PeonForHer
Posts: 19612
Joined: 9/27/2008 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: lovmuffin A great many of our law enforcement are part of that gun culture you seem to find so disgusting. I suppose you would find them disgusting too ? I would venture to say that if you ever had the opportunity to visit a target range and shoot various firearms, you would do it, at least for the sake of curiosity if for no other reason. I've known several people, including one from the UK who I took to a target range, with a similar view as yours and they took that plunge. They reviewed gun safety, went to the range and now they're hooked and part of that disgusting gun culture. OK, I find myself relenting a bit because at least some Americans here really do seem to be taking this personally rather than just pretending to take it personally. For me, people are born into a culture and they would have to work in groups to change that culture. It's not a personal issue for me. This or that individual gun-user isn't a concern for me. Social attitudes towards guns, and political policies about them, are. Notwithstanding that, it's kind of revealing to me that you think I might get caught up in 'the gun culture' in the USA were I to visit a range there during a visit to your fine country. Why? If it's a sport: fine. I can understand the buzz of shooting at targets. But as I've often been told, guns aren't about fun for Americans, they're about self-defence. This, presumably, is a deadly serious business - given that it's about life and death. How can it be a fun thing one minute and life and death the next? Of all the things on CM's forums that I've found most alienating, it's those threads that start off earnestly discussing the rights and wrongs of guns and self-defence, then segue into people discussing their favourite firearms. This man loves the kick of his Smith and Wesson, that woman adores the curves of her Sig. These things kill people, yet some posters here talk about them like they're delightful and exquisite pieces of art on a par with Faberge eggs - and you can almost hear them salivating over their killing-power in passing. That I find loathsome. I will always find it loathsome. If certain Americans find their delicate sensitivities hurt by my feelings of disgust for it and want to whimper about Brit arrogance while invoking two or three hundred year old colonial history, they can fuck off and swivel on it. As for cops, gun ranges and my giving it a try should I ever visit the USA: no need. My father was in law enforcement here in the UK. He was a qualified marksman and, when my brothers and I were kids, used to take us to see the gun range at Imber Court, Surrey, where the Met Police used to practise (on the days when no-one was shooting, I should add). I was thrilled by that as a young kid. I used to collect the bullets from behind the targets. But then I grew up.
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