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One of the problems in the American debate about guns is a
cultural divide. In rural areas, guns are seen as a tool; in the
cities, guns are a threat. So what if we had a reality TV show
matching up families from each environment, and giving each
the opportunity to experience each other's reality?
[link]
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(This could also simply be set up as a cultural
exchange program, without the TV angle...) |
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//One of the problems in the American debate about guns is a cultural divide.In rural areas, guns are seen as a tool; in the cities, guns are a threat// I don't think this is true. You are not comparing apples with apples. Guns are always a tool in the hands of those brandishing them. The victims, on the other hand feel differently. Swapping deer and bears for late night cashiers and armed aggressors will not change anything. Remember guns don't kill people, high velocity projectiles damaging vital organs and then the possible secondary infections kill people. |
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What [smendler] said is somewhat true, but also in the city guns are a tool for protection. There will always be the bad guys and the good guys no matter where they are located. |
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Considering how often sex and violence are found
associated in both fiction and real life, it is amazing
that we have sex education in schools, but not gun
education. The main Idea proposed here is only a
tiny step toward what is really needed. |
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I think [smendy] is on the right track. Us backwoods
country folk aren't afraid of guns, and I think it has a lot to
do with familiarity. We all have shotguns and we all leave
our doors unlocked. And before you tell me I don't know
what it's like to be at the other end of the barrel, please
know that I've been shot at three times: once by people
who were being safe and didn't know I was in the area (a
large sand pit), once by somebody poaching turkeys from
their
back porch, and once by a twitchy hunter who thought I
was a blaze-orange deer (a mistake he won't make again).
It's very frightening, but it hasn't turned me into an anti-
gun activist. If anything, those occasions provided
opportunities for greater understanding. |
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I don't think city people, as a whole, would benefit from
familiarity with firearms. I think that a better approach
would be helping people understand that there are
appropriate places and uses for firearms (for instance, they
don't belong in urban areas). |
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Side note: I frequently carry a well-used KA-BAR (8" USMC
combat knife), and I've had more negative reactions to that
than to the so-called 'assault style' firearms that I use to
hunt deer (with lo-cap magazines, typically with only two
rounds loaded). My high-tech 'special forces' rifles draw
curiousity, but my knife causes trepidation. Figure that one
out. |
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Good point. I suppose that I am generalizing; my
statements apply accurately to my own rural community
and (I must assume) similar places, but not to the whole
country. |
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But let's face it, traditional hunting firearms are not what
urbanites fear, and even those in communities like mine
who do not own or use guns are aware of them and okay
with their presence; if they weren't, they'd be nervous
wrecks. I see gun racks in trucks nearly every day. Many of
us (myself included) carry small-caliber arms whenever we
go into the woods, just in case we spot a rabbit (yum). I
live near a popular hiking route and waterfall and have
introduced a number of tourists to the concept that it's
okay to carry a gun around in the woods 'just because'. I
find that many of them are quite receptive to the idea.
Like I said, they're often more afraid of the knife, which I
freely admit is a little on the large size. |
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Knives are scarier than guns. Fact. Why do movie villains always use a blade? Because it wouldn't be scary if Freddy Krueger just drove by and shot people. |
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I would watch a reality show in which a person visited a shooting range / went hunting with a military weapon - for example a grenade launcher or a flamethrower. If questioned the person could produce official looking documents certifying the legality of the weapon. What response would this get from the gun aficionados encountered? Anger? Skepticism? Admiration? Call the police? |
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