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Thread: Gun control

  1. #1221
    What does the Bat say? Jason's Avatar
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    Absolutely agree that they dropped the ball on this. Still think we should also visit gun control, and social safety nets.

  2. #1222
    Jedi Cam's Avatar
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    In other news, worth posting again:

    https://www.theonion.com/it-s-an-hon...s-h-1819585030

  3. #1223
    Administrator dodint's Avatar
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    In that same spirit:

    https://www.reddit.com/r/Libertarian...o_gun_control/

    It does omit the Heller decision in the interest of fairness.

  4. #1224
    What does the Bat say? Jason's Avatar
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  5. #1225

  6. #1226
    Junior Potato
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    The things I enjoy about guns (though I’ve never used one myself) would mostly involve sporting uses, such as marksmanship or a proper hunt, where you use your wits and skill against a beast that is much better at navigating and surviving in a woodland than you are.

    I also recognise legitimate uses for guns such as farming or culling nuisance animals, or law enforcement and military.

    More selfishly, I love the audacious spectacle of a ridiculous loadout, seeing a thousand rounds per minute flung at a distant hillside and shredding the hecking fuck out of a paper target. I think many of us would love to experience that. To that end, I actually want to own an AK-47, but I’m not allowed. My government took that freedom away when a very sick individual committed a crime in an otherwise peaceful tourist spot.

    Much is said about the freedom to own guns, and that’s probably the greatest thing about American culture. Freedom is cherished so highly that it seems like a lot of people prefer that over the safety of themselves or their peers. I’d never tell America to stop being you. You be you. I find it fascinating and slightly amusing. The cultural experiment that is the USA is a great and good thing.

    But one thing that is forgotten in the whole freedom mashed potato is the talk of responsibility. Sure, the most vociferous supporters of gun ownership would take great care and responsibility over their own affairs. They, after all, would be the ones who want to paint the brightest picture on the subject, and I would never accuse any gun enthusiast of being irresponsible.

    However, responsibility as a society is what is neglected. To some people, freedom also means freedom from government tyranny, and a small but very noisy subset of the population believes that taxation is government tyranny, and any benefits paid back to the population on the form of welfare or social services is part of that tyranny. This is why it’s very hard to implement a living wage for the unemployed or basic fucking healthcare for US citizens.

    The same mindset is slowly chipping away at similar services in other countries around the world, needlessly dismantling them and causing further hardship for those most affected. It seems as though people have forgotten that the greatest advantage of becoming a society is the ability to become stronger by helping each other out, rather than by leaving the weakest ones behind, and as a result the safety net put in place by society has some rather large holes in it.

    Those who have the ability to take responsibility should do so. The safety net should be patched up. A cultural shift needs to occur. Hopefully one day America will be a much better place, and you’ll be able to keep your guns too.

  7. #1227
    Jedi Cam's Avatar
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    Dodint, just to be clear, I hold no ill will toward you. We can disagree and still get back to being friends. A fellow GTXF member once said we are like family, lumps and all. I look forward to meeting you in person some day.

  8. #1228
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    The Government has mandated DOZENS of times about safety. They introduced mandatory car safety standards, airbags, seatbelts and many other things like having a release in the boot of a car in case you get trapped in there. Then you have the NTSB making flying and train travel and bus travel safer year on year. They investigate thoroughly and make recommendations which are generally accepted and instigated in their entirety, despite in some cases howls of protest from manufacturers and trade bodies. A man tried to blow up an airplane with a bomb in his shoe. And failed. And then a 'liquid bomb' attack was also foiled when the chemicals involved didn't react properly. Now you are limited as to how much shampoo, shower gel etc. you can take onto an airplane and sometimes your shoes have to be sent through the X-Ray machine too. All in the name of safety.

    As someone said above, these exacting and sometimes costly standards have reduced fatalities and have meant air transport has never been safer and car/truck/bus accidents that would have killed people even 15 years ago people can now walk away with perhaps a few cuts and bruises. And many of these things are regulated and you need to pass test after test before you can do them or take part. Some you even need hundreds of hours of training and qualifications.

    And yet, something that causes many more deaths across the nation is almost singularly exempt from any and all attempts to improve their safety, the safety of others and the safety of those who are allowed to use them. Almost without any safeguards as to who can buy them, use them and store them. You can be placed on a government no-fly list in case you try to blow up an airplane but you can still buy an AR-15 (or a dozen!) with a bump-stop attachment for a few $$$ that effectively makes it an automatic weapon. That, to my mind, is completely and utterly contemptuous as a country and as a government.

    I can see a very large number of potential new candidates for local office getting elected on a gun control agenda. And if it starts at the bottom, my hope is it will eventually work it's way up. Sure, in some states like Texas and Alabama and some others it will be very difficult to get elected on that agenda, but elsewhere it could happen. And perhaps things then might start to change. But, I suspect, it will take decades.
    Last edited by Alan P; February 17th, 2018 at 04:01 PM.

  9. #1229
    Administrator dodint's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cam View Post
    Dodint, just to be clear, I hold no ill will toward you. We can disagree and still get back to being friends. A fellow GTXF member once said we are like family, lumps and all. I look forward to meeting you in person some day.
    Same, I hold zero ill will towards you at all, though I appreciate you saying so.

  10. #1230
    Ask me about my bottom br FaultyMario's Avatar
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    acket.

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