More Guns Bought after Obama was re-elected (?)

It was reported that more guns were bought after Obama was re-elected .... WHY? .... your take on this. I grew up during the VN war, bullets were flying in front of our row home in Saigon during the 1968 Tet Offensive, I got caught in the war zone several times when we traveled outside of Saigon, so owning a gun in the USA is something I never thought of...

Pky6471 wrote:It was reported that more guns were bought after Obama was re-elected .... WHY? .... your take on this. I grew up during the VN war, bullets were flying in front of our row home in Saigon during the 1968 Tet Offensive, I got caught in the war zone several times when we traveled outside of Saigon, so owning a gun in the USA is something I never thought of...

It's actually pretty simple. The prevailing thought is a President can't touch gun laws in his first term without taking on undue reelection risk. Not the same concern in a second term. Since gun toters by nature tend towards paranoia, they buy guns in anticipation of that.

People have been buying more Big Macs too. This behavior is in anticipation of Michelle Obama eventually gaining control of everything we eat.

Recent iterations of the Federal government have demonstrated their lack of ability and desire to secure the country's borders and to effectively prosecute and confine the worst criminals. So when the government can't and/or won't do it, you have to take matters into your own hands. Its as simple as that. I live in a neighborhood that is about a mile and a half from some pretty bad slums. The police are reluctant to do much patrolling there and the only time they respond to calls is when there are at least ten cars available and only after a victim or victims have already been shot. There are probably more gunes in these black ghettos per capita than on the average military base. Most of them are owned and carried by people who know that the cops' duties do not include their protection and service but the cops' own self-preservation so they stay strapped to try to stay alive. It is ironic that the entire world weeps over the Sandy Hook Massacre but hundreds of young blacks are killed by gunfire every week in the major cities of the US.

FamousDavis wrote: Michelle Obama eventually gaining control of everything we eat.

This is already happening in NYC. Mayor Bloomberg is putting caps on everything you eat/drink.

Mostly German wrote:It is ironic that the entire world weeps over the Sandy Hook Massacre but hundreds of young blacks are killed by gunfire every week in the major cities of the US.

I wouldn't call that irony. A whole bunch of elementary school children being gunned down at school by some very broken young man is always going to draw more attention than urban street crime to which we have become, to an extent, desensitized by its being so prolific.

These nutcase massacres are on the verge of becoming commonplace too, unfortunately.

jmtbkr wrote:

FamousDavis wrote: Michelle Obama eventually gaining control of everything we eat.

This is already happening in NYC. Mayor Bloomberg is putting caps on everything you eat/drink.

I guess I don't see the big deal with his actions. I like to keep a cap on my drink for sanitary reasons and to keep it from spilling.

Mostly German wrote:Recent iterations of the Federal government have demonstrated their lack of ability and desire to secure the country's borders and to effectively prosecute and confine the worst criminals. So when the government can't and/or won't do it, you have to take matters into your own hands. Its as simple as that. I live in a neighborhood that is about a mile and a half from some pretty bad slums. The police are reluctant to do much patrolling there and the only time they respond to calls is when there are at least ten cars available and only after a victim or victims have already been shot. There are probably more gunes in these black ghettos per capita than on the average military base. Most of them are owned and carried by people who know that the cops' duties do not include their protection and service but the cops' own self-preservation so they stay strapped to try to stay alive. It is ironic that the entire world weeps over the Sandy Hook Massacre but hundreds of young blacks are killed by gunfire every week in the major cities of the US.

Time to take your meds.

If i lived in America i would be buying a gun

In a society where the mentally ill can gain free access to high powered weapons the only answer is to buy a gun as well. It is extremely sad that such a great country as the USA finds itself in such a position.

I have NEVER felt the need to own a gun to protect my family in the UK because I know I dont need one.

FamousDavis wrote:

jmtbkr wrote:

FamousDavis wrote: Michelle Obama eventually gaining control of everything we eat.

This is already happening in NYC. Mayor Bloomberg is putting caps on everything you eat/drink.

I guess I don't see the big deal with his actions. I like to keep a cap on my drink for sanitary reasons and to keep it from spilling.

At Yankee Stadium and also at Shea - Oops, Citifield - they take the tops away when you buy a drink, so you can't throw it on the field

Anybody else read this piece? There are some interesting statistics.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/mass-shootings-map

Honestly, I would guess we would get more traction on this problem by funding mental health than to waste time on fighting the NRA.

Poe4soul wrote:Anybody else read this piece? There are some interesting statistics.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/mass-shootings-map

Honestly, I would guess we would get more traction on this problem by funding mental health than to waste time on fighting the NRA.

I got the impression that much state govt mental health facilities were de-funded twenty or so years ago. That's when I was working in the Central Business District and all of a sudden there were these oxygen wasters on the street that really needed to be confined. The ones who hung out downtown were probably all poor but I can imagine some of the ones from families with some money who migrated from their funny farms back to the split levels. I'd be all for contributing a few more bucks per year to get these folks back in their lock-ups. As for the NRA, I've no use for them or any other lobbying organization. If you have some guns, the dumbest thing you could do is join the NRA. That way, the govt has you on record.

edgey wrote:If i lived in America i would be buying a gun

In a society where the mentally ill can gain free access to high powered weapons the only answer is to buy a gun as well. It is extremely sad that such a great country as the USA finds itself in such a position.

I have NEVER felt the need to own a gun to protect my family in the UK because I know I dont need one.

The argument can be made that those of us with concealed weapon permits play a major role in keeping the peace.

When you analyze the odds the risks are pretty minimal.

The topic of banning large magazine assault weapons was the topic of conversation at work today. While the pro-gun camp happily justified the continued access and sale of them to the common citizen because it's our second amendment right, they usually had no answer to whether people should be allowed to own rocket launchers. I mean, we do have the right to bear arms, right? Why stop at the AK-47?

It's a shame these whack jobs all kill themselves before we have a chance to study their brains before their lethal injections.
I would be willing to wager that the vast majority....
A.) showed tendencies years before their crimes
B.) had apathetic parents that let the television and x-box do most of the babysitting
C.) had logged in a stunning amount of hours on graphic shooter games
D.) lack of decent male role model
E.) had seen the entire "Saw" series before entering middle school
F.) had been listening to a steady diet of gangsta rap and/or death metal as an adolescent.

About 10 years ago, I was in a Blockbuster store and saw an eleven year old with a copy of "Grand Theft Auto." That's a video game where your character is a street thug that steals cars, shoots cops, and bangs prostitutes for those that don't remember. He said, "Mom, this game looks awesome!" She said, "Sure honey" without even looking at it and the store had no problem renting it to them. Later that day, the country was in an outrage about Janet Jackson's nipple being shown during a football game. That's when I knew our society was going to total shiyyyaatt.

Homeslice wrote:It's a shame these whack jobs all kill themselves before we have a chance to study their brains before their lethal injections.
I would be willing to wager that the vast majority....
A.) showed tendencies years before their crimes
B.) had apathetic parents that let the television and x-box do most of the babysitting
C.) had logged in a stunning amount of hours on graphic shooter games
D.) lack of decent male role model
E.) had seen the entire "Saw" series before entering middle school
F.) had been listening to a steady diet of gangsta rap and/or death metal as an adolescent.

About 10 years ago, I was in a Blockbuster store and saw an eleven year old with a copy of "Grand Theft Auto." That's a video game where your character is a street thug that steals cars, shoots cops, and bangs prostitutes for those that don't remember. He said, "Mom, this game looks awesome!" She said, "Sure honey" without even looking at it and the store had no problem renting it to them. Later that day, the country was in an outrage about Janet Jackson's nipple being shown during a football game. That's when I knew our society was going to total shiyyyaatt.

Bro, you picked an awfully decrepit hill to die on.

I'd be willing to bet that the vast majority...
A.) watched lots of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood movies
B.) dutifully attended mass every Sunday
C.) spent an awful lot of time watching violent criminals being sensationalized on the evening news
D.) grew up in a family that highly valued the sanctity of marriage
E.) read about the apocalypse in the Bible and felt compelled to provide salvation to their victims
F.) listened to classical music
G.) smoked cigarettes before age 12
H.) were effed up libtards fed up with living shitty, worthless lives who wanted to be martyrs to the cause of taking away second amendment rights

My point - you can't just explain this shit away by stereotyping, guessing, or assigning blame without having evidence to support your assertions (violent videogames/movies - REALLY? That argument has bean beaten to absolute shit over the last decade to the point that only someone who WANTS to self-identify as a complete moron would bring it up). Some people do all the same stuff as you or me, or anyone else up until the day they snap. The real motivation for these sorts of violent acts is buried somewhere beneath the superficial observations you're making, and until that fact becomes widely acknowledged there will be no reduction in the frequency of these types of events.

FreakOfNature wrote:

Homeslice wrote:It's a shame these whack jobs all kill themselves before we have a chance to study their brains before their lethal injections.
I would be willing to wager that the vast majority....
A.) showed tendencies years before their crimes
B.) had apathetic parents that let the television and x-box do most of the babysitting
C.) had logged in a stunning amount of hours on graphic shooter games
D.) lack of decent male role model
E.) had seen the entire "Saw" series before entering middle school
F.) had been listening to a steady diet of gangsta rap and/or death metal as an adolescent.

About 10 years ago, I was in a Blockbuster store and saw an eleven year old with a copy of "Grand Theft Auto." That's a video game where your character is a street thug that steals cars, shoots cops, and bangs prostitutes for those that don't remember. He said, "Mom, this game looks awesome!" She said, "Sure honey" without even looking at it and the store had no problem renting it to them. Later that day, the country was in an outrage about Janet Jackson's nipple being shown during a football game. That's when I knew our society was going to total shiyyyaatt.

Bro, you picked an awfully decrepit hill to die on.

I'd be willing to bet that the vast majority...
A.) watched lots of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood movies
B.) dutifully attended mass every Sunday
C.) spent an awful lot of time watching violent criminals being sensationalized on the evening news
D.) grew up in a family that highly valued the sanctity of marriage
E.) read about the apocalypse in the Bible and felt compelled to provide salvation to their victims
F.) listened to classical music
G.) smoked cigarettes before age 12
H.) were effed up libtards fed up with living shitty, worthless lives who wanted to be martyrs to the cause of taking away second amendment rights

My point - you can't just explain this shit away by stereotyping, guessing, or assigning blame without having evidence to support your assertions (violent videogames/movies - REALLY? That argument has bean beaten to absolute shit over the last decade to the point that only someone who WANTS to self-identify as a complete moron would bring it up). Some people do all the same stuff as you or me, or anyone else up until the day they snap. The real motivation for these sorts of violent acts is buried somewhere beneath the superficial observations you're making, and until that fact becomes widely acknowledged there will be no reduction in the frequency of these types of events.

Yeah, you're right. The culture of violence we've created has nothing to do with this. It's the solar flares. When the cycle of increased solar activity starts to diminish in 2014, so will the school shootings. I feel better knowing this.

FamousDavis wrote:

FreakOfNature wrote:

Homeslice wrote:It's a shame these whack jobs all kill themselves before we have a chance to study their brains before their lethal injections.
I would be willing to wager that the vast majority....
A.) showed tendencies years before their crimes
B.) had apathetic parents that let the television and x-box do most of the babysitting
C.) had logged in a stunning amount of hours on graphic shooter games
D.) lack of decent male role model
E.) had seen the entire "Saw" series before entering middle school
F.) had been listening to a steady diet of gangsta rap and/or death metal as an adolescent.

About 10 years ago, I was in a Blockbuster store and saw an eleven year old with a copy of "Grand Theft Auto." That's a video game where your character is a street thug that steals cars, shoots cops, and bangs prostitutes for those that don't remember. He said, "Mom, this game looks awesome!" She said, "Sure honey" without even looking at it and the store had no problem renting it to them. Later that day, the country was in an outrage about Janet Jackson's nipple being shown during a football game. That's when I knew our society was going to total shiyyyaatt.

Bro, you picked an awfully decrepit hill to die on.

I'd be willing to bet that the vast majority...
A.) watched lots of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood movies
B.) dutifully attended mass every Sunday
C.) spent an awful lot of time watching violent criminals being sensationalized on the evening news
D.) grew up in a family that highly valued the sanctity of marriage
E.) read about the apocalypse in the Bible and felt compelled to provide salvation to their victims
F.) listened to classical music
G.) smoked cigarettes before age 12
H.) were effed up libtards fed up with living shitty, worthless lives who wanted to be martyrs to the cause of taking away second amendment rights

My point - you can't just explain this shit away by stereotyping, guessing, or assigning blame without having evidence to support your assertions (violent videogames/movies - REALLY? That argument has bean beaten to absolute shit over the last decade to the point that only someone who WANTS to self-identify as a complete moron would bring it up). Some people do all the same stuff as you or me, or anyone else up until the day they snap. The real motivation for these sorts of violent acts is buried somewhere beneath the superficial observations you're making, and until that fact becomes widely acknowledged there will be no reduction in the frequency of these types of events.

Actually, you make a pretty good point. Like I had mentioned in a previous thread, I grew up right next door to a kid that I could see doing this kind of thing. Maybe not this crazy but the kid I was neighbors with was the kind who would torture animals, throw battery acid on someone or start a brush fire for the hell of it. Violent video games didn't exist back then, nor did gangster rap, facebook or many of the modern things we "enjoy" today. However, here this kid was. Why are certain people like that? Who knows.

As a species I guess we have always had a need to find an answer and then propose a solution. The problem, as I see it, is that the facts become distorted as a means to institute some kind of reaction to what happened and any reaction will do. In this case, I've read blogs from people who are saying that something must be done about assualt rifles and automatic weapons. The assailant didn't use automatic weapons and he obviously didn't need exotic guns to do what he did.

The hardest pill to swallow is the truth. This kid was a sociopath and could care less about human life. He was not crazy nor was he besieged by the devil. Some of these people step over that invisible line and then they go nuts. A horrible thing happened and the only thing we can do is grieve and then move on.

I would rather live with this kind of thing happening every once in awhile than have video cameras on every corner like they do in England, nor do I want the government stepping in and doing what they say is best for my safety. Freedom has a price.

As HB was forced to point out, we have to spend an inordinate amount of time correcting you. I get that your prism on life is simplistic, but for those interested, the weapon used to kill all of the victims at the school was a Bushmaster .223. It's clearly an assault/combat weapon and has no real purpose for self protection or sport. It's a semi-automatic weapon designed to kill as many people as possible in the shortest possible time. The shooter used multiple 30 round clips. Had the police not arrived so quickly many, many more children might have died.

The government is already in your life and as unpopular as it is to say amongst certain groups of kooks, it's unusual for an actual thinking person to apply a no governmental involvement metric without thought. I'm a conservative and don't like the government in my life but when complete losers kill masses of people with assault weapons I'd like them to reign things in.

Make no mistake, disciples of the gun lobby are not balanced, stable, rational people so we shouldn't be having them dictate policy. Moving for a moment out of a simplistic perspective, of course not all massacres can be prevented. But by making assault weapons illegal to buy or sell and harder to get, greatly limiting clip size, mental and background checks for people and their family members, etc. many innocent lives can be saved. It isn't an all or nothing thing, as enticing as that always is to simplistic thinking. It's been done successfully in other countries already.

This won't come about with the help of those who can only see now and can't handle change without messing their shorts. It would happen because the rest of us are willing to tolerate the government placing some controls when we presently have to deal with a minority of gun toting idiots who can't reign in their overwhelming feelings of worthlessness and paranoia.

FamousDavis wrote:

FreakOfNature wrote:

Homeslice wrote:It's a shame these whack jobs all kill themselves before we have a chance to study their brains before their lethal injections.
I would be willing to wager that the vast majority....
A.) showed tendencies years before their crimes
B.) had apathetic parents that let the television and x-box do most of the babysitting
C.) had logged in a stunning amount of hours on graphic shooter games
D.) lack of decent male role model
E.) had seen the entire "Saw" series before entering middle school
F.) had been listening to a steady diet of gangsta rap and/or death metal as an adolescent.

About 10 years ago, I was in a Blockbuster store and saw an eleven year old with a copy of "Grand Theft Auto." That's a video game where your character is a street thug that steals cars, shoots cops, and bangs prostitutes for those that don't remember. He said, "Mom, this game looks awesome!" She said, "Sure honey" without even looking at it and the store had no problem renting it to them. Later that day, the country was in an outrage about Janet Jackson's nipple being shown during a football game. That's when I knew our society was going to total shiyyyaatt.

Bro, you picked an awfully decrepit hill to die on.

I'd be willing to bet that the vast majority...
A.) watched lots of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood movies
B.) dutifully attended mass every Sunday
C.) spent an awful lot of time watching violent criminals being sensationalized on the evening news
D.) grew up in a family that highly valued the sanctity of marriage
E.) read about the apocalypse in the Bible and felt compelled to provide salvation to their victims
F.) listened to classical music
G.) smoked cigarettes before age 12
H.) were effed up libtards fed up with living shitty, worthless lives who wanted to be martyrs to the cause of taking away second amendment rights

My point - you can't just explain this shit away by stereotyping, guessing, or assigning blame without having evidence to support your assertions (violent videogames/movies - REALLY? That argument has bean beaten to absolute shit over the last decade to the point that only someone who WANTS to self-identify as a complete moron would bring it up). Some people do all the same stuff as you or me, or anyone else up until the day they snap. The real motivation for these sorts of violent acts is buried somewhere beneath the superficial observations you're making, and until that fact becomes widely acknowledged there will be no reduction in the frequency of these types of events.

Actually, you make a pretty good point. Like I had mentioned in a previous thread, I grew up right next door to a kid that I could see doing this kind of thing. Maybe not this crazy but the kid I was neighbors with was the kind who would torture animals, throw battery acid on someone or start a brush fire for the hell of it. Violent video games didn't exist back then, nor did gangster rap, facebook or many of the modern things we "enjoy" today. However, here this kid was. Why are certain people like that? Who knows.

As a species I guess we have always had a need to find an answer and then propose a solution. The problem, as I see it, is that the facts become distorted as a means to institute some kind of reaction to what happened and any reaction will do. In this case, I've read blogs from people who are saying that something must be done about assualt rifles and automatic weapons. The assailant didn't use automatic weapons and he obviously didn't need exotic guns to do what he did.

The hardest pill to swallow is the truth. This kid was a sociopath and could care less about human life. He was not crazy nor was he besieged by the devil. Some of these people step over that invisible line and then they go nuts. A horrible thing happened and the only thing we can do is grieve and then move on.

I would rather live with this kind of thing happening every once in awhile than have video cameras on every corner like they do in England, nor do I want the government stepping in and doing what they say is best for my safety. Freedom has a price.

I'm not sure about your location, but Chicago and most major cities already have cameras. You can thank 9-11 and the Bush regime agenda.

There is no reason more innocent children have to die, due to irresponsible, supposed adults, that are sychos with to easy access to a near fully auto weapon. The only place those weapons are justifiable is on the range or war.
Do you know you can empty the mag on an AR 15 in about 20-30 seconds, or however fast you can pull the trigger. 30 rounds or more sometimes. Those kids didn't have a chance.
That young man could have never done that with anything but an assault rifle. A handgun has to much recoil, and is harder to keep on target. The bushmaster is a very easy to shoot weapon, and so are many of the others.

Let me ask you this. Would you feel safer if the 3 million or many more assault rifles in the U.S.A in private hands were banned or allowed?
I personally have been around to many nutcases like your neighbor kid. I was in Jonesboro in 98 when all those kids got killed. If those kids had assault rifles I'm sure the death toll would have been much higher. Both the shooters were kids, and are free. One of them was arrested a few years back, and he had a loaded 9mm on him.

The Bushmaster .223 is not a military issue rifle. It is a clone of the original Colt AR 15, also a semi-auto civilian and LE rifle, that is itself modeled on the military-issue M-16 that is capable of either semi or fully automatic use.

I went to my 6 year old daughters nativity today (she was Mary) and throughout it I could not stop thinking about those poor little children and their familys.

Only at the end did i reflect on this. At no point did I ever have to worry that some psychopath armed better than me when I was a soldier may burst in and start shooting those children. It wasnt the lack of psycho's in the UK that made me feel safe (we have LOTS of them). It was the fact that we have as a nation removed our psycho's means of access to weapons of mass murder.

If anyone believes that the occasional mass murder of 5 year old children in their school is an acceptable consequence of the right to bear arms hey ho. Thank God we in the UK decided it is not

edgey wrote:I went to my 6 year old daughters nativity today (she was Mary) and throughout it I could not stop thinking about those poor little children and their familys.

Only at the end did i reflect on this. At no point did I ever have to worry that some psychopath armed better than me when I was a soldier may burst in and start shooting those children. It wasnt the lack of psycho's in the UK that made me feel safe (we have LOTS of them). It was the fact that we have as a nation removed our psycho's means of access to weapons of mass murder.

If anyone believes that the occasional mass murder of 5 year old children in their school is an acceptable consequence of the right to bear arms hey ho. Thank God we in the UK decided it is not

Nobody is saying that of course. But, if you are going to implement change then it has to be effective and based on what actually occurred. Our country is famous for taking action simply because we feel like we've got to do something, even if it's completely unrelated to what really happened. 9/11 and the 2nd Iraq war are a perfect example. We should have killed all the Saudis responsible for the attacks and taken over their oil. But, we couldn't do that so we had to find something else to do.

In this case, the action is to ban all types of guns. All of them. Having a gun in your possession is a felony with 10 years and no parole.

Those who own guns will argue that it was an assualt rifle that did it. Self interest at its best.

To someone familiar with weaponry it's obvious your opinions exceed your knowledge to the point that responding to you was a waste of time. Since you don't understand what you're talking about you aren't able to understand the specifics of what happened, the nature of the weapon and why what the shooter did may not have been possible without an assault style weapon. So your opinions are ignorant.

Not understanding leads to no solution because in your simplistic terms means completely eliminating the problem or doing nothing I guess. At this point I agree with Yaz.

Let's face, most people who own arsenals are just toy collectors. Of course there is no need to have a shit ton of non-hunting guns and a stockpile of ammo. Essentially, the gun crazies are saying, "Don't take my toys away, even it that means people will die." We should institute a buy back period, ASAP. I'd like to say that would pave the way for new gun reducing policies.
I saw some statistic that there are currently .88 guns/person in the US. WTF???

I voted for the guy, but I wonder how Romney would be handling this situation. The NRA holds the same influence as the unions.

Alright, FD is no longer dominating and Lorenzo has taken his place.

I saw a funny, yet truthful post on Facebook this morning. It said, "Why do some conservatives believe that outlawing guns won't prevent gun violence, but outlawing abortions will prevent abortion?" You can't have your cake and eat it too. You can't say, "semi-auto, 30-shot magazine weapons don't kill people, but I wouldn't want my neighbor to have access to rocket launchers." You're either for the full-fledged, unencumbered right to bear arms, or you're a reasonable person that realizes certain guns don't need to be an option for hobbiests or those seeking home protection.

Our society hasn't evolved with the technology of the times. Sure, we have a right to bear arms per the 2nd amendment, but the context in which that law was written never considered the technological advancements in weaponry that we have today.