[QUOTE]The "heartbroken" wife of Alice Springs man Kevin Reid, shot dead in the US this week, has told of how he died protecting her during a robbery attempt as they walked home from dinner in the southern state of Georgia.
The Savannah-Chatham police department confirmed 54-year-old Kevin Reid was shot dead after he was approached by three men while out walking with his wife on Wednesday night.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]"As many of you have heard, my husband was shot and killed Wednesday night when we were walking home from dinner," Mrs Graham-Reid said.
"He moved me out of the way and more than likely saved my life. He was a hero in so many ways, and my heart is broken."
In Alice Springs, Mr Reid's friend Dale McIver said the couple were just days out from celebrating their first wedding anniversary.
"It sounds like that Kevin, as always, was the absolute true gentleman, and it looks like he sort of stood in the way and protected his wife, Kari, and very sadly got in the line of fire and unfortunately has not survived," Ms McIver said.
Mr Reid died en route to hospital and police said they were searching for the suspects.[/QUOTE]
[URL=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-24/alice-springs-man-kevin-reid-shot-dead-georgia-us-robbery/7874090]Source[/url]
He sounded like a pretty nice guy too, struck a chord with me because my fiancee is American and I am in the process of migrating now, it could happen to anyone.
While I know this whole bad deal might seem extremely relevant for you personally, it's statistically not something that should leave you paralyzed with fear. (not that you are, but just saying) Reading the source it does sound like he was an upstanding guy, either way I hope they catch the fucker who shot him.
He was a professor at my university, it's gang initiation time in savannah. :(
This is pretty sobering, since I'll be moving to the U.S. from Australia to live with my fiance very soon.
[QUOTE=1239the;51097597]This is pretty sobering, since I'll be moving to the U.S. from Australia to live with my fiance very soon.[/QUOTE]
This kind of thing does happen but it's pretty rare in most places. Where will you end up?
[QUOTE=shad0w440;51097451]He was a professor at my university, it's gang initiation time in savannah. :([/QUOTE]
That's very racist. How dare you insinuate aspects of black life are violent and murderous. You disrespect the struggle faced by black bodies in the modern imperial United States.
[highlight](User was banned for this post ("Shitposting" - Bradyns))[/highlight]
[QUOTE=King Tiger;51097873]That's very racist. How dare you insinuate aspects of black life are violent and murderous. You disrespect the struggle faced by black bodies in the modern imperial United States.[/QUOTE]
Is it not racist to assume that all black people are in gangs as well though? Maybe the killers were white.
This one really shits me off since the majority of Australians are against guns.
In unposted news- One of the guys who shot Chris Lane asked for forgiveness back in June [url]http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/american-man-who-shot-australian-chris-lane-apologises-to-victims-family/news-story/c7af5fd2116c393d4f446bb836a0e527?nk=8cea9137f437c95945f107076a9a9591-1474704722[/url] (they didn't)
[QUOTE=ScottyWired;51097921]This one really shits me off since the majority of Australians are against guns.[/QUOTE]
What does that have to do with this?
[QUOTE=ScottyWired;51097921]This one really shits me off since the majority of Australians are against guns.[/QUOTE]
And thank fucking goodness they are.
[QUOTE=shad0w440;51097451]He was a professor at my university, it's gang initiation time in savannah. :([/QUOTE]
Strange, literally the same thing happened to a history professor at my college last year, except he survived and was teaching in class the very same week.
Sad but not a big surprise. Savanah is a shithole. I took my twin there for a ballet competition thing and one of the parents of another girl was shot in the leg in a drive by when he was walking back to his hotel.
[QUOTE=DogGunn;51099045]And thank fucking goodness they are.[/QUOTE]
I get the sneaking suspicion gangs likely dont abide by gun control laws.
[QUOTE=AaronM202;51099327]I get the sneaking suspicion gangs likely dont abide by gun control laws.[/QUOTE]
Does it matter? With the gun control laws in Australia, we still have less gun crime.
[QUOTE=DogGunn;51101246]Does it matter? With the gun control laws in Australia, we still have less gun crime.[/QUOTE]
Correlation =/= causation.
Whatever. Enjoy your gun right utopia.
Rest of the world says let us know when you catch up.
[QUOTE=DogGunn;51101318]Whatever. Enjoy your gun right utopia.
Rest of the world says let us know when you catch up.[/QUOTE]
Honestly, just stop being intentionally ignorant about the differences between america and australia.
You can act snarky, and talk down from that high horse all you want, but it doesn't get your point across and it doesn't actually make any sense because it's born out of ignorance.
There are 330 million guns, give or take, in the US. There is a 250 year culture of respecting, and using guns. They're enshrined in many different elements of the culture, I'm not an american and I know this and experience this every time I go down south. They're part of the culture. Now, if right now, the government decided "no more guns" that wouldn't go down well. If they slowly started phasing guns out, that's unlikely to go super well either as there's a fair amount of illegal weapons that are obtainable, and it still doesn't deal with the problem that actually creates much of the violence in relation to guns. Now, I imagine, the majority of your information about gun violence in the US comes from the media, and in large stories about gruesome mass killings by singular gunmen. That isn't even a statistically significant portion of the violence, it's all about gang violence ultimately and you're not going to be able to take their guns away quite as easily, and in the process of removing all of the countries guns, there's going to be a period where those with guns, have power over those that don't that will not end cleanly.
But please. Do go on. Your snark is so appreciated.
[QUOTE=AaronM202;51101278]Correlation =/= causation.[/QUOTE]
not for nothing but australia kinda has us beat on the whole having-a-school-shooting-every-week front of things
saying that as a gun owner
[QUOTE=DogGunn;51101318]Whatever. Enjoy your gun right utopia.
Rest of the world says let us know when you catch up.[/QUOTE]
I will enjoy it, thanks
[QUOTE=DogGunn;51101318]Whatever. Enjoy your gun right utopia.
Rest of the world says let us know when you catch up.[/QUOTE]
I think it's still fairly easy to get guns in Germany, but the murder rate is still very low. So don't blame objects for a specific national problem.
[QUOTE=DogGunn;51101318]Whatever. Enjoy your gun right utopia.
Rest of the world says let us know when you catch up.[/QUOTE]
"Lalala i cant hear youuuu, your facts arent facts if i ignore them!"
[editline]25th September 2016[/editline]
[QUOTE=Mining Bill;51101410]not for nothing but australia kinda has us beat on the whole having-a-school-shooting-every-week front of things
saying that as a gun owner[/QUOTE]
Again, correlation, not causation. Australias gun crime rate has fallen at the same rate before and after the port Arthur ban. You can blame their low crime rate on a lot of things, but not really their gun control
[QUOTE=AaronM202;51101278]Correlation =/= causation.[/QUOTE]
I get the idea that you can't just magically rid a country of its weapons when they are so widespread, but it does make sense that the more lethal and common weapons are, the more likely it will be that crime results in deaths.
If say a European country suddenly made firearms legal and available in large quantities, it would certainly end badly.
[QUOTE=_Axel;51101644]I get the idea that you can't just magically rid a country of its weapons when they are so widespread, but it does make sense that the more lethal and common weapons are, the more likely it will be that crime results in deaths.
If say a European country suddenly made firearms legal and available in large quantities, it would certainly end badly.[/QUOTE]
Yea if you just made them freely available to everyone, but theres not any civilized countries that are out there like that. With proper regulations its not an issue.
[QUOTE=_Axel;51101644]I get the idea that you can't just magically rid a country of its weapons when they are so widespread, but it does make sense that the more lethal and common weapons are, the more likely it will be that crime results in deaths.
If say a European country suddenly made firearms legal and available in large quantities, it would certainly end badly.[/QUOTE]
Probably not, since no European country really has a deeply entrenched gun culture like the US does. People aren't going to suddenly go out and buy guns in droves because they can.
Lots of people like to make fun of the US's gun laws but honestly the thing that I find most disturbing is the outright fetishisation of guns in their culture, along with the idea that without guns you aren't truly free.
[QUOTE=Cyke Lon bee;51101693]Yea if you just made them freely available to everyone, but theres not any civilized countries that are out there like that. With proper regulations its not an issue.[/QUOTE]
A few posts above it was mentioned that criminals don't follow regulations, which makes sense. And once firearms become widespread they become easier for them to get, too. I doubt your typical American gangster's handgun was smuggled in from the Middle East.
[QUOTE=Cyke Lon bee;51101501]Again, correlation, not causation. Australias gun crime rate has fallen at the same rate before and after the port Arthur ban. You can blame their low crime rate on a lot of things, but not really their gun control[/QUOTE]
Also worth pointing out that the general consensus is that there was only a 20% compliance rate with the Port Arthur buyback. So 80% of the semi-auto rifles/shotguns and pump action shotguns from before that are still floating around in civilian hands.
[QUOTE=Headhumpy;51101724]Probably not, since no European country really has a deeply entrenched gun culture like the US does. People aren't going to suddenly go out and buy guns in droves because they can.
Lots of people like to make fun of the US's gun laws but honestly the thing that I find most disturbing is the outright fetishisation of guns in their culture, along with the idea that without guns you aren't truly free.[/QUOTE]
Europe was way bigger on guns than the US ever was until those governments began taking steps to squash "gun culture". In European countries there was not really any set in stone defense for firearms ownership, so it was relatively easy to take them away or regulate them out of existence, and European gun owners just had to deal with it. The UK was and still is home to some of the finest private gunsmiths in the world, for example; Germany, too. The best guns are built in Europe -- these companies didn't get big because there was no interest in their products at home.
Also; it's not a matter of a bigger or smaller gun culture. It's just different. Places like Norway take their guns far more seriously than we do. That's just the thing - for the majority of gun-owning Americans, guns are just a casual hobby, but something we have a right to. It doesn't take much fervor for guns to own one in the US. I can go buy one as easily as a toaster. You wouldn't call me a toaster-toting hick.
In Euro countries, where guns are more heavily regulated, gun owners take them far more seriously. Almost every gun owner is a member of a shooting club (for some countries this is actually a requirement, but it doesn't change the cultural effect). They tend to own much nicer, far more expensive weapons. It's typically far more refined and more elegant than drinking beer and blowing shit up on the farm.
And before you say it, no, I don't think them taking it so much more seriously is necessarily a good thing.
[QUOTE=_Axel;51101725]A few posts above it was mentioned that criminals don't follow regulations, which makes sense. And once firearms become widespread they become easier to get for them to get, too. I doubt your typical American gangster's handgun was smuggled in from the Middle East.[/QUOTE]
Youll never truly have an issue free system when it comes to anything. Does that mean we impliment outright bans or completely deregulate? Course not.
[editline]25th September 2016[/editline]
[QUOTE=TacticalBacon;51101762]Also worth pointing out that the general consensus is that there was only a 20% compliance rate with the Port Arthur buyback. So 80% of the semi-auto rifles/shotguns and pump action shotguns from before that are still floating around in civilian hands.[/QUOTE]
Theres an old joke an Aussie once told me; "How do Australians oil their guns? They pour motor oil in their gardens."
[QUOTE=Mining Bill;51101410]not for nothing but australia kinda has us beat on the whole having-a-school-shooting-every-week front of things
saying that as a gun owner[/QUOTE]
Right, but i wouldnt attribute that to just having guns.
Hell, the guns used in Columbine were obtained illegally, for example.
[QUOTE=_Axel;51101644]I get the idea that you can't just magically rid a country of its weapons when they are so widespread, but it does make sense that the more lethal and common weapons are, the more likely it will be that crime results in deaths.
If say a European country suddenly made firearms legal and available in large quantities, it would certainly end badly.[/QUOTE]
Gun deaths maybe.
Also, last i checked, a large majority of gun deaths in the US are either accidental or suicides (im positive its at least half if not more), which get lumped in with the crime related gun deaths half the time which more often than not are gang incidents. Gang crime and whatnot is usually caused by poor education and poverty and whatnot, complicated issue, etc. etc.
[QUOTE=_Axel;51101644]If say a European country suddenly made firearms legal and available in large quantities, it would certainly end badly.[/QUOTE]
So... Switzerland? Seems working fine to me.
Yeah, guns are a big part of why our homicide rate is so high, but there are some pretty prominent examples of countries where widespread gun ownership hasn't lead to chaos. Actually, if you exclude the biggest cities in the US from your consideration, our crime rate is downright European in spite of an enormous number of guns.
I mean, you're not wrong, easy access to effective weapons exacerbates the lethality of crime. But it doesn't directly cause crime per se; there's no [I]causal[/I] link between firearms and violent crime, and that throws a wrench in the notion that retroactive firearm legislation is an effective means of reducing violence.
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