[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

State symbol, as opposed to a national symbol. Each of the states have their own symbology. State flower, state fish, what have you. Utah is probably one of the few (if not the only) states to adapt a handgun as a state symbol (it is however, not it's only state symbol). The designer, John Moses Browning was from Utah, which i think is seen as a point of pride, and the driving force behind adopting the 1911 as one of the states symbols.

Oh yeah, it is state rather than national, I mean if I had to pick a national symbol for the US it would probably be the Eagle, certainly that's the one that is used the most in the US, but the gun is also pretty far up there, as a national object.

Yeah I remember you mentioning swords before. Front what i've seen in the media, it looks like "saumarui swords" and other long blades are banned in the UK, and I never really understood that. I mean, are people running down the street with swords skewering each other? Of course, here in the US we have all types, for good and bad. You might find this interesting, if not entertaining:

Man with samurai sword chases off alleged stalker who attacked woman

A sword? REALLY? That is so unusual for here, that its an oddity in the news.

Made the news here too! Good on him, I say.

We have had a few sword stabbings here, like I say, you're more likely to be stabbed than shot in the UK.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/d...-samurai-sword

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ne...-29562852.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...al-London.html

Knife amnesties work from time to time, the hauls they get from knife bins can be quite impressive, but considering that, unlike guns, knives are kitchen utensils as well as a weapon, there can never be a full ban. Police officers wear stab vests now, which helps, but it's still risky stuff.

That's not to say that gun crime isn't an issue, but it probably takes second place behind knife crime.

Katanas and their life (Samurai swords as they're often called) are probably the most popular because a) they're cool looking and seen in films like Kill Bill, and b) they're a bit easier to use than a long sword and do more damage. Gunny did a good comparison once:



(and a rebuttal has been posted in reply to that clip here - )

Personally, my taste runs towards European swords, but that's probably to do with my location rather than any form of practicality.

There's archery too, which is some pretty awesome stuff, but that's another subject entirely, and I must admit, archery based crime is not exactly a subject in the UK, probably something to do with it being a bit hard to hide a bow.

Another thing that just occurred to me on our cultural engrain with firearms, is not just the revolutionary period, but the westward expansion. We do have this sordid tale of our Indian wars/uprisings, manifest destiny, frontier pioneers, and all that sort of thing, and is probably very unique to America. While this portion of our history is not really just about guns, guns do play their part, it's a portion of our history that I think has left an enduring mark in our national culture. If your at all curious, i highly recommend watching this series:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_West_%28documentary%29

It's not a flowery exposition of red white and blue BS. It really shows it for how it was. At least where our treatment of the indians is concerned. My wife and I both learned quite a bit watching it.

I will have to check that out one day, I remember doing that time period in GCSE history, there was a large relief map of the US in the classroom, I remember looking over it and marvelling at just how many places called 'Greenville' you have in America.
But yes, it was a dark time and yet a time of brave and hardy people, and to be honest, if the expansion hadn't taken place as the United States of America, it most likely would have taken place in the name of the Thirteen Colonies or by the Crown. Once the technology was available to support it, expansion would have been inevitable. Just as it happened with the Spanish in South America.

We do seem to have a hardon for the end of the world don't we?

Don't we just? Funnily enough I attended a panel with novellists who had written apocalypitic novels and it asked the question why 'End of the world' stories had become so popular, and there was an American author there too, really nice chap, Peter V. Brett his name was, and he spoke about how life had changed since 9/11, and how things had gotten darker in literature, film and television, but also about how there's so many parts of the "SHTF" scenario that appeals to people, especially those who are stuck in the machine like embrace of modern living. It's a bit like the Artilleryman in H.G. Wells's classic novel 'The War of the Worlds', they see the end of the world as not a tragedy but as an opportunity to change their lifestyle and shape a future of their making.
Of course, if the S really did HTF, most of the people who feel that way would probably find themselves the first to get screwed.