Safety: Reverse culture shock from visiting the USA after living in Scotland for 3 years.
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- Опубліковано 20 сер 2024
- Today I'm talking about my thoughts on safety and gun control in the United States compared to Scotland. Did you know that the vast majority of police officers in Scotland don't carry guns? I also talk about the Tulsa State Fair and the Krispy Kreme burger that will be delicious for about 3 bites, and then force you to go to the toilet and regret all your life choices. What do you think about the gun epidemic in the USA? Do you think it will ever be fixed?
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Thank you for pointing out that knife crime is actually worse in the USA than the UK. I get tired of Americans online coming out with the idea that knife crime over here is rife. It's because we talk about it so much as it worries us.
School shootings. Dunblane affected the public in the UK profoundly. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say the nation was traumatised. We all know where we were when we heard about Dunblane. It wasn't just that school shootings are so rare but that the children were so young. At the time my own children were the same age. I clearly remember being stuck in a traffic jam on the way to work listening to a report on Radio 4 and I started to weep openly. I looked across and saw the guy in the car next to me was crying to. I guess he was listening to the same reporter. It would have been unthinkable for the country not to change its attitude to guns at that point. It's very sad that Sandy Hook didn't do the same to the USA.
100% even the stats don't show how much more likely it is in america.
Carrying a knife around here is considered 'knife crime' where as america you have the right to carry one so nearly all of their knife crime stats are violent and a good proportion of ours are just possession.
I remember seeing a peer reviewed paper on crime statistics, and the US was worse on practically every single type of crime and those where the UK was ahead was by a fraction.
I think it was called "Dispelling the Myth" and should be standard reading.
Per capita, stabbing deaths in the US, are 7.5 times greater than in the UK.
I remember just what I was doing when I heard the news about Dunblane.
Part of the reason this myth is rife is that UK knife crime statistics include people prosecuted for being in possession of/carrying a knife in public without a good reason even if it is not used. I don't know what the rules are regarding carrying a knife in the USA but I expect that if you are allowed to carry a gun in public then there are probably no rules about carrying a knife.
@@sandersson2813. I can't believe it's a coincidence that crime is so bad in the US, while at the same time, with only 4.23% of the global population, America has 25% of the world's prison population.
Maybe this is a sign that education...not incarceration, should be a primary focus for US lawmakers. Locking people up, especially for non-violent petty offences, seems to lead to people becoming institutionalized and constant re-offending. Which is very good for the bottom line of the Prison Industrial Complex...but terrible for the greater community and society at large.
I'm glad your family is in Scotland, a safe and civilised country.
I wouldn't say it's that civilised. Highest drug deaths in Europe, high poverty, poor education and a lot of sub human scum living there.
Winter is coming…
@@alundavies1016when I moved to Scotland people warned me of the cold weather.... I was delighted with the thought that I would be free of mud when it froze! My kids were excited to think of making snowmen but we only had enough snow to make one sad specimen about 15cm tall
@@doithimaceabhard7457
It hardly ever snows. , unless you live in the Highlands you'll probably not see snow, and a bad year would be a cold snap where we see snow for a couple of weeks and that would be extremely rare, like 2010.
These days if you live in central belt, Edinburgh, Dundee, Glasgow you'll probably not really see more than a dozen days of frost.
@@doithimaceabhard7457 we are going up to Scotland to see some family at Christmas, and my little boys have made me swear that we go and find some snow! I may have to drive up a mountain.
As a Texan who spends a lot of time in the UK, I found the statistics you shared sobering. There's a lot of things l love about the US but this is not one of them. While we were in the UK there was a mass shooting at the outlet mall (in Allen, TX) where we regularly shop. All our politicians can do is offer their "thoughts and prayers" and blame poor parenting and the degradation of society. It's absurd.
They are half right with people and social, but they exclude their own responsibilities which is the annoying part
Is very sad.
well this will wake you right up. every year more americans are killed with guns than the ukranian armed forces are taking and the hands of the russian invasion, not by much but the us kills more of its own with guns than the russian military is inflicting on ukraine. lets just be clear america a country at peace is killing more people than a country in a peer on peer war featuring tanks, ifvs artillery, mines, drones and an air force, we wont mention the russian navy as they have decided to sit this one out for their own reasons, but this is a full on war. yes, maybe the russians have displayed low levels of competance at times, but it shouldnt even be close, the fact that it is, and its actually america winning, that is just insanity right there
Nobody puts their foot down on any of it or cares enough too. Very sad.
I'm Canadian and used to travel a great deal in the USA. Not anymore. I got tired of the ignorance and the fact that you have to be situationally aware all the time. As a man with a young family I totally agree with your decision to get the hell out of there. Your children will grow up safe,healthy,and well educated.
My brother lives in Toronto and has not been in the ZOO as he calls the US in the last 8 years due to number of lunatics carrying guns.
I am from Prague and not too long ago I was on business trip to Los Angeles. As I was waiting at the intersection for the green light, a stranger approached my car and pointed a gun directly at my head. No words spoken, his hand was shaking, obviously he was under illicit drugs). The feeling of utter horror and hopelessness (try to defend yourself against a gun, unarmed and fastened, seated down), I was in such a shock that I thought to myself: This is it! It's over for me, I am going to die right here on my way to work at 8AM in this ugly dirty LA far away from beautiful home. He didn't pull the trigger and the light turned green, I stepped on gas. This was the craziest thing that ever happened to me and this made me paranoid whenever I travel to USA, I am just uneasy. I cherish and appreciate much more Europe and the place where I come from now. Just feel bad for decent pacifist Americans.
I used to work for Wiltshire police in UK. The Inspector i worked for told me that the force had NEVER had to shoot an active shooter in its history.
Same in South Wales, the UK's 8th biggest force.
I mean Wiltshire and south Wales probably have more guns than London, but they tend to be shooting foxes and rabbits.
Almost like gun control works.
Should say not only an active shooter but no-one at all! He further said there was an incident where they could've legally taken a shot but exercised discretion and deescalated.
Sadly that's not the same as not needing to.
In the US you could be shot for not providing ID. 😞
Some 13 Years ago there was a story in the paper about an American lady from Texas who had moved to Edinburgh, Scotland to marry her Scotsman. She worked at Boots the Chemist and was very popular with her co-workers being a loud and funny lady. Unfortunately issues with her Visa saw her having to return to the US. One evening she was tragically gunned down at a Diner along with other customers. Her husband had to go to the states and bury her. Never forgot it. I always worry about all my American friends.
It's worth mentioning that after the Dunblane school shooting you mentioned, the law was changed effectively banning all handguns for private individuals, hence no more school shootings, almost nobody protested against this law change. Anyone caught with a handgun now, even a replica can expect a 5 year jail sentence.
And in Scotland if you get caught with a knife without having a valid reason it is an automatic 2 years sentence (Glasgow has a lot to answer for on THAT one)
Except they rarely give that sentence for carrying a knife. Usual sentence for carrying a knife is community service even though the law states 2 years imprisonment.@@nasal_voicedretro9940
I too live in Glasgow and regularly carry knives between the dishwasher and cutlery drawer.
As long as you have a license for it you should be fine, handguns are legal but the hoops to jump through to get one means mostly only people who need them for specific reasons can get them.
@@n0body550 bs - in UK you can only have a Handgun if you leave it in a Gun Club or stash it in an approved Safe in your home which must be checked by the Police. Farmers can have a Shotgun.
Visiting the US after living in Scotland is like going to the third world. It's not only the guns, it's the deprivation, the dilapidation, ignorance, people who can't afford the doctor and dentist, the old banger cars ...
Yes it’s definitely a third world country over there. Very sad to see since it could be so much better
That's why I moved to Scotland. Shocking healthcare in Florida where I lived. Never really thought to much about guns but yes it was a negative issue and I'm glad we don't have guns on the streets here or trigger happy cops who are also a problem.
Just go to Dundee, you might not get the guns, but pretty much everything else, because some people there will 100% choose the heroin over the NHS subsidised dental care. Or toothpaste.
@@Jrhynie I foolishly moved back to the US, after living in Scotland for most of my adult life. I arrived at Newark airport feeling suitably tired and dazed to be met by desks with immigration officers with huge guns, guy looks at my string of US passports, all issued in Edinburgh and aggressively says, "Don't you like America?" At that moment, I realised that I had just made a huge mistake, and although I'd sold my flat in Edinburgh and burnt most of my bridges, I wish every day that I'd just turned around and bought a ticket back to the UK.
Re old banger cars, I only recently found out they don't have a standard MOT for cars over a certain age like we have in the UK. Not sure if it is every state or not. Even if it is only most states when you think of the number of cars on the road in the US it is frightening to think how many cars are being driven that are possibly in a very unsafe condition.
People like you are the best people to represent America over here, I was very impressed at your explanation of the stats and facts regarding safety in the uk.
Thank you!
Liberals love Europe. They think it everything is free be ause they cannot see who pays for everything. The poor pay. The peasants.
After that one school shooting in Dumblane Scotland they passed a major gun control bill and there have been no school shooting in the UK since then.
I was truly shocked to learn that the entire German police force fires less aimed shots in a year than the Dallas police in a day!
As I understand it, about 60% of all UK police officers are not sufficiently trained and licensed to handle a firearm, so they would not be given a gun _even in an emergency_. As with their German colleagues, they're primarily trained to de-escalate and contain threats, with expert firearms officers available on demand when the situation requires it. And every single round fired has to be accounted for and justified. As Peter says in the video, shooting incidents often make the national news in the UK because of how rare they are.
Where you'll see obviously armed UK officers are in high-risk target areas, such as near parliament, embassies, airports, and sometimes at large events, where I believe the approach is called "visible presence". Motorcycle officers are also often rated to carry arms, because they can get to critical situations faster than most. Special Escort Group motorbike officers, who escort the royal family and senior politicians and diplomats around London, openly carry sidearms as a part of the visible presence function.
@@frankwales Also to because a Firearms officer you have to have 10 years of experience with NO official complaints raised against you..
@@frankwalesmost American cops aren't trained in anything let alone handling a gun. 😂
I am pleased to hear you feel safe in our lovely country. I have visited America and love Boston. I saw a facebook post a few weeks ago about a young child about 4 years old killing his younger sister with a gun taken from his parents bedside cabinet. How could anyone live with that and still want a gun???
Unfortunately that situation is also a common occurrence in the US. Shootings like that are so common that often they only barely make the local news for the city they happen in
@@peterkonradortI used to wonder why many Americans seemed so obsessed with guns so I did a bit of research and the conclusion I arrived at was this. Going back to the beginning of the United States as people moved further west, many settlements and farmsteads were many miles from any form of law enforcement so naturally a gun was an absolute must for one's own and one's family's protection as well as dealing with unfriendly wildlife. I think this is deeply embedded in American culture and is something a foreigner like me can have no say in. However I think when there's been yet another appalling school shooting there has to be a rational conversation to try and work out a solution rather than a load of political posturing.
I'm a Brit living in NZ, I was working in Christchurch CBD, out on the streets the day of the mosque attacks. Like the UK & Australia this one event was sufficient to see the law changed to restrict gun ownership. I find it hard to fathom how the US government can fail to take action to protect the safety of their citizens and the safety of visitors to the US.
Allowing one act of terrorism is sufficient for most governments to review their safety plans snd make changes to the laws to attempt to prevent further incidents, this is why we have government.
That all depends on if you have government or if government has you. In the U.S. the gun lobby are very powerful and hence nothing changes, EVER.
@@vamboroolz1612 it seems that in the US all the politicians are owned by one or more businesses, whether that be guns or manufacturing in their state. This seems to result in laws being passed that function for industries rather than for individuals.
Thanks for this. I used to think that Americans were a people living in denial of the facts. The truth however is that, until the internet came along, they were deliberately kept in the dark and never told the facts. Through the centuries, other countries have made the same mistakes and learned from them. But America ignores world history. The belief there is that if it's American, it's bigger and better. We'll see in due course. BTW, delighted you chose Scotland as your new home. 👍
I think America is on self-destruct and it's just a matter of time before it crumbles. Empires come and Empires go. That's a history lesson too.
As an American, you are right. Our news and media keeps us "sheltered" and in the dark with all worldly news and events. Our media, unfortunately, keeps us ignorant in celebrity entertainment and political fear-mongering. Don't get me started on our horrible public school system....We never learned about Scotland's history/England's dark history, and so many other countries that most international citizens are educated on.
Hello Peter. I worked in the US for 6 months in 1994 on Staten Island (NY) for my UK employer. I had a great time, but I was always aware of my own safety. One thing that amazes me is that such a rich country places the health of its citizens so low that so many can’t afford proper health insurance, but it then allows you to go Walmart and buy a firearm!
You are in Scotland, I’m in Wales so I believe you get the same benefits as I get, i.e., free prescriptions. Great isn't it!
Nothing's free, someone financed it.
@@charliemcmillin1066 Yes, I should have added that I pay taxes, both national and local, even though I'm retired and live on a pension. Perhaps I should have said "no charge" at the Pharmacy.
@@charliemcmillin1066 The difference is that in civilised societies, we feel okay about paying taxes that might go to helping someone who needs it. We also feel less anxious, because we feel we will probably be helped if we need it. But don't worry - all that "every man for himself" rubbish is now being exported to Europe from the US. Lowest common denominator, and all that.
@@charliemcmillin1066. Of course the National Health Service is paid for by taxes. The reason the NHS is in such a precarious state right now, is that the super-rich, and corporations, are using their wealth and influence to avoid paying their fair share, thus saddling those in middle- and low-income positions to cover the shortfall.
By creating a funding crisis, these parasites hope to be able to turn the UK into the same dysfunctional private 'healthcare' hellscape as the US.
Yes someone financed the cost of your prescription in Scotland and I moved back to Wales after living in England and I receive free prescriptions but that is why I paid my taxes as a sort of backup if I had needed health care. I have benefited a great deal from our free at the point of need NHS wow the American system sounds appalling to me. I also grew up as a farmers daughter and my father had a rifle but he was obsessed about keeping it locked, and I don’t think that my brother and I ever even touched it.
I have got to the point where I think that the risks of visiting the USA outweigh any thrill that would normally come with visiting the USA. I did visit nearly 20 years ago and it was something in the back of my mind at the time, but these days I think that there are so many other, safer places to visit that also have a great deal to see. Even places like Angola, Iran and Lebanon have lower murder rates than the USA.
Thanks for this.
In fact the UK and Scotland have got plenty of guns in private hands. My own brother has several - he used them for sport - hunting is a major sport in Scotland and in the highlands. It's considered posh, but he went shooting on many occasions to help farmers with pest control.
No one in the UK sees any need to liberalise gun control. It keeps us safe, ensures that guns are stored properly and safely (annual inspections are carried out).
The atrocity in Dunblane focussed the mind of the government, despite members of our gun lobby (for example Prince Philip himself) trying to point out that you can kill people with a cricket bat. This is of course true, but you can't kill 30 kids within 3 minutes and not expect to get tackled by the school janitor or a teacher. And beaten senseless with your own bat.
Many of the arguments for retaining gun freedoms in the US are just as ridiculous.
Why is the USA so afraid of this? I believe it is because of the disproportionate influence of the NRA and most especially the gun manufacturing lobby which funds the NRA - and funds far too many politicians as well. Because of them the media also perpetuates many myths about what the US public could expect if proper controls on gun ownership and carrying were put in place. Until the influence of the gun lobby is properly curtailed, all this will only get worse - I'm glad you hope to see it change even if not in your lifetime, but I still think that is pretty optimistic.
As for knife crime, Scotland has traditionally been a knife carrying and using society, and was probably much more violent than the USA at times - at least in certain areas.
In (I think) the 1970s the police issued a knife amnesty and thousands of weapons were handed in. They also had projects to go into schools to inform people about the dangers of using knives in fights. The result was a massive reduction in the (mis)use of knives across the board.
This is only one of the initiatives undertaken by Police Scotland which positively impacted the face of policing itself, another being a multi-faceted approach to drug use and drug related crime.
For a country which was plagued by gang violence in the early to mid 20th century, which included the murderous use of swords on open battle in Scottish cities, enormous changes have been made.
Wonder when, if ever, the US will realise that it can be done, or find the political will to do it.
That's true, however if a wave of shooting were to happen in the UK then the UK, at least, would have no problem or objections to immediately banning all such weapons from all civilians. Brainwashing from birth and the NRA has made that impossible in the USA, unfortunately.
It's very rare for any firearm other than 12-bore shotguns to be in private hands in the UK, and they are mostly owned by farmers for pest control.
Nobody has guns in Scotland except some farmers and estate managers. Guns are controlled.
Its a complicated issue. But money talks. The NRA powerfull. Almost any documentary on any American city will tell you there are LOADS of guns our there, illegally owned. I get how a gun can be illegally owned, but that gun had to manufactured in the first place. The companies making the guns are making massive boatloads of cash either way. You hear headlines "mentally ill man shot so and so with a glock". You never hear "Glock taken to court for letting mentally ill man buy gun". No one seems to even want to look at the manufacturers . For how much money the gun companies are making, the Ammo companies must be making FAR MORE. All that money is floating aound in congress, and all those rich bastards are living in safe, secluded gated communities out and far away from the warzones they are creating. Nothing will change. And the average gun loving american just looks at school shootings and thinks "more guns are the answer...if the teachers were armed and so on".
@@glennbald7650that's a load of rubbish. My brother in law is a member of a local shooting club and has at least 5 rifles and 3 shotguns. He's an accountant and lives in a 3 bedroom house.
All his guns are in a gun safe though and he had to go through some rigorous background screening to get his licence, but that's the same for everyone.
Imagine gping to Asda or the local pub and there is some guy with an AR15 strapped to their body? They would all be empty here, nobody would go. I don't understand how people live like that.
Yes you think when he's just bought it from some where like Walmart they'd put in a bag for them 😂
Because they live in fear and paranoia
I live in rural Wales where non-domestic violence of any kind is vanishingly rare and gun crime is almost unknown. I was a policeman in London for six years before coming home to Wales and even there violent crime was unusual and mostly confined to certain areas at certain times. Statistically if a person carries a weapon they are more likely to be a victim of a violent assault, it is if carrying a knife or a gun makes someone a target. The gun epidemic in the US will be very difficult to fix, it is as though the western pioneer gun culture is ingrained deeply in the US national mythos. Before being a police officer I was a British soldier and thus I am very familiar with firearms and the employment of deadly force, I am delighted that here in the UK the general public don't need to carry any form of weapon for self defence and most people have little or no experience of using firearms. As for the American far right argument that an armed populace is required for the safety of the nation I would like to point out that the USA would be effectively impossible to invade militarily by a foreign power and that we in Britain have not been overrun successfully in the last 957 years.
Britain is currently under invasion and and has been completely overrun with the help of the EU and UN. Invaders do not have to turn up with fancy uniforms when you have a treasonous government. Open your eyes.
But we’re overrun with illegals & I can tell you I keep a very big pict shaft next to my bed I don’t feel safe anymore. Anyone tries anything on my family I won’t hold back no prisoners no problems.
Their 'we need a militia' argument is nothing more than a convenient pretence.
The last invasion of Britain took place at Fishguard in 1797, but we had Jemima Nicholas and the Merched Gwyllt to sort them out😂
I'm a Scot myself...... there's so much I love about American culture, particularly music, but
Firearms and Religion are two things over there that I really can't get my head around.
Scotland has tougher gun laws than England, and half the population of London.
Near here we had the 1987 Hungerford massacre, 16 killed including the shooter's mother before the shooter shot himself. This incident proved difficult to contain, the shooter kept changing location, the two police forces were not coordinated and were getting different emergency reports, an armed robbery, loud noises, a domestic incident. Lessons were learnt. What UK police do now though, is not go in guns blazing but to evacuate and cordon off, contain the shooter then wait. This incident and Dunblane led to banning virtually all hand gun ownership.
There's a lot of wonderful people and places in the US - Berkeley and Seattle I particulrly know - I lived and worked there for 11 years. Now I am back home. Edinburgh. I did see a policeman with a gun; a few years ago, in London.
There is violence here, murder and mayhem, but not the anxiety that is general in parts of the US. While in Dallas, working, for a year, I arrived at a murder scene - young man shot dead, for no apparent reason - and saw a violent car chase past the house I was in; police after a robbery getaway.
Here, in the last ten years, the worst crime I have seen was a man pulling his pants down and mooning at a pub he'd just been thrown out of.
You see armed police in UK all the time if you're at an airport
@@sandersson2813 They're waiting for the incoming flights from the USA! ;)
@@fizzyridertoo 😀😀
@@sandersson2813 Good point. I'm not in airports often. I should have said 'a policeman with a gun in the street'. It was on the Embankment. Some security alert.
It drives me mad when US Americans bring up knife crime in the UK as some kind of 'gotcha' when anyone mentions gun deaths in the US. The US has a way higher rate of stabbings. When I try to tell them that, they just won't have it 😅😬
The debate is politicised, it's about government control over people's lives. When some jerk starts a gun debate, just tell them that the safest country in the world also has the highest gun ownership. Ask them if they they know which country you are talking about (they won't know). Humiliate them for talking about a subject they know nothing about, then give them the answer. It's Switzerland.
Peter, did you hear about the recent shootings in a Texas state fair food court? It is a frightening prospect to never know when some disgruntled citizen might seek to quiet the voices in their head down the barrel of a semi-automatic weapon.
I used to have this debate a lot... so I said "why don't you go around with a Level IIIA plates/carrier and ballistic helmet?" and the general response I got was "because I would look like a psychopath" and yeah, many outside of the US think anyone who just carries a gun "just in case" are psychopaths.
Dunblane is still an epoch moment for most adults 40+ in the UK.
Hopefully you and your families experience in Scotland/UK is everything you want and need.
Subbed.
Thank you!
Dunblane was what columbine should have been in the US but sadly, instead of making it better they made it worse. Scotland is by no means perfect (I doubt anywhere is) but despite the challenges and negative aspects of life here, I will always be grateful that I’m lucky enough to live and raise my kids here!
I was in the US about 15 years ago. Myself and a friend were in Virginia and we went to get ourselves something to eat at a bar diner. While sitting in the bar we noticed that nearly every guy had an empty gun holster. We were puzzled by this and asked the waitress why they had empty gun holsters. She said that under state law you cannot carry your gun into a place where alcohol is served. We thought about this and then replied to her that it's just as well we are decent people, as we now know that nearly every car parked outside probably has a loaded firearm inside and we've only been in your country for a week.
Presumably the fact that they were wearing holsters means that, regardless of their level of intoxication , they were free to carry their guns once they got outside the diner.
I love that you said 'we' when referring to Scotland!
The gun thing in the USA is unbelievable - it's like the wild west still - can't fathom it at all - sad 😢 so glad I don't live there - can't see it changing - if masses of school shootings let alone the daily toll of death have so far not changed anything then what will - I recall seeing a Christmas photo - think it was a republican congressman and his family - christmas tree in the background - whole family including kids holding guns and smiling - absolutely sickening - just not right in head these people - don't go back - stay in Scotland it's braw 😊
The weird thing is that the real Wild West was not nearly as violent as Hollywood would have you believe. Many towns, like Tombstone for example, required people to hand their guns into the sheriff when they arrived in town, and collect them when they left, to avoid drunken brawls ending up in the graveyard.
Actually, the "wild west" had strict gun control laws in the towns. America is now much more dangerous than the wild west ever was.
when I was a lot younger, I watched lots of American TV shows (I live in Glasgow). They always looked great and I always wanted to visit. I've actually worked in America (on business) I was told and was quite worried about driving on the interstate due to random shootings in cars etc. I have a few friends in America and have asked them if they have a gun and why. usually, they say it's for "protection".. and when pressed they say wild animals.... really? in a city...
Scotland is not perfect, you are at risk of verbal abuse in the wrong areas, but not really much else. I feel safe when i travel anywhere in the UK. (except Edinburgh smells.. 😜)
I still worry for my children, but not for getting shot... mostly getting lost taking a bus etc.
The only people who can change the gun culture is the people themselves. They NEED to push for very strict gun control and take a step back and see who is profiting from the gun and ammo sales etc. At the end of the day its the love of money which dictates if there is a gun culture or not. if nobody bought the guns then the gun lobby would be much less powerful and the "gifts" to politicians would be pitiful.
AMMEND the second ammendment to impose a stricter sense to it. "a well regulated militia" seems to have turned into "everybody gets a gun for any purpose"
Its actually very sad to see the gun culture and the idiots who push it.
In Scotland you can own guns, and a few folk do. but why would you "need" one? most are only ever used in target gun ranges. the rules are very strictly enforced. and we don't have any wild animals except the wild haggis...
Yeah that’s the worst thing that can happen to you in Scotland . . Wrong end of a good verbal ticking off
@@showmevids1984 ...or a nasty haggis bite on the ankle.
Most of the gun owners in UK are not "target shooting" they are landowners for deer stalking, grouse shooting, pheasant shooting, farmers for pest control and sport shooters like clay pigeon etc.
Pro tip: if you unexpectedly encounter a wild haggis, quickly assess whether they are right hand or left hand haggis by seeing which side has the short legs, and run in the opposite direction. - Viz 1994
Fuckin Weegies I'll have you know that smell is fresh air lol ;)
From the UK but live in Cincinnati had two high-school friends visit, we went out on a Sat downtown. They were watching the local news Sunday while I made breakfast, three gun deaths Sat night. They said that would be for the whole country, No!! Cincy. I told them one murder was 1cblock away from a bar we had been on. They could not believe it nice review.
I worked with a guy when I was an apprentice, he’s still going at 90, he told me when he was doing his National Service in the RAF in the 50’s based in Adergrove in Belfast, he was friendly wit a bloke from Glasgow, they were big boxing fans, so used to come over to Glasgow on the weekend to watch the boxing, at the time there was a lot of trouble with razor gangs in Glasgow, apparently this was quite a problem at the time, so they brought an old ‘hanging judge’ from the Highlands and Islands circuit to Glasgow, the first guy who came up before him and found guilty of slashing with a razor he gave him 25 years in Barlinnie, the problem ceased overnight
We are very proud of our country...SCOTLAND ❤❤
I had a few opportunities to work in the US over the last 20 years, but the safety issue was the deciding factor in staying here in the UK. I visited the US a lot through my work, but never wanted to stay - and now am not very keen to ever go back for that very reason.
Absolutely. Without even factoring in the cost, I’m not sure I want to ever bring my kids back to visit just because it’s so dangerous.
Andy murray was one of the children that survived the dunblane massacre
I'm Irish and it's practically impossible for me to obtain a firearm, and it's highly regulated for those that do. BUT I don't think there is anything the USA can do about guns, there's just too many in private hands.
One statistic you missed, since police forces were merged into Police Scotland in 2013, a report this summer details in that ten years there were 605 murders only ONE from 2019 is unsolved (there may be some currently under investigation) that's a clearance rate that's pretty much unheard of
Indeed, the clearance rate for murder in Britain is virtually 100%. On my short research journey I discovered that in the US it's about half that. Are the criminals smarter, or the cops less smart?
THe cops don't care. THe Mayors and Police Unions have everything stitched up between them, and everyone else is too timid to try and hold them to account. Any reasonable sized police force is basically a well-armed mafia.@@brettmeikle
There is one caveat about those murder solution quotas - they only refer to killings recognized as such.
I'm not suggesting the Scots are intentionally cooking their books - but quotas of almost 100% make me wonder if they do routine post-mortems on anyone who doesn't have an ax sticking out of their skull.
@@brettmeikle Its probably a combination of lower entry requirements for cops in the US, and a higher number of murders to solve. If you have more murders to solve per capita then I imagine it gets harder to solve all of them, as proportionally you have less time to do so before the next batch of cases roles in.
I have a nephew that has moved to the states when I bring up the thought of gun control he calls me a typical American hating brit. Nothing could be further than the truth . Here and New Zealand I think after shooting atrocities we banned guns and the populace said ok we do not need them. America seems to think they are safer with everyone owning a gun. A different mind set separated by a common language.
I was born and raised in Northern Ireland, which is the one part of the UK where the police do carry guns. That was always the case, even before The Troubles. During The Troubles, they were carrying things like Sterling SMGs in addition to their pistols, and weren't shy about pointing them at you. I've had the opportunity to look down the barrel of a Sterling on many occasions.
Thankfully, I now live in Scotland.
I've had the opportunity to look down the barrel From which end ? :)
@@richard6440 the wrong end. Even fat RUC men know which way to point a gun.
Sad to see the state of the USA today. It wasn't always like that. It just seems to be in a severe cultural decline for some reason. It's infecting Europe to some degree.
I've lived in Aberdeen for 45 years, and saw my first police officer with a gun a few weeks back. Just getting a burger in McDonalds. lol. So not in use. I mean, I've known we have a limited amount of armed response units around all the time, but never before seen.
Like most cities, there are times and places you need to be a bit careful (mostly involving drunk people looking for fights), but generally we are pretty safe, and are not constantly in fear.
Many years ago, I was in Edinburgh, and a small group of us went out drinking after an event. One of those was a visiting Texan. He couldn't believe it when a couple of the group (including my wife but not myself) headed back to our various hotels/B&B's, individually, just heading out of the pub to walk to the bus stop / flag a taxi. I didn't get why he was so shocked and concerned until now....
Police don't carry guns in New Zealand, Ireland, Iceland or Norway either, all have very low crime.
In Scotland the police carry deep fried Mars bar stun guns.
I'm a Scot, and I'm proud to say that I can't carry a gun. I'm glad our policeman can't carry them either. When anyone here is shot it makes headlines because it's so rare. I would NEVER go to the US. I'd be too scared of being shot, and after that I wouldn't be able to pay my medical bills.
I'm 65 years old and have lived in Scotland all my adult life. Currently I live in a small town of about 25,000 people outside of Edinburgh. We had a stabbing here 13 years ago, apart from that I've never heard of a fight involving any sort of weapon taking place here. Fists yes, knives no. Never heard of anyone having a gun here. I've seen handguns exactly twice in my life, carried by armed police protecting the route on some royal event or other. The most likely way I'm going to die or get injured here is in a traffic accident, statistically, or a household accident like falling down the stairs. I know there is knife violence around in the city down the road but it's never even brushed close to me or my family and gun violence just isn't relevant to my life at all. We get on with our lives, basically feeling safe. I can't imagine living in the US with the fear of random gun violence ever present, it's just not in my range of life experience. Edinburgh has a population of 500,00 approx btw. Can't remember the last time there was a shooting in Edinburgh, even a knife crime would make the headlines.
The bottom line is this - the murder rate in the US is around 5x the rate in the UK. Much of the difference can be attributed to guns. The suicide rate is double - and again the reason is mostly guns. Plus US police kills over 1000 citizens per year with their guns. In the UK, it's around 3. So the pervasiveness of guns poisons the relationship between the citizens and their police, and every encounter is potentially life-or-death.
Britain tried the “everybody armed” approach centuries ago with swords and realised it didn’t work
Great point! ⚔️
Thanks for being frank. It must be difficult for you to call it out as an American. Kudos to you. Car crash deaths are 4 times higher (per capita) in the US than the UK too. Very sad. Any solution will take time - but stopping gun sales would be a start.
We went to the U.S. on holiday once, we will never go back. We were traumatised by the aggression meted out to us by the police when stopped for being just 7mph over. We heard gunfire many times in the 3 weeks we were there.
You said "autumn" well done!!
I note the worse place in Scotland for murders is Glasgow (population 632,350) with 10 in 2021/22. For comparison in Tulsa, Oklahoma (population 413,066) in 2021 there were 62 murders nearly all by shooting. I can appreciate why the US gun culture causes so much stress.
Welcome, you made the right decision 👍🏻
I live in the middle of Scotland but I have travelled in my lifetime but one place I have never visited except on layovers was America and it is not a place I want to go to. Here, I locked my door in 2016 when I went to Canada for two months, the delivery guys know my door is open as I have told them just to open the door and put the package inside, they all know this. The only thing I have to worry about are the speeders except they mainly take care of themselves by crashing. I have worked in Europe a lot and never felt scared, as the one thing common to here and Europe is you can walk up to a policeman and talk to them, armed or not, if cops are afraid of the public then they need to get a job as a mall cop.
It's like the commonest phrase that comes out of America, "The greatest country in the world", really, have you ever left it, because if you had you would realise, it is certainly not that.
I visited Cardiff a few months ago as a birthday treat. We voluntarily handed in our cake knife when we entered the Senedd (parliament) - a large but blunt cheese knife with prongs on the end which seemed ideal for the purpose - to be collected on the way out. I was surprised to be engaged in conversation by police officers before we left pointing out it is now illegal to have a knife in a public place (even very tiny fixed bladed knives are banned) unless you have a convincingly compelling reason. They didn’t consider a birthday cake one of those and we ‘gave it up voluntarily’.
I’ve been in Oregon and California.. Hollywood reminded me of downtown Manila.. our guide/driver asked if we wanted to walk the pavements to see the stars… I replied “No thanks” Oregon was ok but we never went into any big cities.. California? No thanks..
We talked about emigrating to Oregon but then Trump got elected and that was the final nail in the coffin
It’s unfortunate that the carrying of firearms by British Police officers is becoming a more common thing, not only are armed officers, not just with sidearms but carrying things like assault carbines, a common sight at airports and many highly publicised public events but the number of Armed Response Vehicles in British cities is increasing slowly over time.
The US always astounds me. It is basically third world stuff, guns, no proper welfare system, no public transport etc. I believe that all public systems should be state run like the rest of Europe. In Ireland the ordinary police officer is not armed. We have a rapid response unit within the police force, who as the name suggests, come quickly to a gun related crime scene. The big difference is these guys are gun experts as distinct from a police officer who only occasionally uses a gun.
I equate the gun units here to what they call SWAT in the US.
And in my opinion, the US isn’t basically a third world country, it is a third world country. Or maybe a second world country at best. Also before someone jumps in here, I know what that term originally meant but it’s meaning has changed over time 😂
Now explain knife crime in the UK by ethnicity, for the full picture.
I spent the first 55 years of my life in Scotland and never heard a gunshot. I then spent the next ten years in Pennsylvania and in that time heard literally - and I do mean literally - tens of thousands of gunshots. I did live at the edge of the suburbs and the properties were pretty big, so the next door neighour had their own little range as did two others I believe. They made extensive use of their facilities and must have spent an enormous amount on ammo alone. Scary. Glad to be home.
My mothers family was from Manchester and my fathers were from Wiveliscombe , I've lived in New Jersey for 75 years with all types of Rifles and pistols without issue. Most towns in the USA never have any problems with crime or shootings....cities on the other hand....
I think (hope) firearms laws in the US will change sooner than you predict. I see a lot of young people saying that they have had enough. The 2nd Amendment is outdated and no longer relevant. The UK had one major school shooting and changed it's firearms laws, Germany had one major school shooting and changed it's firearms laws, New Zealand had one major school shooting and changed it's firearms laws... Australia, the Netherlands, Austria.... the list goes on and on. 🙏
I think you seriously underplayed the gun violence in the US, Not just the violence but also its effect on suicide rates, The only time I see a gun is when I cross to continental Europe - where the police are routinely armed. I know it's normal but it's always extremely jarring. Here at home the only time I might see a weapon in real life is at an airport. And even then it's a rare event. I have no desire to own a gun, I have no need to own a gun. Following the Dunblane Massacre. (which I remember vividly) Handguns (and replicas) were outlawed. No great loss.
keep your babies in scotland its safe...........
Reading the local paper here in south Scotland where court reports tell me the biggest problems seem to be drunkenness and linked disturbances and driving offences under the affluence of inkohol, violence to partners, petty theft and shoplifting and the odd drugs offences often linked to transport of quantities into Scotland on the A74(M)motorway, along with non drunk-driving infractions like speeding. In short, nothing that the police need guns for, and even tazers are very rarely deployed here.
you should have mentioned that after the Dunblane shootings the laws on gun control were changed to make it harder to own or purchase firearms
Another interesting fact about Scottish people is they are unable to pronounce
Purple Burglar Alarm
They can, they just do it with style 🤭
Welcome to Scotland mate. It's a beautiful country, for the hardy, and a wonderful place to live. ❤
Thank you!
Lovely views of Arran from Portencross - I was brought up in Seamill 100 yds from the sea and spent virtually all my free time next to, or on top of, or in, or under the sea. Fantastic childhood - I hated going away somewhere else on holiday! Most days my parents had no idea where I was and what I was getting up to. I well remember Mr Shedden who fished for lobsters and moored his boat, I think, right next to the Portencross castle. The very first gun I saw was a policeman's revolver in Belfast on July the 12th - must have been around 1963. I was shocked - I don't think I saw another gun for perhaps another ten years (probably in Spain) - apart from my cousin's rifle which he brought back from California where he had worked on a horse ranch for a few years - but that was in the context of killing vermin on his dad's farm in northeast Scotland.
I think there would be a civil war in the US before active and effective gun control is even considered and implemented.
The 2nd Amendment mentions in the first line regarding firearm ownership as being 'Highly Regulated', which is often quoted but (from the outside looking in), doesn't appear to be actively applied at all. I may be very wrong here, but it seems ridiculously easy to obtain a firearm when all you seem to need is a pulse.
And let's consider why the 2nd amendment was added . The post-revolutionary country was afraid that Britain would try to take back its rebellious colonies by force, so a 'militia' seemed like a good idea. Listen up Americans - the UK isn't planning to do that! You've got the US armed forces for outside threats, the National Guard for internal unrest and armed police for local crime. Private citizens DON'T NEED GUNS.
Guns are like flies …. they will always be with you .
I've had a discussion with Americans over gun violence before, many many times. Some can't grasp that we measure mass shootings by the decade whereas they measure them by the year. In the last 23 years, we've had 18 mass shootings in the UK. Multiply that by 5 to bring both populations in line and you end up with 90 mass shootings. Already this year America has seen nearly 500 mass shootings.
18 Mass shootings in the UK? Are you sure?
@Al8minium FBI defines a "mass shooting" as an incident in which one or more individuals uses firearm(s) in a populated area, so it's a low bar. They define "mass killing" as something different.
@@mikekelly5869 You'll find a mass shooting is where three or more people are injured or killed in an incident.
@@Al8minium Yes. Fact-check me.
@@educatednumpty71 I quoted the FBI website. You'll find that there is more than one definition.
Whilst most Police officers do not carry firearms, those who do are not just ANY Police Office they are Marks & Spencer Police Officers (those in the UK will get the joke there!).
What I mean is they are highly trained specialists.
As an example, on the afternoon of 22 March 2017 a man called Khalid Masood commenced a terror attack by driving his vehicle onto the pavement (i.e. what Americans call the sidewalk) of Westminster Bridge 8 seconds after 14:40 hours GMT.
One minute and 22 seconds later he was dead - shot by an armed Police Officer.
Sadly another Police Officer and two civilians (one British, one American) died during the attack and two other (one British, one Romanian) died later as a result but Masoods weapons were just a knife and his car so there was no prospect of a shootout.
It is also illegal to carry ANY weapon, even for self-defence, in the UK. That includes knives.
This will, no doubt, get people raging but @BlackBeltBarrister explains far better than me on his channel - although his expertise is English/Welsh, rather than Scots law.
In the UK you can walk across the road without fear of being arrested.
To be fair if you’re crossing the road in the US, at that moment of time your biggest fear would be getting run over. Most American drivers are horrible 😂
Most people not in inner cities in the US go through life without worrying of being shot. Having lived in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Montana and California, it is a safe area except for the small areas where it's not. Even take Chicago, stay away from the south side and the odds are in your favor. In the San Francisco East Bay area I know lots of kids that can and do go outside and play, most though would prefer to have their eyes glued to their devices. It all depends on the child and their awareness of their surroundings ( it only takes one impatient driver speeding through the neighborhood to ruin your day), and the parents. I still see kids walking and riding their bicycles to school and the local strip mall.
Thank you. There is a lot of mindless pearl-clutching in these comments. I would much rather take my chances in the states than live one day in a country that tolerates grooming gangs and considers "hate speech" a punishable offense.
Let's hope the usa sorts out its gun problems eventually. It's sad so many innocent lives are taken so unnecessarily .
My experiences in the US, as a visitor, is that there is a sort of cultivated paranoia, I'm sure to keep people onside with the gun lobby. Go across into Canada, and people are altogether more relaxed, as carrying any weapon in a public place is prohibited. In England, the only places where I would be worried to go are in the inner city ghetto areas, and then it would be knives and / or robbery to be worried about. As I'm a slob, I doubt if anyone would think I'm worth robbing, and they would be so disappointed if they stole my grannyphone that they'd throw it back in disgust. 👍🤣
When I was 11 (that was in 1948) my parents swapped houses with a couple who had just moved to London from where we had all lived in Lancashire. We stayed in their house in Tottenham and they in ours. One day my mother gave me some money take the bus to Wood Green from Bruce Castle and then to London so I could go around the circle line on my own and of course come back for dinner.. It all went well and was exciting finding out and asking the way etc. Would any parent of an 11 year old boy do that these days?
For someone brought up in New Zealand the idea of situational awareness and people being randomly armed is very foreign to us. Not saying that shit doesn’t happen but at least there is basic respect for law and order. Some of our boys would be a bit hard to handle as well but at the end of the day we support our cops and common sense seems to prevail.
My friends left the southern states for Ireland, better work conditions and rheir daughter gets to be regarded as a whole or first class citizen and not a "lesser vessel" like in the south
I was a Scot who went to Houston for three years, left when my US wife got pregnant. We went to Australia, its as peaceful as Scotland with warmer weather.
There is nothing wrong with some who has a valid reason owning a firearm. The difference is that here in the UK Gun ownership is a privilege which, if abused, can and will be revoked.
If there is a firearms incident in the UK it is almost always drug related. I'm not saying it is impossible to be a victim of gun crime in Scotland but if you are not involved in the narcotic substance re-distribution industry it is pretty unlikely.
I cannot imagine! You are telling me your kids do not have "active shooter" drills in grade three? Mind blowing!
Actually, some police do. Airports, for example, have automatic weapons and there are police cars moving around at all times with guns in the boot. They are the armed response units and like the Airport police, they can and will take you out if required. They are never far away. 😉 If for example, you walk about in a built up area with even and air gun, or air rifle, you’ll end up with a red dot on you. I wouldn’t recommend trying that though.
Said it before. Will say it again. WILD EFFING HORSES could not drag my ass to the USA.
Good video, I know the gun issue is a big deal for Americans, and it’s hard to have a decent conversation about it sometimes. Out of interest, the west of Scotland around Glasgow and Strathclyde has the highest murder rate in Western Europe. That area has around half of Scotland’s population though, but it’s still interesting.
Lived in the States for 31years and never felt unsafe. Worked in Washington DC and lived in Virginia. I walked my dog with no fear. It all depends where you live. We were in the suburbs. We have been back in the UK for 10 years now.
It’s not just the guns/crime in the US, it’s how normalised it’s become and how people talk about it. Incidentally, drink driving is similar.
Within the first 5 days of being there I was asked how I protect myself and family. I simple replied ‘from what’?
Also not sure if you’re aware but the tennis player Andy Murray was in the Dunblane school when that happened.
How many mass killings are caused by a knife compared to guns? Knifes dont cause mass deaths, unlike gun's
We moved to the USA when we retired 14 years ago because our children had both married Americans and our grandkids were here. Gun crime is a huge background fear here - if I sound my horn at a bad driver, anyone in the car with me instantly says ‘Don’t do that, they might have a gun!’ And there are lots of bad drivers - gun crime is often referred to because of the number of deaths, but look at the death rate on the roads. It’s roughly four times as high as Western Europe! Drivers here are aggressive, they speed, cruise in the wrong lanes, undertake, don’t indicate, don’t understand roundabouts, and four way junctions and right turn on red are major accident causes. And then there’s healthcare - well documented disgrace in a civilized country (but acceptable here because it’s a primitive country that somehow has wealth).
America is tolerable if you’re wealthy and white but, because of marketing the inhabitants think it is the best place in the world. Tell them it’s not - and you’re usually met with an aggressive response.
People dont forget we still have over 65 million people in the uk
And I feel so much safer in the USA than the UK. You are in a small village in Scotland. Crime is soaring in the Uk now so it will reach you. At least in the USA you can defend yourself not here.
I would personally prefer the USA hands down
The murder rate is 10x higher per 100,000 people in the USA... so you're much better off in the USA for that. Plus the intentional gun homicide rate is about 232x higher per 100,000 people... so if you want to get short and killed then USA is the country for that.
Don't take your guns out in the bar - witnessed in Nashville
I've only ever made 2 videos for UA-cam, both were on this topic. I'm not very good at it. America doesn't have a gun problem. It has a gun owner or gun user problem. And I include police as gun users. It is actually an attitude problem. Guns are seen as a means to threaten people in America. In most of Europe they are seen as a way of bringing down animals. Either as sport (which I deplore) or as controlling numbers (to preserve balance or (in the case of wolves or bears for example) to keep them from encroaching into human it farming habitats.
Either as a realty tv show ( which i deplore ) .........
America has to amend its Constitution stating that they have the right to bear arms. This was included when the country was in its infancy having just engaged in war for independence and surviving in hostile lands, the need for protection was great. However, now that right is partly the cause of the current gun trend and human nature over millennia observes that if one has a stick then I had better get one, then a knife, sword, shield and so on. Unfortunately I don’t see any change in gun control within the US, happening soon it’s becoming an accepted way of life and to change a pattern of one’s life can be extremely difficult. But then again I have no intention of visiting the US!
2a nutcases love to quote the “right to bear arms” part but leave out the part that it says that is to be part of a “well-regulated militia”. The closest thing that would be referring to is the National Guard. Not every citizen having an assault rifle with their Starbucks.
Hi Peter. I don't think the gun situation will ever change unless he constitution changes and that seems to be next as far as certain rights. With that said, I live in Chicago going on 2 years now this coming April. Left NY after many many years due to cost of living and chose chicago due to one of the main states my job allowed me to move without any hassle. Chicago is i believe the worst city (maybe Baltimore might be the worst not too certain) when it comes to daily shooting. over the weekend there could be as many as 80 shooting..yes that high. I am not in the area where most of the shootings occur. I am on the north side of Chicago. I knew before moving here about the crimes etc. but chose wisely as far as location. I even planned on moving further into the suburbs once I got here. but that is still up in the air if my move to Scotland doesn't fall thru in the next 2 years. Your first video when you and your family decided to move to Scotland put me on board with the idea that maybe I can do this one day down the line depending on my job status (they are UK-based) Safety was my MAIN reason for choosing Scotland. You had only posted one video but I was researching a bit before and then all during the years after up thru now. And It blew my mind about the crime and how low it was over there as far as shootings. The way of living over there is so different and easier as far as peace of mind and MUCH much inexpensive. I am older than you and will be older lol when i plan to ask for a transfer (taking care of a tax issue here along with some other things like savings up to par before I can even ask lol) but if I get the "okay" I am so there. I would say anywhere is better right now than the US but that's not true.. however, I wouldn't choose a non-English speaking country. The country language must be English speaking first. and out of the UK Scotland seems to be the best out of the three as far as lower cost of living. Not to mention so much better views and history lol lol but yeah....crime and outrage have increased since the pandemic here in the US. OH also, I just spoke to a Chicago police officer about a week ago and he filled me in on some new laws our mayor passed a year ago and it blew my mind along with others who were listening nearby. This is also in NY . I dont have the article number but it states a police officer cannot ..cannot chase any perpetrator who let's say hit me on the head and grabbed my phone in front of them even, they can't chase that person if the streets have a certain amount of people in the area, due to THE perpetrator falling and hurting himself..not anyone else..HIMSELF . because they can SUE law enforcement. 😐 Unless they see a weapon on the person they can do that ..if no weapon then I ..me.. would need to file a report for petty theft and battery. when i heard this ..I said oh noo I need to leave this country asap. There is an agenda behind all of this I believe...something bigger is coming when? idk but I am hoping I can leave by end of 2024 mid 2025. sooner.. God willing. thank you. hope all is well and God bless.
Adding there was a shooting at Texas state fair this past Saturday. Gunman opened fire, injuring 3 people No death casualties.
It will never change because Americans as a population aren't mature enough to own guns in relation to their current gun laws.
Have guns by all means, but you need a stricter and more stringent method of deciding who is a fit and proper person to be permitted to own them.
I think Scottish people speak English, but not as we know it 😂, you will have a few months of adapting!?!
@thomasherrin6798 Yes, Scotland language is English..they speak English, that's why I chose it to be the place of my choice to move there. (I was also considering Framce n Italy at one point, but due to their main language, I omitted them from my choices, lol .
@@GodsSoldier33 It was sarcasm.
Laws are interpreted, and that is no different with the 2A. All the the 2A says is the "right to bear arms", it doesn't mention the word "gun" once. Now given an 'arm' can be anything from a pen-knife right up to a nuclear weapon, why have the Americans decided it specifically means 'semi-automatic rifle'? Some states you need a fairly comprehensive back-ground check and in some anyone can walk into Walmart and buy one so long as they're not drunk at the time.
If you were living in Glasgow you'd think twice about letting your kids out alone, that's for sure. Scotland is generally safe outside of the cities.
Most of the crime like that in the UK is mainly gang/drug related. So it's gangster on gangster, drug dealer on drug dealer. I'd say it's rare for a random law abiding citizen going about his/her daily life to become a victim of gun or knife crime here.