Desensitization to guns
(midwest.social)
The Picard Maneuver
People TwitterWeird example…
I would think he is a character involved with detective work, which is a component of law enforcement and therefore it is not out of the ordinary for the character to possess a gun.
British detectives don’t really carry guns though. Unless they are part of a special unit. This Sherlock episode the post talks about takes place in modern day London so he would definitely not own a gun for his job. At least not legally.
Americans are desensitized to guns, but the Dr. Watson from the Sherlock Holmes stories was a military veteran who often carried his army revolver. Anybody with a passing familiarity with the character of Dr. Watson could think, "I guess he keeps his gun in his desk."
The majority of the UK had guns readily available up until the great war. Then the population was disarmed, the homicide rate was lower than it is today in the UK... Sherlock was written for those times, and guns were not unusual.
This particular series takes the characters and puts them in present day London, what was normal in the 19th century doesn't apply for the character in the example
The majority of the UK had guns readily available up until the great war.
[sic] there were no firearm restrictions in effect, but less than 1% of the population had firearms. The Firearms act of 1920 disarmed this percentage over fears of surges in crime, as well as worries that the working class would get too unruly
Sherlock is also armed in several of the original sir. Arthur Conan Doyle stories. Iirc most the time he borrows a revolver from Scotland Yard.
I have no knowledge about the UK, but I can say that was the case for Germany. Gun control in the modern sense only began after WW1 when large numbers of weapons fell into civilian hands.
In the 19th century, shooting practice was mandatory as part of the military system; reserve and conscription. Kinda like how it still survives in Switzerland. But as the UK rarely had a need for large land armies, the population was not militarized to such a degree.
I don't think Americans quite appreciate how few guns one encounters when you are practically anywhere else in the world.
The only guns I see in my life are in possession of trained professionals. And even then it's a lot if I see one per three months.
I've never been in a situation in my life where I've regretted not having a gun. Rather the opposite, I've been struggling with depression at a point in my life where access to a gun might have provided an easy way out.
And generally I like guns. As in I've been interested in military history for my entire life. When I'm the us I've been to a shooting range and thought that was cool (but also terrifying).
I lived in different countries. Many are friendly with actual neighborly caring folks. Like leave your car unlocked safe. Like if you lost your phone outside, someone will kindly put it somewhere safe. Countries with good safety nets and a government that wants to help people.
Here in America, I'm not afraid of the pickpockets or petty theft. The biggest threats to my family's life are by police officers or ICE, all because of the color of their skin.
I've been to protests where everyone was peaceful and it was violently dissolved by police. Where I've been to protests which had hired security guards packing guns protecting protesters, and the cops were on their best behavior.
Where I’ve been to protests which had hired security guards packing guns protecting protesters
hwat
i think you just discombobulated my brain
What is this concept? Who does this? Where?
I don’t think Americans quite appreciate how few guns one encounters when you are practically anywhere else in the world.
How often you see guns varies wildly in the US too.
Yeah I think it’s possible to live in the US and not encounter guns. It’s mostly driven by people’s interest and the interests of those around them. There is no obligation to be near or interact with firearms in the US. There are certainly a lot of guns in the US and that does lead to more homicides and shootings, but I don’t think it means everyone sees guns regularly in their daily life. If someone displays a firearm in public, people will not be casual about it.
i'm 26 and the only guns i've ever seen were a bb gun and an air gun, and the interval between seeing them was like 10 years
The only guns I see in my life are in possession of trained professionals. And even then it’s a lot if I see one per three months.
Here in my country (in Europe), you can just go to any important train station or public place and there'll be a bunch of soldiers doing fuck all with guns in their belts. They're just meant to stand there and look intimidating lmao. I've never even seen them bother immigrants or anything (that's the police's job)
I don't think people who don't live in the US appreciate the concept of Pandora's box.
I hear a lot of people talk about how bad guns are. How Americans are crazy to own them. How guns need to be made illegal here.
There are literally more guns than people in the United States of America. They aren't going away.
If we could Thanos snap half the guns away, it would solve nothing. If we could Thanos snap all of them, then hey! Yes! Let's talk.
But we can't do that. Guns are just part of life over here. We actually do appreciate how dangerous they are, because we see violence done with them all the time... But there's no easy solution here. Criminals all have guns. Even kids in gangs have guns.
If you live in an area that has a lot of crime, you may want a gun, and that is okay so long as you're trained and responsible.
So what you're really arguing for is mass gun confiscation. I will subscribe to that newsletter gladly.
I don't think non-Americans appreciate how few guns one encounters in America if one isn't a gun nut or gun-nut-adjacent. It is not that everybody owns a gun. It's that the relative few people who own dozens or hundreds of guns skew the average.
I still suspect you have been desensinsitivised to the permeation of guns in the US so you don't really notice it, and downplay it in your mind. I can assure you people from outside of the US does notice it though.
I lived in the US for a decade without ever seeing a gun, other than in a cop's holster.
Well, "relative few" is technically correct at about 45% of Americans. Now, way less than that carry, and even less with any regularity, and even less open carry, so yeah you probably don't see them often, but they're around.
When I lived in a small town, the MAGA neighbor showed my mixed family how many guns they had to "remind them". He sure didn't like it when I told them I conceal carry because of people like him.
I'll disagree. I've been mugged. There have also been two times I've visited friends that have been casually cleaning guns when I arrived. A person I do martial arts with has a conceal carry and has come in with it a few times. Every cop has at least one. There's a gun store that's on my commute route. I was hiking and crossed paths with an elderly couple on horseback and they were packing. I've known two people that have killed themselves with a gun. I drilled with fake guns in NJROTC in high school and there were opportunities to train and compete in marksmanship with actual guns. I shot BB guns in Cub Scouts (those two are just examples as to how young gun culture becomes part of an American's life). When I was growing up, Walmart sold guns and ammo. They still do in certain places.
I have to factor into my interactions with people if they have a gun. Like I put up with a lot more shitty behavior on the road because I live in a state with a high incidence of guns being involved with road rage incidents. If I get into an argument with my neighbor, is that conservative asshole going to do something stupid if things escalate (yeah yeah, don't escalate, just an example). All the POCs I know have been taught how to behave during a traffic stop to reduce their chances of getting shot by a cop.
I've never even held or shot a real gun, but guns permeate my life.
I have to factor into my interactions with people if they have a gun.
Yes, there's a huge difference between only rarely seeing a gun in public and acting as if nobody has one.
Like I put up with a lot more shitty behavior on the road because I live in a state with a high incidence of guns being involved with road rage incidents.
That's called "de-escalation".
That's exactly what we should all be doing.
Rather than responding to a road rage incident with our own rage, we are actively reducing the risks of road rage to ourselves and to everyone around us. We are not pushing the initial rager to increase the egregiousness and danger of their rage.
The possibility of getting shot has broadly convinced the general public to improve their own behavior.
Paradoxically, if we didn't fear they would pull guns on us, we would be more likely to respond to their rage with our own. We wouldn't "put up with it", but would instead confront them, impede them, seek "justice" for their offensive behavior, or otherwise escalate. In doing so, we would invite them to escalate as well. Your argument suggests that the high incidence of guns being involved in road rage is reducing the occurrence of road rage. I agree completely.
The possibility of getting shot has broadly convinced the general public to improve their own behavior.
Pure nonsense. That is just regurgitating NRA propaganda, "an armed society is a polite society", when we know for objective fact that the opposite is true. Gun incidents happen more frequently in the US on a "spur of the moment" thing exactly because they are so prevalent. Arguments more frequently escalate into murder because of the presence of guns, while they don't in societies where guns are rarer.
The possibility of getting shot has broadly convinced the general public to improve their own behavior.
No. Guns give assholes carte blanche to be an asshole without consequences.
Your argument makes no sense. We should deescalate but fear for our lives so we behave? Who's gonna escalate to put the fear into people? Rethink and try again.
It really depends on where you live in the USA. Where I live theres definitely people with guns but it’s unusual to see someone actually carrying one outside their home. Now my cousins live like 1-2 hours away (still in the same state) and it’s super common there for people to carry their gun on them at all times for some fucking reason. So my cousins are way more used to seeing guns than my siblings and I are
It sounds like it's such a part of our culture that you're missing the point: you cannot opt out of gun culture in America. Anywhere.
All of our street cops are also carrying guns around, which (if I'm not mistaken) is not the case everywhere.
It's pretty common, I think only Ireland and Britain (among countries that people are likely to visit) don't carry guns.
In fact, what's unusual is that in many places where civilian use of guns is extremely rare, police standing around with submachine guns in airports, train stations, etc. is common.
Years ago, the UK government announced they were going to arm the general police. The people with the biggest issue with it was the police union!
The UK has a police by consent basis. The heaviest firepower they carry is a tazer. If there is a risk of guns being involved, the normal police pull back and call in the armed response officers. When they do, however, they call the whole cavalry!
End result, criminals don't feel they MUST have a gun to defend from the police. Conversely, going in armed will bring the whole, focused weight of the armed response down on you. (As in multiple helicopter level searches) Most don't carry guns, and so the status quo keeps everyone safe.
I remember I visited Italy on a Latin class trip back in high school, and got a real culture shock when I saw carabinieri(?) patrolling the airport armed with some kind of assault rifles or SMGs. I don't remember seeing any "normal" police once I was out walking around in the cities so I have no idea if they would've been armed or not, but that was definitely heavier weaponry than I'd seen any American cop carrying, in the airport or otherwise.
Yeah, in Italy there's a lot of armed officials in public places and big stations (even train stations!). Usually they're only there to look intimidating. The ones who will actually bother people (usually immigrants) are regular policemen, who, paradoxically, are less likely to carry firearms
Being heavily armed is kind of the point of the Carabinieri, who are a part of the military.
Yeah, as a life-long Californian I've seen only a dozen or so guns in my entire life not in the hands or belts of police officers.
Still, we know they are out there. People in rough areas of town are going to have a very different experience.
Concealed is concealed. If we're seeing them, they're doing concealment wrong.
We can look at the rate of licensing to get an idea of scale and prevalence.
In 15 states, more than 1 in 10 adults have permits. Pennsylvania, ~1 in 6. Colorado, ~1 in 5. Indiana, over 22% of adults are licensed concealed carriers.
Nationwide, 7.8% of adults are licensed. Outside CA and NY, 9.3% of adults are currently licensed.
Licensing numbers peaked in 2022, but 29 states (Covering 47% of the population) have recently abandoned licensing requirements. The reduced number of licenses don't indicate falling carry rates.
To me, the most interesting statistic from that link is almost overlooked: We all know that cops are under-prosecuted and under-convicted for their crimes. ACAB. Despite their cop-privilege, police are still convicted of gun crimes at 12 times the rate of licensed concealed carriers.
not in the hands or belts of police officers
I'd like to just point out that this alone is a huge difference. Police in Europe generally do not carry firearms. It's even unusual to see them with weapons at an airport.
I could be subject to police brutality from a random traffic stop technically, but I wouldn't have any chance of a gun being pulled on me.
Not in Europe generally. It is true for the UK, but not so much anywhere else. But even in European countries with armed police deescalation is still the pereferred method and they only rarely draw their guns or fire them, especially compared to the US where the police have been trained with overly aggressive lethal violence responses.
Are we or are we not counting the fair few you don't see because they're concealed on the people around you?
And yes the stats are absolutely skewed by gun nuts with big collections it's still true that 40% or more of American households have a gun...
But I'd feel uneasy not knowing which of them is the nutty one.
A lot of the nutters tend to advertise it at least. Super gung-ho patriot driving an oversized truck with Trump and flag stickers, maybe an actual flag, possibly open carrying, yard with one or multiple trump signs and likely American flags in case you forget which country you’re in, probably some cars on the lawn as decoration… you get the picture
Yeah, I think I get it, but I don't want to share the planet with them as well.
Yeah.. can’t say I’m the biggest fan of living in an area where I have several examples within walking distance of me, it has left me feeling slightly on edge at times. I don’t think it’d be taken too kindly if I started to get outspoken about politics so I just let it be
So much freedom. I have to shed a tear for you 🥹
Living in the blessed realm. What a dream!
Im 30 years old and I dont think I have ever seen someone hold a real gun in my own country.
That’s a shame.
Gus are cool and fun.
There are many types of guns. Heat guns, spray guns, desoldering guns, guys at the gym arms, etc
I think that is isn't hard to figure out from context which ones are referred to, don't you think?
Hey hey are you bringing out the big guns now?
The guns of never one
Try camping in bear country or hiking anywhere with predators. Or something about 30 wild hogs.
I don't think there's much wildlife out there that poses a mortal threat. Bear spray works for most, even though more rural and Northern countries do allow shotguns for use against wildlife.
You don't really need a handgun in your desk to scare off bears tbh
But in the hypothetical scenario where a bear or 30 boars came at you... You'll wish you did have a gun! /s
I am pro-gun but people who use wild animals as an excuse for buying handguns are exhausting.
They aren't an excuse for buying guns. They are an explanation for why certain people in certain situations would legitimately need guns.
And if they have guns for that situation, they have guns for any situation. And if guns are available for people in those situations to acquire, guns are available for anyone to acquire.
For Americans, "going to the range" is an average Wednesday activity.
To pretty much anyone else in the world - unless you're in a profession that works with guns - that statement will get: weird looks, people judging you, and a number of friends distancing themselves as they'd be afraid you could go loco and shoot them...
I live in the south and I don’t know a single person who goes to a range ever. I think you are exaggerating.
I think it's income dependent. Going to a shooting range and just tearing through ammo sounds expensive, and I've never done it, but I've known generational-farmer types who do it on a regular basis. They usually bring friends with them. I don't think most people in the south have been to a shooting range, but it doesn't strike me as terribly uncommon.
I think it's a lot like having a boat. If you know a guy who has a boat, you're much more likely to go boating on the regular, and if you know a someone who has a lot of guns, you're more likely to go shooting with them.
I'd say the majority of people in the states don't give a hoot about baseball, but it's still 'America's pastime.'
>.>
Plus, being in the south, why would they go to a range? A friend within an hour probably has property where you could shoot for free.
Yep, not a ton of ranges in the south. Probably 6 in the 200 mile radius of me. They're not that profitable, because everyone has usually land or a friend with land.
Yeah, we lived outside of town, so we just shot in the backyard.
Live in the north where southerners flee to for jobs (still a shitty Red state) and the range is a regular for gun people. When I had friends that shoot, it was an every or every other weekend thing for the cheap shit, once month take out something nice to shoot that costs a little.
as a european, i went to the range a lot as a kid, because my dad's side of the family did game hunting back then and he wanted me to learn. this was exclusively with bolt-action long guns, because that's everything they allow. the process of getting the rifles out of the safe, packing them in locked bags, going to safe ranges far away in the woods, marking every bullet fired on a form, and collecting all the cartridges bored me to tears.
later my dad got in a legal dispute with the police over firearms registration, because as a sporting goods salesman he had to make sure every part he sold had a laser-engraved serial number and it took months for them to finally get that you can't laser-engrave a 2mm spring.
thank god for regulations.
The number of engineering/design choices that go into guns is fascinating. A P90 and an AK-47 have so many different design choices that it's incredible they do basically the same thing.
And the manufacturing. Forgotten Weapons is a brilliant channel not just because of the sheer quality and variety and humour but because Ian will actually explain and show the functioning and ideas behind the crazy mechanisms that have been made over time.
Yeah I love the engineering and history, but wouldn't want to live with them in close proximity
I agree with the illustration, but not the example.
I disagree, John Watson in the example is not a person you'd expect to store a gun in a drawer on. Any former or current law enforcement/ army people who own a gun for legitimate reasons would not just have it in a drawer. People who have guns in drawers either want to show off or protect themselves against (other) criminals, neither would make sense for his character. Him having a gun is one detail, him not storing it safely is another.
I do a fair amount of solo bikepacking in the rural Midwest, and have gotten into enough weird altercations that I now ride and camp with a concealed pistol.
A few years ago, I would have called anyone doing this exact same thing a psychopath. I give myself endless amounts of shit for having a "bicycle gun" and would be fucking mortified if anyone I casually ride with found out, but I'm also intensely aware of how batshit crazy and divorced from reality the average redneck is.
Brother, I went camping twice in the South and both times, I had some serious weirdos on the trail. One redneck asked us if we "had any guns on us". What?
My camping partner said, "If we pull it out, we use it." And the dude ran off.
Regardless of the actual amount of guns one sees around and in desks, one thing I think is particularly relevant is how many guns are in American media. I've never personally seen a desk gun in the USA, though I do see a fair amount of holstered guns in public, but so many TV shows, movies, and even advertisements have random guns popping up even if it's not thematically relevant or appropriate.
Do lots of people have desk guns? The only time I’ve ever seen a pistol was when I was a Cub Scout, and they brought us to a gun range to lecture us about the danger of guns. I’ve never handled one or touched one even.
I learned how to shoot a shotgun in high school, but only at Clay pigeons. I haven’t touched another gun in the almost 30 years since. And this is coming from someone who has lived in Brooklyn, Florida, and Minnesota. All places with lots of guns (or so I’ve been told).
Nope!
But the “desk gun” has been a trope in fiction for at least 40 years, which I think is what the original poster is confusing with reality. It’s ironic given their talk of “media literacy.”
What they seem to mean is that Hollywood movies and U.S. TV series use guns in different ways, and it became clear to them when they saw Sherlock.
I’m actually not sure if they consciously know the difference, because a significant number of people take media as a representative shorthand for reality and it’s not.
I remember that scene, and as an American, I understood the context immediately. But, then again, I watch a lot UK media, so maybe I’m a bit biased in that direction.
I’m pretty sure I remember the scene too, actually! That’s probably why I’m so adamant that the original poster is confused or bending the truth for dramatic purposes.
I think most people from the U.S. would understand the context like I did… because Watson reacts to the gun being in the desk.
If I’m remembering it correctly, Watson pauses or something when he sees a gun in the drawer. At the time I wasn’t exactly sure what kind of show it was going to be, or what the context of the gun might be. But him pausing gave me information! It’s a TV show made when they provided information visually instead of also saying it out loud.
Even if someone wasn’t thinking about the laws or culture of the country the media was made, the context needed to understand is provided right in the episode.
But it’s more fun for OP to spin that up into “People from the U.S. are so used to guns…”
Not only does it come at a time where both US and UK media made a big deal about guns being made illegal in the UK, but the scene is also surrounded by a bunch of flashbacks of John Watson, being in the war and him experiencing a bunch of PSD flashbacks about a bunch of war trauma, so it’s not exactly a mystery as to what’s going on in the scene.
The show came out in, I think, 2006, so this is all contextualized around the war in Iraq, in which the UK military played a big assist to the United States military in that theater. This article has some serious myopia in talking about this subject.
I have worked at a couple of places where there was always a loaded handgun by the cash register. Just in case. Never saw them used, but they were there. Appalachian region.
Hmm, from my personal experience, I wouldn't say "lots of people," but there are a few who have something similar. A cop (skewed statistic, but here's my anecdote) I knew had a gun in almost every room. I think I hid my chuckle pretty well when he talked about his "bathroom gun."
Have you not seen Dead Poets Society?
It’s one of my favorite movies, and influenced my decision to go to boarding school. But it’s a movie. I was talking about real life.
We didn't have any guns in the house growing up, but I know plenty of people who did and so a desk gun is fairly common across the US.
I know my parents had a gun in the house, because they told me. But they had it locked up in a safe. I actually never saw it.
My brother is becoming more and more of a gun nut by the day, despite being on the left. It's kind of a fascinating case study of the Horseshoe theory.
He's convinced that Trump and Co aren't going to allow elections. So he's arming up to be prepared.
Leftist aren't anti gun. The workers should be armed.
I mean, is he really THAT wrong?
I'm usually less concerned about the hobbyists who learn gun safety than I am about the people who are mainlining extreme stuff online about needing a gun to use against "the enemy". Hopefully he's at least a bit in the former camp too.
