Do guns make people more polite?

[Rum]

I hesitate to start a gun thread. I can see it turning to worms even before I finish typing, but hey - we only lives once! (This is however NOT about the rights and wrongs of gun ownership OK!?)

I was thinking last night that a friend of mine, recently returned from the USA commented on how polite most people he met or dealt with tended to be. More so than the average person one might meet in passing in this country he felt.

Of course there will be a mix of reasons why, but I did find myself wondering if you don't know who might or might not be armed on an average American street does that tend to make people nicer and more polite to each other?

*Stands back and dons anti-blast gear*

[Animavore]

Nah. I think it's just not being English does that.
I noticed that myself the few times I was there, how rude you lot are.

[Svartalf]

Polite, I can't tell... Cautious... more like.
Knowing that somebody might go for a weapon if you make him irate enough, or respond in kind if you pull one does take some of the brass from evil doers.

[PsychoSerenity]

Possibly. Polite in terms of following strict social protocol to avoid offending anyone. But I wouldn't equate that to being nicer.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Ah, a non-controversial subject. Good.

Answer: Yes.

Proof: Japan.

The Japanese samurai would kill you if you weren't polite to them. The rest of the Japanese dealt with this by being invaryingly polite to everyone, regardless of their rank. It's fear, of course, that was the motivator, but unarmed people gained because of the harsh policy of the samurai. Artificial? Okay.

[Gallstones]

The great majority of persons in the US are not carrying.
No one gives much thought to whether anyone is.
So being polite is at least a regional social more.

That is where I live. None of this may apply for people living elsewhere in the US.

[Gallstones]

One more thing, those who are carrying aren't intending to intimidate anyone into being polite and impolite persons are not in danger of being shot for it.

Making people be nice to each other because someone in the crowd might have a gun is not what concealed carry is about.
Guns are for personal protection should someone actually attempt to cause bodily harm, for hunting and for target fun. Some people collect and rarely take their guns out or shoot them.

[Robert_S]

I never think of who might be armed when it comes to being polite while I'm walking on the street. I just am. I think some areas of the US place a high value on friendliness.


Whenever I accompanied my dad to the gun club, I always had the impression that the guns were invisible and irrelevant socially, unless someone had a really beautiful or interesting one. Are you more polite when walking through a parking lot where people are driving? A car can fuck you up or kill you about as easily as a gun.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

Personally, I have never been even slightly insulted by a bullet-riddled corpse. So I would have to say, yes.

On the other hand (and more seriously) possibly the rudest levels of general behaviour I have ever encountered was in Israel. A country where machine-gun toting IDF members walk the streets, military service is compulsory and most people under 45 are reserve members and own firearms.

So, on balance, no.

[PsychoSerenity]

.. impolite persons are not in danger of being shot for it.

I would be very surprised if over the generations in the whole of the USA nobody has been shot for being impolite, even if only by people who were already on the edge.

But the point is, politeness is cultural. People don't have to be consciously thinking "I'd better to be polite in case this person is carrying" for it to have changed the culture (even if only very slightly) and made people be raised to be more polite.

[Gallstones]

.. impolite persons are not in danger of being shot for it.

I would be very surprised if over the generations in the whole of the USA nobody has been shot for being impolite, even if only by people who were already on the edge.

Does not apply. Any person on the edge of killing a ransom stranger will do so regardless of the strangers manners.

But the point is, politeness is cultural. People don't have to be consciously thinking "I'd better to be polite in case this person is carrying" for it to have changed the culture (even if only very slightly) and made people be raised to be more polite.

People are polite because it makes us successful in our interactions. Even when it is absent minded and automatic, it is a kind of manipulation.

[Seth]

I think one might reasonably make a positive correlation between politeness and the perception that the other person might be armed, but I suspect it's probably a stronger correlation when the person who might be armed might also be a criminal who might use that weapon if one gives offense.

For example, I'm far more "polite" when I'm in a crowd of outlaw bikers or gangbanger thugs than I might be in ordinary company, but it's actually wariness more than politeness.

Back in the 17th century, and even well into the 18th century, when dueling was commonplace, people were, I suspect, far more polite to one another when weapons were either openly carried (such as rapiers) or duels were a formality. Of course, this also had to do with social strata as well.

I also think that being armed and being polite might be correlated as a matter of mutual respect. I felt very safe, and was very polite, at the NRA convention a few years ago where pretty much every one of the 30,000 or so people in the hall were armed...or likely to be armed...but it wasn't because I feared anyone would challenge me to a duel or shoot me for "disrespecting" them, but rather because I respected my fellow NRA members because of our commonalities.

[Animavore]

I'm generally distrustful of people who are too polite. Charity workers and people who work in clothes shops are the worst. Coming at you with a big smile, "Hi-eee. How are you?!" Not the correct way to get my custom. I'll turn on my heel and walk out of a shop with that and charities may leave a leaflet in my door and if I like them I'll fill out the tear off form and send it to them. Not accosting me on the street.
Some arsehole from Dog's Trust called to my door the other day.
"Hi. I'm from Dog's Trust. Do you like dogs."
"No."
"Oh! Well what if I told you 6,000 a year were put down every Christmas. Would that bother you?"
"It's no different to any of the other animals we slaughter. No."

trying to manipulate me. If I cared about dogs I'd support associations pertaining to them of my own volition.

[JacksSmirkingRevenge]

Excuse the slight derail.
It's often said that Parisians are notoriously impolite and anecdotal evidence of people I know would seem to bear this out - but I've never been to Paris or heard a Parisian's point of view about this.
....Svartalf? I'd be interested in any opinions you have about this view. Is it unfounded or accurate, in your opinion?

[Rum]

Excuse the slight derail.
It's often said that Parisians are notoriously impolite and anecdotal evidence of people I know would seem to bear this out - but I've never been to Paris or heard a Parisian's point of view about this.
....Svartalf? I'd be interested in any opinions you have about this view. Is it unfounded or accurate, in your opinion?

I would like to add that as a rule the French are incredibly polite in my experience, though perhaps not quite so in Paris. They are very conscious of manners with lots of 'if you please', 'madames', thank yous and what not. Perhaps I mean they are a bit more formal than many of the English speaking nations but it comes over as politeness.