Americans own nearly half the privately owned guns in the world

[MattShlock]

Keep in mind that America is (or was) very wealthy. We also own a large portion of the TVs, cell phones, and cars. It has more to do with disposable income and freedom to own than anything else.

I see you are not from the UK. EU, maybe. Gadgets? Bread and circuses...

 

[MattShlock]

Three hours of shooting with 24 guns (counting the conversions as two each), with someone who's never shot a gun before?

That's 7.5 minutes each, and let's not forget this three hours includes set-up time, loading time, conversion time, and basic instruction time.

Two words:

Holy cow!

Slow your Mustang down, Sally!

And the poster cleaned them. No wonder she wants to come back! LOL

 

[jrdolall]

And the poster cleaned them. No wonder she wants to come back! LOL

Actually she volunteered to help but that would have added a lot more time to the process. I cleaned all the pistols that day and just finished the rifles last night.
We went early this morning with three guns.
Winchester 77 with 3x9 scope. This is my main squirrel and varmint gun and is dead on at 50 yards. She shot it a lot and was spinning the targets nearly every shot.
Browning Buckmark. This is the gun we spend the most time with as it is close to the feel of a full size gun, is extremely accurate, and rarely jams. We worked a lot on accuracy and reinforced the grip and stance.
AR-15. Like most novices she was fascinated with the "one that is used in all the mass shootings". After some basic coaching she got the understanding of how the gun operates and went through one mag of Tula ammo. We then backed up to 100 yards with some "better" ammo for some distance work and she was very good like most young people can be if they take their time.
2 hours later and she is in the LR with my son cleaning guns. Her mother is coming out this afternoon to join in the evening shoot so maybe there will be two new gun owners pretty soon.

 

[Deanimator]

We're #1!!!
We're #1!!!
We're #1!!!

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

I don't remember reading this in the comments to the OP's posting, or seeing it in a brief review of them...

But if Americans own nearly half the privately owned firearms in the world, how much of the privately owned ammunition do we own?

Whatever that is, I'm betting that not only has it increased significantly since January, but it's probably increasing at a noticable fractional rate daily since then.



I believe it was one of the moderators who posted, a short while ago, that at no time in the history of the United States have more firearms and more ammunition been placed in the hands of private citizens than recently.

 

[CornCod]

Yes, its a scandal. I am willing to part with my old Carcano and give it to some guy in Botswana so the rest of the world can catch up with US gun owners. Why should they miss out on the fun, practicality and personal safety of gun ownership? I am willing to help!

 

[MattShlock]

Hold on to that Carcano -- they will determine where it gets redistributed to for you soon enough.

 

[roadliner]

Thank you, Mr Obama, for pushing us to succeed in the world firearm race.

 

[Wanderling]

Should make other countrys think twice about invading

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Right, it would've made just sooo much difference had every single Iraqi been armed when we invaded. Especially given the state of modern warfare developments.

This is about rights, not a silly notion that a bunch of private citizens with their customized grip and polished barrel handguns and tacticool semi automatic rifles can successfully fight a well trained, well equipped, and highly motivated modern army.

Even in case of keeping our own government in check, protecting the First and Fourth Amendments is even more important; otherwise we may end up like some of the Mideastern or African dictatorships where population has firearms but no freedom (and barring a major crisis or meddling by foreign powers, no means to take the dictator down as he's always better armed and better organized).

The developments of the past few years, from wholesale spying on our emails and phone calls, to Obama being unprecedented in his zeal to punish people leaking government's information, are even more scary than his gun grubbing attempts. Put it this way - as long as First and Fourth Amendments remain strong, we'll protect the Second.

 

[armoredman]

This is about rights, not a silly notion that a bunch of private citizens with their customized grip and polished barrel handguns and tacticool semi automatic rifles can successfully fight a well trained, well equipped, and highly motivated modern army.

Yep, that's why Afghanistan was such a walkover for the Russians in the 80s, and for the US today, nothing to fear at all. Of course, guerrillas DO take a much higher total percentage of the casualties in asymmetrical warfare, but if they HAVE those numbers, the final result can be somewhat surprising to those wedded to technology.
Having said that, I would be surprised if any large percentage of Americans did actually attempt to fight an invader, since the concept of the militia has been so thoroughly discredited and disparaged by our fearful media, leading to close to zero training in the non former military population at large. Or how many would simply throw a rifle in the air and scream, "Wolverines", just to get shot down for silhouetting himself on a ridge line?

 

[Wanderling]

The Soviets went into Afghanistan to make sure they kept a friendly regime there and didn't let the country fall into American sphere. They succeeded for 10 years, and only withdrew as the things back home became interesting and their entire geopolitical sphere of influence started to fall apart. Around same time, they also started to pull out of Eastern Europe, most notably Germany, even though there was no uprising there. Put it another way, they would've pulled out of Afghanistan in 89 even if there was no resistance whatsoever. The country could no longer sustain maintaining huge military presence abroad, be it bloody Afghanistan or peaceful Berlin.

In 10 years that Soviets spent there, they controlled all the major cities while warlords controlled the interior. It's the same situation as today, and the same situation there was 300 years ago. They succeeded in preventing Afghanistan from becoming a host state for US military bases and missile sites, and from creating any issues on the Soviet border, at the cost of 15,000 Soviet troops and 2,000,000 Afghans. So I'd say it was a successful invasion. And the US - or any other modern country that places high value on human lives - is no Afghanistan.

 

[monotonous_iterancy]

Even in case of keeping our own government in check, protecting the First and Fourth Amendments is even more important; otherwise we may end up like some of the Mideastern or African dictatorships where population has firearms but no freedom

I've always wondered about that. We often claim that the 2nd amendment protects us from tyranny. In other countries, it doesn't seem to help them. Saddam Hussein brutalized a whole country where nearly every house had a gun. How does that happen?

Moreover, why did he let them have guns in the first place? Isn't it commonly claimed that the first thing dictators do is round up guns? Is it a cultural difference?

Perhaps this would be a good thread topic.

 

[Officers'Wife]

That US citizens do not own a higher percentage is not because my father, my brother and my husband haven't tried.

 

[Ohio Gun Guy]

It's a good start!

 

[Wanderling]

I've always wondered about that. We often claim that the 2nd amendment protects us from tyranny. In other countries, it doesn't seem to help them. Saddam Hussein brutalized a whole country where nearly every house had a gun. How does that happen?

Moreover, why did he let them have guns in the first place? Isn't it commonly claimed that the first thing dictators do is round up guns? Is it a cultural difference?

Perhaps this would be a good thread topic.

A better organized, better armed, larger force will always win over a smaller, poorly organized, ragtag band armed with just small arms. In countries like Libya and Yemen pretty much everyone was heavily armed by Western standards, yet Khaddafi had no problems ruling with an iron fist for decades, and was only toppled by foreign intervention. I think in these countries, being armed was historically the way of life, and dictators know better than to mess with ancient traditions.

In Europe, the arms were being ceased more to prevent street crime, and just because the European governments like to be in control of a tightly organized society, while in the East, there's always a measure of chaos (by Western standards). Doesn't seem to bother Eastern dictators, as long as it's not directed against them.

By the way, during the worst times of the Red Terror in Russia (1920s to early 1930s) owning a personal firearm was not illegal, as far as I know, and there were millions of guns floating around from WWI and Civil War. Didn't stop the Communists from killing millions of people, and putting down every uprising. Actually much less people died in the infamous Stalin's purges, they are simply better documented.

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