I am English because I was born in England, to British parents and I still have UK citizenship instead of US. However, I grew up here in America for the last 32 years. It is incredibly easy to over-generalize about attitudes, laws, common practices, etc. when something is happening in "another country." Not trying to get a dig on anyone, but wanting to provide some additional perspective.
For those that arent familiar, America's 50 states independently determine their own fire arms laws and requirements. Often, may municipalities set their own standards, too. In regards to who can legally own a gun, if/what, may be carried in public, and even if such a firearm may be concealed or not, and if a permit for such would be required. For example, it is inaccurate to characterize that everywhere in America you would see roaming grouos of paramilitary militia carrying assault rifles (***side note, the so callled Assault rifles are typically legally modified regular rifles that dont meet the congressional definitions of automatic rifles. I'm not so well versed on the distinctions, apologies in advance).
To say the very least, the laws around the country vary wildly. I live in Atlanta, Georgia (the "South", an area that is much more conservative/Republican than the rest of the country, and on the whole more defensive about the concept of guns rights through interpretation of the US Constitution 2nd amendment. As our worthy colleague from Florida pointed out, the gun shows are very real, and joke gun safety classes do not inspire a lot of confidence in that someone who wants to own a gun can do so responsibly.
To be frank, No, I do not have such an affinity for such a blind defense of guns rights. Theres a protest on the News right now in Atlanta over the very real concern of police officers being heavy handed and/or shooting first without good cause.
More police departments around the country are requiring some form of body camera, dependent on their budget/resources available. Ideally, everyone should be interested in the actual truth instead of word v word and cameras can do that. This would confirm so called "justified shootings" but also confirm instances of police assault, etc.
I'm still trying to get the info about what happened in Dallas. But, there is tremendous tension in general about support vs. Criticism of police officers in a general sense. Many (majority White) will blanket support police actions, simply because they are police with the assumption that their judgment is good. Conversely, those that raise real concerns and criticisms of police actions have those concerns through the lens of racial discrimination. In much sense, this issue is a continuation of how America has struggled to reconcile and overcome its own long legacy of racial strife.
People are angry, no matter which side of the issue they may be on.
On the whole, and without writing too much or getting too off track, trying to understand the "American situation" in regards to guns/police is incredibly complicated unless one actually lives here. That is only to say - no need to over generalize ALL of America based on limited source material. Not everyone likes guns or wants gun, yet there is a large political base that does making any movement forward extremely difficult to achieve.
Sorry for rambling, I try to get some good thoughts out of my head. I'm happy to address specific questions to the best of my ability, and always happy to retract any incorrect information if brought to my attention.
