this isn’t an attack on anyone who has a differing perspective on gun ownership, so don’t bother belaboring the points that have been made by the fear-mongering media. We’ve heard it all before and Quora is full of very interesting debates much better than this one.

This is merely my perspective on my own hope that I — or anyone else — never has to use their EDC to resolve a life-threatening situation.

My question to those folks who think we live in fear and need to carry is: why do you live in fear of the tool and concern yourself with how we conduct ourselves?

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[From the follow-on conversation]

“All that I can add, is the fact the I truly believe your main problem is the ease with which pistols can be obtained in your country with minimal background testing.”

Psychological testing? In that aspect, I would agree. However, what would the testing consist of? Overall mental health? Ethical evaluations? Legal knowledge testing?

The problem with the idea of testing is that the testing authority would be subjected to a varying degree of ideological justifications specific to each state (and even county, as there can be differences there as well). Not only that, but even our academic testing tends to be skewed when it comes to regional differences for a slew of reasons.

As it stands, the present processes for purchasing a firearm from a shop, manufacturer, or gun show requires approval through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). While recent events has shown that it can be imperfect when it comes to flags due to mental health issues, any system is going to only be as good as the people and organizations inputting data into it. One of the problems with this has been the reluctance of some states to participate by submitting the data necessary to prevent the purchase of firearms by individuals which were deemed unfit by local medical personnel at some point (and later relocated to a different state).

I hate that I don’t have the time and resources to provide more detail to illustrate this point… I’ll try to return to this discussion later and with more support.

“Nothing wrong with owning provided the individual has some semblance of a brain between his ears, but the thought of walking into a shop and buying one worries me. I know you can’t take it the same day, but that’s not really the point.”

It depends on the state. When I lived in Georgia, it took me about 30–40 minutes for a purchase of a semiautomatic .22LR rifle back in 2015. I walked out with the firearm and 550 rounds with no problem… but keep in mind, having my concealed carry permit sped things up a lot. This has been the case with pistols as well as my own personal Kryptonite— Mosin Nagants.

One thing that I want to emphasize that you wrote:

“…Some semblance of a brain…”

I wish more people had this when it comes to discussions and ownership of firearms. Not everyone who disagrees is a dispenser of unbiased rationale; not every firearm owner is a beacon of perfection and righteousness. We all have flaws just as sure as we have justification in our motivations. We just need to listen before thinking, think before speaking, and speak with deliberation and consideration.

…

I have written about a lot of the issues around firearms and the media lately:
…Then What?
Opinion: Violence, Legislation, and the Person in the Mirror
At Any Cost
Ignorance and Confusion

The problem is, in my opinion, not the tool… but the attention given to it. We could legislate until we are blue in the face, and the evil would find both inspiration and an entirely different tool to use. In this case, the attention provides the idea (and goal to be “better” than the infamous ones before) as well as what did or didn’t work, first responder actions, and the political fallout that follows.

Unified action (politically and socially) is a long shot, here… agreement/compromise is sort of out of the question due to the polar opposites on the issue who refuse to listen to the other side because of the emotion of the other (thanks again, media), and any “guideline” will bloat into a form of “control” or reason to opposed more government involvement. It is a weird and tragic cycle, but this is where we are… and there is little hope that things will improve. For that to happen, folks would have to actually listen and learn… and… ha… THAT isn’t going to occur anytime soon.