I was working in the States and sharing an apartment with an old geezer who was also the client on the job.
While discussing the Columbine School shootings over dinner at a restaurant one evening, he told me that he had 27 handguns, 4 of which were in the apartment (the rest were at his house in Mississippi).
One on his bedside table, one in the kitchen drawer, one in his bathroom beside the sink, and one in the lounge area under the coffee table.
He said they were "for protection".
When I asked how old he was he told me he was 67.
When I asked how many times his home (or the apartment) had been broken into or otherwise attacked he said "none".
When I asked how many times he feared for his life he said "all the time".
His reason? Because everybody else had a gun.
So as a Brit who was at the time living in America and having also lived in Africa, Georgia (the country, not the State), Kazakhstan, Russia, and Azerbaijan (places where gun ownership is almost mandatory) I can honestly say that of all the countries I have lived in where gun ownership was part of the culture, nowhere but the good old USA did I ever see this paranoia and fear.
Anybody got a suggestion as to why that would be?
.
"I told the doctor I broke my leg in two places. He told me to quit going to those places". - Henny Youngman
I was working in the States and sharing an apartment with an old geezer who was also the client on the job.
While discussing the Columbine School shootings over dinner at a restaurant one evening, he told me that he had 27 handguns, 4 of which were in the apartment (the rest were at his house in Mississippi).
One on his bedside table, one in the kitchen drawer, one in his bathroom beside the sink, and one in the lounge area under the coffee table.
He said they were "for protection".
When I asked how old he was he told me he was 67.
When I asked how many times his home (or the apartment) had been broken into or otherwise attacked he said "none".
When I asked how many times he feared for his life he said "all the time".
His reason? Because everybody else had a gun.
So as a Brit who was at the time living in America and having also lived in Africa, Georgia (the country, not the State), Kazakhstan, Russia, and Azerbaijan (places where gun ownership is almost mandatory) I can honestly say that of all the countries I have lived in where gun ownership was part of the culture, nowhere but the good old USA did I ever see this paranoia and fear.
Anybody got a suggestion as to why that would be?
.
"I told the doctor I broke my leg in two places. He told me to quit going to those places". - Henny Youngman