Why America (Still) Loves Guns 

Hello: This is the exact type of video that RU-vid chooses to demonetize. If you want to support my work , check out the Patreon: www.patreon.com/HorsesPT Best, Michael S.

Imagine living the past 4 years and still believing the government will protect you.

"Hello American, I am conducting a survey on behalf of the US Government. Do you have any guns?" A flawless means of collecting valid statistics.

"Do Americans really love guns?" while showing a MP5. Yes, yes we do. Give me a MP5.

Horses fails to note that there is a widespread belief that there are many more gun owners than is recorded by pollsters since owners have become increasingly wary of discussing such matters with random callers.

Oh boy , I cant wait to read all the wonderful and civil comments this video will bring...

Mid-video ad was for a gun holster. After-video ad was for the Sandy Hook Promise organization.

18:17 The passage talking about gun violence increases between 1958 and 1968 mention Glock being introduced the the civilian market. Glock didn't start manufacturing firearms until 1982 and they didn't hit the American market until 1986.

I am an immigrant and very happy gun owner. In my country of birth guns are strictly for police and military, yet we have insane gun crimes. Do not expect your government or police to save you.

$12 in 1850 had the buying power of $465.26 in todays value. 18 cents in 1900 had the buying of $6.55 in todays value

Guns are a huge part of american culture. Like they are integral to the national character. Firearm possession is literally enshrined in their founding documents, their nation was built on rebellion and revolution, which would not have been possible without guns. So asking them to give up guns is like asking them to give up everything that makes them American. In Europe, firearms arent a significant part of their culture. Barely a part of it at all. Thats why its so difficult for non-Americans to understand the fascination. Thats my interpretation as a British person anyway. Its the fundamental aspect of their identity, the American way of life, maybe the most important part.

that m4 with a scope in the thumbnail is absolutely foul

In Mexico Article 10 of the constitution allows any civilian to own firearms that are deemed "acceptable" by the government (Hint, none of them are), but even with that restriction already in place, more draconian laws were implemented in 1972, 4 years after the government had massacred students in Tlatelolco for the crime of assembling (They weren't even protesting at the time). No one spoke against gun control and now we live in a country where organized crime is free to kidnap and rape our families while corrupt military and police institutions look away and also engage in crimes against their own citizenship. If you give away your gun rights you are condemning your people to live in a dystopian anarcho tyranny.

A well balanced breakfast, being necessary to the productivity of a healthy person, the right of the people to cook and eat bacon, shall not be infringed.

what the ACTUAL FUCK is on top of that AR-15 in the thumbnail they damn near put the whole hubble telescope on it

thank you for convincing me to pursue a career in gunsmithing

As a Georgian, many people here have a similar attitude towards gun ownership. Even though we have pretty strict (and frankly, foolish) concealed carry laws, many civilians still have guns, often more than one. Gun ownership, as well as the right to bear arms of any sort, have a history that dates back centuries here. Ironically enough, the only time in its history when Georgians were made to give up their arms was in 1917 (we all know how that fairytale went lol). Even that happened after a brief war against the Red Army. There's a street named after the young Junkers who fought the Russians in the capital Tbilisi. Nowadays, the legality of gun ownership has become a much more politicizes issue, even in Georgia, with most opposition parties trying to revert the current government's gun laws and allow concealed carry after passing a psych evaluation. If it does materialize, Georgia will be the first post-Soviet country to legalize cannabis AND civilian gun ownership. Funny how things can change in a realtively short period of time

When youre settling the apalachian mountains a gun is in fact needed for defence against wild animals and such. You cant use a hatched as the law guy said

The term "Well-regulated" in the 2nd amendment means "sighted-in and regularly trained" not "regulated" in the modern sense of being controlled by the government. Old shooting manuals will talk about the "regulation of the sights" which means getting the sights zeroed in. Now, in old England, it was standard to require every Englishman to regularly practice with the long bow, as it was crucial in times of war to have plenty of well-trained archers. In the US, while no lesser a personage than Ben Franklin Himself said that training in the bow might be best, it was generally recognized (and more and more so as gun technology advanced) that it was a good thing to have plenty of trained shooters on tap in case of war. So when the US became a country, the founders made it very clear that everyone (may not apply if female or POC) who wants one may have a gun because this way there would be lots of trained shooters. I personally may or may not agree with this, but this is how we got here.

But when the Black Panther Party wanted black communities to be self-policed with guns, Reagan took the right to open carry firearms illegal.

2:03 "The majority of America believe gun ownership is a Right" It IS protected under the Right to bear arms so maybe a better sentence would have been "The majority of Americans support gun ownership as it's historically been protected under the 2nd amendment"

I appreciate that the 2nd Amendment acknowledges that the government should not have the monopoly of force.

One statistic that I think would have been interesting to include is violent crime with any weapon across countries. My intuition would say that we’re not much more violent than other countries, we just use guns as the weapon instead of a knife or a club or something

We certainly deserve the right to privately own fully armed battle tanks. A tank crew, being more than one person and working in tandem with each other, is quite literally a well-regulated militia.

if guns were prohibitively expensive in the 1700s then why were there laws saying every house had to have one

as an American, I too earned my love of guns from playing fortnite and Nerf Guns with my friends.

Why Americans still love guns: “The tree of Liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants from time to time.” - IDK some famous guy

The criminal under ground market of firearms has to be factored into our estimated statistics of American gun ownership. We have enough guns for every American with ~20 million to spare. Just imagine how much are out there that we aren’t are of. Criminals aren’t going to turn in their guns if a ban is passed. So don’t expect me to turn in mine either. Stay strapped or get clapped.

Im a huge gun enthusiast and collector. Honestly i think it comes down to Poverty and Mental Health. Theres no good way for inproverished or mentally ill people to get help leading them to a life of crime. Time and time again its shown that poverty that breeds crime and mental health not being treated is another issue.

Kind of feels odd at 2:58 when gun homicides are compared to countries where they are illegal and not just all homicides committed

The first battle of the Revolutionary War was about gun confiscation. Colonists had been talking about revolution for many years. It wasn't until the British rode to Concord, MA to take our cannons that we met them in Lexington and stopped them. That was OUR military (we were British colonists) trying to take our guns. The Battle of Lexington and Concord was April 19, 1775. 2A was supposed to guarantee that no government, foreign or domestic, can never point a bigger gun at us than we can point back, if we can afford it.

Nobody is going to admit to owning guns in a survey.

Gun ownership in America exists to protect the individual from overbearing illegitimate power structures. People advocating for civilian disarmament are either incapable of recognizing that fact or themselves benefit from those illegitimate power structures. Furthermore attempting to minimize the utility of common privately owned firearms by comparing them to weaponry owned and operated by power structures only serves to portray those power structures as illegitimate, therefore reinforcing the initial purpose of firearms ownership. I do agree that gun violence should be curbed, but through education, not subjugation. I'd love to live in a world without the need for weapons, but we are not there yet and won't be for a long time.

Stats on this topic are often skewed by suicides. Between 1/2 to 2/3 of gun deaths are self inflicted. And while this is tragic, I feel it’s necessary to address it as a separate issue than gun violence.

“By the mid 19 century guns were clunky and unreliable” my hawken from the 1830’s is one of if not the best rifle I’ve ever owned

“The right of the people to keep and bear arms” sounds pretty clear to me

Those 3 kids in the thumbnail have better trigger discipline than 95% of adults.

11:25 The Spanish conquistadors considered firearms “extremely advanced” weapons, just like their swords. They were armed to the teeth with them when they conquered the Aztec and Inca empires. So saying that early Americans didn’t look at a gun as a weapon is ridiculous. They were “not efficient” weapons, sure. But they were weapons.

That thumbnail picture goes so hard. You already know those kids dad rocks.

I live on a rural area in America and from my experience it's not a love of guns that perpetuates their sale, its a mistrust of the federal government, the dissolution of law and order in metropolitan areas and the desire to defend one's self. When you look at what's going on in this country and elsewhere, it seems pretty sane to me my friend.

babe wake up horses posted

3:36 There is no need for a justification. There is nothing wrong with people wanting to own guns just for the sake of it.

He didnt speak on how the first and second world wars, or even korea and nam, changed firearms form factor and braought on a new age of semi and fully automatic firearms. This was a big change to the culture, similar to the change from muskets and flintlocks to revolvers and lever guns. I appreciate not talking in length on the wars, though something may be said about americas veiws towards guns and violence in general during vietnam. I fully advocate gun ownership, but i comes down to the individual to be smart, aware, safe and ready. No one derserves to die for someone else, dont put yourself on either side of a gun in a violent or stupid mindset, but be the good guy with the gun, get training, and i cant stress it enough, dont be stupid. Ps. Remember, violent felons "arent allowed" to own guns!!👍

I really like the 4:3 aspect ratio the video took. It’s an interesting form that just has a different tone to it. Keep up the work and thanks for an informative video and not misleading information

“Shall not”

As a “gunlovin American” I boil it down to this. I believe people will always have guns, whether or not they are illegal. Therefore I want guns to defend myself.

if you hate your government you should consider loving guns

Your videos are something I would save for later as a treat and get excited about to watch because they make me think. I like how long they are without being inflated for, good videos to watch while eating, You bring topics and ideas that I wouldn’t have really given much thought other wise, and I thank you for that. I like learning.

Tough topic to cover. Sensitive, thoughtfull and thought provoking as ever. Well played sir.

"It was you, it was me, it was every man, We've all got the blood on our hands We only receive what we demand, If we want hell, then hell's what we'll have" Cookie Jar by Jack Johnson

You can tell the scope of this video, in an effort to appear unbiased and based in historical context, has been narrowed and framed to the extent that it accomplishes neither. He displays the text of the 2nd Amendment, declares it to be confusing, and moves immediately into vivisecting definitions in context of the era. For someone who seemed keen on providing context to the topic, he completely ignored the State Constitutions that have duplicate articles with alternate formatting. For example, in Pennsylvania's Constitution from 1776: "That the people have a right to bear arms for the defense of themselves and the state; and as standing armies in the time of peace are dangerous to liberty, they ought not to be kept up; And that the military should be kept under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power." And again, it specifically mentions self-defense before anything else. In Delaware's Constitution "person has the right to keep and bear arms for the defense of self, family, home and State, and for hunting and recreational use." Notice the same order of importance there? Google is your friend, and I promise you that the English language has not changed all that much in 200+ years He cites two clashing expert opinions as a way to frame the Gun Control Debate as an equally-matched logical debate, yet the anti-gun point is hilariously unfounded. "Cornell has indicated that the right to bear arms had almost nothing to do with personal self defense" Which had nothing to do with the header-text "Bear Arms" as those two words has intentionally wide scope. It's meant to cover *every* use-case of a firearm: armed combat, hunting, sport, self-defense, etc. as described in those original constitutions. This is also founded upon Supreme Court Judge Scalia's official opinion, as mentioned later in the video. Pistols were common and popular far before Samuel Colt. Blackbeard was famous for carrying 6 pistols, Colt simply gave people the same capability in the size of one. Samuel Colt did what every modern company's marketing department does. It was not new at the time, and it's not going out of style anytime soon. Colt was successful because his designs were revolutionary in the industry. You also forgot to mention how popular firearms became with women of the era, as goes the phrase "God created man. Samuel Colt made them equal" Gun Rights are Women's rights. The video mentions that firearms were used to control the slave population, but fails to mention that non-whites were prohibited from owning firearms, which could be used to fight for their freedom. Another point against gun control, because it's also racist. The framing on the phrase: "...Guns are used to 'settle disputes'..." is very belittling their importance. The lack of firearms historically leads to oppression, enslavement, and genocide, in that order, with every democidal Authoritarian government of the last century, be it the Nazis, Soviets, CCP (even today with the Uygher Muslisms), Cambodia, Iran, etc.

I'm from Ireland and live in Florida, never had a gun, shot one once back home. I got an ad for a holster during the video but then I get them everyday lately

Re your text @18:13 Winchester did not make handguns, and Glock wouldn't sell handguns for another 15 years.

2 reasons: 1.) Guns are cool. 2.) Self defense is a human right

How tf was the channel name horses not taken before you got it. Also I love that this shit ain't got nothing to do with horses.

Little nitpick, saying there were only long guns before colt is ignoring flintlock pistols and dueling that was common since the 1800s.

I love watching these, I often end up deep diving and the videos make my week. Thank you

As always you create a thoughtful discussion, worthy of hearing out. I'm glad you did this video and I think the like to dislike ratio itself says quite a lot about the subject

Most nations start off violently that’s a moot point. Most peoples throughout history settled disputes with violence, that’s a moot point. If guns kill people, why don’t we put the gun on trial?

"If I didn't have this gun, the King of England could just walk in here any time he wants and start shoving you around, you want that? Huh? Do you?"

I frequently go through periods where I want to delete my yt account and just switch it off for good. Then Horses posts a video and I have to watch it. It's worth keeping my account to stay subscribed here. Thanks for always posting videos that teach me something new and make me think.

I like the 4:3 aspect ratio. This will look great on my CRT TV.

So are we not going to talk about the main reason? To rebel against a tyrannical government should our social conventions and constitutional protections fail us and it comes into the hands of the wrong people?

The mythology of firearms is so prevalent that my firend who literally said "no one will steal from me becuase i have guns" and yet within a month of buying a gun the gun was stolen still was unshaken by his belief that guns inherently made his house more safe

Allowing private pwnership of guns was something that was uniquely British before it was uniquely American. The French, Spanish, Portuguese, Danes, etc did not allow it, preferring instead for their colonist to depend on their militaries for protection. Britain however incentivized colonists to protect their own land to have a firmer foothold on said land particularly in the frontier. So the idea that American see guns as a way of protecting "you and your own" us okder than the country itself

I'm pretty sure that @ 4:13 of this video it has established it will be presenting some inaccurate facts. When the settlers first came to the american continent they didn't bring rifles, they brought muskets. It was between the first settlers and the american revolutionary war when the colonists started to manufacturing rifles in Pennsylvania. It was one of the key reasons that the colonies won was due to the higher accuracy of the rifles over the british army muskets. The presenter also missed a fact, in the UK there is extreme gun ownership restrictions. Normally UK citizens can not own a gun in the UK, yet there are still gun deaths in the UK. The american revolution was not just about taxes and weapons confiscation but a list of grievances that you can read in the the declaration of independence. The problem I have with this video is that it presents the anti-gun slant more than a neutral position. The problem with modern reading of the 2A is that people can not read it in the language and nuances of 1789 when it was written. Then the writers of the 2A believed that if the people had weapons then the government would not tyrannous towards them and that the government relied on the states' and local militias as part of the defense of the country from invaders. Not until well after the civil war did the USA have a large standing army and state militias faded into the national guard, could defend the borders of the USA. The NFA was created to restricted certain weapons that the military had access to from the US citizen. The truth of the matter is that a Thompson machine gun then and now costs a great deal of money to buy and the mafia, after getting rich off bootlegging, could afford them. The cops and the newly created FBI could not afford them.

Without the 2A, there wouldn't be a 1st amendment

I love guns because I think the history behind them and the way they work is incredible.

Great video. Thoughtful and well presented as always.

I appreciate your focus on "gun violence", your video is concise enough to stimulate discussion. That being said, I find that so many voices discussing "gun violence" seem to ignore the general function of "violence" in the rest of human society/history/nature. It starts to feel like violence is perpetuated by the gun exponentially; when the instances of "gun violence" can be seen to overlap with regular cycles of societal instability. I suspect that many people's opinions are swayed by their own shallow interpretations of the term, especially when we ignore the duality of it.

Why is Columbia always so ignored in this observation? Isn't murder by gunfire the leading cause of death there?

I lost all my guns in a boating accident 😉

amazing video, thank you for your content

Imagine being so straight forward on an issue and people over centuries can’t figure out.

As a gun owner, I thought this was a great video. I really appreciate you keeping any opinions out of the video. I wish more youtubers were able to talk about the history of America and guns without spending half the video injecting their particulate stance on the issue. Most people seem to have a pretty strong opinion about the topic. Spending time on what's wrong and right will only alienate parts of the audience, no mater what side the opinions come from.

It’s always been no country for old men. To think violence is mostly firearm related or American centric isn’t honest. Freedom is a double edged sword and so is being capable of violence.

Just stumbled upon your channel. Love it! Keep it up!

Gun statistics need to be separated from gang violence and radicals. Your average small town heavily armed America has little to no gun violence or violent crime at all

my biggest issue is that guns are not inherently dangerous i live in the deep south, and almost everyone has guns, but we have a very low crime rate where i live, especially violent crime involving a firearms. if you wanna do anything about gun violence you have to address the societal conditions that make people want to shoot others. ban guns and people that want to hurt others will continue to do so using other weapons.

such a great narrator and creator.

I grew up in a house hold with no guns. My first gun purchase was in college and man do I love sharing my passion for the 2nd amendment with others and helping them with their first firearm purchase

terrific and important video, thank you

pardon me for being forward but I LOVE YOU HORSEY MAN ❤🎉

SHALL NOT be infringed.

Beautiful essay! I watched Pillboy's essay on gun culture around black gun ownership and together with your video I find it helped me a lot to understand the US gun culture (which is always a bit puzzling from a European perspective).

Surprisingly unbiased, very well done video.

I love my RU-vid , consume content constantly , but yours is the only channel I support through Patreon because I don’t ever want you to stop . Thanks for what you do Micheal , i hope you are very proud of what you’ve created here ✌️🇮🇪

4:30 it’s also important to note here that not only colonial leaders required firearms ownership, but the Crown itself did as well. A major reason for the failure of the Spanish claims of North America was the nomadic tribes that were able to avoid the Spanish military. Since the Spanish troops could not be everywhere at once, and the Spanish explicitly barred its citizens from owning weapons in the New World, Spanish power in the Americas dwindled. The British solved this by encouraging hun ownership, thus reducing the military spending and logistics needed to manage such a massive claim. Their biggest mistake was assuming that this policy would’ve eventually backfire on themselves.

Thank you, I appreciate your videos.

man i love how the thumbnail has a comically large tec-9 and a comically large scope on the AR-15 to the right, as well as the fact that their faces are blocked out as if it's a real picture. it looks ridiculous

Boy i hope this video doesnt skip over the statistics of whos doing the vast majority of violent gun crime.

I’m originally from Canada but live in the USA, so I know what it’s like to live in places where gun rights don’t exist and where they do. I’d much prefer to live in a place where I have the right to protect myself and my family with the most effective and efficient means possible. We live in a rural area with venomous snakes, coyotes, wolves, cougars etc. Guns are vastly used as tools of defense and to harvest food here and there’s very little violent crime. I think the biggest thing we have to ask is what is wrong in big cities which have the highest gun violence rates despite also having the toughest gun laws. What’s wrong with the populations in those areas and how do we fix it?

Saving this one for later Mr. Horses. I’m in the midst of struggling with grad school work and while your content is usually so intriguing it makes my cogs turn, this is one of those topics I will have to put aside for better days. Besides, I have a few of your videos to catch up to!

Great work as always

The general lack of cultural homogeneity, inequality and extreme sense of individuality are the main drivers behind our violence as a society.

I can think of few other channels where i can remember what each and every last video is about without having to look it up or think much. That is how one knows that a channel means something.

I just don’t get why a family needs like 4 rifles in theirs homes, and how easily is for people to get a gun to do bad things 😔

Who's committing the gun violence in America? Not the people who hold to your outlined mythology. They look like Baltimore and not Europe.

I think you were a little misleading on some points. Suggesting that Southerners, Prospecters and Xenophobic Urbanites are the only people who would have a gun seems to put people in a box. And suggesting the gun ownership primarily is a way to "settle dsiputes" is a little narrow minded. Guns are definitely used in that manner but that's not really the core of American Gun Culture. The best way to describe it would be more in line with romanticism around the revolutionary war. The more modern POV is more associated with Cold War survivalism, Anti-government sentiments, Distrust of the government, and popular culture. The idea that gun owner ship is more linked to racism, is a bit divorced from reality. As for the NRA, they have all but disintegrated. The real thing you should have addressed should have been the intent behind the creation of felonies as a way to disenfranchise minorities and strip them of voting and gun rights. The proliferation of Firearms is more or less linked in increased central federal power, and the subsequent incompetence to deal with the consequences of removing local powers over the subject. It is at this point though, and uncontrollable power as the equipent to manufacture firearms is readily and freely available without necessitating federal overwatch as making a gun is relatively easy. The path forward is likely a stalemate.

This video convinced me to buy a gun today. Any recommendations??