Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Radio Controlled]

Yeah, doing a little disaster preparedness is certainly a good thing, with more needed depending on circumstances. That's the point, those who own a gun and claim it's primarily to protect while not taking such measures (which I suspect outnumber those who do, though numbers on this are hard to come by apparently after a little googling) seem, to me, to basically try and make up a good excuse to own guns beyond the feeling of empowerment.

And yes, I agree that first aid is one of those things that should be taught standard. And not just pay it lip service with lessons of an hour where everybody gets to kiss the doll for half a sec and pretend they practiced mouth to mouth (which is what it was in my case), but really drill it in. It's one of those things that pays good dividends for relatively little effort.

[Powder Miner]

heeeeere's hoping this isn't used as ammunition for some other security law

[Cthulhu]

Yeah, doing a little disaster preparedness is certainly a good thing, with more needed depending on circumstances. That's the point, those who own a gun and claim it's primarily to protect while not taking such measures (which I suspect outnumber those who do, though numbers on this are hard to come by apparently after a little googling) seem, to me, to basically try and make up a good excuse to own guns beyond the feeling of empowerment.

And yes, I agree that first aid is one of those things that should be taught standard. And not just pay it lip service with lessons of an hour where everybody gets to kiss the doll for half a sec and pretend they practiced mouth to mouth (which is what it was in my case), but really drill it in. It's one of those things that pays good dividends for relatively little effort.

I don't have any stats on it but I'm pretty sure people do this thing because it fits my stereotype of them and suits my arguments.

[Radio Controlled]

That's why I said 'I wonder', because I couldn't find the numbers related. Can't even find exact numbers on what percentage of Americans are capable of decent first aid.

Also, I haven't actually said anything for or against gun ownership, just that it seems people aren't completely honest about one of the big reasons for owning them.

[Sheb]

So, this might be a thing worth mentioning:

I have a friend who lives in Florida who lives down the street from the shooter. A friend of this friend went to high school with the shooter. That friend-of-a-friend was formerly in the closet but no longer, and according to him the shooter was also in the closet with very traditional, homophobic parents.

That's... weird.

[nenjin]

It's not unheard of he couldn't reconcile his feelings with his beliefs, and overcompensated by going Radical Islam.

[MonkeyHead]

So, this might be a thing worth mentioning:

I have a friend who lives in Florida who lives down the street from the shooter. A friend of this friend went to high school with the shooter. That friend-of-a-friend was formerly in the closet but no longer, and according to him the shooter was also in the closet with very traditional, homophobic parents.

That's... weird.

What better way to release all that self loathing than by murderspree on those who are what you hate in yourself?

[KingofstarrySkies]

I can think of many, personally, but I mean whatever floats your slaughter I guess

[Morrigi]

Where do you draw the line? Are knives okay, swords? Bows? Maybe some certain kind(s) of firearm? At what point does a firearm become exceedingly powerful, how is it defined?

Handguns kill an excessive amount of people compared to all other types of weapon, including other firearms, partly because they're easy for a criminal to conceal. A full ban on guns might not be necessary, but at least remove handguns.

AR-15s etc get more media exposure because they tend to be used in the relatively minute amount of mass-shootings, but they account for a tiny fraction of gun deaths.

As an American, I would fully support requiring licensing, training*, and reasonable** psych evaluation requirements for handgun ownership, if the 1934 National Firearms Act is repealed, "assault weapons" bans are explicitly banned themselves, and firearm safety and handling classes are made to be a graduation requirement in high schools***. Legally, the people are the militia. The people should have the knowledge and training for that to be reality. I also support a large increase in mental health funding to get people the help they need.

*To include safety training, assembly and disassembly of the weapon, information on the firearm carry and self-defense laws of the state in question, and live-fire exercises
**By this, I mean that simple mental illness should not be a disqualification. A person with an anxiety disorder is probably much less likely than the general population to engage in violent crime, and thus should not be prevented from owning a handgun because of their illness.
***See *

Edited for clarity

[WealthyRadish]

So, this might be a thing worth mentioning:

I have a friend who lives in Florida who lives down the street from the shooter. A friend of this friend went to high school with the shooter. That friend-of-a-friend was formerly in the closet but no longer, and according to him the shooter was also in the closet with very traditional, homophobic parents.

That's... weird.

It's a common cliche in pop psychology that the most passionately hateful people are often repressing their own feelings and redirecting that self-loathing outward. Like most cliches I think it has some basis, but isn't worth making any serious conclusions over.

The friend of a friend of a friend thing sounds like BS or a rumor that latched onto that notion, though.

[Morrigi]

His parents were Afghan Muslim immigrants. I'd be shocked if they weren't very homophobic. As for the rest, who knows?

[Sensei]

The important thing to remember is that although you can illegally modify an AR-15 to fully-automatic fire, handguards and foregrips are illegal, so with these illegally modified firearms, it will be hard to aim.

[Erkki]

The important thing to remember is that although you can illegally modify an AR-15 to fully-automatic fire, handguards and foregrips are illegal, so with these illegally modified firearms, it will be hard to aim.

In Europe, they cant be modified, because upper receiver and bolt also have serials and need a license. It's pretty odd how some accessories are illegal in US but many essential parts aren't.

[sluissa]

The important thing to remember is that although you can illegally modify an AR-15 to fully-automatic fire, handguards and foregrips are illegal, so with these illegally modified firearms, it will be hard to aim.

In Europe, they cant be modified, because upper receiver and bolt also have serials and need a license. It's pretty odd how some accessories are illegal in US but many essential parts aren't.

So I can assume metalworking tools are illegal too? Often these weapons only require minor additions or modifications which can be done with the right skills and tools in any garage.

[Erkki]

The important thing to remember is that although you can illegally modify an AR-15 to fully-automatic fire, handguards and foregrips are illegal, so with these illegally modified firearms, it will be hard to aim.

In Europe, they cant be modified, because upper receiver and bolt also have serials and need a license. It's pretty odd how some accessories are illegal in US but many essential parts aren't.

So I can assume metalworking tools are illegal too? Often these weapons only require minor additions or modifications which can be done with the right skills and tools in any garage.

I doubt they are anywhere, but yeah, AK-47 is easy to modify from semi auto to full auto. I could do that myself. But for most rifles, including AR-15, its impossible without replacing many parts of the action. I think the AR-15 at least needs at least a new upper receiver and some parts in the action and trigger group.