Do you think it is normal having firearms?

[rocketpig]

Mummelmann said:

rocketpig said:
Some of you Europeans are looking at guns as the reason for the murder rate while ignoring the entire fabric of America itself. We were founded on as much freedom as possible, a small government, and we're a heterogeneous society. That, in its very nature, is going to lead to a lot of strife.

It's not about the gun ownership, it's not about lax laws, it's about putting millions of very different people in the same area and watching them try to get along with each other. If anything, after the recent events in France, you guys should have a little more understanding of how attempting to mix cultures carries an underlying threat of violence with it at all times.

 Actually, there's been similar problems in the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Spain. Much due to big amounts of immigrants and/or refugees. Like here in Norway, where they stow away people from conflicting cultures in the same cardboard box, that's the stuff that'll cause noice sooner or later. I remember the first year we took in refugees to live in my hometown; they placed Kurds and Iraqi and Turkish together, and to add to the mix they presented every refugee with a "starter kit" for use in the refugee reception housings including a set of huuuuge knives. Result; three epsiodes of stabbing in one day.

But, at least here in Norway, it is not considered normal to own firearms unless you're a hunter or if its used in sports/competition. I'm not pointing fingers and demoting any one culture as more violent than others, but mixing cultures that generally don't go well together will not turn out well in most cases, especially among the male population of the world! 

Yeah, I realize that immigration has been causing problems all across Europe the past few years but I pointed out France because it was the most heavily publicized and widespread (to my knowledge, at least).

Now take those situations and crank them up to 11 and you'll get a taste of what urban America is like. The very country itself was founded on individualism, freedom, and immigration. That's a recipe for disaster and it's amazing that America has as little violence as it does given the circumstances. On the other hand, it's also what has made America adaptable and led to its status in the world today and it's what I'm most proud of as an American.

Every society is give and take. You take some freedoms, you will probably get a more peaceful society (or a bloody violent one). You add people of different cultures, new ideas will flourish but you'll get more societal strife as people clash over their creed, color, and lifestyle. It's the nature of humanity and the choice of gun ownership is just one thing that adds or detracts to a society, not the be-all or end-all to violence and crime. Some of you (not you, Mummel) are leading the horse with the cart. America is violent because of its wild west nature, its influx of differing people and viewpoints, and its stance toward the government, not because we own guns. Americans view guns the way they do because of the ideals the country was founded on, not the other way around.