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Originally Posted by !@#$%!
The argument in the USA is a little different than in another countries.
First, as a colony, this country was constantly at war with indians. The colonists would push the indians out and the indians would come and raid your village. There was also a lot of hunting, particularly as people expanded into "untamed" areas where game was abundant.
As a result, by the time of the American revolution, pretty much everyone owned a gun, or guns, for all sorts of purposes (shooting indians, shooting buffalo, shooting ducks).
Come the revolution, there wasn't much of a standing army: a large portion of the fight was done by armed militias, that is, civilians with their hunting weapons using guerrilla tactics to wear down the better-equipped ingleses. If it wasn't for the help of a regular army like the French one, we would have had our asses kicked by the limeys.
So right at the birth of the country you have the individual use of handguns as a primary feature.
Now remember these were independent colonies, each with their own laws and customs etc. When the constitution was written, the states (former colonies) feared too much control from the central government and the Bill of Rights was created. That's where the 2nd amendment belongs.
Now the second amendment says
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
What does that exactly say? It's not completely clear. The way I read it is that the people have the right to bear arms in the context of A WELL ORGANIZED MILITIA. Which brings us back to the Minutemen of the independence. That seems rational and parallels the weapon ownership of the citizen-soldiers of Switzerland. Homicide rate in Switzerland: 1/2 per 100,000 (lower than England). Now, these militia weapons are fully automatic military issue guns, truly dangerous shit, and everyone keeps one at home. And yet their murder rate is lower than gun-free England, Belgium, France, and gun-rational Canada.
Now, the USA after its creation expanded quickly into Native-owned territory. Many many indians were exterminated, either by military action or by biological warfare (whiskey, smallpox) and the settlers who colonized those lands were out in the middle of nowhere without the protection of an urban environment-- facing dangers such as indian raids, roaming criminals, and the occasional wild animal (mostly wolves attacking cattle, on which their livelihood depended). There ware also territorial disputes, water access disputes, and very little law enforcement. The bottom line: everybody had guns in the "wild west" during the XIX century.
So we have this pioneer mentality where people think of their home in the suburbs as their "homestead" in the prairie even when such days are gone; but culture is a powerful thing and doesn't go away so quickly. Add to that the history of racial violence, civil war, a "do it yourself" mentality, and the notion that the government is instrusive, and you're going to have a slightly paranoid people who think their self protection is in their own hands. Therefore if you take guns away you'll have people thinking they are defenseless agains thiefs and dark people who will come to rape their daughters in the night.
So while the dispute of the second amendment has been going on forever (does it protect the rights of gun ownership under a militia, or individual gun use for self defense?), the supreme court recently ruled that it was an issue of self-defense in the home (and the car, which is an extension of your home) and lifted the ban on gun ownership in the District of Columbia (which is under federal rule).
So, while big cities might find guns repellent and only good for criminal activities (New York is still banning guns), "Middle America" loves its guns because without them, they feel, they are alone in the night.
I'll add one thing-- I have a cabin in a very remote area away from the city and emergency services, and I keep a fucking rifle next to the bed when I'm there. Maybe I'm paranoid, but we've had people show up uninvited on our road (looking for a place to drink or get high); and getting such visits at 3 am is scary and creepy, especially considering there is some meth use in the area. You'd want a gun if you lived there, I swear.
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