this post was submitted on 28 Dec 2024
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Make sure you read the travel warnings before coming here. Everyone has a gun and gets offended quite easily.
On top of that, there's the civilians to worry about too.
From what I’ve read online the US is an absolute shithole and you need to be armed to the teeth at all times to protect yourself.
I was wondering how this works for tourists.
-Not legally, gun rentals are exclusive to shooting ranges and they don't let you take them off the property.
-Typically yes. Gun rentals at a range will generally include a very eager white guy who will be very happy to provide foreigners with an introduction to American gun culture, safety, and basic operating instructions.
-Gun rentals are generally rather affordable, but you will be paying for your own ammunition.
-For self-defense I'd recommend at least 300 rounds of cheap ball or wadcutter ammunition to practice with yearly, and then a box of 50 hollowpoints to keep loaded while carrying the weapon. About 1 bullet per day per gun, overall.
-Call the cops, then call a lawyer. Make sure the gun is unloaded and placed out of reach before the cops arrive. Even in clear cases of lawful self-defense you're still going to get arrested at least temporarily and your gun seized as evidence. You can get it back after the legal process has completed, but that can take months so be sure to have a backup gun just in case. Emergency responders will haul away the body and bill their next of kin for services rendered, but crime scene cleanup is privatized so be prepared to foot the bill for getting blood out of the carpets and drapes.
-Generally, shooting cops is an express-ticket to prison and/or the afterlife, but occasionally they fuck up badly enough that even the courts can't make excuses for them.
Then how do you survive as a tourist? Are you supposed to hire a bodyguard? That sounds expensive?
I’m not talking about practice. Just wondering how many people you have to shoot in self defense in an average week.
Sorry if I sound a bit naive but I’m from a very safe country so I have no idea what it must be like to fear for my life and fight for survival every day.
The other user responding to you, Knightly, is IMO exaggerating the dangers quite a bit. While the US is certainly more dangerous than most of Europe, the risks of being harmed are still quite low if you're not involved in illicit activity or looking for trouble. Going by statistics, by far the most dangerous thing you can do while in the US is to simply drive in a car, and I imagine driving in Europe is similarly dangerous.
If you feel the need for something to defend yourself, a small can of pepper spray is generally very effective, quite affordable, and legal in all 50 states.
Then why do people need to own 50 guns?
They don't, the only people who own many guns generally do so as a hobby.
Statistically most people will never need a firearm to defend themselves, though they may have one anyway for the small chance that they do. But it's not a requirement to survive, it's just a little bit of extra insurance.
If you look around the internet a little you’ll find plenty of people who apparently need 50+ guns for self defense.
Then why should anyone be allowed to own a device that has no other purpose than to kill other human beings?
Well, for one, our police are pretty damn aweful. More than a few times, calling them for help can result in things getting worse, or they shoot the person calling for help due to being so poorly trained and trigger happy.
So although most people will never need to defend themselves, it's not a zero percent chance. Home invasions do happen, and unfortunately hate crimes against minorities and LGBT communities can happen too. Some of those people may wish to have a viable way of protecting themselves against those who may do them harm, because in some of those situations, pepper spray might not be enough, and calling the police may not be an option.
It's no big deal! I love the chance to talk about how awful American culture is from an insider's perspective.
Stick to the touristy areas. Gun violence in the USA is highly localized to "bad neighborhoods", but if you want to visit the "real" America then hiring a local guide/bodyguard isn't a bad idea. American wages are crap, a few hundred bucks a day and you can buy enough muscle to walk safely through a crack den. I don't recommend poverty tourism as a matter of principle though, and the wealthier areas, national landmarks, and national / state parks are usually safe enough to tour solo since tourism is big business and they don't like losing customers to the medical system.
Oh, and that's another thing. Definitely buy travel insurance and make sure it'll cover any of America's hellish medical expenses in case of an emergency. A life debt to a US hospital makes a terrible souvenir and it's a more likely risk than bullet wounds. An uninsured appendectomy costs $10,000-$35,000 depending on what hospital you go to, and you'll want to take a cab 'cuz an ambulance ride is a four-figure extra charge.
You'll be entirely unsurprised to learn that we don't have good figures for that. The most reliable estimates for defensive gun use (including when the gun isn't fired, just displayed) puts it anywhere between 100,000 and 2.6 million incidents per year. On average, that's maybe 7 incidents per 1,000 people per year.
Most folks are still lucky enough to go their whole lives without needing to even brandish a gun, but one night in a "bad neighborhood" might see multiple shootings.