Driving to Florida soon from Ontario, worried and scared

[ronandannette]

I don't know that I was aware that there wasn't a gun in the house, at that time. I know now because I know that the countries we were in wouldn't have allowed it while we were living off base. On base would have been a different story.

I was a young child, think 6 years old. I am now 50. So I have no idea how my parents changed their life. And I can't ask them, they are gone. And my sister would be in the same boat I am, too young then, too old now.

Understood; thanks for replying.

 

[tinatark]

You wouldn't typically even know if someone is carrying. I'll be going through the process to get a permit soon, trying to figure out which gun to get, shooting hurts my hands and most guns are too big for my purse! I want a little two shot one, my theory is, if I ever have to use it, if the threat isn't gone after 2 shots I'm outta there!

 

[BadgerGirl84]

You wouldn't typically even know if someone is carrying. I'll be going through the process to get a permit soon, trying to figure out which gun to get, shooting hurts my hands and most guns are too big for my purse! I want a little two shot one, my theory is, if I ever have to use it, if the threat isn't gone after 2 shots I'm outta there!

I carry a Sig Sauer P238--I recommend trying that one out if you can. Very small and easy to shoot. My hands aren't very strong and kickback is minimal.

 

[AquamarineSteph]

I live in Tennessee. We do not have open carry here, so if I see someone in a public place who is not a uniformed officer carrying a gun, I would assume that they the intent to use that gun for violence.

And having said that, if I were looking at a room full of people who were openly and legally carrying guns, how am I to know that they're all good people who aren't planning to do something violent with that weapon? Quite frankly, an open carry state is the perfect cover for somebody who wants an easy way to reach the place where they plan to do something violent. If open carry is the norm, then anyone can walk around with a gun, legal or not. A room full of people carrying weapons makes me think that the chances of someone using weapons is greater.

Every day we see people who are licensed drivers who violate traffic laws while driving two tons of metal. Why should someone carrying a weapon be any more law abiding?

 

[NHdisneylover]

Please someone correct me if I'm wrong; is it not mandatory for every household in Switzerland to be equipped with a firearm? If so, is it a hand gun or a long gun they have to have? Having never been to Switzerland, is there anyone that can report on whether or not open carry is allowed and if so, do you see a lot of people bearing arms in mundane situations like lunch at a diner?

No it is not.

All men must serve in the millitary there (unless there are health issues or the like) and at that time, after training, are issued a firearm which they are to keep at home during their service (an actual well orgnaized militia). Amunition is kept in a central arsenal, so someone can't just get a bunch and use it willy-nilly and the firearms are meant for use in service, not for home protection, not to be carried about in public when not needed for specificly schedule service, etc.. There are strict rules about how the guns are stored as well.

It is allowable to purchase your firearm after service (to keep) if you provide a reason that is considered justifiable and maintain a permit. At that time, as Gumbo mentioned previously, the governement well modify the weapon to no longer be automatic.
There are rifelry clubs where private owners may shoot---all amunition bought there MUST be used there or returned before leaving, etc. So it is unlikely that the weapon, stored in the home, will also have amunition there to make it serviceable (it shouldn't)

In short, there is a high rate of gun ownership in Switzerland due to the millitary service requirenement, but it is extemly controlled. And by high rate, that indicates a high number of househols which have one gun.

This is very easy stuff to look up verfiable sources if one is interested, rather than just repeating rumors that get passed around and distorted. I find it interesting that a couple of people on this thread mention this rumor--and no one jumped all over them rudely (no one should) and yet when the OP mentioned things reported in the news and asked a question, she got the response she did.

 

[tigercat]

Opps sorry I said the city we had trouble in was Charlotte. It was Charleston, I wrote it right before I went to bed so mixed up the two.

And in the middle of the night when I was awake I remembered another person who has guns and not in a safe or put away. My granddaughter recently got married to a young man in the States. And he has several guns.

I actually feel safer without the guns than with the guns. I know that goes contrary to people in the States but that is how I feel.

tigercat

 

[PopSugar]

Let me assure folks -the VAST majority of Americans don't own handguns
Buy many many Americans are hunters and have a hunting gun,rifle

 

[ronandannette]

No it is not.

All men must serve in the millitary there (unless there are health issues or the like) and at that time, after training, are issued a firearm which they are to keep at home during their service (an actual well orgnaized militia). Amunition is kept in a central arsenal, so someone can't just get a bunch and use it willy-nilly and the firearms are meant for use in service, not for home protection, not to be carried about in public when not needed for specificly schedule service, etc.. There are strict rules about how the guns are stored as well.

It is allowable to purchase your firearm after service (to keep) if you provide a reason that is considered justifiable and maintain a permit. At that time, as Gumbo mentioned previously, the governement well modify the weapon to no longer be automatic.
There are rifelry clubs where private owners may shoot---all amunition bought there MUST be used there or returned before leaving, etc. So it is unlikely that the weapon, stored in the home, will also have amunition there to make it serviceable (it shouldn't)

In short, there is a high rate of gun ownership in Switzerland due to the millitary service requirenement, but it is extemly controlled. And by high rate, that indicates a high number of househols which have one gun.

This is very easy stuff to look up verfiable sources if one is interested, rather than just repeating rumors that get passed around and distorted. I find it interesting that a couple of people on this thread mention this rumor--and no one jumped all over them rudely (no one should) and yet when the OP mentioned things reported in the news and asked a question, she got the response she did.

Good info. Neither I or the other poster put this idea forth dogmatically; we were both open to being corrected - not at all trying to repeat rumours.

 

[Liberty Belle]

I lived in the sates most of my life and am American.

My uncle accidentally fired a gun off while cleanign it in our living room when I was in kindergarten, luckily no one was harmed, but the bullet hole remained in the floor at least until we moved.

Then two guys came into the laundry mat when I was in second grade--they had guns and demanded all the money the people washing had on them (rolls of quarters mostly)---my mom hid me in the laundry basket.

My cousin and her boyfriend were shot to death in his apartment when she was 16. Her grandfather (on teh other side) comitted suicide by gun a month later.

The store I worked at in highschool was robbed at gunpoint


. . . (stopping at highschool age, not becuase there were not other brushes with guns in various ways after that---though there have been none in Spain, Mexico or Germany when I have lived in those place---it could happen some day, but hasn't yet)

These incidents were not even all in the same place or state.


I DO think we have significantly more gun violence and incidents than most other fist world countries (well, I know we do---it is a known and well documented fact). It make ME, who grew up in the US and knows it is not likely to be encountered on any particular day, nervous when I go back now that i have lived out of seeing guns in the hands and on the hips of civillians for so long. The risk IS higher (much). Still overall low, but high enough to not be ridiculous for someone not used to it (becuase we DO tend to stop worrying about risks around us we can'T really control and get used to) to think about and worry a bit.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-u-s-gun-deaths-compare-to-other-countries/

(and no, this is not meant as an anti-gun post----just poitning out that it is a reasonable worry for someone from elsewhere----sort of like it is reasonable to be worried about pickpockets in Barcelona or Paris or Rome and yet locals are so used to how to hold their things, etc that they never think about it)

Wow, talk about bad luck!

The only time I've encountered a gun that wasn't on a police officer, was at a party when a friend of mine brought her's out to show people. Now that did scare me because everyone had been drinking quite a bit and two of the people were arguing.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Wow, talk about bad luck!

The only time I've encountered a gun that wasn't on a police officer, was at a party when a friend of mine brought her's out to show people. Now that did scare me because everyone had been drinking quite a bit and two of the people were arguing.

Funny thing is, other than my cousin's murder, I never thought i had encountered much gun violence/issues until my oldest was asking me how much i had seen of it about a year ago and I started thinkign thoruhg and listing off. And until this thread I did not know that amount of contact with gun related minor issues was uncommon. My husband has similar stories (minus the cousin). We both grew up in middle class homes in "safe" areas.

Having grown up in Colorado and Texas I am surprised though by how many say they have never seen a gun except on a police officer. You see them all.the.time in both places. I've been gone long enough now that seeing people with open carry pistols on their belts last summer DID unsettle me (and we saw it several times)

 

[Dentam]

I actually feel safer without the guns than with the guns. I know that goes contrary to people in the States but that is how I feel.

Many of us in the States feel the same way.

Another shooting in Texas at a strip mall on breaking news as I got up this morning.

 

[Dentam]

Having grown up in Colorado and Texas I am surprised though by how many say they have never seen a gun except on a police officer. You see them all.the.time in both places. I've been gone long enough now that seeing people with open carry pistols on their belts last summer DID unsettle me (and we saw it several times)

I live in CO and have only seen guns on police officers. But I'm in the city, so I'm guessing it's more common in rural areas. We had a scare at my work where the police got a call that someone was walking around nearby with a long gun. They never did find him. Same thing happened about a week ago a few blocks from where I live. Never found that guy either. Maybe they were hoaxes, but I'd say that many of us are on edge and that carrying a gun openly will get law enforcement attention here.

 

[gemini2727]

The scariest thing to me is that the OP plans on driving at the speed limit
Now that's dangerous!

 

[NHdisneylover]

I live in CO and have only seen guns on police officers. But I'm in the city, so I'm guessing it's more common in rural areas. We had a scare at my work where the police got a call that someone was walking around nearby with a long gun. They never did find him. Same thing happened about a week ago a few blocks from where I live. Never found that guy either. Maybe they were hoaxes, but I'd say that many of us are on edge and that carrying a gun openly will get law enforcement attention here.

I saw several in Boulder, Lakewood and Greeley last summer. Not exagerating. Funny how you don't see them---I guess it just varies by area (or people are used to it and not noticing without even realizing they are used to it---could easily be either I suppose)

 

[ronandannette]

Many of us in the States feel the same way.

Another shooting in Texas at a strip mall on breaking news as I got up this morning.

There was a shooting in a nightclub here in Calgary on Saturday (CFL player killed in an altercation) as well as a gang-related double homicide earlier in the week. That means that of the 9 murders in our city this year at least 1/3 were gun related. Not sure how that stacks up against the stats in Texas; Dallas is roughly the same size as the city I live in.

 

[cabanafrau]

So odd that so many Canadian Olympians choose to live and train here in the States, or that so many would choose to attend university in this war zone.

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

I don't assume anything. I don't know the people in the (hypothetical) restaurant from anyone else and since I have a family member that was shot in a random drive by -- and thankfully, did not die -- I know that people can get shot randomly. If I'm sitting in a restaurant and 50 people are carrying, what are the chances ONE person in 50 is under influence of alcohol? Or drugs? Or ONE person is angry or paranoid? I think feeling the need for such a high level of protection at a family restaurant is paranoid in and of itself. I don't think this is me living my life in fear.

You're completely assuming that those people sitting there are one tick from violence. This whole post is about that. If you're sitting in a restaurant, what are the chances that one person in 50 is under the influence of alcohol, or drugs, or is angry and paranoid and about to grab a steak knife and go to town on your throat? You've pointed your fear at a tool rather than facing the idea that your safety is completely up to you. People who carry aren't paranoid, they're simply prepared. You know the old saying, better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it?

 

[Dentam]

I saw several in Boulder, Lakewood and Greeley last summer. Not exagerating. Funny how you don't see them---I guess it just varies by area (or people are used to it and not noticing without even realizing they are used to it---could easily be either I suppose)

Trust me, I would notice. Never been to Greeley but that one doesn't surprise me as much as Boulder. That's crazy given how liberal Boulder is.

 

[luvsJack]

There is open carry where I live. I still don't see that many hand guns. But maybe I just don't notice them. I know several people that are licensed to conceal carry. Are they carrying at all times? I have no clue. I work with them but I don't go around asking about it. Some of them just carry in their vehicle.

Most households have hunting rifles and shot guns. If asked in a poll, we would say we have 5 guns in the house. 4 haven't been out of the gun cabinet in years and the other one has had the firing mechanisms removed and is on display. If dh ever takes up hunting again, I guess the ones in the cabinet will be used again. Oh, wait, there is one more. DH bought a pistol to use for protection when he was driving across country. He doesn't have a truck right now so the gun is in a lock box in the top of the closet. So, see, every household that HAS guns doesn't necessarily plan to USE guns.

In the many years I have lived here, knowing there is a gun in every household, I have never personally known someone who was shot.

I don't feel any less safe now than I have in the many years before and wouldn't have an issue driving all across this nation. OP don't worry about it.

 

[Dentam]

There was a shooting in a nightclub here in Calgary on Saturday (CFL player killed in an altercation) as well as a gang-related double homicide earlier in the week. That means that of the 9 murders in our city this year at least 1/3 were gun related. Not sure how that stacks up against the stats in Texas; Dallas is roughly the same size as the city I live in.

There have been at least three mass shootings in the U.S. since this thread was started. The gang related ones don't even always make the news here, except a blip on the local news stations. Just keeping a running tally. Many are in denial about the gun issues here, which can be seen in the sarcastic responses about this being a "war zone".