Why Americans (and others) Resort to a Need for Guns Lots to this debate isn't there. Not the biggest fan of US (policy) approach to the rest of the world. There was a time when I would've agreed with the trend on this thread that questions the American 'fascination' with guns. Less so now though after experiences in London (Clapham) of all places in the early 90s. I know we have people on here from places like Sarajevo, Belfast, New York and so on but maybe my (hardly unique) experiences will help others see the reasoning for feeling the need to fight fire with fire. 93 was the worst year I can remember in south London for violent assaults, mostly with guns. The small (unregulated) minicab business we operated then attracted local n'er-do-wells as a favourite 24 hour meeting place for hard man wannabes: hooky goods, under the table deals, drugs, guns, you name it. As part of the business, I often found myself having to accommodate all that as well as keeping 50 drivers occupied with cab jobs. Then all the shooting started around the neighbourhood. First we knew was when our office had bullet holes put through our hardened plate glass front window. Where / who from, we never found out but there were some quite nasty knife and baseball bat attacks involving 'customers'. The waiting room was regularly taped up as a crime scene. Then people we knew well started getting killed. The most (in)famous was the double gun murder of my mate Kwame (aka William Danso) and PC Patrick Dunne. But there were shed loads of others too, from out and out executions to random road rage attacks. So many deaths in fact that we reckoned you couldn't list all the (youngish) victims on a sheet of A4. It's like the place went barmy all of a sudden. This barmy-ness obviously extended to threats against those of us working in the business every day, partly to keep us quiet and partly a dick length contest. The situation was largely cope-able with in the day times but we each took it in turns (weekly) to man the graveyard shift. Having to do this on your own was no fun I can tell you. You had no idea when the next set of tooled up nutters were about to make an appearance. You went from a state of scared ****less to a kind of numb gallows humour mentality. (Bloke once fronted me up and to keep me quiet said, 'what're you gonna do if I push this blade through your guts?' to which a by now less than enchanted me replied, 'fall over and bleed, what d'you expect?'.) But it was those long otherwise silent nights that finally put paid to my erstwhile pacifism. You knew the old bill weren't going to save you from a shooting. The only thing that would get these low life's attention was the same as what they were carrying. Never thought I'd entertain such thoughts but it happened - and in a supposedly 'safe' UK environment. So with all the guns available in places like America, I never question why the average Joe feels the need to arm themselves. A sad indictment, yes - but totally understandable to me after 1993. Does this answer the spree shootings we've all seen in last two or three decades? Of course not - but we have to remember what's been said above, that it's friggin' nutcase people who kill indiscriminately, not bits of metal. What a world we live in eh?!
'Kin 'Ell Brix.........what can I say other than WOW !!! And I was thinking my life had been...errr..eventful
Not something you ask for - or expect Stainsy. Question of wrong place, wrong time - just like Columbine, Connecticut, Dunblane, Hungerford, Oslo, Buskerud etc..
Take your thread over to general chat, last time I checked this was a Qpr board, not a board for Chelsea fans to start off topic threads
I thought you had "that look" about you when I briefly met you Brix! A survivor, without a doubt. I have had a similar experience in my younger days, but maybe that particular tale should wait till we meet up again.
Cerny, you've started a thread more than once on non-QPR topics so do us all a favour and stop being a twat.
Crickey moses Brix! Glad you're here now. Makes the racist shooting I witnessed in broad daylight in Darlington seem tame. What did I do? Run for my life!
You forgot: Slavery = deep seeded hatred against the Oppressors = inner city violence, the poor Blacks VS the rich Whites, reverse-racist violence = you don't think the Black people in America had been waiting for a guy like Obama so that they can take over the country from the Whites? There is a deeply rooted sense of fear, hatred, paranoia and confusion when it comes to racism. It's really not that surprising. I mean it's a gun-society country, historically - from Gangs like Capone in the old days to the street gangs of now right on down to the Old West of kill or be killed, and the Old South's segregation (it's only been 50 years since it went away)......... They're armed to the teeth down in the South, and now it's spreading. You saw the news - they've SOLD OUT of assault rifles from places like Walmart and other sporting and gun goods shops! Who do you think is buying them? Cops? Yeah cops' families too, probably. And all the Latinos who do all the dirty jobs getting treated like ****e everywhere. And the Latin gangs too. Drug dealers - and lord knows there's millions of them. I saw it all when I visited the States. The South is messed up if you're not a local or White. Even if you are White, don't go through Black neighborhoods or poor neighborhoods and inner cities. In Texas I didn't meet a single person who didn't own a gun of some kind.
I didn't finish writing when I hit the wrong button - I've finished now - I was trying to make a point about who's buying the guns
