Are you worried????????

[william_wallace 8]

As there is thread started on the "Off Topic" forum. Whats UK citizen views on gun law and crime in the US?

I for myself have seen it for myself when I was there in 2005. It did scared the ####### out of me. 3 people shot dead in the same street I lived in. 2 of the woman murdered lived right across for me. It's not an experience I want to see again when I eventually get my visa.

Has anyone else seen or experienced gun crime in America or are you worried about it when you eventually move over?

[MargotDarko 0]

My British husband and I live in Michigan. We moved over this past January after I had spent two and a half years in the UK with them. Neither of us are worried about gun crime here. We live in a nice township outside of Lansing but also work inside Lansing. I would only be worried about it if I lived in Detroit or in a bad neighborhood. In the UK, we lived in Oxford and in Kidlington, a small town outside Oxford. I feel safer here except for when I'm downtown Lansing alone, which feels about the same. Because of the size of the country, to me it seems it's easier to move away from crime in the US.

EDIT - Also, perhaps this more due to differences in reporting, but it seems to me that I heard more about random attacks in the UK than I do here. Most of the crime news I hear here is to do with people committing violent crimes against people they know, which makes me sad but doesn't make me feel unsafe.

Edit again - I should also say I don't mean this to sound like I felt really unsafe in the UK (I didn't, I just feel safer here in our small township)

Edited May 26, 2008 by MargotDarko

[BexandAlan 0]

I know two people who have been murdered here in the UK, one was my neighbor who was abducted and subjected to a cruel and calculated death and the other was shot through gang related violence. The stories I read everyday when I open the paper scare the life out of me. I worry more about walking down the street here than I do when I'm in the states. I live back at home at the moment but I spent a short time living with an exboyfriend in low income, inner city area, 5 out of 7 days a week we were woken up by armed police raids and in the space of two weeks a policewoman and a 15 year old boy were both shot and killed. On Christmas eve a man broke down the back door with an axe because he thought his girlfriend was hiding in our house, it turned out that he was so out of his mind on drugs he had broken into the wrong house. My brother was out last night in the city and a guy tried to stab him because my brother wouldn't give him his driving license! So many more stories ... Britain is getting out of control.

Alan and I have done a lot of traveling and ok I felt safer in some states than I did others but I was never overly concerned about gun crime, just my safety in general. I know that I can have a gun to protect myself at home and anyone breaking into my home knows that too. I'm not going to get myself into trouble for troubles sake. Plus they have a lot stricter punishments for gun crime in the US than we do here so I would have thought a lot of people think about it more seriously. Our sentencing in the UK is laughable and our prisons luxurious.

It might be a case of "the grass is greener on the other side" but it feels like I can avoid violence a lot better in the states. Alan lives in 'suburbia' and I know better than to go wandering into areas that I don't know and causing trouble. People don't get shot very often for no reason what so ever. I'm not part of a gang and if I have something that someone wants they can have it I'm not going to put up a fight and risk my life. I don't know, it definitely doesn't feel any more dangerous in the states than here in the UK.

Thats just my 2 cents. Am I being super naive?

[MargotDarko 0]

I don't think you're being naive. I'm sorry to hear about all the awful things that have you happened to you and around you in the UK. I am sure you will find that moving from your area in the UK to the suburbs in the US will be a big improvement on how safe you feel. There are definitely cities in the US that are extremely dangerous, and areas where people are shot for no reason, and certainly areas where gun crime is a bigger problem than in most of the UK, but I agree that it's easier to get away from in the US.

I know two people who have been murdered here in the UK, one was my neighbor who was abducted and subjected to a cruel and calculated death and the other was shot through gang related violence. The stories I read everyday when I open the paper scare the life out of me. I worry more about walking down the street here than I do when I'm in the states. I live back at home at the moment but I spent a short time living with an exboyfriend in low income, inner city area, 5 out of 7 days a week we were woken up by armed police raids and in the space of two weeks a policewoman and a 15 year old boy were both shot and killed. On Christmas eve a man broke down the back door with an axe because he thought his girlfriend was hiding in our house, it turned out that he was so out of his mind on drugs he had broken into the wrong house. My brother was out last night in the city and a guy tried to stab him because my brother wouldn't give him his driving license! So many more stories ... Britain is getting out of control.

Alan and I have done a lot of traveling and ok I felt safer in some states than I did others but I was never overly concerned about gun crime, just my safety in general. I know that I can have a gun to protect myself at home and anyone breaking into my home knows that too. I'm not going to get myself into trouble for troubles sake. Plus they have a lot stricter punishments for gun crime in the US than we do here so I would have thought a lot of people think about it more seriously. Our sentencing in the UK is laughable and our prisons luxurious.

It might be a case of "the grass is greener on the other side" but it feels like I can avoid violence a lot better in the states. Alan lives in 'suburbia' and I know better than to go wandering into areas that I don't know and causing trouble. People don't get shot very often for no reason what so ever. I'm not part of a gang and if I have something that someone wants they can have it I'm not going to put up a fight and risk my life. I don't know, it definitely doesn't feel any more dangerous in the states than here in the UK.

Thats just my 2 cents. Am I being super naive?

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

I've never seen a shooting, so I'm not overly worried about it in the US. Bad news is always sensationalized but shootings do happen. I live in a small town, USA and feel pretty safe. I stay out of the bad gang ridden, drug dealing areas of big cities. I think it depends on picking your neighborhood. My town is around 65 years old and only has two murders on the books.

[Lansbury 19]

The only thing that worries me about living in the US is someone using their firearm to defend themselves and the consequences of bullets flying around with just wooden walls between me and them.

[debbylyn 0]

The only thing that worries me about living in the US is someone using their firearm to defend themselves and the consequences of bullets flying around with just wooden walls between me and them.

In regards to self defense...in my hometown last year a small store owner pulled a gun on a robber and had his gun taken by the thief and was shot and killed with his own gun! I am anti-gun......but here in the US they are gun happy!

Edited May 26, 2008 by debbylyn

[william_wallace 8]

The only thing that worries me about living in the US is someone using their firearm to defend themselves and the consequences of bullets flying around with just wooden walls between me and them.

In regards to self defense...in my hometown last year a small store owner pulled a gun on a robber and had his gun taken by the thief and was shot and killed with his own gun! I am anti-gun......but here in the US they are gun happy!

I never seen a gun until I went to the USA in 2005. One time I went to New Orleans, went into a bar in Bourbon Street and theres a bloke standing there pish drunk with a gun in a holster #######.

I'm sorry but I ain't a gun fan either.

[Glyn and Kathy 288]

Well, growing up in the States in a fairly rough neighborhood, I would have to say no it doesn't bother me. I grew up with guns in my home (my dad used to hunt with my uncle) and my ex-husband owned guns. My children know guns are not toys and when you use a gun someone could be killed. The thing about gun laws....the people who own guns for respectable reasons follow the laws and the ones that are criminals will find them no matter what. It happens here in the UK. It doesn't matter if they are against the law....they will find a way to get one.

Now, saying that...I am more afraid living here. we don't live too far from that man who went outside to confront some yobs and was beaten to death by some teenage punks. We had 4 drunk teens on our street Friday night (actually 2am Saturday morning) yelling and screaming but NO ONE will confront them as they are terrified of what will happen. The police finally showed up....about 45 minutes later. The McDonalds we ate at in London on Oxford Street when we went for our medical was the seen of a fatal stabbing three days later.

It doesn't matter where you live, senseless violence is EVERYWHERE.

[Saffyre 0]

I wouldn't say I am overly concerned, but I will be cautious. That said, i already have a gun and my SO is signing me up for a training course to make sure I am proficient and can get a concealed weapons permit.

Better to be safe than sorry I guess.

[snowfrostedlashes 0]

I'm no more concerned about gun crime than any other sort of crime. I suppose I will feel slightly more anxious about it when we have children... but really, gun, knife, plank of wood... death is death.

I have always lived in the south west in relatively small communities in the UK and in one of the area I lived a guy had his head bashed in with a plank just across the road from me and it was certainly unsafe to be a woman walking anywhere alone at night. My hometown is safer, but even here we have serious drug problems, and a lot of rather disturbing older men having sex with underage teens.

Maybe I don't have to worry about gun crime where I am now, but in my opinion being shot is not the worst thing that can happen to a person. And I don't think I will feel more threatened living in the US, particularly since I will be living in a nice area. I've always been very safety conscious, so nothing much will change attitude wise.

[william_wallace 8]

I'm no more concerned about gun crime than any other sort of crime. I suppose I will feel slightly more anxious about it when we have children... but really, gun, knife, plank of wood... death is death.

I have always lived in the south west in relatively small communities in the UK and in one of the area I lived a guy had his head bashed in with a plank just across the road from me and it was certainly unsafe to be a woman walking anywhere alone at night. My hometown is safer, but even here we have serious drug problems, and a lot of rather disturbing older men having sex with underage teens.

Maybe I don't have to worry about gun crime where I am now, but in my opinion being shot is not the worst thing that can happen to a person. And I don't think I will feel more threatened living in the US, particularly since I will be living in a nice area. I've always been very safety conscious, so nothing much will change attitude wise.

In my opinion guns do more damage than a knife or piece of wood. Virginia Tech Massacre and the Columbine School gives an example of the amount of weapons that was used. To me it's like living in the Wild West, it will never change.

We also have to take in account the amount of people that have been killed with registered guns, not just the illegal ones.

[snowfrostedlashes 0]

In my opinion guns do more damage than a knife or piece of wood. Virginia Tech Massacre and the Columbine School gives an example of the amount of weapons that was used. To me it's like living in the Wild West, it will never change.

We also have to take in account the amount of people that have been killed with registered guns, not just the illegal ones.

I understand your view and it is a legitimate concern, however, on an individual basis, if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time any weapon - even a piece of wood (as per the example of someone who had his head bashed in during a house party across the road from where I used to live in a small seaside town) - can prove fatal to you as an individual. Now call me selfish, but if I'm dead I'm not going to be much concerned about whether it was a bullet or a brutal stabbing or a baseball bat or whatever... nor will it matter to me personally if I was the only victim or one of many.

I suppose if I was going to move into the middle of some kind of gang warfare zone it would be more of an issue, but even then there are areas in this country where things are almost as bad and all you can do is be sensible about your movements and keep your awareness levels high. Perhaps as a woman I've always worried more about my personal safety but I really see no reason to be any more concerned about it in the area I will be living than I would feel in a south western city here - I can't really speak for the rest of the UK as I've never lived anyplace else.

[ginger1981 0]

Hmm...honestly it all depends on where you live. I live in a relatively low crime northside Chicago neighborhood, but if you go to the south or west side it's a totally different story. This year alone 23 Chicago Public School students have been murdered in gun/gang related crimes on or near school property. There is definitly a problem...guns are only the tip of the iceberg. When it comes down to it the root of the problem is poverty.

However, I grew up in rural Nebraska where nearly everyone has a gun...in fact my grandma used to sleep with one under her pillow! Hunting was part of the culture and I see nothing wrong with gun ownership for sport. There have been murders in the small town I'm from, but growing up there I never felt unsafe unless I stepped onto someone's property who liked to exercise his second amendment right!

However, I don't see the need for anyone to own a semi-automatic or fully automatic weapon.

I'm sorry to hear about your terrible experience William Wallace...it is totally understandable why you would feel pretty nervous about gun crime over here!

[*JG* 2]

America is just like anywhere else. You must be careful everywhere you go. The whole world is a dangerous place.