I've been thinking about something and want to check an assumption I have. I only hear directly from other people in the USA, and interract with the global community through memes. How are the gun regulations/laws different from yours in terms of strictness, and do you wish there was more or less where you live?
Not looking for a debate here, discuss cold drinks vs hot drinks instead. Appreciate either answer. ❤️
Edit: Thanks for the answers all. I'm super proud how productive eveyone kept this talk. I figured most of you had very different experiences than I. I'll share my most recent experience. I don't have a firearm, but have considered it after being trained enough. When sharing this with "normal" people around town, I had multiple people offer to sell or gift me a gun where the serial number was scratched off and non-traceable. I ofter heard, "oh man, yeah. You need a gun." I have literally never needed one. The fact that people offer to give me one when I don't have a liscence or training shows the mindset of the minority here and how much of a problem a few individuals can make to safety within the current system.
As a fellow Australian, are you starting to reconsider that last sentence?
Gun violence was rare and still is compared to a lot of countries but shootings were once BIG news and now it's about every month or two someone is shot dead with an illegal firearm. Big increase since 2019
No, not really. Even though there's been an uptick in gun violence, it's not the sort of indiscriminate violence that would keep me (as a parent) awake at night. Many of the gun crimes we see are targeted or specific - gang and organised crime, murder suicides, familicides, etc.
Even though those are very troubling, they're still largely distant from the average Aussie. Unlike, say, in America where there's now a market for school backpacks with Kevlar inserts.
Gun deaths in Australia are at an all time low over the past 5 years
While the best I can get on mobile is this, all gun violence (including lethal and non-lethal) is also way down on long term trends.