Why are guns edited out of the American versions of anime and other entertainment?

[spartan231490]

We do not have the highest civilian gun ownership, there are a few countries with higher. I don't know all of them, but I know that Switzerland is "one of the countries" with higher rates of civilian gun ownership than the US. On a side note, I haven't noticed anything like this, probably because I don't watch any 4kids dubs, so maybe it's just 4kids being psychotic like usual.

You might be thinking of Sweden. Still, we only have a higher rate of gun ownership PER CAPITA. Because, you know, we as a country being 9 million people and you can fit the entire country into New York, and the vast majority of our country is still rural, making hunting-rifles pretty common.
Getting a license for anything else (say, a hand-gun) is very, very demanding. You basically have to not only use it for the sole purpose of sport-shooting, but also prove on a regular basis that you have been to practice and that you are taking your sport seriously. Otherwise, bye-bye gun.

Sweeden might be one of the countries, but so is Switzerland, and ownership of military grade weapons and handguns are both common there, even among the civilian population.

A quick search on Wikipedia says that it is due to an exception in the Homeguard/militia which allows people that serve in the homeguard/militia to have firearms at home. Othervise, it seems pretty heavy on gun-legislation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics_in_Switzerland

(Interestingly, they only had 53 reported Homocides in 2009, while Sweden had 259. Sweden has a 1.5 mil larger pop, though, and there is no data concerning how many were killed by firearms in either case. Just noting.)

Firstly, I would like to point out that every single male citizen in Switzerland is required to serve in the military.

Well, that aside, what I've found says that it's not allowed, it's actually required for them to have their service rifles at home, along with ammunition. Also, I've heard that when the military gets a new service rifle, they sell all the old service rifles to the populace, and it also says that machine guns, SMGs, anti-tank weapons, and other high power military grade weaponry is sold to the populace only requiring an easily obtainable "cantonal licence". It also says that their handgun licence is issued to any applicant over 18 who is not an ex-con or mentally infirm. Also, there is no restriction on the carry of rifles or shotguns, and only half of the "cantons" require a permit to carry handguns. The site mentions a required registration of ammunition but goes on to say that it's more or less ignored because ammo bought at the range doesn't need to be registered and while it's supposed to be shot at the range, that provision is rarely even known, let alone followed.

I won't claim my source is completely accurate, I haven't confirmed any of the information, but I have heard most of it from other sources, and the site is written in a way that makes me tend to believe it. As for the writers bias, he seems to be as unbiased as any writer on the subject that I've ever read, he freely criticizes and mocks both sides of the argument.

Here's the site if you want to read it for yourself:
http://www.guncite.com/swissgun-kopel.html

 

[OniYouji]

Considering I don't even remember the last time I saw an anime released by 4Kids, isn't this kind of a moot point? Virtually no one does this anymore; the only time that kind of stuff gets edited now is because they are trying to release an anime that is intended to be a merchandising machine for children. Television standards, at least in terms of children's programming, is far looser in Japan than here, for what reasons, I'm unsure. It's a cultural thing that would end up taking a long time to explain.

As for why guns are included in so many anime, let's really think about this. You used Dragon Ball Z as an example, right? Well, I highly doubt that the characters are actually Japanese, and if they are, it's an alternate universe Earth; there are flying cars used by civilians all the time. So it's hard to even imagine that planet being the same as ours, let alone being the same Japan.

Other times, the characters are either law enforcement or bodyguards, or trained assassins that can import that kind of thing without being caught. And for the most part, it just allows it to happen because of drama; guns are dangerous weapons, and not including them in places where firearms would make sense would really undercut the story and tension. It's an artistic license that needs to be taken, lest the quality of the story suffer as a result.

 

[The_Lost_King]

I am asking why it is more acceptable to show guns in cultures that guns aren't easily obtained in, while not acceptable in one that made it is?

Because we Americans are smart enough to realize that guns are only for adults, and so cartoons aimed at young children like One Piece and Dragonball Z shouldn't be allowed to show them.

Yeah, really dude? I'm an American and I don't think it matters if kids see guns in cartoons. I grew up watching looney toons and I am not any more crazy for seeing guns.(I am crazy for other reasons)