How Guns Are Sold In American Wal-Marts, Chinese Reactions

Guns on display in a glass case at a Wal-Mart in America.

From Tiexue, Sina, & Mop:

This is how America’s Wal-Mart sell guns

Today, while visiting Wal-Mart, I took a photo while at the gun sales counter. The guns were sold in a rotating glass display case just like this with price tags attached. If interested, you just ask the salesperson to take it out for you to examine. Being able to buy a gun while buying groceries at Wal-Mart, convenient.

Guns on display in a glass case at a Wal-Mart in America.

In this glass display case are different types of ammunition.

Guns on display in a glass case at a Wal-Mart in America.

Guns on display in a glass case at a Wal-Mart in America.

Guns on display in a glass case at a Wal-Mart in America.

Comments from Tiexue:

txgk:

I’d like to ask the lou zhu a question. It may be very naive but please be so kind as to give me an answer. Since guns are sold like this in America, is their government not afraid of social problems? Right now in Shanghai, the supermarkets selling cooking knives have also locked them inside glass display cases like this.

bandit800:

Because the hostility between their people is not as deep as it is with us, which is to say they are harmonious in the true meaning and not river crab. Hehe.

北美孤狼:

China bans guns and aside from political reasons, it may be because the government has considered that there are too many neurotic people in China, people who will bark/howl for no reason. If these kind of people had guns, imagine how bad it would be. (I’m referring to the issue, not people, so I hope certain people will keep that in mind before responding).

破奴:

I think the American Constitution has a part that says the citizens have the right to overthrow an authoritarian government…it is what I have heard, not sure if it is true or not.
But in China, that is not possible, and the key is that the character of the people [on average] is not there yet. If firearms were available for sale in China, then we’d probably have to wear bullet-proof vests in order to go out.

飞行音:

Our country’s people have treachery/trouble-making in their bones. You can see it now, in all of China, no one respects anyone else. Learned men scorn each other and military men are lowly to each other, this place cursing that place. If everyone in China had guns, then the country would be torn apart. Even though everyone speaks Chinese, everyone has a different heart. Are we lacking lessons from history?!!

鹰舞苍穹:

Only with citizens who have high restraint and a society with relatively few injustices would [a country] dare be like this.

cbasky:

Imagine for a moment, if we were to sell guns in this manner, I think those domestic tigers, birds, bears, these animals basically could no longer survive.

bluehaze:

I think I saw a short-barrel M700, did I see wrong??
America is really not bad. The weapons that are sold without restrictions appear to be those used for hunting, but even openly selling firearms like this truly makes people sigh.

俺老头是老兵:

If this were China, the number of crime-related deaths would increase ten times. Therefore, America’s gun deaths is still very little. In the future [if guns were allowed in China], those who are involved in forced demolitions and chengguan would not be so niubi anymore. Pressure us and they’ll just shoot you a few times.

五好青年:

Damn, foreign countries are too incredible, even allowing guns to be sold. If China were to also allow them to be sold, things would be a mess. [The population of] black society [organized crime] would at least increase 2 times.
And with China’s current education level, it is possible that school shootings would happen often.

kelefly:

America is a country that was built up from the first shot of the Battle of Lexington.

And the biggest reason they were victorious at the time was because the ordinary people had guns.

冯欣伯林根:

When everyone has guns, no one is afraid of a few people having guns. If it is fear of overthrowing the government, there is no need. If the current government in power truly doesn’t follow the people’s will, in four years at most, they will have to step down and at worst there are still impeachment procedures. There is no need to use knives and guns [no need for violence], truly not worth it. If one wants to express one’s political views, one can organize one’s own political party. Although America in reality is only a two-party system, there still exist other political parties, and what more, the constitution protects the participation of every political party, with the most powerful non-mainstream parties like the Green Party normally getting around 10% of the vote. If one day, this party were to replace the Democratic Party or the Republican Party, the constitution would also protect it. And when there is social disorder, there is the SWAT. With so many people having guns in America, I don’t think a little handgun or a small hunting rifle can cause any social impact.

中国人都期待航母:

The reason why America allows the ordinary people to possess guns is to prevent dictatorship…when that happens, the people can revolt…
Over time, Americans have developed the habit of not using guns even if they have them. Or maybe they are bound by ideas of individual heroism, believing that men should use fists to fight it out, and not relying on guns.
But in our country, the once proper so quick to resort to taking up knives, if there were guns, definitely within 10 years, the population of Chinese people would probably be reduced by half…haha.
PS: America as a country has the highest penetration of firearms in the world, with one gun per capita, but the number of Americans that die under the barrel of a gun are only a trivial 30,000…

幽狙:

America’s president is chosen by the American citizens, so this type of government is not afraid of the common people harming society and rebelling, because don’t need to resort to guns [violence] and only need to demonstrate and protest to make the president step down~~

kemescape:

Americans lives are comfortable, so why have a good life and not live it? Usually chaotic/disorderly societies are all in impoverished countries; You have guns, others have guns, mutually checking each other. If you carry a gun illegally, the police have the right to kill you. Americans’ tradition highly values life…

Guns. chinaSMACK personals.

Share This Article

403 Comments

  • Some HTML can be used to format your comment.
  • Add a picture to your comments with Gravatar.
  • Our Comment Policy.
  1. Chinese reactions? Who cares. I am an American citizen who current lives in China. In the morning, I think to myself that there will be nothing else that can amaze me about Chinese naivete. Then, by the mid-morning, I am once again reminded about where I am. And, for those of you who would like to hark “Why are you here?” Taking lots of Chinese money, of course.

  2. The #1 reason why Americans have guns is to be prepared for zombie invasions.

  3. As an update, most WalMarts in America are no longer selling firearms. They still sell ammunition and shooting accessories, though. Firearms are still easy for law-abiding citizens to buy in most states. New York, California, Illinois, and Hawaii have seriously limited most people’s access to firearms, while Alaska, Arizona, and Vermont allow the law-abiding to openly carry firearms in public places.

    • Washington state has a “shall issue” concealed pistol permit law. That means that the county or city shall issue a permit to anyone who meets minimal qualifications.
      At the same time it is legal for anyone who can legally own a firearm ( a huge majority) to carry a firearm in the open, so long as the bearer does not use the firearm to threaten or intimidate another person, unless that person is committing violence against other people or their property. That is simply because it is not against the law. No permit needed. Have there been any crimes committed by open carry participants. I have not been able to find any reference to such incidents in Washington state. To my Chinese friends, please note that Washington state is a very different place from the national capital, Washington, District of Columbia.

  4. actually back in ’67 when students raided the armory in the city I live in China, guns as just as plenty. Even worst, cause they’re automatics [though from the story i heard, they tend to jam a lot]

    The bad thing of course is then different faction decides to shoot at each other, and things are pretty bad. When I went to 90s, you can still find bullet holes in some of the buildings. But now those houses are teared and replaced with carrefours and such.

  5. I think guns in China would improve the driving. The fear of being shot makes people drive better. Take the case: Taxi stops, old lady starts to pay, black Audi pulls up and driver leans on horn. Old lady is a little slow getting out, Audi man is still leaning on horn. Black Audi gets riddled with bullets from angry people trying to sleep or walking by. World is better place as one more shithead is wiped from the gene pool. End story.

  6. “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” – Mao

    The US Constitution guarantees the right of US citizens to bear arms, so if the government becomes tyrannical, the people can rise up and start a new one. Read the Declaration of Independence.

    • Yes, of course, you’re right, all the politicians and legislators in the state capitols, and Washington, are quivering with fear at the thought of the rifles under the beds, and the pistols in the nightstands. Wouldn’t take a moment to organize everyone into a well-regulated militia and march them along the freeways to glory, would it?

      Reading your post, I’ve finally understood, after years of gnawing my knuckles, why Americans own guns.

      Now, I’m off to read the Declaration of Independence, since that’s where I’ll find the US Constitution. I know that because you said so.

      [And never mind that Mao is talking about the control of guns by the government (actually the communist party, but that’s hair-splitting in China) against the people, which is exactly the reverse of your (totally outmoded) idea – the quote sounds good, and if we’ve got a few beers down, no one will notice.]

      Can’t wait for your next enlightening post.

      • Yes, of course, you’re right, all the politicians and legislators in the state capitols, and Washington, are quivering with fear at the thought of the rifles under the beds, and the pistols in the nightstands. Wouldn’t take a moment to organize everyone into a well-regulated militia and march them along the freeways to glory, would it?

        No politician is worried about militiamen taking down the military – he’s worried about a fearless individual taking him out. Before Mao could carry out his program, he had to disarm the Chinese population. Otherwise, one of them might have put China out of its misery by putting him down like the rabid dog he was.

        • What politicians who demand gun confiscation are worried about is the American military. I am a combat veteran of 2 wars and I KNOW that the professional non-commissioned officer and officer corps of the combat arms branches take their oaths to defend the Constitution very seriously. Should the federal gummit try to confiscate the arms of the people, orders to enter homes and arrest people will likely result in a military driven civil war, in which politicians would acquire cases of lead poisoning in large numbers.

  7. just shows how f****d up america is. i quite dont understand why anyone would want to live there. crime and violence is tolerated, its part of their culture, its therefore the reason, why we have this so called land of the free right now. elbow society with no morals causing not only death to their own citizens but casting a shadow of war all over the planet. dont get me wrong, the land its build on is maybe the most diverse and beautiful nature has to offer, its just the people on it, chanting ‘USA USA USA’ that make me wonder…

    • A perfect example of retarded sexual and emotional maturity. The premise of his screen name implies that the only use of guns is killing people and shows his ignorance. His foolish notion of America is based on propaganda and not knowledge. The fact that America has protected freedom and defeated many dictators all over the world for the last century is ignored to promote his twisted view of the US. The US has never cast a shadow of war on the planet, just responded to he waring fascists that would enslave people and cause mass genocide, like Mao in China.

  8. As an American born of Cuban Parents I have a interesting background on firearms and why America has them.

    When the King of England ruled over the Crown Colonies in the New World, the subjects were not treated with respect. They had no voice in the British Government and were taxed without any representation and recourse. The people wanted to resolve issues with the Crown in a peaceful manner but the Crown didn’t give a damn. After years and years of issues and events the British Government went to remove the lawful arms form the people. Hence the start of the American War for Independence.

    My family fled Cuba because of a Communist Revolution. The same Communist Revolution that happened in Mainland China. With the Castro Government came disarming of the people and then death squads and people being killed by the government for simply not not agreeing with it.

    My family came to the USA in May of 1961. We fought against Communist Aggression in Cuba, Vietnam, and in many other parts of the world. My family has served in the US Armed Forces and as Police since we became Americans.

    We don’t just own hunting arms. We have pistols, rifles, shotguns, submachine guns, assault rifles, battle rifles, crew served machine guns, anti-material rifles, sniper rifles, silenced weapons, etc…. all are legal to own the the USA. I own many from each category.

    I own AR-15s, AK-47s, a Steyr AUG, Remington 870s, Armalite AR-180, Remington 700, Sig 522, M1 Garand, Mauser K98k, No4 Mk I Enfield, Type 53 Mosin Nagant, M39 Mosin Nagant, M1 Carbines, etc….

    As a nation we are armed for our own protection against foreign threats and domestic threats. It is one of our founding principles. If either the Communist Government of the People’s Republic of China wished to harm the United States of America or if my own government became despotic we have the means to resist.

    That is what separates a free people from those locked into serfdom and slavery to the state. I wish that the people of China could be free and not live under a despotic regime. But sadly many of you are blind followers of the State.

    In the end…. an armed person is a citizen, a disarmed person and a subject.

    Which would you rather be?

  9. You people are idiots.

    All you have to do is get on the internet and do a little searching and you can’t even do that.

    Walmart does sell guns but not any idiot can ask to examine a gun. They have super tight restrictions, even on that. I know for one, you must show them a valid gun permit for which ever state you are in at the time.

    Any idiot that tells you differently doesnt know what he/she is talking about.

    #2 I love my country, but stop believing in all that “Americans live comfortably” bullshit. Although our population is small compared to yours, Millions and millions of people were dirt poor before the recession came through. Check out some of the other states besides California, Florida and NY and you’ll see that.

    “No wonder America is so wealthy?”

    If I was the leader of China, I wouldn’t worry about giving you guys guns, i’d worry about giving you guys unmodified world history books. Your heads would explode from the first 3 chapters.

    • @Terry Bogard
      You said: “Walmart does sell guns but not any idiot can ask to examine a gun. They have super tight restrictions, even on that. I know for one, you must show them a valid gun permit for which ever state you are in at the time.

      Any idiot that tells you differently doesnt know what he/she is talking about.”

      I don’t need a stinking permit. In most cases you only have to be old enough to examine the gun. To buy a gun requires a background check.

      Stop pulling crap out of your ass.

    • Many US states do not require any permit to buy and carry a gun.

  10. “A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity.”
    Sigmund Freud.

    “An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.”
    Robert A. Heinlein.

    It is clear that the people in China have not reached the point of personal freedom that is needed to have free ownership of weapons. The problem in the US is that too many of our leaders would like Americans to be as meek and weak as the Chinese, meaning easy to control.

    • I’m just open-mouthed at the breath-taking fatuity of the 2 posts you contributed to this board today.

      If there were some hellish, Olympic contest with a prize for packing, into the smallest possible space, incorrect history, facts and quotes along with chauvinistic, racist drivel – I think your posts would challenge seriously for the Gold and Silver medals.

      Please don’t make me respond point by point. I started to, but realized I hardly have the time.

      The scary part is realizing that I’m living in a country with people like you in it. You’re like a bloated, arrogant balloon, packed full of stale shit-reek, and I wouldn’t like to be around to smell it when something or someone finally bursts you.

      • Typical liberal response. When you don’t have facts you use the argument through intimidation. don’t respond with a reasonable discussion, insult the poster to keep yourself from having to think of something intelligent to say. Of course you won’t respond to my post with logic or reasonable thoughts, the liberal mindset is not capable of anything except insult the other person instead of debating them. Your post is shallow and without any rational thoughts. As I said a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity. Thank you for proving my point.

        • As a card-carrying liberal type, I am puzzled by this comment. I am not convinced that this random moron is a proper representation of the blue state thought-process. Not every liberal is incapable of rational thought.

          [That would be like thinking the bible thumping anti-evolutionists that post drivel on YouTube make up the majority of the red states.]

          Peter’s ridiculous comments aside, the debate in the states has never been about guns being legal or not; it’s about limits on certain kinds of guns, carry-laws, and other forms of regulation. I have rarely met well-educated Americans who are against gun-ownership in it’s entirety.

          I wonder how legalizing guns might change the social landscape in China, though. I have lived here long enough to worry that it might lead to a bloody massacre. I am glad that there were no guns used during the anti-American and anti-Japanese riots. Then again, maybe the rioting wouldn’t have escalated into peasants throwing rocks at foreign children if the foreign parents were likely to be carrying.

      • What politicians who demand gun confiscation are worried about is the American military. I am a combat veteran and I KNOW that the professional non-commissioned officer and officer corps of the combat arms branches take their oaths to defend the Constitution very seriously. Should the federal gummit try to confiscate the arms of the people, orders to enter homes and arrest people will likely result in a military driven civil war, in which politicians would acquire cases of lead poisoning in large numbers. As an SF friend told me, “we need to know the unorganized militia is armed so we CAN follow our oaths to support and defend the Constitution”.

        Those who believe we can trust our government to respect the Constitution when we are disarmed need to step back and observe just how disrespectful the government is of the Constitution when we ARE armed. The same government people are advocates of gun control.

        Semper Fidelis

    • what the hell man. Sigmund Freud himself was sexually retarded, maybe stop picking quotes which you think would underline your sadistic opinion. I’m not afraid of guns but the people carrying it. You and the other guy with his arsenal of weapons have just proven me right. Please stay where you are.

      I dont need history books or whatsover and there are many chinese (which im not) out there who actually know what kind of problems they have on mainland. But that is not the point here anyway. Maybe start using the little thing called brain which can be found inside your very head before calling other people brainwashed the next time you watch your ‘propaganda-free’ News on CNN CBS and whatsoever Channel used by your countrys leading People to frighten their citizens.

      And by the Way, the US never actively did anything against the CP in China. Maybe at that time, there was nothing to earn from it.

      • The problem is you do need history books, and if you read them you would know that the most sadistic and brutal governments were the ones that disarmed the people so that they could pacify, control and commit genocide of the people they governed. I fear uncontrolled spending, control, and power, of the government not guns. That is the nice thing about armed people, you don’t need to have fear.

      • “And by the Way, the US never actively did anything against the CP in China. Maybe at that time, there was nothing to earn from it.”

        In China, yes, not much. The Kuomintang got some support for the Japanese war, and even less later, during the Chinese civil war. However, there was the dust-up in Korea, 1950-53. Check out the Battle of the Frozen Chosin.

        The Battle of Chosin Reservoir, also known as the Chosin Reservoir Campaign or the Changjin Lake Campaign (simplified Chinese: 长津湖战役; pinyin: Cháng Jīn Hū Zhàn Yì), was a decisive battle in the Korean War. Shortly after the People’s Republic of China entered the conflict, the People’s “Volunteer” Army 9th Army infiltrated the northeastern part of North Korea and surprised the US X Corps at the Chosin Reservoir area. A brutal seventeen day battle in freezing weather soon followed. In the period between 27 November and 13 December 1950, 30,000 United Nations (UN) troops (nicknamed “The Chosin Few”) under the command of Major General Edward Almond (USMC) were encircled by approximately 60,000-120,000 Chinese troops under the command of Song Shi-Lun. Although Chinese troops managed to surround and outnumber the UN forces, the UN forces broke out of the encirclement while inflicting crippling losses on the Chinese. The evacuation of the X Corps from the port of Hungnam marked the complete withdrawal of UN troops from North Korea. 20,000 Chinese prisoners. 7 Chinese divisions were destroyed. Most of the”UN” forces were United States Marines.

        Semper Fi

  11. “An armed society is a polite society.” – Heinlein

    I greatly enjoyed reading your comments. Many citizens here own military guns. Many of us have served in the military. I have about 20 guns and enough ammunition to last the rest of my life even if I die of old age. We are prepared for anything but generally speaking we consider guns useful for a great many things, not only to be used as weapons against each other.

    There has never been a murder in my city.

    • SuperMan, I’m fascinated. What, pray, are the “great many” uses of guns, other than “as weapons against each other”? Do tell.

      Before you begin, let’s take for granted their also being “used as weapons against” defenseless animals (you know, those cowardly acts of aggression by otherwise fat, well-fed men known as “hunters”). I don’t think you were talking about that, and we can argue about it another time.

      Hmm: uses of guns…. Maybe in case the Indians or the buffalo try to reclaim their land? Holding off the kind of federal forces that used to be sent out against gun fruit cakes in the Idaho wilderness? Space invaders?

      If you don’t mind, for now I’m going to hold off on the gunnies’ marvelous notion of shooting at unarmed assailants foolish enough to enter their homes uninvited (gun as deterrent). Not because this is not an instance of using “weapons against each other” (it obviously is, therefore your post was not concerned with it), but because the topic deserves a separate discussion.

      • Ever watch the Olympics? There are several dozen shooting events. Competition shooting is very big and there are hundreds of different kinds of events. I have never hunted, but I have been a competitive shooter starting in my teens and have won many medals and trophies for shooting. I shoot small bore match rifle, Cowboy action, and trap and skeet as well as high power bench rest shooting. The many uses for guns is as great as the many uses for automobiles.
        As far as acts of aggression against animals, all I can say it is a modern kind of liberal that has such silly notions. If you lived in another time you would go hungry with the idea that hunting is bad. Furthermore I am sure that the notion of defenseless animals is contradictory to the facts of the food chain.

        • You and I probably should not bother, because you’re just chattering, whereas there’s a serious point at issue. On this forum, we’re talking about why ordinary people need to buy and carry guns – have them always at their elbows, in their drawers…

          The people you call “liberals” are mostly appalled and terrorized at the notion of anyone (me, you…), never mind everyone, welcoming a thing like a gun into their home. It has nothing to do with sexual or emotional maturity (topics with which you insulted and taunted your other adversary in your very first sentence – so it hardly becomes you to complain when you get insulted too!). It has to do with innocent people getting hurt and injured for no damn reason other than the mostly baseless fears of gun-owners and bearers.

          So, now you chatter about Olympic competition. OK, you’re still at the mental age of about 10, you think it’s super to hit a target. I have no quarrel with you – go DO it! At the gun center, the shooting range, you can practice safely, all you want. Have a good time. But buying guns for your home? What’s that got to do with it? Guns can be used to kill and maim people, and I submit that in ordinary everyday situations (not in target practice competitions, not hunting in the woods), there’s no other use for them! That’s what we’re arguing about!

          Now, you want to chatter about hunting too. First, let me abstract from the situation where you have no food but what you can shoot in the wilds. OK, if that is somehow your situation, and you plan to use what you kill for food (clothes…) much like a lion downing a zebra on the savannah – who could argue with you?

          But, let’s be serious – and honest. Yes, I know, that last one is going to be tough for you, but courage, Gregory. How many people who go hunting in this country are really in the above situation? They just do it for fun, for kicks. OK, again, if people really get their kicks killing and maiming defenseless creatures, then who am I to argue? Show off the carcasses to your friends, put the heads up on the wall, have a good time. But please let’s not keep the guns where the Columbine kids, etc., can easily get them, buy them, etc.. Let’s not have a culture where everyone has a gun, and tens of thousands of people are getting killed and maimed every year, and hundreds of thousands more live in fear of the same. When it comes to getting rid of this culture of violence, it is – I suggest – people like you, with your glib attitudes, who stand in the way.

          I know there are a lot complex issues here, technical matters and statistics. We can hardly address them all in these little boxes. I am more trying to make an appeal at the level of the heart. My feeling is that those who love guns are cold and unloving, and do not truly respect and love people. You will say: “Oh, no, guns are just our tools, our way of protecting (loving) our families.” But, I think that if you really stop and look at it, Gregory (and all you other gun-lovers), you’re going to know in your heart that your position doesn’t feel good, that you’d rather we none of us needed, wanted or possessed guns.

          • A more reasoned reply, but you assume that your feeling are more important then other people beliefs and rights. So you think that shooting competitions are childish? I guess by that standard all sports are childish and people who play and watch them are at a mental age of 10.

            As far as hunting goes I guess you feel morally superior to go buy food at the market. You once again place yourself above other people because you don’t like a sport. I am sure that a rabbit does not like being hunted by a wolf either, but that does not make a rabbit morally superior to a wolf. If you resent being at the top of the food chain then you should try to go live without your comfortable, modern lifestyle and have to survive on just your limited mental ability.

            Yes there are allot of complex issues here. The problem is that all of the statistics, crime reports, FBI crime studies, and fact based studies have shown that in cities and states where there is open gun ownership and carry laws the crime is much lower than in cities and states that have restrictive gun laws. Chicago and DC are the most prominent examples, but there are many others. If you study the FBI crime figures or read John Lott’s books that is a good place to start your learning process.

            I will just ignore your closing statements that you are more loving and sensitive because you don’t like guns because it is such a stupid comment and is irrelevant. I will just say that all the love in your heart will not help you when you are attacked and you will not be able to defend yourself. If you had to watch a loved one hurt or killed because you did not have the moral strength to defend yourself and family it might change your mind. I am a kind enough person to say I hope you never have a dilemma like that and god help you if you do.

      • An excellent use for guns is keeping people like Peter from ramming their arrogant prejudices down our throats.

        That’s really what Petey finds so offensive about guns—if he gets in someone’s face with his obnoxious hate-filled lunacy, they might not just kick his ass, they might put a bullet in him.

        • Well done, Cosantoir! You have perfectly nailed the loss of free-speech and peaceful action that normal people in USA suffer, due to fear of violent, gun-crazed creeps like you.

          • Jones – I believe you have totally misunderstood Cosantoir’s post, and my response. I have no argument about putting the poor cow out of its pain, if that is truly the best option (no vets around, etc.). A gun, if available, may or may not be the best option for that.

            But Cosantoir simply threatened me with gun violence. He says, in case you missed it, that an excellent use for guns is putting a bullet in people like me, if what we say, or the way we say it, happens to annoy him. Please re-read what he said now, to be sure you understand, before we proceed.

            I’m grateful you’ve given me a chance to expand a little bit on dear Cosantoir. You see, when I am driving along, and someone cuts me out, or perpetrates what I take to be some other act of inconsiderate or incompetent driving, I never, ever, hoot, or remonstrate, or say anything, or even look at the driver in question. I knew someone who got shot for doing these things (the driver had a gun in his glove compartment – you know, using his 2A rights.] Similarly, I would never, ever say anything to Cosantoir outside a web forum, because he just explicitly told everyone that he’d like to shoot me for what I have said. With what little I know of this person, I have no reason to doubt his word. He already said, elsewhere here, that he carries a gun, and threatens others with it.

            Finally, you may in future wish to distinguish its from it’s. “Its” is a possessive pronoun, and there’s no apostrophe at all. “It’s” is short for “it is”. So you mean “its misery”, not “it’s misery”, and “its long death throws”, not “it’s long death throws”. [A side issue - you are referring to death throes, I take it, not "throws". Bit hard throwing a dying cow around, perhaps? ]

          • Peter, you are an hero.

          • 谢谢你, 美大侠。我不是英雄,但也许一点独自(寂寞?)在这里!

          • http://encyclopediadramatica.com/An_hero

            我不是说你是个英雄,我说你是’an hero.’ 也是如果你觉得我是个中国人,谢谢你,我不敢但。我就是个像爱中国的人。

          • Ah, the sting of disappointment. Don’t suppose you’d have any more capacity to justify your point of view than Jones, Gregory, Box, etc. etc.? No, I didn’t think so…太糟糕了!

            Tell you what, though – fucktard though I may be, the disease is not to that degree where I’d waste any more time talking with you folks! This is my last post on this board. Congratulations, now you can all fire your guns in the air in celebration. Hope the bullets don’t land on any of you twerps!

          • Peter,

            You basically ignored every rational argument that Gregory made when he tore your ideas to pieces. He answered all of your questions neatly; instead of conceding this, you jumped from thread to thread arguing randomly with other people. If you are really trying to have a constructive conversation, you also have to be willing and able to concede where you are wrong. Otherwise, you are acting like a small-minded thug.

            You write beautifully, but your ideas are hounded by logical fallacies and a rather sad condition of mistrusting the general public. If I read your arguments correctly, the biggest difference between you and everyone else is just that you don’t trust yourself or other people with guns. You have to understand that not everyone holds other people to such low standards.

            PS: I find it odd that you picked my name out of the crowd as “someone without the capacity to justify my point of view.” Our conversation was limited to me pointing out the hypocrisy in one of your comments when you slurred, attacked, and mis-represented Jones while writing about how the conversation should be kept civil. It’s very Bill O’Reilly of you to tell people to be polite while you call them names and talk over them.

            Some advice: Sophistry, trust issues, and bully-like behavior are signs of the sociopath. Obviously, I cant offer a proper recommendation over Chinasmack, but if you are like this in real life you should see a psychiatrist. I know a few people who are available in Shanghai if you are covered by decent insurance.

          • Against better judgement, am breaking my own promise, in order to query one of the very few ideas of substance in your recent post. You say: “You basically ignored every rational argument that Gregory made when he tore your ideas to pieces. He answered all of your questions neatly;”.

            I dispute this utterly, but let’s keep the dispute very specific. There is no satisfactory response, from Gregory or anyone else, to the simple question with which this sub-thread (answering Super V Owner) began: “What, pray, are the ‘great many’ uses of guns, other than ‘as weapons against each other’?”

            As stated clearly above, more than once, we may exempt sporting competitions and killing animals (ie. hunting, by well-fed men) from these “uses”. Such “uses” are irrelevant to the fundamental concern of my question: (1) because there is no cogent argument (I know of) to stop people doing what they want in these areas (2) I don’t think (though I could be wrong) that your beloved 2A was about these uses, and these uses are not why people keep guns in the nightstand, the glove compartment or even the inside pocket – can we get that far together?

            If you will simply concede that the fundamental use of guns is to kill, maim and injure other humans, then I think we can penetrate to the real point in all of this, which you yourself raise, in saying: “you don’t trust yourself or other people with guns”.

            Spot on, Box! You apparently believe that (almost) every citizen should be able to judge when it is right to kill, maim and injure other humans. A typical case is the one to which Jones drew attention with his link (the old man in his driveway – oh, and I never got an answer in that sub-thread either). I do not have this belief. I guess that’s really all we’re arguing about, isn’t it?

            The American stance here (legs slightly apart, hands twitching above holsters) is one big reason (and I’m generalizing for effect here, but there is substance, believe me) that American culture is held in a kind of horrified awe, by so many other world cultures. Yes, there are John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, in every American bedroom, ready to do in the baddies. If the effects weren’t so tragic, it would be the kind of thing you’d see on a Monty Python skit.

            I know these images and ideas do not sit well in the American psyche. I apologize if the passion of my belief has made me bad company at times. But I do want to get across the other side of the argument, to some here who seem (please forgive me) a little simple.

          • Peterscabies, you remind me a lot of Rush Limbaugh, Anne Coultor, Rev. Wright, etc. a bunch of nuts who think they speak for the majority and assert themselves in such a way as to control the real majority by misguiding the powers that be into believing that there is a problem where none exists!

      • “Before you begin, let’s take for granted their also being “used as weapons against” defenseless animals (you know, those cowardly acts of aggression by otherwise fat, well-fed men known as “hunters”). I don’t think you were talking about that, and we can argue about it another time.”

        My family has no fat men. We are well fed. That is because we are not even middle class “wealthy”, but rather, well educated, steeped in the values of the Founding Fathers, and hunters. We hunt to eat. We depend on none but our family to survive and sustain. Take your socialist drivel and move to Cuba. Please. That we can, is testimony to the value and power of the most revolutionary governing concept in human history, The United States Constitution.

        Sir, your casual usage of vituperative insults brings me to hope you are not an American. Bad enough when an American legally and righteously abuses freedom of speech. Grin.

  12. I’m from Canada and very impressed with some of the very knowlegeable and accurate comments left on this post. The right to bear “arms” in the US is called the “5th ammendment”. Recently there was a motion passed which allowed all 50 states to possess firearms legally. Having the right to over throw an undesireable government is giving the rights to the people

    • A very pleasant post. I just want to correct you on the fact that the Right own guns is the 2nd amendment not the 5th. It is also commonly stated that the first amendment is the right to free speech and without the 2nd amendment it would not be protected.

  13. we have all these fire power for defense against red commie bastards!!

    do they have meat cleavers in glass display at Wal Mart in China?

  14. Shit, the gun debate is nauseating enough in the US, now the people are bringing this topic on Chinese related forums.

    If you live in the US where guns are allowed, good for you. If you live in Iraq where the US/Iraqi government have tried to outlaw guns, too bad.

    For the Chinese people, the good news is that the gun lobby have not infiltrated the Chinese government yet.

    • Er, what use would a gun lobby have in China, dearie?

      Stepping back, for one moment, from who is pro-gun-violence and who is against it, the one common denominator noticeable from reading through this entire thread is the almost universal correlation between pro-gun-violence posts and ignorance of history, politics, logic and grammar.

      Balancing that, the gun-toters are strong on parroting, empty slogans and stale thinking.

      Material here for a Soc. Sci. doctoral thesis, but basically, I suppose, if you’re ignorant, uneducated and dimly aware that you may not be playing with a full deck, then better keep a gun close by, to compensate?

      • PeterScatterBrain, who the hell is PRO GUN VIOLENCE? Are you always this moronic and arbitrary in your stupid comments, or only when protected by the anonimity of the Intardwebs??

        There is a world of difference between being pro-gun and being pro-gun-violence. Much the smae way there is a world of difference between pro-women and being pro-women-violence.

        Just because you are supportive of wormen doesn’t mean youare supportive of women’s violence, either for or against them.

        You sir, are a typical tignorant git that hides bhind the anonimity of the IntardWebs and spews absolute tripe – I would like to see you try debate face to face on a public VIDEO forum your pointless, factless and baseless ignorant anti-gun rhetoric.

        Again, just in case your open mouth breathing is affecting your reading ability, there are people who are PRO-GUN, as in they support the freedom to manufacture, sell, buy and use guns as they see fit WITHIN IN THE LAWS OF A FREE SOCIETY. In other words, the guns cannot and should not be used as tools of violence any more so than bats, knives, chairs, bottles, fists, doors, windows, tables, pool cues, pens or telephone books can and have been used as tools of violence.

        I am just going to hazard a guess here, but you probably are also an obama supporter.

        • Whats wrong with Obama?

        • @RC45 – I’ve managed to read your post, despite all the new words. [I'm guessing you are not a tignorant wormen.] Not much substance, so the reply is easy.

          Although you can be violent with a wet noodle, of course, all the objects you mentioned do indeed have uses other than for committing inter-personal violence. All have legitimate uses for individuals alone, or interacting with other humans.

          However, this is not the case with guns. (As above, in unanswered debate with other chumps like you, let’s abstract from Olympic competitions, killing animals, etc.) When people store guns in their homes and cars, or carry them about their person when leaving home – pray what use have they for the guns other than violence? Do tell, I’m fascinated.

          Again, in case you can’t grasp it – all your objects have well-known purposes that have nothing to do with violence. But, when only interpersonal interactions are considered, WHAT ELSE IS A GUN FOR BUT TO PERPETRATE VIOLENCE?

          • However, this is not the case with guns. (As above, in unanswered debate with other chumps like you, let’s abstract from Olympic competitions, killing animals, etc.) When people store guns in their homes and cars, or carry them about their person when leaving home – pray what use have they for the guns other than violence? Do tell, I’m fascinated.

            You say “let’s”. But why should anyone concede your point? Simply writing “let’s” doesn’t let you off the hook. There are recreational uses for these weapons.

            Having said that, I’m not a recreational gun owner. For me, the primary use is to prevent violence or property crime against me and mine, in fraught situations when seconds count, but the cops are only an hour away (if they show up at all). And in the real world, with real criminals who rob, maim or kill because it’s more entertaining or less strenuous than working, it takes the threat of violence or actual violence to prevent them from having their way with the victim. Fortunately, a growing number of states are beginning enact Castle Law protections to prevent individuals who kill or injure criminals – in the course of protecting themselves or their property – from either being prosecuted by local law enforcement or sued by the perps for damages.

          • Want to discuss the story Jones’ link pointed to, because it is such an excellent test case for us (since it’s middle-of-the-road – not too egregious on either side). No more insults. I apologize for my emotional responses to what I see as wrong stances in life. Let’s try and reason this out, from our opposite sides of the barricades. Please?

            Yes, it seems the old guy is the aggrieved party, that the neighbors are right to laud him as their hero, that the Hispanic gents are career-criminal scum, and that we should all cheer and feel good that one of those scoundrels got shot in the face, or head. Ah, if only they’d both got killed…. But, is it really that way?

            Should an 82 year-old man (or you, or I) really be judge, jury and, if he deems it necessary, executioner over two young men stealing his trailer? Maybe they have young children and loving wives? Maybe, their next time in the slam, one of them would have a massive change of heart, and start counseling inner-city youth, or become a priest? Don’t sneer too long, it’s happened, and it’s not even rare.

            What if the old guy just stayed inside until they’d gone, then called the police and the insurance company (your trailer is insured against theft, right?)? If he really insists on being an activist (which, apparently, he did), why not go out and observe the license plates, even shoot out all the tires, then go back in and call the cops? [Personally, I wouldn’t attempt such things (especially over my trailer) unless I was darn sure they didn’t have a gun, and wouldn’t simply step out of their cab and let me have it.] But that last little bit’s not relevant to the main issue, which is:

            Are we sure that, as a society, we have it right, when we say, not just to 82 year-old men (and almost every other adult): “If there is the slightest invasion of your person, family or property, no matter how inconsequential, feel free to do whatever you like to the villains, including taking random pot-shots at them with your personal gun.”?

            Where is our sense of proportion? Isn’t this why we have spent hundreds of years building up judicial processes, with due deliberation? True, the results of the latter are not invariably satisfying, but aren’t they better than going back to allowing everyone to decide, all by themselves, the fate of alleged bad buys?

            “Just saying”, as you delightfully literate chaps now put it. I am not one of those who’d go easy on the Hispanic gents, once they’d got caught. In my country, they’d work until they’d recompensed everyone for the trailer, the judicial process and a bit besides. But shooting them in the face over it? Wow. Such is the US of good ol’ A.

          • Oh, Jonesy, I didn’t mean to sneer or condescend. Frozen there in the headlights, firing in the general direction of those who have wronged you, it seems you have slightly lost the sense of humor you normally display when it is you dishing out the comedy.

            Could it be that the old man confronted the thieves by positioning himself in front of (or close to the path of) the getaway truck, just as they were attempting to leave? Might he have even raised his weapon threateningly? We do not know for sure. But if this was the case, perhaps the driver, hastening to escape, gunned the motor and used his skill to swerve, and barely avoided running the old man down. At that point, the raised gun is fired in the general direction of the heads showing in the cab…

            Jones, what earthly difference does it make whether the shooter aimed coldly at the passenger’s face, or just took his best shot at the cab? No sneering here, but I hope, for his sake, you are not the man’s attorney. “Well, your honor, you see he didn’t mean to hit the defendant in the face, he was just firing in his general direction.” Yeah, that’s going to impress the jury, and the judge, too, I would think.

            Good to know that you’d also take a pot shot at someone stealing your trailer. After all, a human life is not worth much in relation to your trailer.

            I admit I was hoping for a response with a little more substance, but I’m not holding my breath.

          • CRACKPOT ON THE INTERTUBE. IMMINENT DEATH OF CHINASMACK PREDICTED. NEWS AT 11.

            Dear Peter,

            What do you REALLY have against guns and pornography? What is behind this deep rooted desire to trollerize the Chinese intertubes with your ad hominem attacks and basic logical fallacies?

            I am seriously considering buying a gun to protect my right to pornography from people like you.

          • Jones – apology if I misinterpreted your intention. I see nothing in your response that answers the basic “substance” in mine.

            Why do you feel that the old man should have the right, guaranteed in US law (not now, but in future, perhaps) to emerge from his home, with a gun, while someone is stealing his trailer, put himself in harm’s way by standing in front of the getaway truck, and then shoot at the villains, in fact shooting one of them (possibly killing him, even if not actually so)?
            To someone civilized, this sounds like a Western, or some other kind of TV program, not real life.

            Please answer the question of substance, and cut down on the personal remarks. Thanks.

          • “To someone civilized, this sounds like a Western, or some other kind of TV program, not real life.”

            “Please answer the question of substance, and cut down on the personal remarks. Thanks.”

            You are insinuating that you represent civilized society? And that nobody else here might also be able to? You are attacking people directly and indirectly and then asking people to cut down on personal remarks?

            Seriously, let me sum up your entire argument in five words:

            “I am a condescending asshat.”

          • Jones – passing over your first 3 paragraphs, with respect. No one will argue with: “he has a right to protect his property….they do not have a right to steal his property.” If the thieves are really never prosecuted, it sounds like something has gone very wrong with the usual system of justice.

            You originally posted the link to this story in the perspective of “Castle Law”. I think it is fair to say you were soliciting sympathy (if not shock and outrage) on behalf of the gunman, in this case.

            So the question reduces, it seems, to whether someone who has gone well out of his way to put his life in danger (apparently by standing close to the departing truck, or even placing himself in its likely path), may legitimately retaliate against the fleeing criminals, by shooting directly at them.

            If someone invades your home, and threatens you with deadly force, then it seems hard to argue that you have no right to defend yourself appropriately, perhaps even killing the assailant on the spot. However, the case you posted seems very far from this situation. I must admit I do find it lcomforting that the US authorities (so far) apparently support this interpretation.

          • The misguided urban youths who decided to bash in my brains one evening heartily agree with Petey: guns only perpetuate violence!

            Why, guns are such violent entities that the evil mind-control rays emanating from my pistol caused those innocent fellows to tail me and my companion for a couple of blocks, then hop out of their car with baseball bats and start swinging.

            It was probably the gun’s powerful sense of self-preservation that caused it to switch off those mind-control rays and restore those youths’ peaceful natures as soon as I pulled it from its holster.

            I would have asked those nice young men why they no longer wanted to beat me to death for the few dollars in my wallet, but for some reason they were too busy running away?

          • Cosantoir –yes, ideal scenario when the good guys have the superior threat. What if one, or more, of the nice young men had also then pulled out guns? Almost enough to make you think, isn’t it?

            Interesting about the mind-control rays – sounds almost as if you are perceiving a mutual attraction between you and the nice young men, at that time.

  15. Funny how this gun rights vs gun control debate has morphed into Chinese forums. Its like flogging a dead horse debate. Of course its enshrined in the US constitution the right to bear arms and defend yourself.

    Gun control advocates are always trying to move the goal posts higher so there are better checks on gun consumption and the NRA (national rifle association) with deep pockets and enormous clout always trying to roll them back.

  16. Its amazing to me as an American that you all can put up with that bullshit.I ll give you a clue, its not about owning a gun,its about the right to choose. I have 3 kids and about to have 4.What kind of government can tell you how many kids you can have?

  17. now wait a second…

    why is it that so many people claim that the population would drop if guns were introduced into china? I thought that China actually wants population control…

    • Hello all,

      I’m a teacher in America and was a teacher in China as well. There are a lot of similarities, and differences, in both countries regarding guns that I would like to share with those who are interested:

      Similarities:

      A) There were cases in both school systems where students brought guns to school. Many of those students were abused children and had uncles named Paul, or something similar in China: (男子名)保罗. Those children often had hard times adjusting to listening to men with soft and seductive voices.

      B) Guns in both instances were not loaded. The reason for this, according to students, was because a loaded gun will only get them in more trouble. I guess killing kids wasn’t what they wanted to do, instead they wanted to scare students and staff into bowing down and begging for mercy; which in all cases happened. It was actually quite amusing.

      C) In both cases, the kids were zipperheads and negros. Those ethnicities seem to enjoy reeking havoc within in the school systems; not only with their lack of learning the English language but with their undeniable odors and scents.

      D) In China, the kids that had the guns had purchased them by road merchants who also sold bottled water called Zzij. I never tried it, but they said it was a salty water that made them crazy enough to shoot kids. In America, the kids were drinking Bud Light; obviously drunk. Coincidence?

      Differences:

      A) The kids that had the guns in China were dressed up as ninjas and looked the part quite well. I believed that they were ninjas. Though they had guns instead of swords, I thought that they were a new form of ninja that had taken over the countryside. Maybe I was wrong…maybe I wasn’t.

      B) The kids in America that had the guns were completely scared of monsters. They kept yelling “Monster Rain!!” and disappearing for a few minutes before returning to their terrorist acts. It was something that I’m still trying to figure out, as it was quite scary…especially if there really was monsters falling from the sky.

      That’s all that I can share at the moment, I hope that helps bring some insight into the whole thing…crazy how these kids are these days.

  18. Well, lets shop for some girls/wife at the supermarket next time…

  19. To me, an american living in Chicago which recently had its many decades old ban of citizens owning guns declared illegal by our highest court I find this post and its comments interesting. A city where two blocks west from our current leader’s real home there are street gangs fighting with guns almost every night. I don’t know why anyone would think that criminals would obey laws in the first place – criminals are by their nature such. There are no WalMarts in our entire city, the trade unions are influential and prohibit such – meaning the poor don’t have economical places to shop much less actually work for legal pay. Mao says political power derives from the barrel of a gun. The rules the US operate under have beyond its basic constitution, the right and responsibility of each and every citizen to own and carry guns. I am not criticizing the PRC and think it is up to each peoples to develop their own form of governance they can live under. And I also think that reasonable civilized people don’t want to kill other people for no good reason. There are only a few areas in the US that still mistakenly prohibit guns, and all the other regions that allow for responsible citizen rights actually saw a decrease in crime. A well armed society is a polite and civilized society.

  20. The right to own guns in America is not given to us by our government. It is a recognized right that is given to us by the Creator and it is protected FROM the government. Our constitution restricts what our government can do to us.

    Our founders knew that tyranny must always be able to be resisted. As well, they recognized that everyone has a natural right to defend themselves. That’s why the Constitution of the USA protects our right to be armed.

    To those that think your crime and death rate would go up if you had guns, i must tell you that the opposite is true. Criminals prefer unarmed victims. Once criminals have to fear whether or not their victim might be able to fight back, the crime rate goes down. Not up.

  21. Mei Guo Jia You!

    • mi
      meiguoren have their own problems. The US government want to spend money they don’t have, while making china’s workers suffer by making what they produce more expensive in the US, and making US citizens suffer by making chinese goods more expensive in the US. But this is off topic, duibuxi.

  22. I LOVE GUNS!!! I own several firearms. I usually go to the Nevada desert to fire off my illegal submachine gun. I went to Russia in 1997, 1998 & 2000 when I discovered the AK-47. Some Russian guy showed me the AK and we went out back to the forest and shot some rounds off. I came back to US and got some high powered guns, not AK’s.

    My favorites are HK-Heckler & Koch, Glock 19, and Walther PPK.
    I can buy a new Walther for about $500 dollars. Pretty cheap insurance against niggers and wetbacks as well as other lowlife dirt bags in America. I highly recommend using it as needed. Life is short, you don’t need to make it any shorter by becoming a victim.

  23. It is true — a lot of Americans have guns. Some people use them for hunting deer and other animals during a short hunting season. Gang members in the cities usually own guns which are generally illegal. Other people in the cities keep a handgun in the house because to defend themselves if a criminal tries to steal from their house at night. Many men are interested in guns, and owning one makes them feel strong.

    The gun-owners’ political lobby is so strong it is not possible to make guns illegal outside of a few cities like New York and DC. And just a short while ago, the highest court for the first time that the constitution gives individual people, not just state governments, the right to own guns.

    Pictures like the one in Wal-Mart may make it seem like everyone in America would be going around shooting each other. This is not so. It is true that vIolent crime in America is higer than China, but it is still rare and not a part of everyday life.

    I live in a poor part of Baltimore, Maryland, which is known as a dangerous city, but am not worried about criminals. I would prefer NOT to own a gun than have a dangerous weapon lying in a drawer every day.

  24. Those pictures are almost 4 years old. Walmart stopped selling guns in 2007.

    • Not so. Just came back from the local Walmart, saw displays exactly like the ones in the photo.

      • Hmm, Do you live in the south bc up here I have never seen a gun display like this in any store. Hell the state I live has just been found under Federal court to violate the amendment to draw arms. And believe me, the politicians where I live are all thugs that usually get their way. So its really hard to believe you actually saw this. I call BS.

        • Just returned to this monument-to-all-that’s-worst-about-the-USA of a thread, and saw your closely-reasoned post (“my state is a liberal hell, so must mean yours is too”).

          With fruitcakes like Cosantoir and Strem about, I’d have to be a lot more insane than I actually am, to post the location of my local Walmart.

          Tell, you what, though, mental midget. Instead of “calling BS”, why not call Walmart and get a definitive answer to the question of which-states-stock-which-guns?

          They will mention the state in which I live as carrying these guns in their stores (or at least they would have at the date, almost a year ago, when I had made the trip to the local store – I have not been back to check, as have spent most of the past year in China.

  25. Some actually got it. With private possession of firearms those who would exploit you are forced to stop doing so. This is the very basis of American freedom. Without that those in power were able to take everything you owned, even your wife and children, jail you at any time.
    Private possession of firearms changed ALL of that.

    Those in the US who want to prevent private possession of firearms merely wish to control others. It is completely about power and control, having virtually nothing to do with safety. Does one really think that our elected representatives truly care whether the average American is safe? Of course not. They care only about their own safety and ability to project their power on the rest of us, exactly why we have the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in the first place.

    It is also interesting to see so many who do not trust themselves or others with firearms. What do you think that chinese who immigrate to the United States do? Certainly they buy firearms but they are not out massacring one another.

  26. It’s incredible to me that so many are still so ignorant of their most basic right.

    It’s also incredibly sad and evil, an intentional evil by those who would enslave the world.

    Don’t understand? Start here:

    http://willowtown.com/promo/quotes.htm

  27. When our country was young our Founders wrote a new constitution. Some feared the power this document would give the government so they demanded a Bill of Rights that would force the government to acknowledge our natural born rights, the most basic of which is to fight back against and kill those who would further enslave us.

    Part of the Bill of Rights, which is based upon our most basic right, is the Second Amendment.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Second_Amendment

  28. To my knowledge many rural Wal Marts still carry guns and ammunition. It may partly be based on the local market for such. They also have to unfortunately comply with our evil gun laws that were passed in the 60s.

    Many in this country are still ignorant of their most basic right and too pacified to exercise it. That’s why there are so many victims whenever a mentally ill or criminal person shoots a lot of people in a ‘gun free zone.’

    See this page:

    http://willowtown.com/reality/blacksburg.htm

  29. In England they banned most types of guns and their crime rate shot up. Instead of killing those who sought to disarm them as they should have done, the English stupidly surrendered their weapons. Now they are basically slaves.

    See this page:

    http://willowtown.com/reality/britsinsane.htm

  30. Here in America we have been winning a slow war against our most basic right in our governments and our court systems, but we still have a long way to go:

    http://www.willowtown.com/promo/blogclmnlongway.htm

    Also see my blog for more info on this ongoing war which will probably result in blood conflict because our domestic enemies are not going to just throw up their hands and quit:

    http://willowtown.com/promo/blogfp.htm

  31. Let me clear this up;

    We Americans have the right to bear arms so we can overthrow the government if it becomes authoritarian, totalitarian, or autocratic etc. etc. This is mandated in our constitution. Because of this guns are readily available, although certain types of guns are unavailable depending on which state you live in.

    However the reason why guns are illegal in almost every country is the fact that their governments are afraid of revolutions ESPECIALLY China. The U.S. is one of the few nations that is confident they could quell a civil insurrection if it was ever to occur even with an armed populous, that is why the “Second Amendment” was never repealed or expunged.

    • 250 ( er bai wu )

      As an american chinese person I regret my fellow citizens’ country bumpkin comment.

      • Who you calling country bumpkin? What I said is true! Read the second amendment. We citizens have the right to overthrow a tyrannical government should it arise. And yes most governments of the world really are afraid of its own citizens, the U.S. is an exception.

        For the record I don’t own any guns however I have nothing against them.

        • 250
          I know from the 2nd and the entire Constitution of the US (and don’t agree with some recent Amendments but live under it all). I and assume you are a USA citizen (its sorta obvious). You may very well have the ‘right’ to ‘overthrow a tyrannical government’ but if you don’t even own any guns in the first place, how can you possibly assert your rights? Oh, sure and you might be the US “tank guy” with your shopping bags, but somehow I doubt it. Modern nations have tanks among other things. I seriously doubt should you go up against such in the US they would exhibit the politeness the northern monkeys did in beijing.

          • Monkeys? You wanna get into that argument?

            The question isn’t “how can you assert your rights?” because it comes down to choice in the first place. You can choose to own a gun, it isn’t mandated that you must. Just like you can choose to overthrow the tyrannical gov’t as it also isn’t mandated that you do so. Rights are freedoms to choose, not mandates. Moreover, should he decide to carry his shopping bags and stand in front of the tanks, they’d most definitely stop, though its not to say they’d leave you standing there, just like Tank Man. Someone came, grabbed him, took him away, and he disappeared into history… same as if any of us did it in the US.

          • Maybe YOU couldn’t overthrow the government because you are a limp dicked coward. But people like us could and will if people like you try to push your nanny state bullshit on us.

  32. LOL. A chinese guy with a black chick.

    That would be like throwing a hot dog down a hallway!

    Cocktail weeniesan

    We buy guns so we dont become victims!

    Fact.

    • China’s turn will come, the people will figure it out and there will be a new pastime come to China called (dancing in the air ).
      those in power will learn the new dance at the end of a rope.

      why do i own weapons because i can and i want to, i could use a couple more Chinese Norinco AK rifles.
      does it not seem odd that a American can own a Chinese AK but you would be put in prison for many years if caught with one. think people remove your chains and enjoy freedom.

  33. In the US, there are sporting goods stores that carry guns and ammunition. There are also dozens of gun shows each year scattered all over the nation. They are huge affairs with many thousands of firearms on open display for sale.

    Where I live it is legal to shoot in my back yard. We also have many shooting ranges to go to.

    I had at least one gun all of my life, since I was 10 years old. I now have many for different reasons. It is the way we were raised.

  34. 可以显示中文吗?

  35. The Second Amendment of the US Constitution, written about 1787 states: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” The intent was to assure that the people possessed the bulk of domestic military power. The Militia is defined as males between 17 and 45 excepting some officials and regular military. The primary purpose is to create a huge reserve of citizen firepower so the Militia can be called to duty if needed. Things like hunting and self defense were simply regarded as givens. The revolutionaries wanted to do whatever possible to preserve a republic based on rule of law, and not on rule of man. Despite the claims of Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Hitler and Mao, man is not a socialist creature by nature. Socialism requires intense state oppression. The Second Amendment is therefore anti-socialist and pro individual rights.

  36. You guys only saw part of what can be sold. Not everywhere in USA can guns be sold in this manner. There are a lot of gun regulation. So it’s not as easy as it seem or reported. For example: all states require a background check on potential gun purchaser before a gun permit can be issued. And even when those who have gun permits, they can’t just simply carry guns and show them whenever they want. People can call police on them and may lead to potential arrest. Rifles for hunting can be purchased by adults, but simply just taking them out on the streets might lead to an arrest.

  37. People in America have the right to own guns to prevent the Govt from becoming much like the China Govt. If they do they can simply over throw the Govt. The thing a dictator fears the most is the truth. That’s why the Chinese Govt suppresses almost anything that can put it in a negative light. You mess with the Chinese Govt your jailed and or killed.
    It’s a truthful fact; there is no room for debate. If you disagree then you are uninformed and succumbed to the brain washing of the Govt. I like China, I love most of it’s people. It’s a shame we have to be to scared to get rid of this Govt

    • Oh you by pissing on China and Chinese has forgotten the numerous youth shot dead on the street of US cities (mostly black). I once has the misfortune of driving pass Los Angeles east side with a white person beside me. He was so scared he duck his head below the window. This is the result of the right to own gun. Why don’t you look at yourself before you criticize others. Look at the tea party movement in US. Quite a fiasco of anti-black. These people misused democracy and freedom of speech. Why don’t the people in US get rid of your corrupted democracy system. Treat fellow human as human and learn to love human live. Stop the killing and brutality in the middle east immediately. The Arabs has a right to live a peaceful life as well. Small band of Arabs kill 3000 in New York. You people end up torturing, hurting and killing one million in the Middle East. Being human in other part of the world receive much less compassion and love form the Americans than animals in the US. How much you know about China and Chinese. Have you been to China town? Most China town in US are depressed slump as the democratic US does not want to show the Chinese in good light. So tea party movement is just being American.

      • raysimlee, your comment has got to be the most ignorant moronic comment I have ever read on the interwebs since I first logged on in 1991.

        I guess you are ignoring the black, latino and other non-white Tea Party supporters.

        Those black youths shot dead on the streets are all shot with illegal guns – in other words those folks with criminal records are not permitted to buy or posess weapons. They obtain them by criminal means – and do this even in areas where guns can not be bought or sold.

        You sir are by far the dumbest sonofabitch to ever disgrace a keyboard.

        And lot fewer than a million mudslimes where killed since 9/11 – a lot less,but yo uknow what? That’s what happens when a people attack in the name of their sick cult like religion, they get the shit kicked out of them.

        I am a “new American” – only been here 15 years, but boy is it great to live in a free country where rights are inalienable and not by virtue of government.

        Sounds like you are jealous of the freedom citizens of the USA enjoy.

      • @raysimlee

        If China was attacked by terrorists I am sure your government would react just the same.

      • I don’t care if nigger animals use stolen guns to kill each other. They are scum and so are you. I hope one of them rapes and murders you.

  38. In order to understand why America sells guns like this, you need to understand American history. Originally, the right for every colonial to have a gun was not just a right but a neccessity. The frontiers were a dangerous place, and the location of many wars. With the French and English colonials all fighting for territories and American Indian raid parties, self defense was crucial. Many colonials were far removed from many city centers, and could not count on their colony provide security, and it was up to the colonial himself to protect his land, family, and future.
    But the most important aspect of “The right to bar arms” stems from the reasons why the original colonials left England and other European countries, GOVERNMENT OPPRESSION. You see, when you refer to potential problems of “social unrest”, your looking at it with a slightly skewed perspective, mostly the product of your country’s governmental influence, especially if you are Chinese. In America, our country and government is designed to be immune from ‘social unrest’ because it is the people the control the government. If there is something the people dont like, we vote and change it.
    However, the biggest reason why we support the “Right to bare arms” is due to the possible case where the government stops doing what the people want it to do. In this scenario, the people have the power to take back control. To put it more simply: THE PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE AFRAID OF THEIR GOVERNMENTS, THE GOVERNMENTS SHOULD BE AFRAID OF THE PEOPLE. This is the essence of freedom.
    Lasty, Today’s America is much to civilized to ever come to this revolutionary concept, so this law reflects two main functions of the American ideals of Freedom: 1. To remind us who actually holds the power in the government, the people, and, 2. It still exists today because it is the second amendment to the Constitution of America, in which the sole function of the Constitution is give rights to its citizens, not take them away.

    • Stunned by the freshness of your material. Lucky you didn’t burden yourself with the task of reading the existing posts, or we’d have missed your insights.

      Your concept of the “Right to bare arms” is revolutionary, but could bankrupt more cotton manufacturers, don’t you think?

      I would never argue with your concept of the “Right to bar arms”. Sigmund’s having a good chuckle over that one.

    • @USisFree You said, “Today’s America is much to civilized to ever come to this revolutionary concept…” We are not “much to[sic] civilized”; instead, we have been pandered to, lied to, and conditioned to be little more than sheep that stand on two legs.

      • The aspect that most motivated the radical revolutionaries of 1776-1781, was just how close we came to losing the revolution. We were fighting the best army and navy in the world, that of the British Army. Were it not for the militia with their long range rifles, the Continental Army regulars would have been crushed very early. That nearly happened anyway. When Washington quartered the army at Valley Forge he was down to about 2500 soldiers. A daring raid on an elite German mercenary unit at Trenton resulted in a victory. His army grew by 400% almost immediately. Most of these volunteers were militia who required intense training such as provided by the German general, von Stuben. As the war progressed the Continental Army was defeated in most battles. The earliest major victory was at Saratoga, where rifle armed militia caused serious casualties to the British. Remembering this, the revolutionaries created the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution which guarantees the right of the people to keep and bear arms, in order that there can be a militia. There are those who favor increased central government power and see the 2nd Amendment as a threat to that end. The Japanese WW2 admiral, Yamamoto is reputed to have said. “You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass.” The admiral did not particularly fear the US Army… he feared the American people. That has not changed. Google: The Appleseed Project.

  39. When the government fears the people, there is Liberty! When the people fear the government, there is Tyranny. The strongest reason
    for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is as a last resort, to protect themselves against Tyranny In Government!
    -Thomas Jefferson

  40. It wolud seem that most peole here like most people not from America have a confused notion of what American gun rights are about or how the legal gun trade works

    • OK. Consider this. In some major cities firearms ownership either is or was severely restricted. 2 recent 2nd Amendment Supreme Court cases determined that all Americans, everywhere in the US, have the right to possess firearms. In my state a recent demonstration of the political power of the people (as opposed to the government) manifests by open carry of pistols. Holstered and never brandished in a threatening manner. But… out in the open. Over the last few decades the number of states authorizing, by legislation, the right to a license to carry concealed pistols has gone from about 10 to about 45 out of 50. What is ignored by socialist gun control advocates is that those cities that have the strictest gun control laws have the highest rate of violent crimes. Many violent felons in a prison will tell you what they fear most in their “careers” is not the police, but armed private citizens.
      The adage is: “Only free men are armed, all else are slaves.”

      • Another adage is: “An armed society, is a polite society.” Those who are violent, disrespectful of private property rights, and/or extremely rude, run a high risk of developing sudden acute lead poisoning.

  41. I am actually quite amazed at the intelligent debate here…thanks for that. I am also quite amazed/concerned at how quickly some turn to name calling and debate in an irrational way.

    Simple fact of life is that there will always be those with an extreme viewpoint who react in an emotional, violent or negative way to those with a difference of opinion. I believe we can all pick those people out pretty easily here.

    While the majority of those types are more than likely armchair warriors, brave only on the computer. There are absolutely those type of people in the US and in the world who would gladly attempt to impose their will on you, affecting individual liberties, elected processes (will of the people) or with criminal intent. Lets not argue about what should be…this is just the way it is.

    What force does the typical person have to defend themselves in an atypical situation? Well I guess it depends on where you live in the world.

    Here, I am thankful that I have the ability to protect myself and my family from whatever threats occur and that I am able to live where tyranny of governments can be kept at bay, at least in part, by a well armed populace and a military that swears its oath (as I did) to the Constitution and not to a leader.

    “I, (state your name), having been appointed a (rank) in the United States (branch of service), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foriegn and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the office upon which I am about to enter. So help me God.”

    One could argue that with such an oath, a well armed populace is not needed. While over my years as a military Officer I did grow to trust military leadership, I also know that they are human… and not going to be there when the wolf is at my door instead of at/off the shores or in DC.

    After this vigorous debate, perhaps we should leave gun ownership as an individual choice and not try impose our will on others.

    Is that not the true essence of the Constitution? To those of you who would try to impose your will upon me and mine?

    Molon Labe

  42. As an American, I am moved by your comments concerning my country and our RIGHT to keep and bear arms. The Second Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees this right. We are allowed to purchase and possess arms as we choose. There are laws governing this. No one with a criminal history may possess a firearm in the United States. There are waiting periods, supposedly for someone in a rage has sufficient time to rethink a violent act. We are allowed, in most cases to have traditional bolt-action and lever-action rifles all calibers, military too. Semiautomatic military rifles, AR-15s, AK-47S, Uzis, Thompsons and others. There are a few states who restrict these. The Second Amendment is the teeth in our Constitution. We, the people ARE the government. The military answers to a civilian. The president of the United States is the highest military official. His title is Commander-in-Chief, therefore the military is controlled by the civilian government. The United States , it’s government and people are unique in the world’s landscape. We wish to be friendly and aid those who need help and warn those who would wish us harm. we are a much better friend than an adversary. It is unfortunate in 1993 then, President Bill Clinton by executive order, banned all firearm imports from China. The SKS and AK-47 rifles produced by Norinco and Poly-Technologies were some of the best in the world. They have been missed.

  43. The 2nd. Amendment to the US Constitution does not GRANT the individual citizen the right to keep and bear arms, it RECOGNIZES it.

    There is a huge distinction there. Think about it!

  44. As an American and a person who sells firearms, not at walmart though, I can honestly say that the view of guns between countries and areas of the same country can vary quite vastly. Some are fearful of them, others (like me) view them as tools. My family has had coyotes (like wolves, but smaller) in our street. They are vicious and carry diseases, so my family keeps a gun near the door to fend them off, and we live in a small city.

  45. Gun control is about CONTROL of the population. Nothing more, nothing less.

    Americans have guns because they have the inalienable right to keep and bear arms.

    Furthermore, in many states, citizens may openly carry handguns and long guns. Most choose to carry handguns since they’re easier to carry. Guess what? They don’t commit crimes either.

    All those mass murders occur in zones that prohibit guns. The criminals go elsewhere when citizens carry guns. Every few years some idiot will attempt to rob a gun store during business hours…you can guess what happens to the robbers.

  46. these are good dam co2 and action pump rifles you chinese idoits these aren’t real guns !!!

  47. In America, we are all paranoid of the zombie outbreak that will eventually happen. When the time comes, which it inevitably will, we will be ready.

  48. we sell guns in America because it’s legal to own guns (constitutional right to bear arms)

    we buy guns in America for 1.) self-defense, most ideally used at home against robbers 2.) as a hobby: many Americans have family members in military service or are themselves veterans.. well that’s not the only reason there are gun lovers, but anyway, people go to shooting ranges. 3) as part of recreational hunting, which requires licenses and permits, and is restricted to confined areas in national parks, as in, you can’t shoot ducks at your local lake. and neither would you want to..

    we do have a gun problem with gangs and young people, but only in certain regions where the economy is bad. once in a while, you’ll get a shooting in a small rich suburb town or school campus, but most of the recurrent killing comes from the streets of crime-infested metropolitan areas like oakland california. these inner city young people do not pull guns on innocent people (most of the time) it’s mainly gang-to-gang violence, or personal tribulations. if they want to steal something they’ll just punch you, they wouldn’t shoot you. and if they did shoot innocent people, the local community usually becomes very outraged, with protests and city council hearings, local media coverage, etc… all in all, i think our criminal justice system is very fair and reasonable. i also think most americans are moral and self-composed, not so quick to jump the gun

  49. Well to quote a saying, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people”. I carry concealed on a regular basis. No one has never been killed by my gun. no one has ever had it pointed at them. I leave it on the table next to me when I’m at home and on the computer, it has never jumped up and shot me or anyone else. A gun is nothing more than a machine. Without an operator, its just a hunk of steel. It has no free will. It is the PERSON that kills someone. Knives also kill, as do baseball bats, rocks, beer bottles, pint glasses, cars, I could go on like this for hours.

    There are statistics that are posted in here about different nations, and their gun deaths, but there are MANY factors not taken into consideration. Differences in society are a major one. Many of the countries that are listed have been involved in major wars, Japan is the only country that has ever been subjected to the use of Nuclear Weapons (their use, right or wrong is not the point, the point is, it happened) that country was torn apart by war, and lost a large amount of its population. They, from what I have seen, abhor violence. You can take a country such as England, they have regulated and banned guns out of the hands of the populace, then the did the same with pocket knives. There is a limit on the size, if it can have a locking blade, and what uses are “justified” for having it outside the home. I have even read an article (I have no information as to the status/outcome of this idea) saying that they were considering requiring that all Pint glasses at pubs be made of a kind of plastic, as the glass ones were being broken and used in bar fights.

    As to the comments about the Chinese population being cut in half in so short a time, i find that to be extremely unlikely. half of a billion people is a lot. I think that the idea that there would be a large amount of bloodshed in that country is probably quite valid. I see two reasons for this, the first is that China, as a whole, is not a “gun culture” any longer. (this holds true for many European countries, Australia, and Canada as well) They may well have a large surge in gun related violence, not because the guns caused it through some form of mind control, but because access as been repressed, and repressed harshly in many cases. Peoples perceptions change because of this. I don’t believe that Americans look at a gun in a Wal-Mart display and think “wow, now i can kill my neighbor next time he walks on my lawn”. Its a THING. Some people are afraid of them, but most just walk right past like they would anything else. Conversely, where the ownership has been repressed, they are seen as evil weapons designed solely to kill…and must be used as such. The other reason a place like China would have to fear widespread gun ownership is for the same reason all other authoritarian governments have now, and in the past. If the people have no other means to change their conditions, they will rebel. The Russians took away guns, Hitler took away guns, the North Koreans took away guns, and the Chinese as well. Now before you get all incensed, NO im am not calling the Chinese or any other group Nazis. make no mistake about that. It Nazi Germany is just one EXAMPLE of a govt. that disarmed its populace. Am i saying that Americans own guns so that they can overthrow the govt? no. unlike these other places i mentioned, we have many means of political recourse at our disposal. AS has been mentioned, we have the ability to change our Govt every 4 years if we don’t like it. If there is some MAJOR issue, we can impeach our leaders, and bring about that change much faster. Out govt is dynamic in that regard. WE have amended our constitution, and amended it again (Eighteenth Amendment and Twenty-first Amendment). We change things, if they work we keep them, if they dont we change them to something that does. The people have the ability to do that, and have a hand in making laws that govern us. Our Founding Fathers designed it that way. But the Second Amendment was added in there in case the system breaks down, so to speak. It is what gives us the ability, if ever needed, to defend the freedoms we have if the system were to turn against us. In a country that has no mechanism for change by the will of the people, the government has to keep a tight handle on just what recourses are left to the population they wish to control. Not to bash the Chinese, but just look at the news lately, Google pulled out of China because they no longer wanted to censor the information that was available to them. Censors have even been mentioned by some here. In china there is no 1st amendment. In America, it is a given right to speak freely, and to criticize your govt if you dont like them. Honestly, if I was in china, I would likely be getting myself in trouble right now, and I would expect that this sight may not be directly available there (but that is an assumption on my part)

    You can try as you will to regulate the weapons out of the hands of people, but you can only regulate so much. As i mentioned earlier, a baseball bat can kill just as easily as a bullet, or a knife. You can be hit in the head with a rock. If someone is hell-bent on killing someone, no law on earth will stop them from obtaining the means. Will you regulate Claw hammers because it can be used as a weapon? doubtful.

    Overall my point is, that a gun will only kill someone if there is someone to use it. A gun is just a gun, and a steel pipe is just a pipe, until you take it in your hands to use it against someone else.

    • I almost forgot, it impresses me that some of the chinese posters have a better grasp on the american laws and political system than many here in this country.

  50. chinese communists (ALWAYS SMALL LETTERS) starved, tortured & murdered 100 million bound & gagged Chinese BROTHERS, SISTERS, CHILDREN & BABIES (largest massacre on the face of the Earth) to consolidate communism (ALWAYS SMALL LETTERS). chinese communists (ALWAYS SMALL LETTERS) wouldn’t allow guns into the hands of families whose members they slayed. Not only are chinese communists (ALWAYS SMALL LETTERS) murderers, they are also cowards. Their motto:
    Never kill BROTHERS, SISTERS, CHILDREN & BABIES in a fair fight, when you can bind & gag BROTHERS, SISTERS, CHILDREN & BABIES & murder them.

Personals @ chinaSMACK - Meet people, make friends, find lovers? Don't be so serious!»