Explaining gun culture in America is like explaining...oh, I don't know - stiff-upper-lippedness in the UK? You can toss out cliches and quips, or you can write paragraphs upon paragraphs, but it's difficult to convey even the most basic aspects of it. And every factoid I throw out will give a bit of education in one direction, but keep most of the rest hidden.
I'll mention a few random aspects of it, which may or may not give a clearer picture.
* The American murder rate has decreased significantly over the past two decades. Ditto gun violence.
* Gun ownership is actually declining. Since 1973, the GSS has been asking Americans whether they keep a gun in their home. In the 1970s, about half of the nation said yes; today only about one-third do.
* The current wrangle in politics over gun control is usually about an "assault weapon ban". The term "assault weapon" is somewhat meaningless, but it refers to a very specific type of gun with very specific type of equipment and specs. The nation appears roughly split down the middle about whether or not to ban this type of gun...which accounts for far fewer than 1% of all guns, and far fewer than 1% of all crime/violence committed by guns. In short, actual "gun control" is America is similar to having the UK discuss whether to ban 30-foot-limos from driving through town, and calling it "car control".
* A goodly number of Americans have a heavy mistrust of their government (even if we'll re-elect them every two years). And yes, many of them own guns. And yes - they feel the very first move the government will want to take towards them will be to disarm them. They consider any attempt at "gun control" as a slippery slope meant to take away their last line of defense at the American government having their way with them. Again, we're not talking pistols and standard rifles - we're talking those assault weapons listed above. And they have roughly half the country on their side.
Lex
