The United States has minimal requirements for buying a gun. Although some cities restrict gun ownership, guns are readily available in most states and at gun shows and on the Internet. A purchaser might buy a gun in less than an hour.
Other countries have established high barriers to gun ownership. It is possible to buy a gun but not easy.
Japan
1. Join a hunting or shooting club.
2. Take a firearm class and pass a written exam, which is held up to three times a year.
3. Get a doctor’s note saying you are mentally fit and do not have a history of drug abuse.
4. Apply for a permit to take firing training, which may take up to a month.
5. Describe in a police interview why you need a gun.
6. Pass a review of your criminal history, gun possession record, employment, involvement with organized crime groups, personal debt and relationships with friends, family and neighbors.
7. Apply for a gunpowder permit.
8. Take a one-day training class and pass a firing test.
9. Obtain a certificate from a gun dealer describing the gun you want.
10. Buy a gun safe and an ammunition locker that meet safety regulations.
11. Allow the police to inspect your gun storage.
12. Pass an additional background review.
13. Buy a gun.
Japan has the lowest rate of gun homicides in the world.
Australia
After the Port Arthur Massacre in 1996, where a man methodically killed 35 random people and injured many more at a popular tourist site, Australia made it more difficult to get a gun. Gun ownership is a privilege, not a right.
1. Join and regularly attend a hunting or shooting club, or document that you’re a collector.
2. Complete a course on firearm safety and operation, and pass a written test and practical assessment.
3. Arrange firearm storage that meets safety regulations.
4. Pass a review that considers criminal history, domestic violence, restraining orders and arrest history. Authorities may also interview your family and community members.
5. Apply for a permit to acquire a specific type of weapon.
6. Wait at least 28 days.
7. Buy the specific type of gun you received a permit for.
The article in the New York Times describes the gun laws in 13 other countries.
Those who mistakenly claim that the Second Amendment protects their unlimited right to buy any kind of gun ignore the fact that Congress banned assault weapons from 1994-2004. Before the ban was passed, it was endorsed by former Presidents Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“After the Port Arthur Massacre in 1996, where a man methodically killed 35 random people and injured many more at a popular TOURIST SITE …”
Did you notice the difference between the shooting in Australia that brought about tough firearms legislation and the shootings in the U.S.?
Most of the mass killings in the U.S. have taken place in public schools — not popular tourist sites!
America’s list of most popular tourist attractions do not include any public schools. What would happen if all the mass shootings in the U.S. had taken place in Times Square on New Year’s Eve or any of the Walt Disney Theme Parks?
Please show your sources for “Did you notice the difference between the shooting in Australia that brought about tough firearms legislation and the shootings in the U.S.? Most of the mass killings in the U.S. have taken place in public schools — not popular tourist sites!”
Have any of the mass shootings occurred in popular tourist sites?
Not the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.
Not the country music festival in Las Vegas.
Not sure why it matters.
Why do I have to provide a link when anyone can Google (with their fingers on a keyboard in less than a second) to find out about the last mass shooting in Australia that caused dramatic changes in their firearms legislation? That’s how I found the info.
I’ll let this Austrlain comic tell you all about it.
A good idea in any discussion is to be sure you know what you’re talking about.
So … what is an “assault rifle”?
What about the girl who had her face blown off by the spray of bullets from the AR-15? What about the 6 and 7 year olds at Sandy Hook who had their bodies ripped to shreds. I’ve really had enough of these word games and pettifogging about what is or is not an assault rifle while our children are being slaughtered in schools. Ban the damn AR-15s, the semi-automatics and the high capacity magazines. It should be much harder to buy a gun, ANY gun. The starting point could be the gun laws that exist in NJ.
All these gun advocates should be forced to look at the crime scene photos from these massacres. We see the horrors of the civil war in Syria on the evening news; the bloodied children and their corpses lined up in makeshift morgues. Do we need to do the same for the school shootings (only with the permission of the parents and relatives)?
They should be forced to go in and clean up the blood, the guts, the brain matter left after these shootings.
And, as you said, with parental permission, see photos. And attend an autopsy.
You tell us, let’s have an intelligent discussion.
I’d rather have a thorough explanation and glossary on guns/ ammo from gun experts, organized as follows: purpose of gear [e.g. – hunting, target practice/ competition, collection (historical interest, not stockpiling), defense of indiv in public, defense of home, defense of business], all accompanied by risk/ benefit analysis [e.g. – home vs community (whether for home defense or collector interest), indiv vs innocent bystanders [for hunting, target practice, home defense, bus defense, indiv defense in public arena i.e. concealed carry].
Assualt Rifles defined, explained, compared in under 3 minutes.
Like.
What a bout the RIGHT to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I think that this ‘right’ to carry a gun, or own an automatic weapon of war is superseding this right.
Those children had a right to LIVE!
End of discussion!
I lived in the People’s Republic of Mozambique (1984-1986). The communist government attempted to confiscate all of the weapons (in private hands) , when they took over in 1975. Some people turned in their weapons, some did not. A civil war began almost right away. When I arrived, there was talk about the government issuing weapons to citizens, so that they could fight against the anti-government guerrillas. The communists were planning to set up a “well-ordered militia” composed of citizen-soldiers. The plan never really got off the ground.
Most communist governments forbid private citizens from owning deadly weapons. Only free people own firearms. Not every person who is in favor of reasonable controls on firearms is a communist.
Charles, the government will not take away all firearms.
It should ban and confiscate military weapons, which belong in the hands of the military.
Do you think that a group of rebels with AR-15s could defeat the US military? A few have tried. The military has far more powerful weapons and far more troops and firepower.
The only scenario I can imagine in my wildest nightmare is that Trump declares himself president for life and suspends the Constitution. He made a comment the other day expressing admiration for the president of China, who said that he had no plans to step aside ever. Unfortunately, all those with AR 15s would defend Trump. I don’t think the military would.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/03/politics/trump-maralago-remarks/index.html
Diane,
“The only scenario I can imagine in my wildest nightmare is that Trump declares himself president for life and suspends the Constitution. He made a comment the other day expressing admiration for the president of China, who said that he had no plans to step aside ever. ”
Was a joke – there was laughter after the comment made with other jokes at the dinner. The event, Gridiron dinner, is known for its roast-style speeches, skits and political comedy, with lawmakers and journalists going after one another throughout the dinner. Presidential speeches filled with self-deprecating humor are usual, flinging barbs at his own administration as well as the usual targets. He made fun of the bald spot in the back of head and the arrangement of his hair to cover it.
Someday the left and the media will understand Trump and how he plays them. Such a tizzy over nothing….
Still waiting for the collusion under Mueller – tick tock tick tock -sigh
Jscheidell, he did not make that comment at the Gridiron dinner. It was not a joke.
It was at a comment at a closed door meeting leaked to CNN.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/03/politics/trump-maralago-remarks/index.html
Trump is a megalomaniac who knows nothing about the Constitution or civics. You prove that con men always find easy marks.
Diane,
Thanks for the correction of the place of the joke – but a joke all the same.
BTW (CNN)The $78,333.32 that President Donald Trump donated from his first paycheck as President will help fund restoration projects at Antietam National Battlefield.
Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke announced Wednesday that the portion of the salary, which Trump in April announced he was donating to the National Park Service, will support restorations at the National Park Service protected area in Sharpsburg, Maryland, which commemorates the Battle of Antietam
Now Pelosi might indicate this sum is “crumbs” but now I find the idiots at the Sierra Club call it a “… believe the salary donation is merely symbolic. In an earlier statement, the Sierra Club, an environmental conservation group, said, “America’s parks, and the people and economies they support, need real funding, not a giant fake check.”
In a tweet, Zinke said that Trump’s donation and the matching funds would help restore the Newcomer House at the historic site of the battlefield. It, where Battle of Antietam was a critical one in the Civil War, and it remains the single bloodiest day in American history.
The left is never satisfied – oh, I forgot it’s from Trump…..
Meanwhile, he and his family are collecting hundreds of millions in contracts trading on the presidency, including Jared Kushner getting loans after White House meetings and Ivanka getting trademarks in China, and Don Jr. selling condos in India.
GRIFTERS!
Historians have already rated Trump the worst president in history.
Hoping he goes to jail and has time to learn to read and suffer the consequences of greed, lies, and hatred.
Diane, well apparently there seems to be nothing that Trump could say or do that might cause jscheidell (and a few others) to even look mildly askance at Trump, much less totally disapprove.
I begin to understand how people are drawn into cults.
Sad.
For every con man, there are always dupes.
Diane,
“Dupes” – another moniker to be adored by those who didn’t vote for Hillary. who really are the dupes – those who still are weeping in their safe space with their sucky toy and teddy bears to comport them in their loss?
Cults – like those voters – shafted by the Hillary and the DNC – who fell for the Bernie?
I was not confused when voting – the choice was clear – “mildly askance at Trump, much less totally disapprove?” Many voters disapproved of Trump’s opposition – Hillary- and didn’t want 8 more years of Obama.
“I begin to understand how people are drawn into cults” Zorba must be describing the Clintons and their obvious vacuity in offering some policy in which to vote for other than Bill’s dalliances in the oval office.
Yes, The only true dupes are those who were duped by the Russians and are still waiting for collusion.
MAKE IT A GREAT DAY!
No, I’m talking about you and your Trumpistas.
I never thought the Clintons were great and would have preferred someone other than Hillary to run in 2016. But I voted for her because Trump was a liar, a cheat, a sexual predator and harrasser, someone known not to pay many of his contractors, employees, and investors, a narcissist, and he’s the one in bed with Putin and the Russians, by the way, not Hillary.
But you just keep on drinking the Trump Kool Aid and believing his total pasture puckey.
I feel sorry for you, but not enough to keep engaging with you.
Go off in a corner, suck your thumb, and keep stroking your Trump Teddy bear. I’m done with you.
“There’s a sucker born every minute.”
(While attributed to P. T. Barnum, it’s not entirely proven that he said it, although it sounds like something he would have said. And certainly something he believed.)
“military weapons,”
Did you watch the video that Lloyd posted? It gives a good explanation of the basic similarities of semi-automatic rifles. How do you define “military weapons”, Diane? Gracias.
How about another video?
“Unfortunately, all those with AR 15s would defend Trump.”
Reread your sentence to understand just how illogical that is. I know a number of AR15 style gun owners who have no love whatsoever of the Trumpster.
I support the banning of military-style assault weapons. I am not convinced that weapons of this nature, serve any legitimate sporting or self-defense purpose.
-I do not think the US government will confiscate any weapons.
-I support the banning of certain types of weapons, which serve no legitimate sporting or self-defense purpose.
-What exactly is a “military weapon”? The US military uses all types of weapons: knives, pistols, rifles, etc. The military uses 9mm Glock semi-automatic pistols. These pistols are available for sale on the open market. Should they be banned for private use?
-I do not think that a group of rebels armed with AR-15s would stand a chance of defeating the US military. (See the US Civil War 1861-1865, armed with modern state-of-the-art weapons, the Confederacy never had a chance)
-I do not think that all people who currently own an AR-15, would defend any individual, under the circumstances you envision. No way.
This 14 year old with clear psychopathic tendencies wanted to kill 40-50 or more (he wanted to outdo the Columbine killers, whose exploits he pored over on the Internet). He failed, killing only two, in part because he couldn’t obtain the semi-automatic he wanted. The psychopaths will always be with us, but assault rifles don’t have to be.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/inside-a-teen-school-shooters-mind-a-plot-to-kill-50-or-60-if-i-get-lucky-maybe-150/2018/03/03/68cc673c-1b27-11e8-ae5a-16e60e4605f3_story.html?utm_term=.8f2b73fc2e16
Every gun that I own is semi-automatic. None are supposed assault weapons.
By the way, ponderosa, did you watch Lloyd’s video? Thoughts?
Yes. Thorny. But there’s got to be a way to draw the line. Where would you draw it?
Perhaps putting limitations on the capacity of magazines.
AR-15 is the civilian version of the military fully automatic weapon. It’s still a very effective large scale killing machine. Add the bumpstock and it comes close to the military.
I’ve had some good and not so good discussions with NRA members who are resistant. Ranging from “no registration” to “more powerful registration” to “I turned mine in”.
Some claim that gun deaths in Australia have gone up since the ban. I have friends from Down Under who say this is false.
I’m curious what this is about:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2018/02/15/nra-russia-and-trump-money-laundering-poisoning-us-democracy-commentary.html
Diane,
The best joke at the dinner:
“In one job I had to manage a cutthroat cast of characters, desperate for TV time, totally unprepared for their roles and their jobs and each week afraid of having their asses fired, and the other job I was the host of a smash television hit,” Trump reportedly joked.
Make It A Great Day!
Who picked the jerks surrounding Trump?
Uhhh, he did.
The rats keep deserting his sinking ship.
His steel tariff hits Canada hardest.
So we will have a trade war with our neighbor to the north, and a Wall for our neighbor to the south. Europe is furious.
Trump alienates our allies and sucks up to our adversaries.
What a moron.