Interesting you say that.
I’ve lived in Oz for 46 years, have never owned a gun and don’t know anyone who has ever been shot or shot at (apart from military blokes).
This is one area where Aussie and US culture differ greatly.
I have tried and tried to explain the difference IS one of culture! But each time I do, I enter into a storm on FR, so I try no more...
allow me to provide just one small example:
We had a visitor from the US, a young man of 22 who lives in Miami, Florida. We took him to Surfers Paradise, a tourist city in Queensland. Walking through the central Mall, I observed he was quite aggitated, looking around, clenching his fists, grinding his teeth...it would have been amusing if he hadn't been so obviously uncomfortable. When I asked him to explain his demeanour, he confided that he felt in danger - because he was unarmed.
What will we do if we are attacked or mugged, he asked me. There was nothing I could say to persuade him there was not any danger, in broad daylight on a sunny afternoon in Surfers Paradise...where my main concern was to eat my ice-cream before it melted, while he kept his eyes open for street-gangs that did not exist. The young man eventually returned to Miami and the culture he was accustomed to, after spending entire days in his room because he was afraid to go out alone without his weapon. He's no wimp, he's 6'2 and quite expert in martial arts.
The Australian/American Gun Law Debate
By Gabrielle Reilly
http://www.gabriellereillyweekly.com/gabrielle_reilly/politics/gun_laws_australia_america.htm
I’ve lived in Oz for 46 years, have never owned a gun and don’t know anyone who has ever been shot or shot at (apart from military blokes).
This is one area where Aussie and US culture differ greatly.”
I’ve lived in the US for about 44 years, and in other countries for about 8 years, total. The only places I’ve been shot at were outside the US, and those were during a war. I’m one of those “military blokes.” However, I’m a strong believer in the personal nature of the US Constitution’s Second Amendment. Y’all do what you want down there, but I’m not even visiting until you recognize something similar. I’ve known a number of people, including family members, who might still be here if they had been armed, and are not because they weren’t. I don’t go ANYWHERE without some kind of armament, although it may not be firearms.