The Big Gun Control Thread

Maverick makes a good observation that with all the violence in Russia, they are certainly not the moral authority they like to pretend to be. Farley points out that it is pretty f*cked up when even Russia looks at America and says, "daaaayymn."

Wow, the Google translation is actually pretty good! Except the out-of-the-left-field "Leon" part -- the original means "the maniacs who're too lazy to reload".

Two guys with assault rifles were walking around a residential neighborhood in Portland this afternoon. Responding to several panicked 911 calls from witnesses, the police discovered that the guys were legal C&C'ers who were "trying to educate the public about the second amendment." The cops reassured them that they were within their rights, but were freaking the f*ck out of the neighborhood residents and generating a lot of 911 traffic that could potentially hinder response to an actual emergency,

but neither man seemed interested in these concerns," Simpson added.

Classy. Real classy.

Funkenpants wrote:

Todd Rathner, an Arizona lobbyist and national board member of the National Rifle Association, has threatened to sue over the city of Tucson's gun buyback, NPR reported Wednesday.

Link Short version: Police want to destroy the guns, NRA board member wants to see them resold on the open market. There was another buyback program a short distance away set up to compete with the police buyback:

Because for all intents and purposes the NRA has become a lobbying organization for all gun-related industries. They know that if the guns are out on the open market then eventually money will be spent on (hopefully) licensed training/education, gun safes, cleaning supplies, ammunition, gun racks, time at a range, etc. Guns sitting in a police department's storage shed don't earn cash for the industry, so less cash for their lobbying arm.

NY newspaper posts the addresses of gun owners and now prison guards are being intimidated and threatened. [New York Newsday]

Criticism of The Journal News, which published a gun permit database last month, broadened Friday with Rockland law enforcement officials saying the map listing the names and addresses of those with gun permits is endangering lives.
Inmates at the Rockland County jail are taunting corrections officers by saying they know the guards' home addresses -- information they got from the list published by Westchester-based newspaper, Rockland County Sheriff Louis Falco said.

Now criminals know where to avoid to make their job easier. [Fox News]

Ugh, I need a shower for actually citing Fox news. Can't believe I actually did that.

It's okay. They have a cream for that.

Hypatian wrote:

It's okay. They have a cream for that.

But the guilt! The guilt never goes away!

Double post for extra guilt.

Rallick wrote:

Double post for extra guilt.

You must know my mother

Ego Man wrote:
Rallick wrote:

Double post for extra guilt.

You must know my mother ;)

We all do.

Spoiler:

I'm sorry, please don't shoot me!

Edwin wrote:

Now criminals know where to avoid to make their job easier. [Fox News]

What was amusing about the reaction was that initially the complaint was that it made gun owners a target for criminals. Then bloggers noted that the stock line from the NRA was that if criminals think you have one, they won't hassle you or break into your house. So the complaint morphed to this new idea.

Exaclty. By the pro-gun logic, those would be the houses for the criminals to avoid!

Gorilla.800.lbs wrote:
MaverickDago wrote:

I'm glad Russians are telling us about violence, that peaceful paradise of a nation where a man of any color or nationality is free to walk the streets.

This is essentially the same argument repeated over and over:

1. UK and Australia have no right to educate us on the gun policies because they are too different
2. EU has no right to educate us on the gun policies because they are too different too. Plus, they are socialists, so they don't really have any right to educate us on anything.
3. Canada's perspecive on guns issues has no values because Canada is too peaceful and is not to be taken seriously anyway.
4. Now, Russia's commentary on guns-related issues should be dismissed too, because Russia is too violent.

Seriously, is there any perspective or viewpoint which the pro-gun people would even agree to consider?

Secondly, that article does not represent the voice of the entire Russia. It's an individual article written by one certain reporter (who appears to be a US resident by the way) for this one Russian newspaper (albeit a mainstream one). Russia is as diverse and multi-faceted as the US. There is an over-abundance of opinions and commentary in their media. To disqualify a messenger on the grounds that the entire country is f-ed up is of an oversimplification of the discussion format. By same token, we should not listen to any commentary that comes out of US either.

Well put.

We never even got to the basic idea of the article, which is that guns are fetishized in American society. I don't think it's true for all gun owners, but I think there is at least a portion of the American gun owning community who go far beyond viewing a gun merely as a tool, like a chainsaw or hammer, that they need to accomplish some task.

Those are the people that seem the most creepy to people who aren't into the hobby, and the NRA is essentially the face they present to the world.

MaverickDago wrote:

I'm glad Russians are telling us about violence, that peaceful paradise of a nation where a man of any color or nationality is free to walk the streets.

This is essentially the same argument repeated over and over:

1. UK and Australia have no right to educate us on the gun policies because they are too different
2. EU has no right to educate us on the gun policies because they are too different too. Plus, they are socialists, so they don't really have any right to educate us on anything.
3. Canada's perspecive on guns issues has no value because Canada is too peaceful and is not to be taken seriously anyway.
4. Now, Russia's commentary on guns-related issues should be dismissed too, because Russia is too violent.

Seriously, is there any perspective or viewpoint which the pro-gun people would even agree to consider?

Secondly, that article does not represent the voice of the entire Russia. It's an individual article written by one certain reporter (who appears to be a US resident by the way) for this one Russian newspaper (albeit a mainstream one). Russia is as diverse and multi-faceted as the US. There is an over-abundance of opinions and commentary in their media. To disqualify a messenger on the grounds that the entire country is f-ed up is of an oversimplification of the discussion format. By same token, we should not listen to any commentary that comes out of US either.

Edit: some typos.

ruhk wrote:

Two guys with assault rifles were walking around a residential neighborhood in Portland this afternoon. Responding to several panicked 911 calls from witnesses, the police discovered that the guys were legal C&C'ers who were "trying to educate the public about the second amendment." The cops reassured them that they were within their rights, but were freaking the f*ck out of the neighborhood residents and generating a lot of 911 traffic that could potentially hinder response to an actual emergency,

but neither man seemed interested in these concerns," Simpson added.

Classy. Real classy.

This seems to be a growing trend with gun enthusiasts. Dumb. I do think this cop deserves kudos for the way he handled it.

Wow, full cred to the cop there. I'm glad the asshats taped it so we could see the entire exchange.

What a bunch of assholes. Seeing a guy in the woods with a rifle is normal. Driving past the rifle range and seeing a guy with a rifle is normal. Watching a guy parade around the neighborhood with a rifle with no obvious purpose? Hmmm. I can't imagine why people would be a bit nervous.

"How can you tell it's full auto or not?"

Because he's good at his job, dumbass

ruhk wrote:

Two guys with assault rifles were walking around a residential neighborhood in Portland this afternoon. Responding to several panicked 911 calls from witnesses, the police discovered that the guys were legal C&C'ers who were "trying to educate the public about the second amendment." The cops reassured them that they were within their rights, but were freaking the f*ck out of the neighborhood residents and generating a lot of 911 traffic that could potentially hinder response to an actual emergency,

but neither man seemed interested in these concerns," Simpson added.

Classy. Real classy.

I wonder what would have happened if they lived in Phoenix instead of Portland and their little protest walk took them near one of the schools that Sheriff Arpaio's new posse is "protecting."

OG_slinger wrote:
ruhk wrote:

Two guys with assault rifles were walking around a residential neighborhood in Portland this afternoon. Responding to several panicked 911 calls from witnesses, the police discovered that the guys were legal C&C'ers who were "trying to educate the public about the second amendment." The cops reassured them that they were within their rights, but were freaking the f*ck out of the neighborhood residents and generating a lot of 911 traffic that could potentially hinder response to an actual emergency,

but neither man seemed interested in these concerns," Simpson added.

Classy. Real classy.

I wonder what would have happened if they lived in Phoenix instead of Portland and their little protest walk took them near one of the schools that Sheriff Arpaio's new posse is "protecting."

That's what I was wondering: good this they didn't run across another perfectly legal gun owner that felt the need to protect himself or his property.

clover wrote:

Wow, full cred to the cop there. I'm glad the asshats taped it so we could see the entire exchange.

I am impressed with how the cop handled the encounter. His patience with them was admirable. And while I still think they're being asshats by parading around pointlessly in a neighborhood like that, I actually think that the two gun-toting dudes in the video were also reasonably polite with the cop. They came awfully close to crossing that line when he detained them to inspect the weapons to ensure they were not fully automatic, though.

clover wrote:

"How can you tell it's full auto or not?"

Because he's good at his job, dumbass :D

I would assume training. One of two main ways-either it was a modified fully automatic MP5 to have the auto disabled; or it was one produced without fully automatic capabilities.

It's good people phoned 911. That's the correct response to bad sh*t going down.

However, if a motorist sees someone parading a deadly firearm near houses, workplaces or schools, and decides to run down said maniac, I wouldn't blame them at all.

"I was standing my ground, which is mounted on wheels and propels itself at 50 mph."

I think it's reasonably safe to assume they were trolling in the hope that the cops would do something stupid that they could catch on tape. They were being polite in order to appear as innocent victims.

H.P. Lovesauce wrote:

It's good people phoned 911. That's the correct response to bad sh*t going down.

However, if a motorist sees someone parading a deadly firearm near houses, workplaces or schools, and decides to run down said maniac, I wouldn't blame them at all.

As you can see from this story, we're a bit on edge here in Connecticut.

STRATFORD, Conn. (AP) — Four men who bought pellet rifles at a Wal-Mart wanted to try out their new weapons. Unfortunately for them, the wooded area they picked was near a school. And the sight of men with guns near a school less than four weeks after 20 children and six adults were fatally shot at a grade school 20 miles away in Newtown caused a major police response in Stratford.

Another school shooting, this time in California:
http://www.kget.com/news/local/story...

Tanglebones wrote:

Another school shooting, this time in California:
http://www.kget.com/news/local/story...

And the more the media keeps drilling these stories in our heads, the more the nut-jobs will come out of the woodwork and start shooting people. Adding fuel to the fire.

The Conformist wrote:
Tanglebones wrote:

Another school shooting, this time in California:
http://www.kget.com/news/local/story...

And the more the media keeps drilling these stories in our heads, the more the nut-jobs will come out of the woodwork and start shooting people. Adding fuel to the fire.

Obviously it is the media's fault, and not the ease with which crazy people can procure high-magazine armaments.