I’ve been thinking about something and want to check an assumption I have. I only hear directly from other people in the USA, and interract with the global community through memes. How are the gun regulations/laws different from yours in terms of strictness, and do you wish there was more or less where you live?
Not looking for a debate here, discuss cold drinks vs hot drinks instead. Appreciate either answer. ❤️
Dutch here. Gun laws are strict. Generally, only the police and military carry guns in public. To legally own a firearm without being in either the police or the military you need to be a member of a firing range/club type of deal iirc. And even then only senior members get to take their guns home with them.
There is gun related violence but it’s less of a problem because there’s few guns and they’re harder to come by. It does seem like gun violence might be increasing but I’m unsure if that is due to a few high profile cases and extra media attention or that it’s actually getting worse.
I like it this way. I personally have never felt the need to arm myself and I’m glad it’s mostly professionals that get to carry weapons. It’s not a perfect system and weapons do end up in the hands of the wrong people but it’s the exception more than the rule really.
Several Dutch people told me that firearms are common on ships under the Dutch flag. Given the number of people owning sea-worthy vessels this might be interesting. Do you know anything about this?
Haven’t heard about that but I think ships sailing under a Dutch flag would be treated as Dutch territory for law purposes. Harder to enforce when you’re on the high seas though. And I’m not sure percentage-wise there’s a disproportiona number of Dutch people that own seafaring ships. Most merchant ships would be owned by companies anyway and they’d probably frown upon that stuff.
Dutch merchant ships sailing through pirate infested waters might have armed guards (navy troops, mercenaries) I guess?
I think they may be telling you tall tales.