THE BIG DEBATE: Gun Laws that Work | USA vs. The Rest World

The "price of freedom" cost 45,222 Americans their lives at the hand of a firearm in 2020 (CDC)... but does it have to be this way? How do other countries manage to celebrate private gun ownership while also keeping gun deaths low? Can the United States actually learn something?
In Episode 2 on our series on crime we take a deep dive into the history of gun ownership in the United States, as well as the roles that the NRA and the American gun lobby has taken in shaping modern gun legislation. But to better understand how different our gun laws are and gun related outcomes are compared to the rest of the world - this video offers up international comparisons from the Czech Republic, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Canada and Switzerland.
Episode 96 | #USA #germany #americaningermany #crime #gun #gunlaws #secondamendment #gunreform #firearms #guncrisis | Filmed February 9th, 2023
👉Quick Jump to Your Favorite Topic:
00:00 Intro
02:06 The "Myth" About The Founding Fathers & Gun Control
07:08 National Firearms Registry : Czech Republic vs. USA
12:19 Mental Health & Gun Ownership in Germany vs. USA
16:49 Universal Background Checks in Japan vs. USA
19:53 Assault Weapons Ban in New Zealand (and in the USA!)
24:33 Concealed Carry in Canada vs. Constitutional Carry in USA
28:12 Stand Your Ground Laws in Switzerland
24:15 Debunking Common American Anti-Gun Control Arguments
41:49 On the Next Episode.....
43:52 A sobering end.
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[@lukelee8934]

Every gun show I have attended, literally every vendor, required a background check in Texas.

[@harlow743]

That's why Texas is so safe for child and adult alike.

[@1VaDude]

There is no such thing as a "gun show loophole" because nothing that is legal at a gun show suddenly becomes illegal outside of one. It is a FEDERAL law that any firearm purchase from a licensed gun dealer (someone who has an FFL) go through the FBI/NCIC background check. This is true whether the transaction takes place at his store, his private home or at a gun show. Private sales - a transaction between two individuals, neither of whom have an FFL - are legal in some states, but not in others. You sometimes hear the term "unlicensed dealer" - but there's really no such thing. If you are someone who sells firearms for a living, then you're a "dealer" and will have an FFL. You will do the background check on anybody purchasing a firearm from you. That's different than buying a gun from your neighbor or gifting an old revolver to your son. In some states, ALL private sales are illegal, but in others it is allowed. ( Several years ago, I bought a pistol from the guy across the street. I wrote him a check and took it home. We both have concealed-carry permits, but we're not the problem. Today, it would be illegal to do that since our state went "woke" three years ago, but how does that stop any criminal? It won't. )

[@aikidragonpiper71]

Exactly the gun show loop hole is a lie used by anti gun politicians to push gun control.

[@aikidragonpiper71]

Plus they fudge the gun crime statistics by calling every gun victim 19 and under a child. By doing that they added thousands of gun victims and gun crimes of 16,17,18,19 year old gang members that shoot each other in Chicago every night. All using illegal stolen guns. While rual Americans have millions of firearms that haven't harmed anyone.

[@peter_meyer]

@@1VaDude Texas had banned carrying 'till the mid 90s. Since then gun related crime has sky rocketed. So _Texas_ is a good example for the fact that gun laws _work_

[@seancastle5971]

Let's talk about gun powder rules in the newly formed USA. It was simply be careful where you store it as to not burn down the town.

[@thecalif2914]

What else is gun control for, figuratively? In this sense you burnt down your town already multiple times.

[@josephlandry8787]

@@thecalif2914 gun controls isn’t about saving lives. Instead it focuses on making sure it is easy for the government to end one.

[@BlackBearObsession]

There's just something very strange and unsettling about the idea of police being able to come into your home unannounced. That seems like a total invasion of privacy

[@Anon54387]

Indeed. It's why many of the things the gun controllers want runs afoul not only of the 2nd Amendment but also the 4th Amendment.

[@fairywingsonroses]

In my opinion as a teacher who has encountered guns in backpacks and lost loved ones to unsecured weapons, I think that part of the RESPONSIBILITY of owning a gun should be giving up a FRACTION of your privacy so that law enforcement can ensure that guns are stored safely and away from children and other non-authorized individuals. It's absolutely ludicrous to me that a person with a gun thinks it's okay to leave it unsecured in a car, on a shelf, or a bed stand. These people are directly responsible for more guns ending up in schools, in the hands of criminals, and in the hands of children. They contribute massively to the problem of gun crime and gun violence (about 15% of all gun crimes occur with stolen weapons), and they put more lives in danger than they save. As someone who has been locked in a classroom with scared children while a gun is removed from the premises, I can say, it's absolutely unacceptable. People who fail to lock up their weapons should face criminal charges. If you don't want the police in your home for a basic gun security check, perhaps you are not responsible enough to own a gun.

[@Anon54387]

@@fairywingsonroses That'd run afoul of both the 2A and 4A. You just want to turn the USA into a police state. It used to be common for kids to have guns in school especially in rural areas and small towns. My first boss mentioned that he and his class mates had their guns in the coat closet in school. This fear of guns is a recent thing in US history, the fright over guns in school is a recent thing, and so is the rash of mass shootings. I was looking through old year books in Sacramento, California. They had photos of school kids in a park with their rifles, they were part of the school rifle team.

[@romulus463]

Columbine and other mass shootings took place during the Assault Weapon Ban, without AR or AK platform rifles, and the deadliest school shooting, Virginia Tech, was carried out with two pistols. Most mass casualty shootings, are carried out with pistols and involves street gangs.

[@davedavids57]

Also Columbine was an attempted bombing, if the bombs had gone off they would probably be banning hair products rather than guns.

[@1911GreaterThanALL]

Actually no the number 1 source of child deaths is NOT firearms. That statistic is highly faulty as the legal age of adulthood or age of consent is 18. If 18-19 year olds were cut away from the statistic cited then the number of "child deaths" would be reduced by 48%.

[@tesladrew2608]

That isn't the defense you think it is.

[@1911GreaterThanALL]

@@tesladrew2608 How do you mean?

[@tesladrew2608]

@@1911GreaterThanALL you're basically saying that 18-19 year olds have as many deaths to fire arms as 1-17 year olds, combined lol

[@1911GreaterThanALL]

@tesladrew2608 Yes and such 18-19 year olds with gang affiliations.

[@tesladrew2608]

@@1911GreaterThanALL I'm sure you can prove gangs don't allow 17 year olds

[@1911GreaterThanALL]

After the passage of gun regulations establishing the NICS America experienced more shootings as well. The Assault Weapons ban was not renewed because the study by the government found there was no significant reduction in crimes relating to the weapons under regulation.

[@emilsinclair4190]

No wonder if the "ban" was a compromise of a vompromise only in effect for a short time.

[@vashmatrix5769]

How dare you come here & spread those facts. Can't you see all the effort that went into spreading the falsehoods in this video!

[@MrAlsachti]

The studies about the ban are either inconclusive (due to the short period of time and the lack of data,) or show a decrease in gun violence [source: Wikipedia]. I suppose that the government study you cite came to the same conclusions (tentative evidence showing a decrease in gun violence but not enough data to be sure of the results.) Hardly an argument against renewing the ban. On the contrary, it is an argument to (1) renew the ban in order to have more data, (2) enact a stricter ban to have a more significant reduction in gun violence. Moreover even a non-significant reduction in crimes is a strong argument to renew the ban. Saving even a few lives is far more important than letting civilians owning a type of weapons that they have no use for.

[@jw5163]

@@vashmatrix5769 facts - this video is only persuasive to those uneducated on this topic

[@jojje3000-1]

In Sweden we have escalating gun violence despite very strict gun owner laws and regulation. I don’t think bureaucracy will be able to curb illegal gun use.

[@hobbso8508]

I'm not sure you understand the scale of the US gun violence problem.

[@jojje3000-1]

@@hobbso8508 Probably not, still it doesn’t work on a small scale.

[@hobbso8508]

@@jojje3000-1 For perspective, last year Sweden had 62 fatal shootings with a population of just over 10 million. The US had about 20,000 fatal shootings with a population of 332 million. The US shooting rate is 10 times higher than Sweden. So yes, Sweden works. 62 shootings in a year across 10 million people really isn't that many, given individual cities in the US exceed that number without breaking a sweat. Jacksonville in Florida near me regularly sees over 100 shootings per year. You consider that 62 a national crisis, while in the US it's just a Tuesday.

[@jojje3000-1]

No 62 is not right, that is rhe polished figure. And it is up from 1 to 2.

[@hobbso8508]

@@jojje3000-1 So how many shooting fatalities did Sweden have last year?

[@GodfreyIula-hk7nm]

I just forgot, the Supreme Court has stated that the 2nd amendment is an individual right in the DC vs Heller.

[@Geisti]

Reasonable Force or "Verhältnissmässigkeit" in german, was a big part of my swiss army training. The same in any self defence courses I ever participated in in Switzerland. They really want to make sure you understand what goes and what not.

[@helfgott1]

agree

[@RustyDust101]

Same here in Germany. Verhältnissmäßige Gewalt is the topic here. You don't use any more force than absolutely necessary.

[@crowguy506]

For Germany and probably for most western countries the states monopol of force is a major principle of democracy. Self defense in reason is possible, self justice isn’t, at least without becoming a criminal yourself.

[@Robynhoodlum]

I wish we could teach that to American Police. They are given almost no training on how to deescalate a situation and are taught to shoot first and ask questions later.

[@mobilusinmobili8321]

Europeans get beheadex on their own soil in the name of multiculturalism.

[@OccultNoir]

While I love Germany as an American, my ancestors were disarmed black slaves. They were worked often to death by the American government. The jews in Germany were disarmed and carted off to death camps. The Chinese were subjected to horrific genocide during the great leap forward as well as Cambodians under Pol Pot, and North Koreans under the Un dynasty. Overall the government kills so many more than criminal shootings ever will and ever can.

[@user-fx5vk8pi2c]

While this was a very professional presentation, I get the impression that the Black Forrest people are funded by Soros or some other similar group. They cherry picked statistics from around the world to make their case that America is backwards regarding firearms. No counterpoint to their argument. Virtually every thing she said is easily swatted away as I’m sure the comment section will do. I hope no one takes her seriously. My fear is that they will show this propaganda in schools or PBS or similar venues and the sheep will believe it. Long live the Constitution as written

[@seancastle5971]

If there were so many gun control laws during the founding era then why are the gun grabbers having such a hard time coming up with examples to meet the standard clarified by the Supreme Court in New York rifle and pistol association vs Bruin?

[@johnwarr7552]

To be honest it appears to an outsider that US gun laws are primarily designed to ensure steady gun sales. That and nothing more, whatever the cost.

[@EvanDizasterous]

They do find examples, but they're all laced with racism. Which is hilariously ironic given how the left is supposed to be vehemently anti-racism.

[@slimyelow]

The Nuge: "An armed society is a polite society". That is the quintessential reason I am so safe here in Switzerland.

[@JohnnyJackson746]

It sounds ridiculous.

[@JDpewpew]

@@JohnnyJackson746 You are delusional.

[@JohnnyJackson746]

@@JDpewpew people just love weapons. Why can't folks just live in peace?

[@JDpewpew]

@@JohnnyJackson746 Why not both? I have guns, many people do. I've never killed anyone. Sounds peaceful to me. Statistically, you have never seen someone get shot right in front of you? Sounds peaceful to me. Get off the news sites that fear monger you and live outside in the real world, and you'll see the majority of the world is a nice place, and some people you like and shake hands with on a daily basis, may have a gun under their shirt and you're still doing fine. Guns aren't an issue.

[@noahsykes8833]

@@JohnnyJackson746the world isn’t peaceful never was u live in a fantasy if you think it’s the case

[@codex4048]

I keep getting surprised about the quality of the video each week. The amount of work to collect and process the data, figure out how to put it in video format, recording and editing is a lot to do in such a short timespan. Great job.

[@TypeAshton]

Thank you so much. I'm glad you enjoyed the video!

[@apm9151]

@@TypeAshton is there any historical record of someone’s firearms being confiscated because of the Second Amendment? Because they weren’t in a militia? And why are you cherry picking Alexander Hamilton? He also believed that George Washington should become king?? Do you agree with that?? The founding fathers vigorously disagreed on many things… Stop the revisionist history nonsense

[@johnweatherby8718]

Well except the whole Heller case was ignored. That is a pretty big omission in her argument especially when it comes to the whole militia part of 2A.

[@martinbaumgardner4432]

I mean at least half of what she said was a half truth an opinion or out of context. But it sounded really good if you don't care about truth.

[@corrysmith]

The 2nd Amendment is the only gun law that protects the people from a tyrannical government and seeing as how tyrannical governments have historically and still do kill millions of their own people I'll keep my gun rights.

[@j.l.384]

The 2nd Amendment does not say the right of the militia shall not be infringed. It says, the right of the "people" to bear arms shall not be infringed.

[@Londronable]

From a non-American viewpoint the weird thing is honestly more about why anyone would care what a bunch of slave owners in the 18th century thought is seen as important.

[@j.l.384]

@@Londronable Easy, because the idea that was written down in the Bill of Rights is about how not to be suppressed as slaves and the limitations of what governments must have to have a truly free society for the citizenry. When you go to less developed countries, that's where you find slavery to be more rampant.

[@j.gwentworth974]

@@Londronable easy why do we care about what our government says if they at one point allowed slavery, if a fugitive slave was caught they should’ve been returned to the “owner”, when blacks weren’t slaves we went through a period of being treated like shit, i.e having water hoses and dogs turned on us by the government.

[@1VaDude]

What people fail to understand is that the "militia" is predicated upon private citizens owning firearms - not the other way around. It's kind of nuanced - and the issue is often too polarized to have a rational discussion.

[@j.l.384]

@@1VaDude I agree with you, it's just people do not realize the significance of the comma right after the word militia and the fact that it is a different statement within the sentence.

[@juntus89]

Where do you find the very many clips you use in this video? I am able download some KZbin videos using 4K downloader, but not all videos. What software do you use? This would be such a great help for me, as I want to create a channel like yours. Thank you

[@jkwong94401]

Here's a problem for you to consider. There are hundreds of laws that restrict guns. Yet the US want to have more laws for control. Shouldn't we first look to see if these laws are being enforced?

[@ratofvengence]

Or, look at nations doing it properly.

[@andrewskinner8560]

The problem is the 2nd Amendment voids any unconstitutional or any possible restriction on guns so anyone can plead the 2nd and get their guns back.

[@thatonegamer9547]

@@ratofvengenceSo the literally 20,000+ gun laws across the US isn't enough?

[@ratofvengence]

@thatonegamer9547 So over 20,000 gun laws, and it's still legal to sell guns to strangers with ZERO checks of ANY sort in most states... it isn't the number of laws, it's the will and intelligence to do them properly. Like I said, learn from nations that have done so.

[@thatonegamer9547]

@@ratofvengence zero checks is false. It’s a felony that carries a mandatory sentence of 10 years in federal prison. This is a common misconception in the anti gun crowd.

[@helfgott1]

Dear Dr Ashton dear Jonathon I am a 63 german so an old guy.I was drafted to the german military in 1980.That was the first time i was holding a gun, something to kill.Knowing what a gun can do I will never ever touch a gun in private life.NEVER. Acually it gave me a very dangerous feeling.....I hate guns

[@TypeAshton]

To be honest, there was a time when I considered it - I had recently gotten my first "big girl" job and moved into a rental house in a small town on my own in the US. The first month I was there, someone broke into my home while I slept upstairs. I heart a loud BANG as he forced open the door to my sunroom / wintergarden.... Thankfully, I had installed a "fake" alarm system on the door from my wintergarden to the living room (it didn't actually 'alert' a security company or the police, but made a loud noise when the two magnets became disconnected from one another). That ended up being enough to scare the guy away but I saw him trying to force open the door to the living room as I stood on the stairs. It was terrifying..... BUT, it turns out I have zero sense of aim. (My dad took me shooting on our farm and as he puts it.... I can't hit the broad side of a barn). So I got a guard dog instead and she's been my faithful dog on early morning runs and in our home ever since.

[@texasgirl9604]

Your family has a dog?

[@TypeAshton]

We have two. We both had dogs before we met that we both brought over from the US.

[@samfetter2968]

@@TypeAshton and they will keep you way more safe than a gun ever will. More important...they will keep your kids way more safe than a gun. Kids love toys as much as they love dogs. And guns look like toys to them. So...best joice you could make.

[@TypeAshton]

They are both pretty elderly now... Although they both "alert" us when someone comes by our house (since moving to the new house there's still a lot of construction going on around the property).... but 99% of the time Georgia's (Jonathan's dog) main profession is as a moving floor pillow for Jack to lay on.

[@Mehaara]

Excellent video. Minor caveat: when you say that in Germany, guns must be kept safe from family members that have mental health issues - not quite. They must be kept safe from EVERYBODY who lives and/or has access in/to the house. Not even my mom knows the combination of my Dad's gun safe.

[@TypeAshton]

Yes excellent point. I think my line of argument here was more-so to show how laws and regulations can stop more recent school shootings that have happened in the US. For example, the most recent event where a 6 year old in Virginia (who has had documented behavioral issues with a special IEP plan at school) brought his mother's legally owned firearm to school and shot his teacher - or the Sandy Hook shooting where Adam Lanza (who also suffered from significant mental health issues) also took his mother's legally owned firearm to end her life as well as the lives of so many other innocent victims at the school.

[@Mehaara]

@@TypeAshton Oh, absolutely. As I said, it was just a minor quibble of a single point I know quite a bit about. Your video is super well-researched (just like the one with the income comparison, which was really excellent) and very thorough. Big fan of your analyses. Thank you for all this work!

[@christiankastorf4836]

When I thought of taking the necessary course to get the permit for buying black powder (to be able to shoot with muzzleloaders) I talked my wife into joining me. That does not only mean that we can buy the double amount of powder each year and that we have a hobby that the two of us can enjoy, it means that both of us are in control of the safe (in a concealed place) in which we store that stuff. Otherwise the respective other person would not be allowed to know where the key is. Muzzleoaders (original antique guns and their replicas that are produced for blackpowder shooters and collectors) are mentioned in the German gun laws but do not fall under its harsh restrictions. You can buy them when you are 18 plus and you can hang them at the wall or put them into a collector's showcase, unloaded, of course. The same thing is true for early paper cartridge breechloaders that do not fire metal cartridges with their integral ignition cap in their base.

[@devendoffing7004]

Your mom not knowing the combination is actually a serious problem. If someone breaks into your house while she is the only one there, she would be completely defenseless. In that case, hope you said you love her last time you saw her

[@Mehaara]

@@devendoffing7004 Haha. When did Americans all get so scared? That is not a thing that happens here. At all. And we follow the law. Like, you know, citizens do.

[@samizdat113]

There has never been a requirement of militia service to access one's 2nd amendment rights. Never.

[@listohan]

But isn't the need for militia service is an expectation of the amendment itself? Important aspects of measures such as this are so easily ignored with impunity by those with other agendas.

[@samizdat113]

@@listohan Again, educate yourself on the difference between a prefatory and an operative clause.

[@flightlesschicken7769]

According to US law all male citizens between the ages of 18 and 45 are automatically part of the militia. Now I would argue it should be all persons, but the ERA failed so it’s just all male citizens

[@ervie60]

Small addition and this goes for I think most EU countries; there is a more or less social control within the shooting clubs. Members that just come in, fire the minimum amount of shots and get out without social interacting are watched suspiciously because they can hardly claim to be sporters practising their sport. Also members that are under mental stress like a horrible divorce are/should be talked to and if there are doubts advised to give their arms to the police for safe keeping until the stress situation is resolved. same for physical problems that take long time to heal in other words prevent doing shooting exercises. Almost forgot, one of the accpected reasons to get a firearm permit is to practise shooting as a sport.

[@Soordhin]

That might be true in some instances, but i haven’t actually seen any member of my gun club in years, and in my shooting association i can be a direct member without the need of being in a club at all. I do usually train in the Landesleistungszentrum (state competition center). But since it is quite big it is not very personal and chatting is often not done.

[@ervie60]

@@Soordhin Since I live in the Netherlands shooting here is much like most clubs in Germany: it is not just about the sport but also a social event like card clubs or kegelverein etc. This not typical for US shooting clubs I gather, there you go to "the range" to shoot and that is basically it. Funny fact, just came back home from the shootingclub although just to pick up a bag of .223 Lapua shells for reloading. So socialising instead of IPSC training as originally planned LOL bit chilly with the fans blowing you one's neck at the moment :)

[@CarlAlex2]

There is no such thing as no risk - sadly there will always be people who have mental breakdowns and kill themselves and/or their families - not having guns dosent seem to prevent that (eg. women tend to be more liklely to use poison while men are the ones more likel to use direct force). As a boyscout one of the other boys in the group had his father commit suicide - he was a soldier who shot himself at the shooting range on his job - how would you prevent that? Do we want to live in constant fear of what happened if we suddenly lost our mind or other what ifs ? How many freeedoms are we wiling to give up to protect the children or catch paedophiles, terrorists or organished criminals? And obviously any criminal who want a gun can get one - just in most cases in Europe they dont have a rational reason to want one.

[@davedavids57]

I think that's a Western Europe thing. Here in Austria, everything is very relaxed and most people just have guns for home defence (cat c guns are licence free and it's US style purchase for EU citizens). If people do want to fire their weapons they just go to a gun range, you typically don't even need to be a member. It's the same in Slovakia, Czechia, Slovenia, Poland, Croatia, Estonia, etc.

[@westfale520]

I feel very bad for the schoolchildren in many schools in the USA. They are locked up for security reasons and the area is cordoned off and security personnel.Parents can not even spontaneously without registration to the teachers etc. When neighbors got here years ago for the first time visit from the USA (a teacher couple) they were so enthusiastic and surprised that they could go to the schools so easily. To the staff room, without control without security barriers, etc. to talk and inform the German teachers. Also, a young family from the USA have been living in the neighboring house for 2 years now. For them it is still a refreshing fact that she can just let her eldest daughter go to primary school alone in the morning, but also just spontaneously on the school grounds or to her daughter's class against, if she had forgotten something, etc. The freedom to move without fear of weapons is more important than the freedom to carry or own a weapon. What is also not to be underestimated, that no person with large land holdings (forests or agricultural land) may forbid one to enter his land, and certainly not with weapons walled. Have read that so many people in the USA, victims of firearms, because they entered unauthorized private forests etc.

[@Groffili]

I just watched another video of YT where they dealt with the "furries are using litter boxes in schools" nonsense. It turned out... yes, there ARE indeed buckets of kitty litter in U.S. schoolrooms. . . . The horror! . . . They are used as emergency supplies in case of lockdowns. . . . No further comment...

[@Robynhoodlum]

American Gon culture feeds itself. We fear other people with guns, so we feel we need to beef up our own security.

[@jessicaely2521]

Schools have been locked in bigger cities since the beginning of time. Schools didn't want people who weren't allowed to have a child to get them. For example my friend was kidnapped by her father. The father didn't have custody right over hid daughter. She was gone for 4 weeks. This is one kind of things they want to avoid. It isn't a big deal. It's only a big deal for parents, late students, and delivery personnel. *Edit schools would still be locked even if guns didn't exist.

[@westfale520]

@@jessicaely2521 That's nonsense. The schools in some parts of the USA have been converted into small security bunkers because every year some crazy people shoot down teachers and students with their weapons. As far as child abduction of parents is concerned, Americans are no worse than Europeans. Why is something like this possible in e.g. Germany? Here the students are even allowed to leave the school grounds during the breaks without constantly kidnapping children. or go to school independently .

[@steemlenn8797]

@@jessicaely2521 So the father kidnapped her out of the class room instead of just on the street?

[@tosa2522]

My father is a hunter here in Germany and has several weapons at home. A double-barreled shotgun, a rifle with a scope and a small-caliber rifle. He also used to have a revolver, but he had to give it away because he needed another gun cabinet for handguns. He got the small-caliber rifle for it. Ammunition and weapons must be stored separately and locked. When he is traveling with the weapon, it must be in a weapon bag when not in use.

[@kevykevTPA]

How does having a firearm and ammo stored in separate locked containers help you when seconds might make the difference between life and death?

[@tosa2522]

@@kevykevTPA This may be hard for Americans to imagine, but there is no threat to my life here in Germany.

[@Thorium_Th]

@@kevykevTPA OP said their father is a hunter. There is no life and death situation with deer and boars in your own house.

[@mobilusinmobili8321]

Germans are subjects, not citizens.

[@reinhard8053]

@@kevykevTPA The difference might be that a thief or a child might be able to open only one container and not be able to injure someone.

[@rehurekj]

26:45 dunno, but is this study just about US or about concealed carry and shall issue licence practice in general? cos in Czechia, you already mentioned in the vid, is practiced shall issue policy when it comes to guns including concealed carry, and concealed carry is the norm rather than exception( when tourists visit Czechia, where lets say around 5% of adult population has gun licence and is registered around 1 million guns, they don't really realise they are never too far from someone carrying gun in public and that they very likely unknowingly met or even talked to few armed ppl) and there doesn't seem to be any related increase in gun violence as the study suggests. PS I know its about guns and gun violence but isnt there any stats about situation when guns get tightly regulated or banned and while gun violence subsequently plummets other type of violence skyrockets in its place? like e.g. stabbing in UK, where is near impossible to get gun legally but rates of stabbing specially in London are comparatively really high, and following the gun control logic UK now in response regulates the sales of knifes and scissors( e.g. I bought a pair recently and had to have my age checked as if it was alcohol).

[@hobbso8508]

Czech Republic has a rather significant gun licensing test that requires knowledge of laws, firearms, ammunition and forst aid. They also require a practical exam with firearm inspection, field stripping, preparation, loading, shooting and handling of malfunctions procedures. Finally they have to pass a health evaluation, checking for amnesia, eyesight, hearing, balance and any known illnesses or disabilities. This is redone every 10 years. You will be banned from ownership if you got a DUI in the last 3 years, misused firearms in any way, or were recently released from prison. All firearms are also registered.

[@berndblume3335]

Let me offer a perspective as a foreigner. I live in Africa (Namibia). It is relatively easy to obtain licensed firearms. A standard license allows you to own: A handgun, a small caliber rifle, a large caliber rifle, and a shotgun. Other license types allow you to own more weapons and even fully automatic weapons. There is no restriction on caliber. Basically everyone owns guns. We just don't shoot each other randomly. Also we conceal carry per default, no extra licensing required.

[@enkeltrick4715]

I don't know about that dude... 2020 Namibia had 12 intentional homicides per 100k, while the US had just 7 per 100k... Germany had 1 per 100k.

[@berndblume3335]

@@enkeltrick4715 That is true, but some perspective is needed. Our homicide rate is steadily declining, currently at about -30% over the last 10 years. Also most murders are committed using bladed weapons like pangas, and "baby dumping" (which is a big problem here), is included in that statistic.

[@enkeltrick4715]

@@berndblume3335 In 2017, Namibia had a lower firearm homicide rate than the United States with 4.4 and 4.6 homicides per 100,000 people respectively. However, the United States had a much higher rate of gun ownership with 120.5 firearms per 100 residents compared to Namibia's 9.7 firearms per 100 residents. It's important to note that while the rates of firearm-related deaths and injuries differ between the two countries, the issue of gun violence is complex and influenced by many factors.

[@JBGAMBIT]

Stats can be manipulated to say what you want them say; having said that, the US has already heavily encroached on gun rights. The problems aren’t inanimate objects, the problems are largely the fault of governments and corporations that left communities full of people with no hope, who are under and miseducated and are left to survive in communities with no investment what so ever; all done on purpose as well. The US has spent 100’s of trillions on wars, secret projects and building empire, instead of investing in it’s own people, educating them, providing good mental and physical health care. Even worse, the government smuggles drug and guns into these communities; or make it legal to ‘drug’ communities. Money is exchange by politicians, the media and corporations for the privilege of killing destroying their own citizens. The Democrat movement is, and always has been geared towards disarming the AA. This goes back to the Democrat KKK and Jim Crow days. Same goes for drug laws and the war on drugs, which targeted AA’s. The government has also targeted white communities with drugs as well, .. Meth, opioids etc. go check out any YT videos on Kensington Pennsylvania. A gun has never jumped up by itself and killed someone. The “gun grab” is purely a power play. Make no mistake, they will never give up.

[@enkeltrick4715]

@@JBGAMBIT tldr... I let an AI summarize it: The US has limited gun rights and the government and corporations are responsible for communities lacking investment and resources, resulting in gun violence. The "gun grab" is viewed as a power play by the Democrat movement.

[@Raider_MXD]

Looking at things as an outsider that lived in the US for a while I'd say there are two main reasons why gun violence is more prevalent there: 1) Easy access to firearms both legally and illegally, the latter due to the very high number of guns in circulation with minimal safety standards 2) A society that is very inequal and provides less social security to poorer people than most developed countries do.

[@1ch0]

Exactly how I see it, too. A society that is very inequal and then they add easy access to weapons to it. Of it blows up. Duh..

[@redwolfexr]

Yes, easy access and no culture of responsibility and training to go alongside it like the Swiss and Israeli models. To the Swiss its a duty to own a gun and they are required to train each year.

[@annamc3947]

I would add drugs. A large part of gang violence in this country is due to the drug trade. We are not more unequal than countries in Latin America but our appetite for drugs fuels gun violence in both places.

[@kpusa1981uk]

There is primiting for guns you take a test and do training.

[@dthomas9230]

@@kpusa1981uk Sweden has quite a bit of training too.

[@romulus463]

According to the DOJ, less than 1% (Last time I checked, about 0.23%) of firearms that ends up in the hands of criminals, were bought at a gun show. A far better source of firearms for criminals is the ATF, the very agency that is supposed to stop criminals from getting guns. I read a story a few years back where the ATF had a CI sell over a hundred guns to a guy who turned around and sold them to street gangs, over the course of a year. Then bust the guy for trafficking guns, recovering only three. It's not the only time ATF ran such a sting operation either, it's common practice, even today. Then there's Operation Fast and Furious, when ATF trafficked over 2,000 guns to Mexican Drug Cartels, and more recently, provided, according to the Office of the Inspector General, provided tens of thousands of confiscated firearms and firearm parts to the black market out of their Disposal Branch Facility over a five year period.

[@Herr_Damit]

I am so surprised that I ended up subscribing to an "American in Germany" channel, but you now are more like the other infotainment channels I watch. Thumbs up, keep going.

[@PrimericanIdol]

Feli from Germany is another cute channel of a German in America.

[@ydela1961]

One more thing about the difference between Switzerland and the US. Well, two more things, but they point in the same direction. 1. Ask Swiss gun owners why they acquired a gun. The LAST answer they give is self-defense. Sport, collection, hunt come first, self-defense comes last if ever. In fact in all the interviews I saw, I never heard one invoking self-defense as a reason. Ask US gun owners and the FIRST and most common answer IS self-defense. 2. Look at the shape of targets in shooting ranges in Switzerland and the US. In Switzerland, the targets are the typical concentric circles. An abstract target, mostly used in sport shooting. In the US, they are shaped as humans silhouettes. When it comes to gun culture, Swiss like to shoot things, US like to shoot people. And that makes a big difference in the number of death by firearm.

[@CarlAlex2]

I think in most European places a person stating the need for gun for self defence against people would be suspected of being mentally unwell. The closest thing would be on Svalbard where the caretakers at the kindergarden have to carry high power rifles to prevent the polar bears from eating the kids. Protection agaisnt dagerous wildlife.

[@davedavids57]

I think your forgetting the massive rush for guns in 2015 during the Refugee crisis (it was very silly as refugees are just normal people) but at the time 100,000 of guns were sold here in Austria specifically for self defence. In fact the guns you don't need a licence for (like shotguns) sold out completely. There are loads of newspaper articles just google austrians rush to buy guns. In fact the number one reason people own guns in Austria is believed to be self defence (for shot guns/bolt action rifles you don't need a licence so exact reasons are hard to discover though).

[@cathoderay305]

How many of those deaths were justifiable homicide? How many were police shootings? How many were gang violence? How many were "mass shootings" of innocent people? For that matter, comparing the US to other countries frequently ignores factors such as culture (citizens versus subjects), classism (only the wealthy can afford to own firearms), submission to authority, individual autonomy and liberty versus obedience, violence and crime statistics, etc. As to regulation in the early United States, the Constitution regulates the Federal Government not the individual states. Now consider that Title 10 defines two types of militia, the organized and unorganized militia. The organized militia covers the National Guard and the several State Militias, while the unorganized militia is composed off all able-bodied men within a given age range. It's clear that you are unaware of the government's own definition of what constitutes a militia.

[@frankbarenbach6044]

You have more children killed in mass shootings and homicides than killed cops. How many of these children died due to justified self-defense?

[@cathoderay305]

@@frankbarenbach6044 That is the question. It can be answered if the original sources of information are indicated. Unfortunately, we have a whole other set of questions, like "how many children were killed by firearms because their family, friends, and acquaintances were engaged in illegal activity?" We do have any number of children murdered because their parents were involved in gangs or cartels. The point is that statistically, firearms are used defensively between 500,000 and 3 million times a year in the US by law-abiding citizens - according to the CDC funded Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey. Correcting for errors that might exist in this survey, we still see that firearms are used defensively an average of 1 million times a year in the United States.

[@klaus2t703]

German here. My brother has guns. It never occurred to me that I needed one. And that is the point. I dont need one. This is security for me, this is freedom for me and my family. I don't understand the US. Own experiences and statistics are ignored. Statistics from other countries too. And it seems they pride themselves on the fact that their schools need extra security to protect their own children. I, on the other hand, am quite proud that we don't need this security. My teenage children don´t need to worry to be shot alone at night on their walk home. This is not a phrase, this is reality. .. And yes, thank you for this extremely high quality content.

[@joshuathomas8529]

Understand this the United Kingdom is number 2 among devolped nations for violent crime. The United States is number 22 on the same chart. If you look at the United states thier were 1600 murders in California in 2019 they have every gun control law they can think of. In Idaho we had 38 the same year and we don't have to have a permit to carry guns in most places in public. California has 19X the population of Idaho but has 64X the murder rate. These numbers leave out Californias higher rate of rape and home invasion.

[@dthomas9230]

I'm an expat in Sweden and moved from Fort Lauderdale where kids my daughters age were slaughtered on 02/14/18. My daughters graduated with no shootings, and my 1st graduated university in Stockholm with no debt and a raise upon graduating. Since reagan implemented Justice Lewis Powell's fire sale of congress on K Street, violence was embraced as a political tool to never be cured and always leveraged for power as a deregulated media monopoly loves violencee for increased ratings. 77% of media is in 6 donors' hands, One is a GE a military contractor and the media monopoly at 42nd place on the >Press Freedom Index calls MSNBC a liberal channel that helped launch the fake Iraq war that begot a carrier landing photo-op and 2 SCOTUS seats, pro-lifers! For 5,000 US lives, 500,000 Iraqis, and 5 trillion dollars, for 2 pro-lifers. Have you heard of how stupid leaded paint and gas made Americans? Texas supreme court ruled a 68 IQ is normal for Texans and not a mental handicap in Texas.

[@tyranitarxd2819]

I'm sure the Jews in Germany felt safe without guns too

[@klaus2t703]

​@@tyranitarxd2819This was a few generations ago. Yes, we mustn't forget about that. We learn about it in school, we have many memorials and we visit them to remind us that this must never happen again. It's good that the Germans have learned from this and are now one of the safest countries, even for foreigners. There are currently several 100,000 Jews living in peace in Germany... with about 100 synagogues. And I'm proud of that. Other countries seem not to have learned since then. Started wars, comitted war crimes, refuse to remember their own black history. Almost every country has its black history - we cannot undo it. But we can learn from it and change our behavior.

[@tyranitarxd2819]

@@klaus2t703the status of "now" can always change. Humans will be humans. You trust too much

[@SFoX-On-Air]

The only way to stop a bad person with a gun is not to arm him in the first place.

[@davedavids57]

Are you sure that's the only way? In the UK the criminals seem to manage to arm themselves fine. Children are getting gunned down in their own homes in Liverpool (google it). Here in Austria we have plenty of licence free guns and half the shootings of Britain (an area that totally bans hand guns).

[@rehsa-zc6zq]

Nobody arms a bad person. They figure out ways to arm themselves. In order to disarm them, you'll have to imprison tens of millions of Americans. Talk abt cutting off your own nose to spite your face. Thing is, liberal extremists couldn't care less about making me and 100 million other gun owners collateral damage in their war on guns.

[@MatteoSettenvini]

I always thought: if I know an home owner might have a gun, I am also bringing a gun to a burglary. If I know, as a policeman, every suspect is potentially armed, I am going to shoot first. And so on...

[@MrScissor90]

Then it's a good thing you are not a cop. And if you are a whould-be burglar, then i would at least have the homefield advantage.

[@MatteoSettenvini]

@@MrScissor90 remind me who has the most cases of police brutality, the US or European countries...

[@MrScissor90]

@@MatteoSettenvini what do police beatings have anything to do with firearms? Besides, arent most european police forces unarmed? Are you are making a case to disarm the police in America?

[@davedavids57]

I live in Austria where you can have a gun for home defence. You don't even need a licence for a shotgun, just go to a gun shop and buy one. Our violent crime, burglary and murder rates are lower than germanys. So that just proves you wrong, especially as we are such similar countries.

[@JudyCZ]

See, I knew I was going to learn a lot about gun control in the US and Germany. What I was not expecting was to learn so much about gun control in my own country (the Czech Republic). I didn't realise we have so many guns among us, I just always assumed we're pretty average (in Europe at least) basing this though primarily on the fact that mass shootings are unheard of and when people shoot someone (most often) protecting their property or even when a police officer does it, it certainly makes the news. There have been some voices hoping to put the "right to own a gun" into our constitution, so far without success. I'm glad you put into consideration the fact that we've only been a free country for little over 30 years, I wouldn't even realise this is a factor but it makes perfect sense to include it. Also - very minor detail - most Czechs really dislike the newish name "Czechia" (even though it's been made official) so hearing the whole "Czech Republic" as a name in your video was great. ❤️

[@TypeAshton]

Okay so this is minor but I really worried about which of the names to use in this video because I didn't want to misname or misidentify someone. 😬 Are both still okay to use?

[@JudyCZ]

@@TypeAshton Definitely, both are okay. 🙂 The issue is that because our first president (after the revolution, Václav Havel) disliked the shortened name "Czechia" it wasn't made official once we separated from Slovakia. The Czechs and the world had gotten used to the long "the Czech Republic" and suddenly in 2016 the government decided to go through with the change to "Czechia" which is now used in the UN, the Google maps, the EU, the IOC etc. The problem is that because the change was made this late, most Czechs don't like it (myself included). It sounds strange, doesn't fit in my mouth, exactly. 🙂 So now there's this conflict between the people and the officials. There was particular uproar when the national hockey team made the change on their gear (we Czechs take ice hockey extremely seriously!), other than that it isn't really discussed anymore. To sum it up - both are perfectly okay, if you want to get some brownie points from the locals, use the long version, most of us prefer it. 🙂 I mostly appreciate that you even took this into consideration, especially with how much information you managed to put in the video.

[@DrataTheDrifter]

Ve skutečnosti v Česku byly 3 masové střelby v době nedávné. První případ, Petřvald, rok 2009, použitá zbraň držena nelegálně. Druhý případ, Uherský Brod, rok 2015, použité zbraně drženy legálně, následně došlo ke zpřísnění zákonů týkajících se držení zbraní. Třetí případ, střelba v ostravské Fakultní nemocnici, rok 2019, použitá zbran držena nelegálně.

[@JudyCZ]

@@DrataTheDrifter No jo, máte pravdu, děkuju. :) Okay, I was wrong, mass shootings are not completely unheard of but three instances from the past 14 years still is quite rare. My memory apparently sucks, I definitely vividly remember those cases now that I've been reminded of them.

[@pavelmacek282]

@@TypeAshton it is true we were and somehow still are used to the full name of our country, however, the change came from very practical reasons as nobody says the Slovak Republic or the Federal Republic of Germany - everyone would use the one word equivalent. Also it is easier to to put it (among other things) on the collection for national sport representation in general, not only hockey. Besides that it is kind of funny to recall childhood memories as my father was/is very passionate enthusiast of firearms in any shape, age and form. Many of them were in the D category you mentioned - so front loaded historical stuff "US Civil War" edition. Unfortunately, some were not and at one point he reached the limit of his licence so my mother had to go through the whole process of tests, checks, shooting range etc. to get her own and get the new ones under her name... I really can´timagine how people in US can basically go to the supermarket and buy a gun without it being anywhere on record or being properly checked ahead. Also the willful ignorance of the gun regulations from the history provided by both NRA and some politians is simply laughable. But lobby has money and campaign won´t pay itself.

[@gekogals128]

These are just some points to consider. Most countries referenced as a comparison here passed gun control laws for public safety not to reduce gun crime. Gun control advocates in the US tend to miss that Canada never really had a gun violence problem in the first place. Gun violence in an otherwise peaceful country is a uniquely American problem that likely traces back to probation. Canada has regulated its firearms because 90 percent of all illegal firearms used in the commission of crimes are stolen.

[@rehsa-zc6zq]

Correct, even further, NONE of these countries mentioned have EVER experienced equivalent violent crime cultures similar to that of the US. We've always been the wild west, rebellion, and organized crime when compared to the usually stated 1st world developed nations.

[@slimyelow]

704 mass shootings in the US&A as of early November 2023. - TRMS

[@Orkimtor]

After watching the movie "The Fallout" recently I looked into school shootings in Germany and the USA and was shocked how many there actually are in the US. It makes you really understand why parents buy bulletproof backpacks when there are school shootings more often than once a month. I find it mind-boggling that even that doesn't lead to stricter gun laws.

[@hartfischer5509]

The only reason we have higher levels of school shootings here in the US is because the Democrats prevent teachers and schools from protecting themselves, and instead proclaim schools to be gun free zones, id est safe hunting grounds for perverts and deranged people.

[@jessbishoff1981]

More than one school shooting per month? Where does this statistic come from?

[@Orkimtor]

@@jessbishoff1981 I found it on a few sources: "There were 51 school shootings in 2022 that resulted in injuries or deaths, the most in a single year since Education Week began tracking such incidents in 2018. Prior to 2022, the highest number of school shootings with injuries or deaths was last year when there were 35." (edweek) Also on Wikipedia is a list (I know wiki is not always 100% correct, but close enough most of the time) And well, when you look around on news sites you get a similar picture.

[@tommerphy1286]

@Orkimtor; schools are gun FREE ZONES the shooters are COWARDS.!!! If they had to face return fire they would pick a different target. Gun laws only make more targets for these COWARDS . You can be sure of one thing ... the first time someone shoots at them ; if they live they won't SHIT for a week

[@keonyang3332]

What is also shocking is the big population difference. The more the people the more the criminals.

[@ralfbauer9625]

Hello Ashton, happy Sunday! In my opinion, as long as there is the NRA with some much influence there will be no effective gun-control in the USA. I also think this has something to with the history of the USA and the mindest of a lot of people, saying that the right to own a gun is given from god and not the government. Interestingly in Switzerland there is also an extremly high number of gun-owners but extremly low gun-violence. So my conclusion is thatb there has to be a change in the mind of the american people to get a good gun-control. best regards Ralf

[@TypeAshton]

I think some day we will make a video on lobbying because it is so influential in the US and quite different from a power standpoint in other countries.... Not to say that private industry doesn't have influence elsewhere... But the lobbying machine is HUGE in the States and there are very little regulations on how lobbyists and politicians can interact.

[@BS-xs7jb]

@@TypeAshton please do! I think this is an important piece of the puzzle and personally I know very little about it despite being quite familiar with US issues overall.

[@listohan]

@The Black Forest Family Politicians are hostage to the perceived need to raise an obscene amount of money to be in the race. If the problems in the US at so many levels are not obvious to the inmates, they become apparent as soon as they leave its shores. Is there any glimmer of hope? If any lobby group is more powerful than elected lawmakers, you are in real trouble and the deaths of tens of thousands mean little despite the fine words and floral tributes.

[@TypeAshton]

Excellent point about the link between lobbying and fundraising for political campaigns... there was a stat on an explained series I watched once on Netflix. I can't remember it exactly... but I think they quoted something like one American politician running for president spends more on campaigning in a single week than Angela Merkle spent in her ENTIRE campaign.

[@samfetter2968]

@@TypeAshton and they spend more time fundraising than working on legislation. Yes...absolutly do. Looking forward to that video. 🥰

[@starryk79]

Hi Ashton, i have been watching your videos here for the last months and they are constantly made so well with so much visible effort involved to provide facts and the right sources that i want to show my gratitude for that. Keep up your fantastic work. Videos like these should be on public television.

[@TypeAshton]

Ah wow thank you so, so much much for the kind words and for the Super Thanks! Sincerely appreciated. ❤️

[@corrysmith]

The 2nd Amendment is the only gun law that protects the people from a tyrannical government and seeing as how tyrannical governments have historically and still do kill millions of their own people I'll keep my gun rights.

[@commonsense5131]

So, which gun stops mass shooting and murders? I hope you do know that criminals are the ones that don't follow gun law. So the only people who would be forced give up their guns and gun rights are law abiding citizens. The criminals would be left with all the guns to wreak havoc

[@starryk79]

If there are less guns available, especially less heavy military type guns produced to kill as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time then there are less people who get shot even by criminals. Also the guys who storm into schools and malls are often law abiding citizens before something in their heads clicks the wrong way. So less guns equals less people killed with guns. This is a fact. I know you probably don't like comparrisons but for the sake of the argument in Germany the police doesn't have to expect in a simple traffic control that the driver has a gun in his/her car as this is much more unlikely than in the US. Yeah even Criminals are less likely to have a gun when there are less available.

[@tommerphy1286]

@Ashton: in case you got magnesia , the USA is not a follower we cut out own water! (Google it) as for the country's you point out. First they have no military. Why ? Our military protect s them . Semi auto rifle the combat vets you mentioned would ask what's your major malfunction? Because an assault weapon can be fired semi or full auto .why you ask, in combat overwhelming force is how one returns to the base.

[@montyollie]

“Mental illness” is an interesting concept. Kinda like “physical illness” … you could be physically sick one day, and better the next. So does someone have to be chronically mentally ill to fall into that category? So what about people whose mental illness is something like an eating disorder… they don’t pass a background check, but someone whose spouse has just left them and they just lost their job has no history of “chronic mental illness” so they do pass? The US is such a strange place.

[@hayksayadyan8339]

The fundamental difficulty of comparing US to any other country is rooted in the omnipresence of violent organised criminality across the US on a scale that no country such as NZ, CA or CH could ever dream of. The Crack epidemic of the 1990s was merely the tip of the iceberg. Today, the variety of violent organised criminal gangs (which count somewhere close to 1.5 million people, though I suspect that figure to be a gross undervalue) in the US spans all kinds of ethnicities and backgrounds - you have Mexican cartels and gangs, then you have Colombian Cartels and gangs, MS-13 and other affiliates from El Salvador, White Power / Aryan Brotherhood / Skinhead gangsters, Dixie Mafia, Hell's Angels / Biker gangs, Haitians, Cubans, Ebony / Afro gangsters, Albanians, Russians, the Irish Mob and a whole smattering of other violent lunatics with unlicensed/unregistered firearms, a short temper and complete disregard for the law and collateral damage. Should law-abiding American citizenry then just hope for the best and pray that Sheriff Waldo *may possibly* turn up to stop an armed home invasion? Whether the 2004 BoP study is dated is a separate question. What remains a cold hard fact is that those involved in gun-based violence *predominantly* are fundamentally disqualified from firearms possession *in the first place* - it is immaterial whether such an individual *procured* the gun through a means may be lawful in a particular state (but not in another). The underlying felony indictment - which most likely will be a RICO (and possibly a federal) indictment - will be predicated on a *possession* of an unlicensed firearm coupled with the commission of an associated felony such as extortion, robbery or murder. Is it any wonder that in May 2022 Young Thug was arrested in Atlanta on gang-related charges, him being among the 28 people associated with YSL (Young Stoner Life Records) who were charged in a 56-count RICO indictment filed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis? I agree that the common denominator is "mental health", which applies to violent organised criminality just as much. But it is also the criminalisation of the drug trade that is fueling this violent criminality, which would lose steam at once if the so-called "War On Drugs" would come to an end. I also agree that there are quite a large number of vested interests involved in the entire equation and there's very little rational thought that comes to big-ticket issues such as these.

[@rehsa-zc6zq]

Exactly, we're far more like Mexico or Brazil than we are like anywhere in Europe, NZ, or Australia.

[@MrAlsachti]

Legal guns and illegal guns do not exist in isolation from each others. A legal gun is an illegal gun in waiting. Stricter rules for legal guns make it more difficult to acquire illegally a gun.

[@jatollar]

Five minutes in I have some criticism: The second amendment is part of the Bill of Rights which is composed of ten amendments that enumerate some of the rights of the PEOPLE. Opponents often ignore "the right of the people to keep and bear arms," part of the amendment and "shall not be infringed." The definition of the militia at the time was every able bodied male, so perhaps using a very narrow interpretation, I supposed we could ban women from having arms, but the often forgotten 9th amendment reminds us that our rights are not limited to those listed in the constitution and our tradition definitely shows that women were and should be armed. In this context, the word "regulated" back then meant the militia should be well equipped, trained and in good order. Even if we grant the use of the modern definition, regulate definitely doesn't mean "ban." Our founders tried to prevent our standing military because they had just rebelled and defeated one with a militia that wasn't under control of the King. American's have been individually armed since the founding. Litterally every house had military arms long before and long after the amendments were ratified in 1791. Our unbroken 250+ years of private ownership of arms is at odds with the "founders who support gun control hypothesis."

[@RustyDust101]

As someone who has two friends who are in a Schützenverein in Germany, I'd like to add that carry, either open or concealed, is an insanely difficult license to obtain. Only police, very exposed persons under regular threat (such as certain VIPs, attorneys/Staatsanwälte, etc), and security personnel of either extremely high value transport security companies, or body guards can obtain these open or concealed public carry licenses. Any other person MUST always carry their firearms unloaded, with ammo in a separately locked container or special carry case. That case has to be kept locked until reaching their shooting destination which is either a hunting blind or your shooting club's range. The ammo has to be stored also in a second lockable compartment, also locked during transport. No exceptions. Cleaning and maintaining of guns has to happen at home or at the shooting club under strict control that no other person has access to the guns during that time. If ANYBODY, licensed gun owner or illegal owner, is caught with a loaded gun in public, not even using it in public, just carrying it, without that incredibly difficult to obtain carry license, then you can believe that the law comes down on them like a ton of bricks. IF you commit ANY crime while carrying any kind of gun, loaded or unloaded, but not stored in a safety container, your crime instantly gets upgraded with a charge of at LEAST attempted manslaughter. Any shots fired immediately upgrade that to at least attempted murder, not manslaughter. THAT'S how strict the laws are here on carry, open or concealed. Potential criminals dumb enough to carry a gun everywhere soon will get caught on regular checks during even minor misdemeanors and find themselves behind bars, just for carrying the gun. Also, their apartments or houses will then be immediately searched, and ANY guns confiscated immediately. Simply on the basis that anyone caught with an illegal gun has instantly lost ANY rights to EVER bear any firearm again. Period. No exceptions. Any other controlled or stolen substances immediately increase the threat threshold of any other crimes they may have committed. As such, even most criminals here aren't dumb enough to carry a firearm in public, UNLESS they are actively planning a crime that requires such an (mostly) illegal firearm. Which increases the safety aspect for most people tremendously.

[@TypeAshton]

These laws seem so sensible. The counter-argument from so many Americans goes back to illegal firearms and crime, but then they are completely unwilling to see the effectiveness of regulations such as this in deterring such a situation.

[@davedavids57]

@@TypeAshton Here in Austria most guns (cat c non semi automatic) don't require a licence. You can just walk into a gun shop with an EU ID (and proof of address in Austria) buy the gun, they do a background check and you pick it up three days later. Similar to many US states. No licence whatsoever. They are registered but the police don't check up at all. The murder rate in Austria is quite a bit lower than Germany. So perhaps it isn't about the guns?

[@RustyDust101]

@@TypeAshton That's exactly what I fear will happen. I have another aquaintance from the States who is an avid defender of the NRA's interpretation of what the 2nd Ammendment says. When I asked him what the 2nd Ammendment states it was the standard "The right to own and bear arms shall not be infringed." Then I, as a German, had to explain to him that misquoting the 2nd Ammendment is simply wrong. It is like saying "You are a brainless idiot" would be misquoting my original statement "I would never say that you are a brainless idiot." It turns the original meaning of the 2nd Ammendment on its head. Unfortunately he was adamant in his erronous ignorant arrogance that only what he stated is in the 2nd Ammendment. Even when I asked him to follow the link to the original text on the Wikipedia page he denied that was the intent, and claimed that a supreme court ruling had shifted the meaning to what the NRA states. Again, I had to cite him the original ruling's texts which included ONLY that a LEGALLY owned gun, under then state legislation laws of registration, was encompassed in that ruling. So it went back and forth a few times, and each time when he was confronted with the reality that all of his arguments were just repeated errors from the NRA propaganda to further their agenda, he got more and more angry at me. What get's me most however is, that the USA doesn't see the enormous loophole in the 2nd Ammendment. Come on guys, isn't it easy? It says the right to own and bear arms. OK, we all know its not ONLY that part of the 2nd Ammendment but that's beside the point. Simply make owning ammunition illegal. Objective complete. Let all the gun yahoos own all the guns they want. Only allow shooting ranges and cops exceptions. Shooting ranges have to keep exquisite ledgers of each and every round fired, and they only get to buy more ammo when they return the spent casings. When they can't legally own ammo anymore to their heart's content, and ownership of ammunition becomes a federal crime along the lines of murder 3rd degree, the problem gets cut down very rapidly. Sure, some of them still own a lot of ammo. But they can't own it legally anymore. They have to register each and every single shot with local police forces. Yeah, yeah, I know, it's an utterly lawyer move to pull, but come on, when it's THIS bad what is worse? Pulling a rule's lawyer move, or continuing on with more mass shootings each and every day? Especially when the USA already has more registered mass shootings in 2023 (ie more than three persons involved in a shooting with at least one or more dead or injured) than there are days in the year. So anyone caught in public with a loaded gun is in for truck-load of trouble.

[@rajashashankgutta4334]

@@TypeAshton if prohibition didn't work, if war on drugs didn't work, what makes you think that gun control will work?

[@samielkhayri9272]

Here, in London, Ontario, shootings are extremely rare and, when they do occur, they are headline news. Back in 2013, I attended a 2-day seminar at Carnegie Mellon university in Pittsburgh. On the first day, the instructor advised us that it was not safe to be out past 10 pm. This concept was so alien to me, especially that Carnegie Mellon is located in a pretty swanky part of town.

[@Anon54387]

Pittsburgh (along with Baltimore and Philadelphia) have soft on crime DAs who let very violent people run free. This is true in my state out here on the west coast as well. Nearly every murder ends with the reporter saying and the suspect has a long history of violent crime. We don't need to get guns off the street; we need to get violent people off the street. The governor of New Mexico has just tried to outlaw carry of guns in here state unilaterally, not even bothering with the legislature, while admitting that criminals will carry guns despite her order. She has been roundly criticized even by many Democrats. She has also lost in court.

[@samielkhayri9272]

@@Anon54387 There are violent people in every country on earth. Also, there are strict gun control laws in every country in the world, except the US. The incidence of gun crime is proportional to the number of guns on the street, not the number of violent people. Look at any chart on gun crime. The US is simply off the charts. This insanity only happens in the US and the only difference between the US and every other country in the world is guns.

[@hobbso8508]

@@Anon54387 Doesn't work. The US tried the "tough on crime" approach. It failed.

[@hobbso8508]

@@samielkhayri9272 Nonsense. Switzerland has plenty of guns, far less gun crime.

[@samielkhayri9272]

@@hobbso8508 Well then, the only other thing America has that no other country has is Americans. The problem is not just guns; it's Americans with guns.

[@romulus463]

Vermont is the first State with permit-less carry, since 1791, they had never passed a prohibition on carrying a gun. For many years, Constitutional Carry had been called Vermont Carry, until it was called Constitutional Carry.

[@rehsa-zc6zq]

And it usually sits at the top of the safest states in the country. Compares favorable with Europe. It's about culture, not tools.

[@peterf1]

@@rehsa-zc6zq Selecting the second lowest populated state in the nation to extrapolate a conclusion, is the textbook definition of cherry picking. The USA owns the highest homicide rate of any developed nation. It 'leads' by a huge margin. A vast majority of the homicides are committed with firearms. The US leads the mass murder list by an even larger margin and nearly all of them are committed by firearms. Guns are also now the leading cause of death for American children. How sick is that? Denying that the US has a gun problem, like a deluded alcoholic, is the essence of the US gun problem.

[@1911GreaterThanALL]

If permitless carry grinds your gears you should research the effect of the Bruen decision and likely legal precedent regarding the NFA of 1934 and further amendments.

[@udomann9271]

Again, a brilliant report on the current situation and the background of that subject, thank you, Ashton. By the way: The difference between the USA and the rest of the world is: Americans feel safer owning and /or carrying a gun, the rest feel safer without a gun around them or in the own hands. As a ex-military guy, I know that, carrying a gun makes me not feel safer, knowing, that everyone around me is also carrying a gun. I am afraind, no one will or can change the situation inside USA.

[@LythaWausW]

May I ask, if you do not feel safer, why you carry it? I'm an American in Germany and this week my mom (in America) asked if we have a rifle, because of the incursion of wolves into our area. I had to laugh at my husband's response to her, "We'll shoot our eyes out." *LOL*

[@mobilusinmobili8321]

Rest of the world? Like Africa, Middle East, and Central and South America?

[@johnh3095]

Think of this a bit like the wearing of seatbelts argument in cars, way back when ppl didn't understand that they would actually save your life in an accident, not make death more likely. Unfortunately, the last country standing (in the developed world) on the we will not wear seatbelts argument (meaning guns make us safer) is the USA! It would be hilarious if it weren't so sad! Get rid of the gun lobby, register your guns, get rid of allowing ppl to carry them willy nilly, make all gun ownership transactions/sales etc like a house transaction, i.e. registered and vetted by those who know what they are doing. I fear it will never happen unless the whole of the NRA's top brass accidental on purpose fall out with each other over not getting a Christmas card, a bad joke or someone farting during a meeting......and then, well, over react! Try explaining that one away on Fox news.......no, wait, thats too easy! The USA is so bonkers on this front, it's embarrassing!!

[@mobilusinmobili8321]

@@johnh3095 Europeans and Australians get imprisoned for what would be Free Speech here. You let people die for your white guilt, too.

[@udomann9271]

@@LythaWausW If I am allowed to carry a gun, everyone else would be also allowed to carry a gun. Knowing, that all the people around you (me) are with a loaded gun, makes me feel unsafe, you feel safer?

[@JS-wx8sv]

The bottom line the courts, including the Supreme Court have stated it is an individual right, the 2A is part of the Bill of Rights which when taken as a whole, is to limit the government and ensure individual rights. I am including the definition of militia "a military force that is raised from the civil population to supplement a regular army in an emergency." Note civil population will form a militia, so the right of the people shall not be infringed.

[@Anon54387]

It's obvious on the surface in that it is in the Bill of Rights. If one had to be in a militia to be able to have arms that'd make it a privilege. They'd not have put a privilege in the Bill of Rights. The funny thing is that she says comment away because algorithmically it helps this video get views, but the more views she gets means she just looks silly in front of more people. Maybe she in her PhD-edness can tell us whether that is ironic or not. My lifelong search for irony will be over.

[@hobbso8508]

The supplementary force is the selective service. All you are advocating for is only men aged 18-25 to have the right to guns. As has been explained multiple times, rights also have limitations. Requiring firearm registration is no different than registering to vote.

[@NKA23]

A factor that is often overlooked to me is the simple fact, that the more likely a law abiding citizen will own a gun, the more likely a criminal from the same city, region, state or country will own a gun. Let's take a look at criminals, who technically don't NEED a gun to do their "job". A weed dealer doesn't really need a gun to sale weed. He needs scales, he needs those little plastic bags, he needs weed. That's it. Same goes for thieves, fences, even really professional burglars don't need guns, because those won't show up when people are at home anyway. They could all do what they do, without having to own a gun, legally or illegaly obtained. Now if basically ANY costumer of a weed dealer can ripp them off at gunpoint, without them being able to call the police of course, any weed dealer will HAVE to own a gun. Same goes for fences, thieves and burglars and many other kinds of criminals. Over here in Germany most criminals do NOT own guns, because it's rather unlikely that they will ever need one for their "job" and carrying a gun while being caught for a crime, will automatically drastically increase one's prison time. Over here a first time offender getting caught for selling weed, will probably get away with a suspended sentence, juvenile first offenders who got caught selling weed will probably only get sentenced to do some community work...but if they're caught selling weed while having a gun on them, they WILL face prison time, with the sentence for illegaly owning a gun being probably much longer than the one for having been caught selling weed. Thus non-violent criminals over here will usually refrain from owning guns. It doesn't benefit them on their "job" and they will face far more severe sentences if they get caught. If anyone can have a gun (like it is in vast parts of the US), EVERY criminal will NEED a gun.

[@romulus463]

Less than 3% of all gun studies meets the basic minimum of scientific research principles according to Bloomberg and the Cato Institute. And those 3% are never cited by anyone, but the most problematic studies, that violates every scientific measure, behavior and principle are always cited by this group or that as the bias is baked into it.

[@keonyang3332]

Funny she didn't heart this or really acknowledged this, strange.

[@DarkDodger]

Thank you for another well-researched video! This is why I enjoy your channel, and why it is the only US/DE expat/comparison channel I subscribe to instead of having watched a few videos. I've argued with Americans over gun control several times over the years, and I was always quite confused as to why they seemed to completely disregard the, in my opinion, most important part of the 2nd amendment that they quoted so much. Should I find myself in another debate like that, I will recommend them this video.

[@TypeAshton]

Thank you so much. I have often felt that there is little nuance to the public discussion of guns in the states. Although most Americans do believe in sensible gun control, the narrative we see in media tends to be either the camp of "the government is coming for your guns! defend your freedom!" or.... "guns go bang and are bad". There is a middle ground to be had - but being in the middle doesn't get you campaign funds.

[@uliwehner]

@@TypeAshton that is the biggest issue with videos like this one being effective. the people who are NRA members or bumper sticker carrying "constitutional carry" fans do not have the attention span to watch a 46 minute video in the first place. it is like me trying to watch Fox news.....

[@vashmatrix5769]

No, it wasn't well researched, or she was just dishonest, take your pick. Much of the information presented in this vid is false.

[@vashmatrix5769]

@@TypeAshton Middle is past what we've gotten to & now people are starting to recognize the slippery slope is real. I just wish you weren't so dishonest in this.

[@vashmatrix5769]

@@uliwehner Lol. Nope. Also, our attention span seems better than those on left, by far. We don't even need to watch but for a few minutes to see her spreading things that are false. Now how about you go use your attention span to learn the truth & hear from advocates like Colion Noir & legally armed America.

[@RonTodd-gb1eo]

Every country has something they take for granted but is seen as weird by everybody else. In America that is the murder rate and school murders.

[@HH-hd7nd]

37:44 This argument also simply ignores the fact that many of these "illegal" guns where originally bought legally and then sold privately. So no, it is not an argument whatsoever.

[@davedavids57]

In Europe the vast majority of illegal firearms come from the Ex Yugoslavian wars. Soon it will be from the fallout from Ukraine.

[@NinjaSaitama]

There is a saying in Philippines "kung gusto mo maraming paraan, kung ayaw mo maraming dahilan" which means if you have the desire there are many ways but if you don't there are many excuses. Thats how i see Americans when they deal with their social problems.

[@DarkDodger]

That's an excellent proverb, which I will steal (the translation, no way I can pronounce that) and use in my everyday life, crediting the Philippines.

[@NinjaSaitama]

@@DarkDodger no need to credit the Philippines. My Filipino relative shared this saying to me which i cheekily replied "too bad they don't follow it".

[@arnodobler1096]

ZEN?

[@rehsa-zc6zq]

Yeah, well, your gun violence rate in the Phillipines is nearly as bad as ours. Culture dictates this problem more than laws and policy. Even if the US could've gotten ahead of this problem 100 yrs or so ago, it's too late now. Also, a lot of the illegal "ghost guns" we have on our inner city streets here in the US are manufactured in the Philippines.

[@Gsoda35]

what the world is trying to say is, it doesn't work well at all in the US.

[@Jcewazhere]

The one common argument she missed is "if you ban gun sales people will just 3d print them". That won't be a problem until we actually do start banning guns, but beyond that 'zip guns' have always been possible. The very first firearms were improvised. Additive manufacturing might make them easier, but that's a big 'might'. Some of the zip guns are easier to make than it is to set up and successfully print a firearm. Plus a lot of them don't look like firearms so they're easier to conceal and dispose of. Even beyond that banning firearms in logical ways would stop, or at least lessen, impulsive firearm homicides. Bad day at work? Which is easier: pulling the already made and loaded firearm out from under your pillow. Or waiting 20 hours while you print one that may or may not just blow up in your hand at the first shot?

[@duellinksantimeta7636]

Your last sentence really shows a big problem with guns in america. No one can make the argumant that having a lot of guns intimidates people for using them in the bad way. People don't function purely on logic. A lot of crime is happening because of emotions. It’s simple psychology. I would hate living in america. I got bullied in school and some people are just evil. If they had firearms, they would use them. It is mentally more demanding to use melee weapons. I know people still get killed with melee weapons, but how much people would die, if killing with a single trigger is that easy? America is too unsafe for me. I also think lot of cognitively incompetent people own guns… such a big danger.

[@gregstewart653]

The section in your video regarding the "Myth" About the Founding Fathers and gun control is just wrong. I'm including your quote about the 2nd amendment along with the correction by SCOTUS and since you mentioned records from the constitutional convention I'm including some quotes from that time frame also. The US has plenty of problems but private gun ownership by peaceful citizens is not one of them. The Black Forest Family: “Private gun ownership among certain people was assumed due to the circumstances of the time, but any discussion of a constitutional right to bear arms is firmly confined to the topic of a militia, not for fun, not for hunting, not for self-defense…" Supreme Court of the United Status: "The Second Amendment protects an individual right to own firearms for the purpose of self-defense, unrelated to militia or military activity.” (District of Columbia v. Heller (2008). Quotes from the framers, plus a couple of contemporary newspaper quotes: Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia: “No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.” - Proposed Virginia Constitution, 1776 “Laws that forbid the carrying of arms. . . disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. . . Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.” - Jefferson`s “Commonplace Book,” 1774-1776 Samuel Adams, of Massachusetts: “The said Constitution [shall] be never construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press, or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms.” - Massachusetts` U.S. Constitution ratification convention, 1788 James Madison, of Virginia: The Constitution preserves “the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation. . . (where) the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.” - The Federalist, No. 46 “Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American . . . . The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people.” - The Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788 “As the military forces which must occasionally be raised to defend our country, might pervert their power to the injury of their fellow citizens, the people are confirmed by the next article (of amendment) in their right to keep and bear their private arms.” - Federal Gazette, June 18, 1789 Noah Webster, of Pennsylvania: “Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretence, raised in the United States. A military force, at the command of Congress, can execute no laws, but such as the people perceive to be just and constitutional; for they will possess the power.” - An Examination of The Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution, Philadelphia, 1787 Alexander Hamilton, of New York: “[I]f circumstances should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude, that army can never be formidable to the liberties of the people while there is a large body of citizens, little if at all inferior to them in discipline and the use of arms, who stand ready to defend their rights and those of their fellow citizens.” - The Federalist, No. 29

[@constantineverros212]

Gun control is being able to hit your target

[@stuarthancock571]

A very important fact about the NZ gunman. He was Australian and became radicalised with his intense hate towards Islam whilst living in Australia. But because Australia already had very tight gun laws, he couldn't obtain a semi automatic in Australia to commit his attack on muslims. He had to go to NZ to commit his crime. if Australia had poor gun control laws, its likely a mosque in Sydney would've been targeted instead. A very clear example of how gun control saves lives.

[@chasemartin4450]

I personally think America has less of a "gun problem" and more of a "violence problem" with which guns happen to be the weapon of choice for most. One look at the horrible treatment of the poor (especially through the racist urban planning of the 20th Century and its effects to this day), tremendous inequality of opportunity, and criminalization of harmless acts reveals why our nation suffers so much more violence than elsewhere around the world, where social support systems exist to reduce the conditions which lead to crime.

[@ajjohnson3497]

The reason that the term “assault weapon” was used is due to the fact that “assault rifle” has a clear definition. “Assault rifles” have been banned since 1986, owning one requires tons of paperwork and money. “Assault weapon” can mean anything that the lawmakers want it to mean. This can be concerning when the lawmakers do not know much about what they are regulating When it comes to legal matters, semantics matters a great deal.

[@Leco070]

Almost every person who speaks against gun ownership have no idea, have never heard of the 1986 ban. That goes for many politicians as well. Thanks for mentioning that long forgotten and ignored FACT.

[@ajjohnson3497]

@@Leco070 People that view firearms as “evil” can’t be bothered to do just a little tiny bit of reading. I enjoy debating the issue and I’m used to explaining the semantics between “assault rifle” and “assault weapons”.

[@lphaetaamma291]

15:14 in Germany you have to proof need for a fire arm, if you want a "weapon certificate" (the licence to be allowed to own fire arms). This "need" can be for example sport shooting or hunting. You don't need both, but depeding on the purpose of your fire Arm either a hunting licence OR a membership of a shooting club

[@TypeAshton]

Ah interesting, this makes sense.

[@nurwegen]

There is also the possibility to apply for a "collector's licence " but as far as i know that is by far the most tedious and difficult one to get.

[@barbarossarotbart]

@@nurwegen I knew some one with a collector's licence (or I believe he had that because he was a medical doctor). As far as i remember his son told us that his licence limits the number of owned guns to three. But this was nearly thirty years ago.

[@davedavids57]

In Austria for category C guns (break action shotguns, lever rifles, bolt action rifles and revolver carbines) we have very similar laws to most US States we don't have licences for them. If you want one of those guns in Austria you just need to go to a gun shop show your ID/residency doc (you have to be over 18), they do a background check and you pick up the gun and ammo three days later. No licence required at all. Austria is the only place in Europe that doesn't have licencing for cat c guns. Plus our homicide rates are fair lower than Germany!!!

[@nurwegen]

@@davedavids57 And if you have a hunting license you can also skip the three days waiting period. Studied in Ferlach near Klagenfurt and I admit, I absolutely envy your gun laws.

[@kolerick]

don' forget one other point: because guns (legal or not) are so common ine the US, the police always act like they're about to be shot, hence the "quick draw" as soon as they have any inkling that the person they're dealing with MAY have a gun...

[@rehsa-zc6zq]

Yep, that's a problem, and that problem will not go away with gun control legislation. If anything, it will get much worse. Gun control legislation will put a big target on my back as a black male gun owner. I'll catch hell from both sides, criminal thugs I live around, AND law enforcement. It will make me feel much less safe. It will be a repeat of the war on drugs, except worse. We are nothing like that nice list of European countries, Japan and Australia. It's time gun control advocates face to totality of the situation and reconcile with reality. We are hardly a 1st world country. We're a large constitutional republic of numerous different nation states, with extreme differences in social structure, economics, population demographics, crime rates, culture, ethic makeups etc. There isn't a single other place in the developed western world like Mississippi, Alabama, South Central LA, Detroit, or the south side of Chicago. I could name 100 other places that would be completely shocking to the avg European from one of their utop8an 1st world countries. The entirety of western Europe is 1st world. That is NOT the case for the US.

[@Valfodr_jr]

A European citizen to another; "Isn't that mass shooting tragic and sad"? The other European; "Yeah, it's heartbreaking". A US Citizen to another; "Isn't that mass shooting tragic and sad"? The other US citizen; "Which one"?

[@user-bi3bv3xo1g]

I’ve just started the video, but I feel the need to say a few things. Many of the examples of early gun control given are not gun control is the context of restricting the ability to own guns. I will admit that some of them are restricting the ability to carry guns, but only in a limited context. Certainly I find it unlikely that there were any laws or even anyone conceiving of laws to not allow someone to carry a gun on their own property or take away the guns of people who have committed no crime. Also with the militia, yes it does seem to be the intention that the federal government would be in control and in that sense regulating it, but an important part of the sentiments of the time and of many earlier writers too is that it is much better for the freedom of a state when they have a citizen militia rather than a separate military force. Part of the distinction is that a citizen militia relies on the common people owning weapons, in fact the weapons they would be going to war with. A citizen militia is a large part of what protects against government overreach and tyranny. I’ve heard people say that we stand no chance against the US military because of jets and tanks and whatnot, but even supposing that to be true, do you think that say a military coup would want to have to fight against an armed populace? Even more, the idea that you can see in the federalist papers is that one of the benefits of a confederate republic is that we have organization on a state level. In the case of a coup of the federal government, there are still state governments who could act independently and armed citizens to serve as their militia to defend the people. Obviously we don’t want to have any kind of civil war, but something that the founding fathers understood very well is that governments like to expand their powers and eventually you get corruption and tyranny, and many parts of the constitution and bill of rights directly address this. Also something particular about the wording of the second amendment, it doesn’t say that guns are only allowed for participation in the militia, it says that because a militia is necessary, the right to keep and bear arms is necessary. The arguments of self defense are a kind of incidental part, where it is bad for law abiding citizens to be restricted in what they can use to defend themselves while a criminal is not. The right of self defense is sort of a separate issue, but while it isn’t written in the constitution, I’m pretty sure the life part of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness includes the right to defend your life when the government isn’t there to defend you from the aggressor

[@jw5163]

excellent comment. this video is full of misinformation unfortunately.

[@snafufubar]

People never look at why the 2nd was written and the times. America had no standing army, the distances and travel difficulties each town was expected to look after it's own defence so local militias were raised.

[@MrScissor90]

The federalist and anti federalist papers explain why even with a strong standing army, the 2nd amendment is imperitive. They just fought a deadly war against their tyranical govt. They knew that any govt can turn tyranical at any time and thst standing army could be used against the people just as it was in the revolutionary war. Therefore, we must always have a militia.

[@listohan]

Where was the threat coming from? It seems to have been the government. Yet the government was the one giving the right to bear arms! A smart person might say the autocorrect gratuitously corrected the intended "bare arms".

[@MrScissor90]

@@listohan correction, the second amendment and the bill of rights is not the goverment "granting" the people their rights, it is stating the people's natural rights and is expressly a document instructing the goverment on that fact and outlines what goverment is NOT allowed to do. There is a very distinct difference here.

[@rehsa-zc6zq]

Meanwhile, we still actually live in a COUNTRY with a large rural population, massive distances between towns, and largely useless law enforcement (at least in regard to protecting the citizentry). You foreigners are completely clueless of the full picture of America. We do not need a one size fit all gun policy on the national scale. That will not work here.

[@lizmagno1]

Alison, your well thoughtful research is amazing! I wish we could make all our legislators in the US see this. Unfortunately this will never happen . There seems to be some psychological need for some people to use guns to "get their man license back", which also includes some women like Lauren Bobert, as one characteristic of some Americans.

[@TypeAshton]

Both my husband and I grew up in homes where firearms were present - but we also grew up in homes where those firearms were in direct relation to our parents professions and a careful attention towards safety and restraint of use was always taught. My dad was a rural farmer and Jonathan's Step-Dad was the chief of police. Neither of us went to a shooting range as children or were ever taught to use a weapon. They were tools of the trade (like a blow torch for a welder) and were not something that was to be used unless you were an adult with a huge amount of training and need.

[@grandmak.]

@lizmagno her name is Ashton

[@lizmagno1]

@@grandmak. Very Sorry!

[@nunereclipsereborn]

@@TypeAshton So-called muh 'universal' background checks means universal jail time!!! Even in my home state of NY we already set up such arbitrary law and it hasn't shown little to no impact on violent crime, murder rates!!! FYI majority of gun shows have rules stating you're not allowed to conduct peer-to-peer private-partt transfers while on the premises!!!

[@mobilusinmobili8321]

Coming from the people who get sex changes? Lolol

[@blauesKopftuch]

Fun Fact: Open carrying most Leatherman multitools is illegal¹ in Germany, same for most snap-off knifes. Most models are considered an illegal "one-handed knife" because you can extend the blade with one hand and it auto-locks. To be legal your folding knife has to be in such a way that you either need two hands to extend the blade² or it may not auto-lock³ in the extended position. Fixed-blade knifes⁴ are fine on the other hand. German weapons law ... the problem is the actual implementation. Yes they can come and check your gunsafe, on average you can expect such an inspection once every ~85 years or so, they are severely understaffed. ¹ Exempt if you are performing a task, where using such a "weapon" is generally accepted e.g. fixing a bike. Carrying it "in case you need it" is not exempt. Construction worker on your way home? Have it securely⁵ stored or get in trouble. Supermarket employee cutting up boxes with a snap-off knife? 👍. Still having it in your pocket on your lunch break, while standing in line at the bakery? 👎👮‍♂. ² A "fingernail groove", like in most swiss army knifes, is generally considered not suitable for one-handed opening (thus fine). Famous exemption: "Victorinox Rescue Tool" is illegal to carry "just in case", even for off-duty voluntary firefighters. Yes, there was a court case, it was in his glovebox. ³ Manual locking e.g. french "Opinel" is fine. ⁴ Blade length < 12 cm, outside of "No Weapons Zone". Some call it the "boy scout exemption". ⁵ As far as i know: Backpack with closed zippers / closed toolbox. A lock is not neccessary, but inside the holster on your belt / glovebox in your car / pocket in your trousers is not sufficient.

[@granitfog]

Most Americans will say that "nation" and "country" are synonymous. However, others will recognize that "nation" refers to the unifying identity of the population. Having a common multicentury history, Europeans feel their national identity, in a way Americans do not. That identity encourages individuals to act in a way that is benefical for the other members of the group, of society. USA has always been about "building a new life for yourself," attention to the term "yourself," which puts more emphasis on the individual than to society. Now add the American phenomenon of redistricting. As Karl Rove opined in 2010, "He who controls redistricting, controls congress." He was instrumental in the Republican party's REDMAP initiative, a successful effort to win enough state legislative races so that the winning Republicans would redistrict their states so that it became easier for Republicans to win congressional districts for their state with less statewide votes, called gerrymandering. And so it is that a minority of Republicans can win a majority of House of Representative seats in key states. The problem with gerrymandering is that, since Republicans no longer have to compete with Democrats, they are forced to compete with other Republicans. This phenomenon encourages ever more extreme Republicans to compete and win. That explains the fact that more Republicans control more seats in the House of Representatives than the number of voters would explain and why they are becoming more extreme. The US Senate is also "gerrymandered" but by the designers of the US constitution. Regardless of the population of the state, every state will have two senators representing them. So rural Wyoming, with just over half a million people, has the same number of two senators as does mostly urban California with more than 7 times the population. These two phenomena, lack of national identity, and the design of congressional "mis-representation" of the populaiton, means US politics will be defined by the most extreme, the most wealthy (as money is speech which equals votes). Gun control is just one of many issues that fall victim to the above processes. And this explains why I am pessimistic about the advancement of any measure to improve social conditions in the USA (unless the extremely wealthy develop a social conscience - i.e. when hell freezes over.)

[@kibicz]

If you mention Czechia, you should also include folowing informations: - More licences to carry gun per capita than USA until 2010 -Guns (loaded and ready to use) are legal in schools (no wonder there has been no school shooting in Czechia -unlike e.g. Germany) - Even guns that are regarded as "machineguns" by US legislation are legal and widely available. -"carry for defence" is the most common kind of gun license (5 out of 6 gun owners have permisison to carry - 1/4 milion of 10 milion nation). After all Czech word for gun is cognate with defence "defensive tool". -Murder rate is still lower that that of Germany, Austria, Canada, NZ, UK, etc.. -And yes, you have the right to use deadly force in defence in any place. Just like in "stand your ground". It doesnt have "castle doctrine" though - well if you can defend everywhere, then home is not an exception.. Armed defence is even constitutional right.

[@davedavids57]

She also forgot to mention that we don't even have licences for most guns (cat c) here in Austria. If you're a EU national resident of Austria you can just walk into a gun shop and buy a gun with a simple background check and three day waiting period, no licences nothing.

[@kibicz]

@@davedavids57 I know, thats pretty neat for EU;)

[@ravenseye97]

So would you say "guns are the problem" or would mental health and other cultural issues within a society in general be the true cause to violence etc. Does a tool or object cause people to choose violence? I'm commenting because I appreciate how you highlight that the Czech republic has more guns than the other countries listed, but still maintains a lower violent crime rate.

[@kibicz]

@@ravenseye97 I dont see evidence that guns have role in motivation to violence. E.g. Poland had until recently very strict gun laws and carry was impossible (political decision turned sporting licences into carry licences overnight recently) but still lowed murder rate than Germany. Poland is very religious country. Czehia is polar oposite of Poland - highly atheistic country. So i dont think violent crime has much to do with mental health or culture. My question would be - Who does the violence? Who commits the most violent crimes in USA a if this group isnt the one missing in other - less violent - countries. Guns are just false flag target for those who dont dare to ask and answer this question.

[@ravenseye97]

@@kibicz So what factor do you think is to blame most for violence, if not a poor mental state or bad upbringing?

[@George-zv6yy]

Ashton that was terrific video. I live close to Newport News, Virginia where, about a month ago, a six-year-old shot and severely injured his first-grade teacher with a handgun he brought from home. Soon all our schools will be using metal detectors at the entrances. Imagine such a world. I feel we should be treating guns like automobiles here in the U.S. They should be registered when purchased, you would need an operator's license and you need to be insured. These would also require annual renewals.

[@machtmann2881]

All the high schools in my area of Northern Virginia already had metal detectors before you could go into the school 20 years ago. The most likely (and only) thing is that they install them in the elementary schools now..

[@ashleedeans4433]

Another noted concern in this cases is that the child had known behavioral issues prior to this incident. The fact that he was able to easily get his hands on a gun is astonishing.

[@vashmatrix5769]

Much in this vid is false. Ever notice that ZERO such events happen in schools that protect kids.... too bad the blue party keeps blocking all legislation that would even let them choose to use their own funding to protect kids.

[@TheMsdos25]

You don't need insurance nor a license to own a car or operate it on private land. You only need those to operate one on public roads. Likewise, your state of Virginia needs a license for CCW out in public

[@jakejardine4477]

A couple things to point out. 1. A "well-regulated militia" has been vastly understood by the gun-control lobby. The term "Militia" was used differently during the creation of the bill of rights than it is today. Militia today is vastly understood as something like the National Guard. But during the drafting of the bill of rights, the meaning was any physically able white male over 18. the term "Well regulated" is also misunderstood. During the draft of the bill of rights, that term was used to convey well-supplied, not government controlled. This was all released in the supreme court's decision "District of Columbia v. Heller" 2. A registration will inevitably lead to confiscation. Every country that has had "Mandatory buybacks" or confiscation had a mandatory gun registry. Look at Canada/Australia for example. The only thing stopping a government from seizing firearms are the citizens and the lack of knowledge of where they are. 3. The "Assault Weapons" ban of 1994 did not expire because it did not get reinstated. It expired because the sunset clause stated that there must be evidence to support the effectiveness of the ban. In 2004 the DOJ came out saying there was no evidence supporting the Assault Weapons ban having any effect on violent crime. Therefore it expired. 4. The term "Assault weapon" was adopted by the Gun-Control lobby to confuse the public about what was legal and what wasn't. The gun control lobby admitted it themselves. The term "Assault Weapon" is defined as a weapon with fully automatic or bust capabilities as well as semi-automatic. Neither of these is the case for civilian legal modern sporting rifles which only have a semiautomatic firing capability. There's much more to go over but I do not have the time to review and respond to everything in this video. I would like to thank you for doing your research but it seems as, like most gun control proponents, much of this video is filled with half-truths. I would encourage people to watch the other sides of these arguments by watching these videos in a video playlist by Colin Noir: kzbin.info/aero/PL30O4UPS4tjSbVPOCFMxAhHcM2BeQwddT More specifically the "Comedian Claims He Defeated Every Argument Against Gun Control Series"

[@TypeAshton]

To briefly address some of these.... 1. The federalist papers make it clear that a militia was in lieu-of a standing US army. And the courts decision in Columbia v. Heller was extremely divided 5-4, with the other four justices saying that there was a gross mis-interpretation of precedent. I specifically did not bring up the Supreme court for two reasons 1) They are elected by politicians for partisan purposes. 2) They can, and have reversed their decisions in the past changing their minds on how the law should be interpreted. 2. In both Canada and Australia you can own a gun, you just can't own a weapon capable of inflicting mass casualties within a very short period of time in the name of "hunting". If you need more than 30 rounds to shoot a deer you need more training not more firepower. 3. The DOJ's report did not say that at all.... not even close. The main conclusions say "The Ban’s Success in Reducing Criminal Use of the Banned Guns and Magazines Has Been Mixed " and "It is Premature to Make Definitive Assessments of the Ban’s Impact on Gun Crime". You are welcome to read their report here: www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/204431.pdf 4. You can't just make up definitions and claim it to be true. Assault weapon is defined in the dictionary as "any of various automatic or semiautomatic firearms" and by US state governments as: A semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and any one of the following: A pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon. A thumbhole stock. A folding or telescoping stock. A grenade launcher or flare launcher. A flash suppressor. A forward pistol grip. A semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds. A semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has an overall length of less than 30 inches. A semiautomatic pistol that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and any one of the following: A threaded barrel, capable of accepting a flash suppressor, forward handgrip, or silencer. (B) A second handgrip. A shroud that is attached to, or partially or completely encircles, the barrel that allows the bearer to fire the weapon without burning his or her hand, except a slide that encloses the barrel. The capacity to accept a detachable magazine at some location outside of the pistol grip. A semiautomatic pistol with a fixed magazine that has the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds. A semiautomatic shotgun that has both of the following: A folding or telescoping stock. A pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon, thumbhole stock, or vertical handgrip. A semiautomatic shotgun that has the ability to accept a detachable magazine. Any shotgun with a revolving cylinder. "Assault weapon" does not include any antique firearm. The following definitions shall apply under this section: "Magazine" shall mean any ammunition feeding device. "Capacity to accept more than 10 rounds" shall mean capable of accommodating more than 10 rounds, but shall not be construed to include a feeding device that has been permanently altered so that it cannot accommodate more than 10 rounds. "Antique firearm" means any firearm manufactured prior to January 1, 1899.

[@jakejardine4477]

@@TypeAshton 1. Exactly, militias were in lieu of a standing US army, due to the founder's mistrust of large government. So, I would say it wouldn't be that much of a stretch to say the Founding Fathers supported private firearm ownership. I find it hard to believe that the founding fathers, who had just fought off a tyrannical government, would like to restrict the rights of individuals to own firearms and place said firearms in the arms of the government. The Columbia v. Heller decision was extremely divided and I agree that supreme court decisions can be overturned. However, my main point in that was not the supreme court's decision but instead pointing out the incorrect interpretation of "militia" and "regulated" 2. You can own a gun, however, they are highly regulated, and for the purposes of hunting. I never said anything about hunting. Nor do many 2nd amendment advocates. The argument of "Hunting" is an argument used by gun-control advocates to make owning one of these firearms seem ridiculous. Both you and I know the true reason the second amendment was created was not for hunting, but the defense of a tyrannical government, foreign or domestic. Ar-15s were never meant to be used to hunt (although they can be), they were created to aid in the defense against a tyrannical government, the existence of which I think both sides of the political spectrum would believe possible. Besides, rifles in general kill less than 500 people every year. Which, is less than both “personal weapons” (Hands, feet, etc.) at 700 and “Sharp instruments” (knives) at 1500. You would think this mass killing machine would kill more people every year to deserve the title. 3. Well, mixed results are little to no evidence. There was nothing definitive in the report nor has there been anything definitive recently. If the assault weapons ban had an effect that effect would have been at least somewhat measurable. But when Ar-15s kill so few people every year it is hard to get an accurate measurement. 4. It's true, that definition may be outdated but the term the US government is using is one it made up in order to enforce a ban based on the same confusing, propaganda-based term the gun control lobby came up with in the 1980s. Just because a term has come into popular use doesn't make it correct, I think it's important to remember who redefined this term, the gun control lobby. In fact, Josh Sugarmann, a gun control advocacy group’s communications director, stated in a Violence Policy Center paper: “The weapons’ menacing looks, coupled with the public’s confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons - anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun - can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons.” It's impossible to convince me that the gun control lobby is honest. Not after all I’ve seen, their best bet is to rely on ignorance and misinformation to slip assault weapons bans into theme park bills as they have been doing for many years. I respect your opinion, you've put a lot of effort into this video and I respect your time and dedication. But when coming at this from an already biased perspective it's impossible to be unbiased.

[@jw5163]

@@jakejardine4477 you are doing the Lord's work

[@CosmicBlue2000]

Great video. Well done. Some more numbers: -there are estimated 1 billion guns and pistols worldwide. -850 million are for private use (so not army or police etcpp) -only 6% of them are registered (5,5 million) -in the US, there are 393,3 million guns -in the last 20 years, 200 million new guns were sold in the US -in dec 2022 1,4 million guns were sold in the US -78% of all US citizens own no gun at all -19% of all US citizens own 50% of those 393,3 million guns -and another 3% (only) of all US citizens own 50% those 393,3 million guns (these must be collectors, right? so rougly 10 million US citizens own 196 million guns) -all military worldwide have less than 200 million guns all together (so basically: all military worldwide (including US military) combined is outnumbered in guns by US american citizens) These numbers show the insanety of US americans loving guns. Others might say: it's out of control.

[@wenkaiyang1487]

It’s bizarre that Americans need a rifle to feel safe.

[@hfdcjiirjmcfi]

Who says that?

[@thekamotodragon]

nobody here thinks that, the gun doesn't "make you feel safe", and people aren't so afraid here that they need them. It's an "in case of emergencies" device that makes you feel more confident in the event of the emergency. It can also be used to obtain food and lots of other things. Why do foreigners always assign malice to something that is just being prepared?

[@hfdcjiirjmcfi]

你不太聪明啊

[@josephlandry8787]

Then we should disarm our police. They don’t need anything to be safe. Statistics don’t lie.

[@hobbso8508]

@@josephlandry8787 In a society where guns are not so prevalent the police don't regularly carry firearms.

[@capistev]

Excellent research, you did a good job on the video. However, there are a few weak points regarding the research. For example, the 'gun show loophole' wasn't explained well, it would be more accurate to call it something like the 'private sale loophole', which does exist in a lot of the more rural states (not in the big states), and the main complaint is that there are no background checks on those sales. But it is the GOVERNMENT who doesn't provide access to the private sellers to the background check system, making it impossible to perform a background check! Also, saying that the crime rate went up when certain laws were passed ignores the OTHER THINGS that were happening at the same time, for example, the law enforcement was being curtailed in a lot of places, notably in most of the high-crime big cities. For example, when the law enforcement was strengthened in New York City (years ago), the crime rate went way down. For that reason, it is difficult to compare the USA with other countries, I have noticed that the police in Europe have a lot more power than in the USA, so they are able to keep some of the crime down, but you didn't mention anything about law enforcement or the judicial system in your video, those things affect greatly 'gun crime'. Also, you didn't mention anything about the use of guns as defensive weapons to deter crime by the threat of use, there are various estimates ranging up to several million incidents each year in the USA for this (this is controversial now, it depends on how you count it). Looking forward to seeing your next edition of the crime issue, keep up the good work!

[@listohan]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/raW5Zpisa51kaas might help. Again, it should not be news.

[@cheshire928]

“Research” ?????😂😂😂

[@flixelgato1288]

The strongest argument is that criminals don’t follow laws, and yet it’s such a weak one. People are just wilfully ignorant, and act like “gun control” just means a law that says “no guns” (though even that would help in the long run).

[@Anon54387]

Criminals DON'T follow laws so gun control, even if minimal, does nothing but inconvenience the vast majority of us who are never violent. In fact, it actually endangers us by making sure only the criminal is armed. And, yes, a number of politicians over the past few decades have said they want to ban guns altogether. Mary Bayer, a delegate for Hillary Clinton, is one of them who spilled the beans on that. She said that the talk of common sense gun control and that it's for the kids is just a vehicle to incrementally move toward a total ban on private ownership of guns. Diane Feinstein said, in the 1990s, that if she'd been able to get one more vote in the Senate it would have been Mr. and Mrs. America turn them all in, but the votes just weren't there. Thanks to that one Senator who didn't succumb to her arm twisting. Kamala Harris, Beto O'Rourke (sadly a distant cousin of mine), Hillary Clinton and others have expressed similar wishes more recently.

[@SirHeinzbond]

sunday morning, a cup of tea and Ashton on my screen with a very interesting theme, a great way to start the day... personally i have to recommend you the real crime series of killing county on hulu, follows the people of Bakersfield/CA ... as for the 11 Years i live now in Switzerland, i never ever had once the feeling of be threatened or in the need for a gun, police works well here, the social part too, which i think is the root of the problem in the USA. For example my situation here is on the small street i live there are houses for about 2 millions to buy, and in between there are houses with more than 8 flats to rent for relative low income. both sides go to the same bakery, both to the same doctors, the same supermarket, sit in the same public transport, their kids go to same schools... i do not want to say its without any friction, but all were used to the other... as far as i can see, in USA is some sort of separation where you live, what chances you were given and to whom you socialise in young years. and the separation is not the colour at first hand, it's the income, than will come the colour. I think the separation makes it harder to see the other side, as a manager would only met low incomes at the mcdonalds counter and vice versa... then you have literally no working rights, everyone works his own self sick just to get the loans/rents/car paid. No healthcare thats the worth to name it unless u have the money... so for me its no wonder that there is a serious problem over there, and some even do not see the "other side" as humans anymore..

[@TypeAshton]

There are a lot of underlying problems that tend to feed off of one another. The more economically segregated we become, the greater the widening of the gap between the "haves" and "have nots" - the more divisive gun control seems to become. Those in affluent areas see gun violence in historically disinvested areas and presume that integrating with them in a meaningful way on an urban planning level will rise crime in their "safe" neighborhoods - when every international comparison of communities with greater integration say otherwise. It has always felt, in my personal opinion, that there are a lot of systematic issues that we ignore that affects the overall "health" of our communities.

[@SirHeinzbond]

@@TypeAshton your words are much more eloquently than mines, i agree with you, and i hope channels like yours will open the eyes of more Americans that there could be another way to deal with problems than the american...

[@spookymulder945]

Regulated meant in good working order back then. Not government oversight

[@hobbso8508]

Then why did Hamilton advocate for a militia controlled by the federal government?

[@1911GreaterThanALL]

Even if you discounted firearms homicides from the violent criminal rates we would still have more murders than other developed countries. Why? Because we have a completely different scope of compounding problems which generate those willing to commit murder.

[@user-221i]

Why are you spamming?

[@1911GreaterThanALL]

@@user-221i where is the spam?

[@tempeman101]

This information is wrong on many levels. Regarding the militia discussion. A "well-regulated militia" is known as the prefatory clause. The rest of the amendment- the part that talks about "right to bear arms" - is known as the operative clause. In 2008 Heller: "The amendments prefatory clause announces a purpose but does not limit or expand the scope of the 2nd part, the operative clause". The Operative clause facilitates the REALIZATION OF the Prefatory clause. A well-regulated militia is realized by having armed people to draw a militia from. From Heller and the 158-page opinion from SCOTUS there is no debate. The 2nd amendment protects the individual's right to bear arms. I would recommend Mark Smith (4 boxes Diner) for a constitutional lawyer expert input on this. It's interesting to me that several of the countries mentioned here with strict gun laws (Japan and Germany) have managed to kill millions of innocent people in very recent history. RJ Rummell presented a book about Democide (killing of people by government agencies incl. Genocide / Mass murder / Politicide). His estimate is that ~ 250 million people have been killed in the 20th century alone. You have to wonder how many of these people would have been saved had they been armed. The first thing a tyrannical government does to control its populace is to control or remove its citizens' weapons. If the Jewish population had been armed - would they have gone as meekly to the gas chambers? When Europeans quote gun deaths they seem to ignore or conveniently forget places like the Balkan conflicts, The war in Ukraine etc. etc. It's interesting that on day 2 or 3 of the Russian invasion. The Ukrainian government gave its citizens the right to bear arms. As well as self-defense, protection from a tyrannical government is especially important.

[@davesaunders7080]

At least you have a democratic choice to pick your government, the best protection we have.

[@lenforstell1139]

LOL not only did the Ukrainian government give its citizens the right to bear arms, it gave them the right to bear arms SUPPLIED BY AMERICA. 🤣

[@ElinT13]

Hello Ashton! Thanks so much for your amazing work, it must cost you a incredible amount of time to research, prepare and make these videos! I feel that the overall acceptance of guns in the American society seems to be different than here in Europe. Can shooting in the back yard? Doesn't seem to be a problem. Shooting pets in the neighbourhood? Apparently, some people laugh about that. Probably not so much here in Germany. I might be wrong, but I sometimes have the impression that a good part of society thinks that gun use is normal for "a healthy country boy" for example. And it seems to be somewhat normal to hear music with lyrics insinuating gun use.

[@jessicaely2521]

For most states youq aren't allowed to shoot your gun in your backyard when you are in a residential area and have less than 1 acre of land. In most residential areas you have less than 1 acre of land. You have to be out in the country and have 10 acres of land.

[@listohan]

Call me strange, but I can't see the pleasure in doing that no matter the size of the backyard. Silence is golden and kzbin.info/www/bejne/pYqoipZufMpmpNk is more attractive than gunfire

[@jessicaely2521]

@Richard Ure people hunt on their property which they have the right to do. People do skeet shooting which people have the right to do. Some people have over 100 acres and you won't hear much. My uncle had 300 acres or 1,214,056.93m² and you just heard something in the distance.

[@ElinT13]

@@listohan Thank you, that is what I meant. While it may be legal, the question is if hunting is really necessary or if we humans, now that we are threatening the whole earth, need to make changes to preserve nature, instead of exploiting it to the maximum where ever we can. Because the environment is not infinite, the lives of wild animals aren't infinite. We need to go new ways if we want new results.

[@I3igI3adW0lf]

Why did you not mention Australia, the UK, or China when talking about gun registries? Is it because they used them to confiscate firearms from their citizens?

[@davedavids57]

She just cherry picked the laws she supported. For instance, switzerland doesn't have a digitised registery, New Zealand doesn't have a registry at all. But as these points went against her narrative she ignored them.

[@matthewburgess1406]

She didn't use UK or Australia because everyone always uses those two countries to compare, she's showing the extent of unfamiliar effective gun control. Btw the UK and Australia still have guns, Australia has more guns now then before the buyback program and have declining gun crime every year. I suggest you actually research before responding to avoid looking like an ignorant American expressing fake NRA talking points.

[@I3igI3adW0lf]

@@matthewburgess1406 How come you also didn't mention China? Also, still having guns doesn't negate the fact both the UK and Australia had gun confiscations. Dressing it up as a buyback doesn't make it any less of a confiscation. They weren't voluntary.

[@matthewburgess1406]

@@I3igI3adW0lf China is a dictatorship not a democracy, it was voluntary no police came to anyone's house to confiscate guns that's a blatant lie instead Australia had a firearms amnesty program for 12 months which a citizen can voluntary give up there firearms or get a licence.

[@davedavids57]

@@matthewburgess1406 As a Anglo Austrian I always think the fact that people assume if you don't agree with banning semi automatic weapons your American is kind of strange. Given that the vast majority of Economically developed countries allow them. Here in Austria we don't even have licences for most guns and our gun crime is less that Germanys (and some of the lowest rates in the world). The BIG problem with the video is she just cherry picked countries to get the right results. Also she started at a point where she assumed the US has the most liberal gun laws. Actually Czechia, Switzerland make it much much easier to own firearms highly restricted in the USA (there is no NFA length or function restrictions for instance). Such as newly manufactured full auto, short barrels, open bolt semi auto. Also she ignores the fact that the USA is far far stricter on banning former criminals for owning weapons than most of Europe. She picks Czech to talk about a gun registry randomly as they have the best registry in Europe (ignoring the fact that the rest of their laws are more liberal than most US States). But ignores Switzerland (who have a paper registry for some firearms and which is pretty impossible for the police to use), New Zealand (who only introduced a registry literally a week ago). Then she bounces all the way to New Zealand where she talks about semi automatics, not mentioning the fact that semi automatics or "assault" weapons are totally legal in Germany, Czechia, Switzerland etc. She picks Switzerland to talk about stand your ground and home defence but ignores Czechia and all the other countries (such as Austria) that allow it. You could use exactly the same countries but talking about different points to prove the total opposite of what she's trying to do.

[@CZpersi]

I think that Czechia (right next to Germany) could be a good model for a common sense gun control. We have reasonable balance between the right to self-defense and the need to prove your mental and physical ability to handle a lethal weapon. Gun licenses basically work like driving licenses here. However, there is one significant cultural difference here - despite being sometimes dubbed "The Texas of Europe", we do not revere the guns with this almost religious fervor that is typical for Americans. For us, guns are just tools of self-defense, not a symbol of status, political affiliation or religious identity. And this is something that needs to change in America.

[@keonyang3332]

Please stop calling it by a dumb name just call it gun control because their is no common sense when you actually read what they propose under "common sense," and don't assume that if something worked for one country it would work for another just like when Canada did theirs (it was terrible) where I believe Canada is more tyrannical then the US. Edit: your last sentence bro come on you just stated what most gun owners are fighting for the right for self-defense with the use of a gun.

[@hobbso8508]

​@@keonyang3332 Sounds perfectly sensible to everyone with half a brain. Licensing and registration are perfectly reasonable. You sound very political and unreasonable with your responses.

[@keonyang3332]

​@@hobbso8508 well I'm using the other half also so yeah. My main point is that we have most of those things (except licenses to a degree), and yeah it will sound political because somehow guns are political now, but I wouldn't say unreasonable as most of the things you proposed already exist, making an ignorant assumption is not the greatest thing either.

[@samizdat113]

"Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American. The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people." - Tench Coxe, 1788

[@arnodobler1096]

yeah US is a Tesla with a steam machine from the 18th century

[@samizdat113]

@@arnodobler1096 Do you mean steam engine?

[@patrickhanft]

That really was a lot of "harter Tobak". And that is something that I say as someone who believed himself to be reasonably well informed about gun control debates in the United States. What strucks me most is not the general lobbying of such groups as the NRA, but how they themselves would be able to believe to act in good faith when arguing for obviously harmful things such as the lack of missing obligation for background check by unlicensed sellers. To be honest, WHY WOULD ANYONE even be allowed to even sell a privately owned gun to anyone who is not professionally dealing with this?

[@TypeAshton]

Earlier this week I watched a "Ted Talk" style interview that David Keene (the former CEO/President) of the NRA gave with a professor of criminal justice at Harvard University. The basic jist of his argument was "I told the Congressmen... If you just want to sell your old hunting rifle to your friend and neighbor, what are they going to think when we have to drive 20 minutes into town to go perform a background check on him and then fill out a bunch of paperwork because of a law YOU passed".... and I couldn't help but just be flabbergasted by the fact that a 20 minute drive... to re-register (and transfer ownership with a background check) is an "annoying inconvenience" not worth doing over something with such potential for harm. We don't think twice about having to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles to transfer registration of a car when we sell it privately to a friend... but a firearm is somehow exempt? That just seems wild to me.

[@patrickhanft]

@@TypeAshton thank you for giving the perfect practical example illustrating my incomprehension!

[@arnodobler1096]

@@TypeAshton Is there a video of this Ted Talk on YT, Ashton? link?

[@haselmaus8054]

Hello Ashton, Hello Patrick. Here in germany a "private sale" of a legal gun is also possible. Let me explain in detail. My late Dad was a hunter - and did give lessons in the local hunting club aka "Jägerschaft" for preparing people to the written and practical test in one of the diffenent subjects (his was "Brauchtum und Hege" that means "Traditions and taking Care for the animals"). Other subjects are "Legislation", "Wildlife diseases", "Waffenkunde" = "Knowledge of Weappons" and practial shouting leassons. That leads to a test (written and practial) that is often referred as "Grünes Abitur" = "green high-school diploma". If you pass the "Jägerprüfung" ="hunters test" you are then able to apply for a hunters licence (one or three years permit). And to get or renew your hunting licence you have to have a liability insurance for hunting (like register your car, where you also have to have a insurance). If you have a valid hunters licence then you are eligible for a gun ownership licence. (Therefor you have to have a clean criminal record and nowadays also the psycological review). Not only that you have to have a safe for the weapon, you also have to store the ammunition in a different safe. With the gunownership licence (as a hunter) you can buy a unlimited amount of "long weapons for hunting" meaning a shotgun and max. 2 "short weapons" meaning a handgun. My Dad owned a walther ppk (the famous james bond gun) - for the reason to kill an wounded animal on short distance. Mostly he had to if some deer was hit by a car. Also you are able to buy ammunition for the weapons that are registered in your "Waffenbesitzkarte" = gun ownership card. As all these things are done you can sell a weapon that you own (and is registered to your name) to a licenced dealer or an other hunter. Of couse you have to check his papers first if he is allowed to buy it. Then you make a buyers contract on paper that made statements of who sells and who buys (full name and adress) and the weapon(s) that are sold (description and number). And of cause you have to sign it and give a copy to the registration office of the town of the seller and the registration office of the buyer. Then the weapon will be deleated in the sellers ownership card and registered in the buyers one.

[@patrickhanft]

@@haselmaus8054 thank you for explaining this process! This is exactly what I would call "professionally dealing" with it, even when both parties are private owners. It would not only be illegal to sell a gun to someone not eligible to own it, you would be held accountable for it, as the weapon would still be registered to you, if it was used in some kind of incident.

[@WhiteSpatula]

As a gun toting liberal, I believe -and yes, yes, I know what you’re thinking, but I swear it’s true; there is indeed such a thing as a gun toting liberal, and I’m sure both of us agree- it is as much my right to own a firearm as it is the right of my fellow citizens (at least several thousand of them at any given time) to exit their homes without undue worry of being suddenly murdered en mass. And to that effect, I don’t mind at all periodically proving both adequate mental health and proficiency in my ownership of Rosie and Mack (my 357 Magnum and 9mm Ruger, respectively, both of which just happen to be gorgeous, and are hella fun on the range). Cheers! -Phill

[@smileychess]

As an independent conservative gun-owner-for-home-defense, I also wouldn't mind more regulation. Although I enjoyed the extremely easy process of buying my first gun, which only took about 10 minutes once I started filling out the paperwork, it makes absolutely no sense to me that private sales are exempt from background checks. In fact, I have sold a gun on the private market, but I required the person to show their enhanced concealed carry permit, which isn't required in my state. That permit demonstrates the person has explicitly opted to go through a full day training course, state fingerprinting and background check. If my state allows private sale to anyone, it's the least I can do to limit the dangers that "freedom" entails.

[@TheMsdos25]

@@smileychess I don't want to sound confrontational, but your mentality is exactly why gun laws here on the west coast are so bad now. The Gun control movement have no interest in compromise, every time they pass a new gun law, they simply move the goalposts and demand even more. IDK what state you live in, but you can't take your rights for granted, take it from a pro 2A liberal living in the PNW. My state was pretty 2A friendly just a few years ago...Now half the guns on the market are illegal (everything from common handguns to .22s and even _shotguns_ are considered "assault weapons") and a law is working its way through the legislature that will close 99%+ of the state's FFLs, making it all but impossible to legally purchase firearms. If you truly value your right to defend yourself with that gun of yours, vote for pro-gun candidates. Vote against whatever gun control initiatives the anti-gun lobby props up and pay attention to the bills they try to pass. I recommend joining the GOA, FPC, SAF and your local/state gun rights organizations.

[@ERG173]

I refer to the Good man Bad man with a gun argument. Imagine the scene the bad guy starts shooting in a night club, a good man starts to shoot back, its dark another good man enters the scene, he just sees two men shooting at each other who does he shoot at? with all this shooting how many others are going to get shot?? There is too much irrational argument in this claim, some people just want to be heros and nothing else matters.

[@hobbso8508]

And then the cops show up and shoot everyone.

[@TeranRealtor]

You should write movie scripts with that imagination.

[@keonyang3332]

Being a hero isn't a bad thing when people's live's are at stake when every second matters. The government is simply too slow, be a coward and wait on them.

[@hobbso8508]

@@keonyang3332 Good luck with that.

[@keonyang3332]

@@hobbso8508 *under the coward category. Fun fact: your government is most likely not legally required to protect you.

[@geraldshaffer6118]

No the British had regulations before 1776. The United States did not have regulations on firearms the British did. We became a nation when we got rid of the British and we keep our guns to make sure them and no other tyrant can take our freedom away. But the constitutional possession of firearms is also there for self-defense to protect our family and our property

[@michaelnovotny261]

As usual, great video, great research, great work. The mentioned regulations seem pretty common in Europe. As an Austrian I'd like to refer to §8 Waffengesetz, a very basic demand by law: reliability! Per Definition the sum of all those rules, including registration. Fun fact: In Austria guns get federal registration BEFORE purchase. The rules are pretty similar to german law. In fact: Gunownership in Austria ist not prohibited, it is only regulatet. As long as you fullfill the demands, you could have own a gun. Great to see your comparison.

[@reinhard8053]

But the demands especially for carrying a weapon are much higher. There was the case of an Austrian special forces officer who wanted to carry a gun for personal safety and didn't get the permit. He certainly can handle a gun and should be mentally stable, but he was just not endangered enough for such a permit.

[@davedavids57]

I think your getting confused between the application for a WBK (cat b firearms licence) and the right to buy unlicenced firearms. In Austria, break action shotguns, bolt action rifles, lever action rifles, revolver carbines etc are not licenced. The only thing that stops in EU national who wants to buy say a bolt action rifle in Austria is a Waffenverbot. Which is issued by a court or mental health professional. Buying a cat c firearm in Austria doesn't require any input from the police. You just go to a gun shop and buy it (they do the background check and register it for you and you pick it up three days later).

[@davedavids57]

@@reinhard8053 Your about 4 years too late, the Austrian government changed the law to allow all police, active military and security to get a firearms carry licence (waffenpass) without having to give a reason. It was a Policy brought in by the FPOE after the above case.

[@vashmatrix5769]

Much of what's presented in this vid is false. How y'all doing in your penal colony with medical gulags?

[@davedavids57]

@@vashmatrix5769 Huh? Yep, she cherry picked her facts. Plus this commenter has absolutely no idea about Austria gun laws (I guess if you don't own a gun why would you), here most guns don't require a licence (and the background check is easier than the USA). Plus we have private health care here. Like the USA (but it is subsidised by the governement a bit). Penal colony? We have more rights than you! At least you can own a gun here after getting arrested for drugs. Not like that in the good USA.

[@dansattah]

This feels like the topic that cuts to the heart of "American Exceptionalism" and the question when a person is truly free. USA: freedom to be left alone Germany: freedom to concentrate on your own career and interests while the collective supports education and health care

[@KaiHenningsen]

I would characterize it as USA: freedom from government, Germany: freedom to live your life. And the idea that the government is your enemy is, I believe, even relatively modern in the US. A lot of the problems in the US (but certainly not all) seem to come from, how shall I put it ... the North won the civil war and then lost the peace.

[@DarkDodger]

I think the difference is on a more foundational level. In the US, freedom is personal. Every person is an island, completely cut off from everyone else, and shall have the freedom to do whatever they want (unless they greatly impact the freedom of another). In Germany, we see ourselves as a society. Every person shall have the freedom to choose their own path and flourish freely _as a part of that society_. An _individual_ has the right to own whatever items they want, but in a civilized society, regular people shouldn't have the power over life and death of their peers.

[@DisinterestedObserver]

These are great comments but must be understood in historical context. The US has a heterogeneous population while most European countries have, for the most part, a homogeneous one. It is a lot easier to build community and support for common support structures when virtually everyone has the same background and outlook. When European immigrants arrived in the US, they found they could depend mostly on countrymen of their birth than on society in general. That fostered a sense of individualism and self-reliance which has passed through.

[@listohan]

@@DisinterestedObserver Another theory could be that each intake of migrants, motivated by expectations of improved circumstances, strives to be accepted by the society it finds on arrival. These outlooks and values were passed on originally from the first Europeans, thence to subsequent generations and intakes. With an element of conservatism entrenched, these values have been adopted rather than possible ideas from the new blood. Consequently, the country is in somewhat of a timewarp as evidenced by the allegiances to the unchallenged wisdom of the founding fathers and their precious life-affirming constitution and the fact that other western countries have moved on with issues like abortion, the metric system, universal health care, race relations.

[@mindpilotthepilot9140]

you sound like a nutcase

[@geordiegeorge9041]

As far as I know, here in Germany only three groups of people are allowed to own firearms (Guns are Artillery pieces). The largest group are the Sportschutzen ( people who shoot as a hobby/sport), Jäger (hunters), and Sammler (collectors). And all these people have had a thorough background check. Personally I only know one person who has a concealed carry permit. The biggest problem in the US are not the weapons it is the mind set.

[@Anon54387]

The term mindset is a rather vague term. But, regardless, it IS a right. A right is something that can be exercised without government permission, and it is wrong that Germany infringes this human right. It's wrong that America does as well, and that right is infringed in the USA. Not as much as 30 years ago but still more than prior to the 1960s.

[@hobbso8508]

@@Anon54387 It's not a human right.

[@olysean92]

4:06 "well regulated militia" didn't have anything to do with government regulation. Well armed and well trained is well regulated. You could argue that 2A requires the government to arm and train every capable citizen. But not that the people should be disarmed if a standing army ever forms, because that army could be turned against us, like it did 16 years earlier. The first battle of the Revolutionary War was the day OUR government was riding to Concord to confiscate our guns and rob us of our right to ever say no again, and we met them in the next town over to unalive them (Battle of Lexington and Concord, 1775). 16 years later, James Madison wrote 2A to guarantee that would never happen again. 2A makes it out civic duty to defend the constitution (2A) to the death against a government that would try to take our guns again.

[@murrismiller2312]

she adds alot of ideas MADE UP on the fly that goes against all HISTORIC FACTS OF LIFE

[@davedavids57]

I wouldn't say she makes stuff up, she just cherry picks, for instance talking about Czechia for gun registry but not mental health, assault weapons, stand your ground etc. All things that would go against her narrative. So she jumps between countries cherry picking the laws she likes and ignoring the ones she doesn't.

[@unfixablegop]

Amazing how she keeps her cool in the face of all of these failures. I would start ranting at some point.

[@randomlymadeanimations52]

I would too, in defense of the pro gun people of course, and if your ranting in defense of the Anti-gun side, please look up a guy named Collion Noir and be enlightened, please just do it, I’ve listened to the Anti-gun side and they are full of untrustworthy info. Collion talks about solutions that I never even though of and boy am I glad he exists.. I just am.

[@BrowncoatGofAZ]

⁠​⁠@@randomlymadeanimations52 did you see the part where he says gun control cities have more murders, but conveniently leaves out that they have higher populations too? More people in a city = more crime. You need to divide the murder numbers by the population numbers to truly see if gun control is effective. He makes good facts, but I’ll never agree with his perspective on gun control and those who advocate for it, especially his attitude. I’d ask him for advice on protecting kids in schools, or how to safely store a firearm if I had one, but anything else would be a very stern argument, if not a screaming match.

[@OccultNoir]

I agree. Like how the Jews were subject to gun co troll and carted off to death camps. Or my ancestors denied guns and forced to work the cotton fields until the died of exhaustion.

[@BrowncoatGofAZ]

@@OccultNoir weren’t some African slaves originally enslaved so the African warlords could trade them for European firearms? (Sigh) I can see Some of the points from 2ADs and GRAs, but I still hate that the only solution for people to defend themselves is to use the same tools as criminals.

[@vashmatrix5769]

I would count her presenting all these falsehoods as a rant. Just because she wasn't yelling didn't change the fact that this was spewing nonsense.

[@o21211671]

As far as I know the German gun laws, you got not all covered ... My "Waffensachkundeprüfung" has been a while, but as far as I remember, guns are not allowed for self-defense in a stand your ground situation at all. In Germany, too, self-defense or emergency aid is only permitted with as less force and the use of force must be stopped immediately as soon as the danger is no longer acute, as in Switzerland. So no shooting unless your life is really in danger, e.g. shooting at fleeing robbers would not beseen as self-defense. Also there is a big difference between "Waffenschein" (carry permit) and "Waffenbesitzkarte" (allowed to have a gun). These are confused all the time, especially in media. Sport shooters usually have a "Waffenbesitzkarte". A transport of weapons is allowed only, when these are unloaded and locked-up, separated from ammunition and only directly from home to shooting range. There are very specific laws how weapons must be locked up at any time at home. Also unloaded and separated from ammunition. A control by the "Ordnungsamt" can happen anytime. No full automatic weapons, no "Kriegswaffen". The license can - and will be revoked - if the owner is convicted of a crime, mentally ill or if the need to own a weapon ceases to exist. This must be checked regulary. If I am a sports shooter who is in a club that only shoots with small calibers, I am not allowed to purchase a caliber .45 weapon because I do not have the need to do so. It is pretty much defined in detail what a need is.

[@majormayhem4593]

You forgot the the comma it separates a sentence , the right of the people to keep and bear arms , shall not be infringed. The militia was made up of regular people with their own firearms.

[@marie9814]

So I think I need to rewatch it. Had to stop couple of time due to these things called kids and chores. :D But yeah. In fact I just googled amok incidents with guns in Germany. I remember specifically two, the one in Erfurt, Thuringa, 2002 where a student shot 17 people (teachers) and himself and 2009 in Winnenden, Baden Württemberg, where a 17 year old shot 9 students, 3 teachers and also 3 passengers while on the run (and later himself). The first was at the time I had my Abitur Prüfungen and I went home and saw the news. Couldn't believe this happened in Germany. The shooter was a member of a shooting club and did the necessary testings, but they did not meet the requirements but nevertheless he got the certificate of gunownership and could buy guns. he also reported to the authorities that he purchased the guns. Afterwards there was a huge discussion whether ego shooter games caused more violent behavior in children and some restrictions on gun ownership were made. The age where one could wear and purchase a gun went up to 21. The boy in Winnenden stole the guns from his father, who was a sports shooter and had 15 guns. The father was later prosecuted for negligent homicide because he had the guns stored in his bedroom and not in a safe as required. These two are by far the most deadly ones. The list contains a couple more but most of the time there were - thank god - no dead persons. In comparison the list of mass shootings in schools (or universities) is so longwith so many dead kids. It breaks my heart. I remeber the horror of the news of Newton and Uvalde, Also those protests after parkland. I am so gratefull that my kids can go to school and do not have to worry about active shooter drills or possible shooters or teachers with guns.The concept of fighting fire with fire is not something I understand.

[@TypeAshton]

So many of these events seem so preventable. I know they are exceptional cases, but the massacre in Newtown and the most recent instance of a 6-year old in Newport, Virginia are so gut-wrenching to me as a mother. Each of these kids got ahold of a gun that was legally obtained by their parent, and used it to cause such pain and devastation. I don't claim to have an answer - but I think back to how things work here in Germany, where you are not only legally required to have safe storage of your firearm - but the police come unannounced and check - and then on top of that, the owners can be held legally and financially accountable for the damage caused by a gun they did not properly store (such as the case from Winnenden). This seems extremely reasonable to me and something that would have an impact on such devastating cases.

[@marie9814]

@@TypeAshton I mean wasn't there just case where a dog (!) shot his owner because his gun was laying around loaded and unlocked on the backseat of his car? or where toddlers shot parents or their siblings for the same reasons (guns were not stored properly AND were loaded)? I cannot wrap my head around the fact that this is how it's meant to be.

[@KaiHenningsen]

@@marie9814 The worst - from my point of view - is that in the US, these cases are handled as "a tragedy", and not as "negligent gun handling by the owner", and there is often no real punishment for said owner. Where is the responsibility the pro-gun side of politics so often appeals to? It seems they think these things "just happen", like an earthquake, an "act of god", and nobody is ever responsible. Once again, those arguing a point the loudest are examples of failing their own point.

[@marie9814]

@@KaiHenningsen Oh yes. And those platitudes of "thoughts and prayers". Thoughts and prayers cannot prevent gun violence or bring back those victims. And it makes me feel helpless and without words that this is all that can be offered. And I'm not even a relative or family member of the deceased. Hoe helpless and enraged must they feel?

[@listohan]

@@TypeAshton Fewer people WANTING to have guns would be more effective and cheaper. Is that a starting point? Commercial jingles are supposed to change minds.

[@margreetanceaux3906]

Hi Ashton, you’re extremely good at this! Thank you for pointing out the Swiss regulation which, if I remember it correctly from our 55 years ago holidays, had everything to do with men being on call (for the army) immediately, without the necessity of traveling to a central depot - which given the Swiss topography could cause a substantial delay.

[@TypeAshton]

Yes, the majority of private firearms in Switzerland today are former service rifles - which is quite surprising. Interestingly when researching this video I also read that apparently all bridges, tunnels and roads leading in and out of Switzerland are pre-wired/engineered to be "rendered impassable" (i.e. blown up) in the event of anyone trying to invade their country.

[@margreetanceaux3906]

@@TypeAshton Yes they are.

[@peter_meyer]

@@TypeAshton Many german bridges are equipped with similar stuff.

[@TypeAshton]

That's both fascinating and terrifying to think about. I mean ... I get why... but I keep thinking about the bridge in Basel we drive over a few times a year like... 😲😲😲

[@margreetanceaux3906]

@@TypeAshton Must be a European thing 🤔😁 In the old days the Netherlands had it’s Holland Water Barrier (Hollandse Waterlinie). Simplified story: they destroyed part of the dykes (along the rivers) to flood the land, and prevent the enemy from reaching the cities. One time it backfired spectacularly, when a severe spell of frost set in.

[@JMBAmericanIronShallNotBeInfri]

“But to ban guns because criminals use them is to tell the innocent and law-abiding that their rights and liberties depend not on their own conduct, but on the conduct of the guilty and the lawless, and that the law will permit them to have only such rights and liberties as the lawless will allow.” Jeffrey R. Snyder

[@ratofvengence]

No-one is trying to ban all guns...

[@jamesharrison2374]

I am often have split opinions on the firearms laws, I grew up in a home with no guns, my grandparents both grew up on a farm, or had a childhood where they were taught shooting and hunting. I moved to Germany and lived there through the 80-99’s. I became a member of the sports shooting clubs, and actually owned more guns than I do now in Germany. I am also one of the few Americans that belonged to a Swiss club and took part with their matches. I have no issues with a background check, and store my guns in a safe same as I did living in Germany. I also after the drawdown of the DoD, I worked almost 5 years at a German gun shop. It does worry me how many don’t lock up their guns, or leave them all over the house waiting on the fear factor to enter the home so they can shoot, not knowing how far the bullets will travel. I live in NC and training was required for my carry permit, most of the time I see no need to carry. Still have my German permits, and explosives permit, once I reach retirement I maybe looking what it takes to return, as I miss the German clubs I was a member of.

[@XX-bn9sf]

This is not just an unbiased presentation of scientific papers, which is already rare, but somewhat of a meta-analysis in it's own right, elevated by combining a multitude of international datasets, often about hot button issues.

[@nehorlavazapalka]

yep, very unbiased.... tells us that these papers can pick out the signal of 2 murders out of 1000 per year. OK!

[@vashmatrix5769]

You've got to be joking. Much of this is plainly false & she's clearly against the 2A, which you should expect from a German.