> I had thought that firing guns wildly into the air in some form of celebration was something that was only done in underdeveloped countries...

...it is.

Touché.

More accurately stated I suppose, I had previously thought I lived in a developed area.

And the hate America first crowd rolls on.

no, no, no, you're looking at it all wrong.

The crowd is not "Hate America".

The Crowd is "America needs to get better". The first step to fixing problems in to acknowledge they exist.

I don't know about you, I strive for constant improvement in my life.

Listen to the uncle of the bombers, he has more sense than you.

At the very least, in the specific case of people firing their guns wildly into the air on holidays, I think it is fair to say that there is plenty of room for improvement.

I don't think he was suggesting it should be made illegal to do that, and obviously I know that it already is...

I am quite pro-gun (remember the part about growing up around a lot of responsible gun owners?), but you making the kind of comments that make me strongly reconsider identifying that way. Hurling insults around does not contribute to the discussion; it is just childish and makes you look desperate.

He has backed up that statement, while you have done nothing but hurl insults. I understand that you may feel insulted by what he said, but that is no excuse for the quality of your comments.

Feels like Reddit around here, with that guy deleting all his comments when you pin him down...

I can keep insulting you if you like.

Sure. By all means.

Of course, as jlgreco pointed out, you're only showing your ignorance to the topic and hand by trying to deflect the real issue with insults at me. It's shocking/hilarious/sad you need to resort to that, instead of actually addressing the issue at hand.

I don't think shooting in the air is really an issue in the US. I do feel bad for insecure souls that need to believe America is an underdeveloped nation. Or were you joking about that?

I don't believe America is an underdeveloped nation, exactly.

If you compare stats for all the factors that really make a difference for quality of life for the average person on the street (healthcare, education, death rates, crime rates, pollution, safety, etc. just to name a few), you'll see America is very often comparable to developing nations, and not often comparable to developed nations. In many cases, it's staggering far behind the best in the world.

Food for thought.

I'm not from Europe at all.

I'm from one of the Developed countries that ranks above the US in every major category that counts.

http://www.oecd.org/statistics/

It's always so interesting to see Americans who interpret "make it better" as "taking pot shots"

What's so inherently wrong with admitting there are problems and working towards improving them?

He has named it. It is Australia.

Do you have a link?

I grew up in a less rural area, edge of Joplin, MO, across a significant road there was a working farm, turn left 90 degrees the local college, and while I've heard utility gun fire (often ours), don't think I've ever heard a shot in anger. Which would also include the dozen years I spent in and around MIT and then another dozen in the D.C. area.