Current Events > Iceland is a gun-loving country but has no shooting murders since a decade ago

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/iceland-gun-loving-country-no-shooting-murders-2007-n872726


Iceland is part of NATO but has no standing army. From this perspective, the idea of allowing ordinary people to buy military-grade weapons such as the infamous AR-15 seems "crazy, absolutely crazy," according to Icelandic lawyer var Plsson.

"When you have an automatic gun in your home, anybody can access it, your children or anyone else," he says.

Plsson is responsible for giving one of the lectures that leads up to the gun exam. Vilhjlmsson, the city gunsmith, gives another, as well as the tests at the shooting range. The entire process is administered by the Environment Agency of Iceland.

Like his fellow classmates, Gararsson now has to wait to see if he has passed. If not, it might be annoying to hit the books again but he believes Iceland should never consider adopting a more American-style regime.

"That people can go into a store and buy a gun, it's ridiculous for me," he says. "If something snaps in his head then he's able to do it in just one hour go to a store, buy a gun, go to a guy he's angry at and shoot him."

...what's clear is how seriously all Icelanders take the responsibility that comes with owning a deadly weapon.

That's why Gararsson, the mechanical engineer and hopeful gun-owner, is currently sitting in a Reykjavik hotel conference room learning about the ins and outs of his weapon of choice.

He came here with his girlfriend, Jhanna Einarsdttir, 26, a teacher who also wants a gun. There are about three dozen others in attendance, all listening intently to the seminar covering firearm history, physics, laws, hunting and safety.

This is only one step in a meticulously regulated journey.

Candidates are examined by a doctor who checks they are in good physical and mental health.

They have a meeting with the chief of police, who asks them why they want to own a gun and runs a background check to make sure they have no criminal record.

Then comes the lecture, followed by a written test the next day that they have to pass with a grade of 75 percent or higher.

The final part is a day-long practice session at a shooting range outside the capital. Here, against the backdrop of snow-capped mountains, they blast at bright-orange targets fired into the sky by a machine.

"It feels like somebody cares that you're getting a gun and what you're going to do with the gun," Gararsson says at his apartment on the outskirts of Reykjavik. "So you're not going to buy a gun to do stupid things."

If they pass, he and his girlfriend will have been studying and preparing for around 13 months.

And that's just for a small rifle or a pump-action shotgun. Owning a handgun, for example, can take around three to four years, and semi-automatic rifles are all but banned.

Gararsson hopes to finish the tests and start practicing his aim in time for winter.

Just more proof that guns themself are not the problem.
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DarkTransient posted...

Just more proof that guns themself are not the problem.

Yes, it's the American culture.
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DarkTransient posted...

Just more proof that guns themself are not the problem.

Like his fellow classmates, Gararsson now has to wait to see if he has passed. If not, it might be annoying to hit the books again but he believes Iceland should never consider adopting a more American-style regime.

What do you think about that statement?
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Good to see Iceland understands what "well regulated miltia" means.
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LightningAce11 posted...

DarkTransient posted...

Just more proof that guns themself are not the problem.

Yes, it's the American culture.

^ That's more or less what I think about it.
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the more gun loving the less gun violence?
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But the gun nuts here don't even want the restrictions Iceland has in obtaining a gun.

Mackorov posted...

gun exam

Crux of the matter.

Suggesting this would still make the people scream 'MUH GUNZ' though.

Plus, no way to account for the numerous guns already in circulation so the point is moot, yet another case irrelevant to the US..
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LightningAce11 posted...

DarkTransient posted...

Just more proof that guns themself are not the problem.

Yes, it's the American culture.

ban Americans.
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Last I checked Iceland got rid of bankers. That's probably why.
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Ricemills posted...

LightningAce11 posted...

DarkTransient posted...

Just more proof that guns themself are not the problem.

Yes, it's the American culture.

ban Americans.

I think you're onto something!
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Distant_Rainbow posted...

Plus, no way to account for the numerous guns already in circulation so the point is moot, yet another case irrelevant to the US..

Yeah that's another issue.

Guns per capita;
United Stated 101
Iceland 30.3

When it comes to guns I think United States is about 5 decades too late to find a quick and actual effective solution. It would take an entire change in the culture and decades of work.
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DarkTransient posted...

Ricemills posted...

LightningAce11 posted...

DarkTransient posted...

Just more proof that guns themself are not the problem.

Yes, it's the American culture.

ban Americans.

I think you're onto something!

speak German
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Darmik posted...

Distant_Rainbow posted...

Plus, no way to account for the numerous guns already in circulation so the point is moot, yet another case irrelevant to the US..

Yeah that's another issue.

Guns per capita;
United Stated 101
Iceland 30.3

When it comes to guns I think United States is about 5 decades too late to find a quick and actual effective solution. It would take an entire change in the culture and decades of work.

But it would still be better to make changes to improve the future than to do nothing.
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guns are bad, thats why countries like guatemala had their violent crime exponentially decrease after banning guns

oh wait

MedzXVIII posted...

DarkTransient posted...

Ricemills posted...

LightningAce11 posted...

DarkTransient posted...

Just more proof that guns themself are not the problem.

Yes, it's the American culture.

ban Americans.

I think you're onto something!

speak German

GUTEN MORGEN HERR PTERODACTYL
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Tmaster148 posted...

But it would still be better to make changes to improve the future than to do nothing.

Yeah of course.

Sadly I think it's still a while away until that starts happening.

Every time this conversation comes up I think of this article

A nation that could not devise a system of gun control after its experiences of the 1960s, and at a moment of profound popular revulsion against guns, is not likely to get such a system in the calculable future. One must wonder how grave a domestic gun catastrophe would have to be in order to persuade us. How far must things go?

https://www.americanheritage.com/content/america-gun-culture

Written in god damn 1970
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Are the anti gunners willing to kill to take away guns and if so what would be their weapon of choice?
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https://www.pri.org/stories/2013-12-03/iceland-grieves-after-police-kill-man-first-time-its-history

This article is also interesting. From the Icelandic republic's formation in 1944, police have not killed a single person until 2013. And when that death happened, the incident became national headlines.

Guns as a privilege vs guns as a right
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Mackorov posted...

military-grade weapons

Already fucking stupid. Cherry on top would be if it said-

Mackorov posted...

an automatic gun

There we go.
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theres so many factors here that they ignore on in that article outside of the population size. the US has a LOT of factors that go into its gun violence. population size, racial tensions, gang and drug violence, weather conditions (surprisingly, look it up), non-island country, how news and social media work, political divides, (and imo an overemphasis on prescription drugs), the lack of social services and safety nets, nearly 4000x MORE firearms in circulation and a lot of other reasons.

the entire fundamental notion of the firearm is also severely limited. much like the rest of europe if you defend your self with a firearm in nearly any instance you will be punished so many dont even bother and dont see firearms as the US does. the government also knows who owns what and can take them from you for any reason they see fit so technically you dont own the firearm, the govt just allows you to have them. the US is largely the only country in the world who treats firearms how they are supposed to be treated. not just for sport or hunting, but also for defense.

the US' situation leads to more gun violence, but also more violence of all kinds. the bed the US has put itself into has created a unique vacuum of shit, one that we will not be able to fix by limiting firearms which may actually make the whole situation worse by doing so.