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Originally Posted by !@#$%!
i agree with that, that guns should be licensed the way you get one to drive a car (this would require study and passing an exam on gun safety).
the only problem with that is that this is enshrined in the american constitution as a right, so you can't put a license on a right. you only need permits for conceal carry (e.g., packing a gun under your jacket wherever you go). this varies again by state to state. in virginia i think now you can carry guns in the open.
while driving is a privilege and not a right, owning a gun is a right and not a privilege, by the law of this land. the only people who are barred from owning guns are convicted felons.
peculiar, huh? but it is what it is... changing that culture in a country of over 310,000,000 people would be extremely hard. remember than unlike your own country, this beast is made of 50 mini-countries (many bigger than whole european countries) plus a number of territories, over a huge chunk of land that would take you some 4 or 5 days to drive across.
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that's true.
the overall reaction to people with guns here is: woaaah, seriously?
previously you could get certain types of hunting rifles without a permit, in one day, but they changed that law too and now you need a license for any type of gun you own.
i don't know anyone who owns a working gun (one person who collects WWI weapons, but he doesn't have any ammunition and most of them don't work anymore)
it's a huge difference in mentality and i agree that america is waaaay bigger, but don't you think it's better to maybe slowly try to change these ideas? not by just outlawing them right away, but by slowly making guns less acceptable in general.