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Much of the rest of the world actually is more violent than the US. Many countries in Europe have higher rates of violence than the US for crimes such as rape, battery, and others.

Why don't you let me know how resisting rapists and thugs works out for you when you get old, sick, handicapped, or outnumbered? In the US people can still have a decent chance of defending themselves. In your sad world, not so much. You know what is going to happen to you in this situation? You'll probably be beaten, robbed, raped, and killed. The US isn't a nation of "pussies," you're just not bright enough to understand the facts of life and make provision for the future.

Really? Do you think that cars are as useful for self-defense as guns are?

Stories That Happened In MI

There are many people that harvest wild game to eat. Cars don't work well for that. Guns on the other hand ....

It seems to me that you might be hasty in suggesting someone else get a new brain. Maybe you should start closer to home.

There are many restrictions on gun ownership in the US, so that is nonsense.

Gangs, thugs, rapists and thieves break into the homes of the old and infirm, not the other way around. There are laws governing carrying firearms off one's property, including in cars.

This is just a small sample of defensive firearms use.

Oh wait. Yeah, I can live with the 1/10,000 chance because THOSE THINGS NEVER ACTUALLY HAPPEN EXCEPT IN YOUR IMAGINATION.

Your imagination is failing you. The rate of violent crime isn't 1/10,000, it is nearly 40/10,000 according to the FBI (actually: 386.9 violent crimes per 100,000 inhabitants in 2012 ), which adds up to well over a million incidents in a country of 300,000,000 people. Also keep in mind that the distribution isn't even - your neighborhood may be safe, but those of other people aren't. Should they be denied the ability to defend themselves just because you think you're safe?

Or do you think the "liberal media" is covering up the hundreds of thousands of people who use guns to prevent themselves from being stabbed in our (incredibly safe) country every day?

Defensive gun use tends to be a local story only, and seldom makes the national news. And they certainly happen. But who do you think is aggregating the stories to report on a national level on a regular basis? Is someone doing that for bowling scores too? (Last night there were 37 perfect games bowled in the US.) Do you think we'll start seeing daily reports of aggregate number of either robberies in the US, or defensive use of firearms like the media likes to do with wars in a totally neutral manner? (Yet another grim milestone was reached yesterday when 3 American soldiers were killed in ______ brining the total to _______.)

Tough Targets: When Criminals Face Armed Resistance from Citizens (pdf of just the paper)

Because of the clear implication for gun control laws, a number of criminologists have prepared studies of defensive gun use incidence over the years—with startlingly different results. The most widely known is the study by Gary Kleck and Marc Gertz, completed in the 1990s, when violent crime rates were higher than they are today. That study found that there were somewhere between 830,000 and 2.45 million defensive gun uses per year in the United States.1

Another prominent study was the federal government’s National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), which also asked if victims of crimes had used a gun in self-defense. That study found that there were about 108,000 defensive gun uses per year.2 The National Survey of Private Ownership of Firearms (NSPOF) was performed in 1994. It was conducted partly because of widespread skepticism about the number of defensive gun uses reported in the Kleck and Gertz study. Still, the NSPOF study found approximately 1.5 million defensive gun uses.3

I think a lot of people would argue that the vast majority of "defensive use of firearms in deadly situations" would not even be necessary in a country where it is even slightly difficult to get your hands on automatic firearms.

I think you are making some faulty assumptions about defensive firearms use. They are used in many differ sorts of circumstances as you can see from a few of the stories at this link: Stories That Happened In MI

No, actually it doesn't. Toss out suicides and criminal-on-criminal violence and you're still left with outrageous numbers of cases of "defensive use of firearms" (which you mentioned in the first paragraph but had forgotten in the second?).

I think you will find some interesting commentary here: Murder by Numbers

Despite all your reasoning it is nonetheless true that American citizens are (somehow) able to use firearms to defend themselves on a regular basis.

In some countries this woman would probably have been badly hurt or killed. Do you know how she avoided it?
Elderly Woman Shoots at Intruder

Tough Targets - When Criminals Face Armed Resistance from Citizens
Stories That Happened In MI

I can see why you might be misled on the subject though: Self-Defense: An Endangered Right

On the other hand, HM seems to (second picture down) know what she likes.

Cheers

You are some kind of clueless.

17yo male defending his mother: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/11/27/florida-teen-fatally-shoots-father-in-desperate-attempt-to-protect-mother/?intcmp=trending

17yo alone defending himself: http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2012/06/08/mansfield-17-year-old-shoots-man-who-broke-into-home.html

A 14yo and 17yo defending themselves: http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/10544178/

12yo girl alone defends herself with her mother's Glock: http://www.kxii.com/home/headlines/Twelve-year-old-Bryan-Co-girl-shoots-home-intruder--174678431.html

15yo girl defending herself: http://gunssavelives.net/self-defense/15-yr-old-texas-girl-scares-off-two-burglars-with-her-dads-gun/

11yo girl defending herself with her own rifle: http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/crime/Girl-loads-rifle-to-spook-burglars

Boy defending himself in a home invasion / murder event: http://www.khou.com/news/neighborhood-news/Webster--2-charged-in-home-invasion--196306051.html

This was 5 minutes of looking. The list goes on and on. There are PLENTY of reasons for mature children and teenagers to know how to use firearms. One of the biggest reasons is the simple fact that it educates them in what freedom actually is.

Just for fun, here is a 13yo girl using a pistol, shotgun, and fully automatic rifle in competition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yd4B77PkeaU and here she is talking about the specific firearms she used, https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TXYdzPiF4xc

LF

America, land of the obese,

Don't worry, Europe is competitive - especially certain countries.

Obesity in America Compared to Europe

Europe is competing with the U.S. for first place in the obesity crisis. According to a report issued by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development out of Paris, more than half of European adults are overweight or obese. Obesity rates have doubled in the past 20 years for the 27 member states of the European Union. It is estimated that 1 in 7 children in these states is obese. The disparity among countries is significant, however. The prevalence of obesity is less than 10 percent in Romania and Italy, but greater than 20 percent in the UK, Ireland and Malta

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home of the gun NUT

Tough Targets - When Criminals Face Armed Resistance from Citizens
Stories That Happened In MI

In some countries, the following two people would likely be dead or badly injured. Can you figure out why they aren't?

80-year-old Flint man fires shots at five robbery suspects
Elderly Woman Shoots at Intruder

A rather different picture than what has happened in the UK.

Two Cautionary Tales of Gun Control

Self-Defense: An Endangered Right

The withdrawal of a basic right of Englishmen is having dire consequences in Great Britain, and should serve as an object lesson for Americans. Today, in the name of public safety, the British government has practically eliminated the citizens’ right to self-defense. That did not happen all at once. The people were weaned from their fundamental right to protect themselves through a series of policies implemented over some 80 years. Those include the strictest gun regulations of any democracy, legislation that makes it illegal for individuals to carry any article that could be used for personal protection, and restrictive limits on the use of force in self-defense. . . .

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Yea, without huge-sodas and the ability to blow away your neighbours, America would have fallen to those commie-liberal-bastards a long time ago.

It might be too soon to tell.

The IRS’s Tea-Party Targeting

Cheers

No doubt there are also many cases of old men and women being shot by attackers, probably sometimes with their own gun.

I expect this sort of thing is quite impossible in your mind.

80-year-old Flint man fires shots at five robbery suspects
Elderly Woman Shoots at Intruder

If only there was more to go on.

Tough Targets - When Criminals Face Armed Resistance from Citizens

Although the new technology may have an impact, it appears unlikely there will be significantly more restrictive gun control laws passed at the Federal level in the US. The public and the facts are against it overall. In various states, such as New York, Colorado, and California, there have been a number of new, highly restrictive laws passed, that at least in some cases are unpopular, are opposed by the police, and are unlikely to survive challenges in court. The brilliant governor in New York managed to get a law passed that outlawed even police weapons - New York is in the best of hands although California is a contender as well.

The idea that ordinary citizens can't protect themselves with guns is ridiculous.

Tough Targets - When Criminals Face Armed Resistance from Citizens
Stories That Happened In MI

What about the murder rate?

Murder by Numbers

Gun control's general effect on crime?

Two Cautionary Tales of Gun Control
Crime soared with Mass. gun law
England has worse crime rate than the US, says Civitas study

Self-Defense: An Endangered Right

The withdrawal of a basic right of Englishmen is having dire consequences in Great Britain, and should serve as an object lesson for Americans. Today, in the name of public safety, the British government has practically eliminated the citizens’ right to self-defense. That did not happen all at once. The people were weaned from their fundamental right to protect themselves through a series of policies implemented over some 80 years. Those include the strictest gun regulations of any democracy, legislation that makes it illegal for individuals to carry any article that could be used for personal protection, and restrictive limits on the use of force in self-defense. . . .

Political support for more restrictive nation gun control measures in the US has fallen.

USA Today: Support for gun control bill falls below 50%
During a manhunt, 69 percent of voters want a gun
NRA Has 54% Favorable Image in U.S
Dems push gun control agenda in DC, but not in battleground states

The rest of the world thinks that attitudes to guns in the United States are pretty fucked up.

No, not the entire world, although certainly many Europeans and leftists in general. But here is some material for you to gain some insights.

Tough Targets - When Criminals Face Armed Resistance from Citizens
Stories That Happened In MI

Two Cautionary Tales of Gun Control

Self-Defense: An Endangered Right

The withdrawal of a basic right of Englishmen is having dire consequences in Great Britain, and should serve as an object lesson for Americans. Today, in the name of public safety, the British government has practically eliminated the citizens’ right to self-defense. That did not happen all at once. The people were weaned from their fundamental right to protect themselves through a series of policies implemented over some 80 years. Those include the strictest gun regulations of any democracy, legislation that makes it illegal for individuals to carry any article that could be used for personal protection, and restrictive limits on the use of force in self-defense. . . .

England has worse crime rate than the US, says Civitas study

Cheers

Figure it out.

Some Techies Hear Call of the Shooting Range
Tough Targets - When Criminals Face Armed Resistance from Citizens
Stories That Happened In MI

Your comments are uninformed and hateful. Try educating yourself.

Tough Targets - When Criminals Face Armed Resistance from Citizens
Stories That Happened In MI

And the number of people 'saved' id dwarfed by the number of people killed.

Sorry, but no. Tough Targets - When Criminals Face Armed Resistance from Citizens

Add to that, no one else saw these 'robbers'. SO you have an old guy who fired two shots and claims there was 5 armed people that fled.

I call bull crap.

And I call Jack - as in, "You don't know...."

But here is one for you, can you figure out why that sort of thing might not be reported?

The drift I see is that most of the articles there have no proof there where other people being shot at.

Knock yourself out: Stories That Happened In TX

I'll save you the suspense - you aren't getting it. The site exists to collect reports of defensive gun use by citizens. This phenomenon is claimed to not exist by some people, probably like you. Guns do more than protect people from other people with guns. They protect 80 year old men confronted by gangs, 89 year old women from home invaders, women fighting off multiple rapists, and enable a boy to save his family from kidnapping and sexual assault. This sort of thing happens regularly, but is often unreported. If you ban guns, then everyone is at the mercy of the strong and vicious. Things don't get nicer if you ban guns, you simply get more innocent victims. In fact, gun crime can increase. But then violent crime in much of Europe, including the UK, and Australia occurs at a much higher rate than in the United States anyway. The United States does have a higher murder rate than much of Europe, but there is some subtlety in that. European Americans commit murder at rates similar to other Europeans. Where do the rest come from? And no, the United States murder rate is not among the worst in the world, its actually in the middle overall, and much lower in many place in the US. Guns are a useful tool, make for pleasant sport, but they not magic as you seem to believe. I think you have a number of unexamined assumptions that aren't true.

I'll save you the suspense - you aren't getting it. The site exists to collect reports of defensive gun use by citizens. This phenomenon is claimed to not exist by some people, probably like you. Guns do more than protect people from other people with guns. They protect 80 year old men confronted by gangs, 89 year old women from home invaders, women fighting off multiple rapists, and enable a boy to save his family from kidnapping and sexual assault. This sort of thing happens regularly, but is often unreported. If you ban guns, then everyone is at the mercy of the strong and vicious. Things don't get nicer if you ban guns, you simply get more innocent victims. In fact, gun crime can increase. But then violent crime in much of Europe, including the UK, and Australia occurs at a much higher rate than in the United States anyway. The United States does have a higher murder rate than much of Europe, but there is some subtlety in that. European Americans commit murder at rates similar to other Europeans. Where do the rest come from? And no, the United States murder rate is not among the worst in the world, its actually in the middle overall, and much lower in many place in the US. Guns are a useful tool, make for pleasant sport, but they not magic as you seem to believe. I think you have a number of unexamined assumptions that aren't true.

I'll save you the suspense - you aren't getting it. The site exists to collect reports of defensive gun use by citizens. This phenomenon is claimed to not exist by some people, probably like you. Guns do more than protect people from other people with guns. They protect 80 year old men confronted by gangs, 89 year old women from home invaders, women fighting off multiple rapists, and enable a boy to save his family from kidnapping and sexual assault. This sort of thing happens regularly, but is often unreported. If you ban guns, then everyone is at the mercy of the strong and vicious. Things don't get nicer if you ban guns, you simply get more innocent victims. In fact, gun crime can increase. But then violent crime in much of Europe, including the UK, and Australia occurs at a much higher rate than in the United States anyway. The United States does have a higher murder rate than much of Europe, but there is some subtlety in that. European Americans commit murder at rates similar to other Europeans. Where do the rest come from? And no, the United States murder rate is not among the worst in the world, its actually in the middle overall, and much lower in many place in the US. Guns are a useful tool, make for pleasant sport, but they not magic as you seem to believe. I think you have a number of unexamined assumptions that aren't true.

Yeah, so they can pick up a spare gun after one ambushes you, like happened in Santa Cruz not long ago.

So if he has a concealed carry permit, how will they know to ambush him? Are they psychic?

If they are already shooting the area up, they aren't ambushing him and he has a weapon to protect himself.

Stuff happens: 80 Year Old Michigan Homeowner Fights Off FIVE Armed Robbery Suspects Using Handgun

Gun rights folks would shout about it all day if it happened, right?

Right. I think you don't get how insidious observer bias is. Even "shouting from the rooftops" can be missed.