Comments on: Ban Guns

By: bobh

bobh — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:38:50 +0000

#22 “Are people really intimidated by the guns?”
Oh you mean “guns don’t kill people, people (with guns) kill people” Its obviously not about being intimidated by guns. I was once in a bunker with a number of 150 Kt nuclear weapons. I wasn’t intimidated by them, I was in awe of their destructive power but I wasn’t intimidated. But then they weren’t being carried by an angry screaming lunatic carrying a sign with a slogan the Oklahoma bomber had on his T-shirt.

By: Bob

Bob — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:06:30 +0000

@Sevesteen: I don’t care about people openly carrying provided they’re minding their own business. Buying a latte’? Fine. Strolling through the park? Sure. A bunch of guys in a bad mood openly carrying at a presidential appearance? Not cool. Where’s the line between freedom and imminent danger?

And this isn’t solely about protecting the president or bystanders, it’s also about protecting the idiots from the inevitable company of snipers on rooftops ready to take down anyone they seriously perceive as a potential assassin.

@Jim: The rush on gun sales may not just be NRA-stoked fear among the Caucasian underclass. I’d wager that some of the stockpiling has to do with the economy. I knew people in Texas who’d buy guns when times were good and sell them when times were bad; they tend to hold their value and there’s always a market for them if you decide to sell. Guns and tools are for the lower class as gold is for the upper – a financial hedge and security blanket.

I’m torn between ignoring these bozos because they’re just attention-seeking twits and hauling them in for being a public menace. It’s much less about the guns than the aspect of keeping public order and preventing unnecessary, unintentional death. I’d have the same concerns if they were armed with broadswords and baseball bats.

By: Ian

Ian — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:03:14 +0000

I’m with comment #17:

Would this have been acceptable when Bush was president?
Everyone knows it wouldn’t have been acceptable and anyone who tried would have been arrested. Hell, they arrested people for wearing tee shirts. Any state where wearing tee shirts is illegal and wearing guns is not is a failed state. A state not much different than Somalia.

By: Travis

Travis — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:29:54 +0000

The ultimate outcome of carrying around a gun is pulling the gun out and waving it around. Why carry it otherwise?

By: Jim Thomerson

Jim Thomerson — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:24:41 +0000

The most successful Obama stimulus plan, at no cost to the taxpayers, was the plan for the firearm and ammunition industries. Gun prices have gone up 200-300%, and they sell like hotcakes. Ammo is in short supply. Dealers at gun shows sell out immediately. My cousin, who shoots cap and ball blackpowder, told me he cannot get caps. His dealer has them back ordered and there is a waiting list. People who sell guns are making out like gangbusters, but have the problem of restocking, whis is both difficult and costly.

By: Sevesteen

Sevesteen — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:07:02 +0000

@Bob:
Some people are disturbed by men kissing each other…That isn’t disturbing the peace either. In most (if not all) places where open carry is legal, merely carrying an exposed gun is officially NOT disturbing the peace, with supporting court rulings.

If you wave it around, point it at people, or make threats that is another matter entirely, and should be prosecuted.

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 10:21:40 +0000

Michele Bachmann’s town hall is coming up. I’m looking for volunteers. I want 12 to 15 young African American males. They must dress in the current “inner city ghetto” fashion. We will purchase realistic looking side arms and assault weapons, and each man will carry one side arm strapped to his waist and one assault weapon strapped to his back. I know some guys with lowriders, we’ll borrow the lowriders and the volunteers can drive up to the rally with B.I.G. cranked on the cd player.

I want these guys to hang around outside the rally with whatever crowd is there. They should be carrying a couple of signs that say things like “The blood of tyrants bla bla bla….” and so on.

See how that goes.

By: Philip H

Philip H — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:12:18 +0000

Greg,
I think the most important part of the Amendment, and the least discussed, is the “well regulated militia” part. The NRA has gotten too much mileage out of the later half. Well regulated means registration of purchases, it means firearms training so you don’t accidentally shoot off your own toe, and it means secure storage requirements. it should also mean permits or licenses to carry outside your own home. And well regulated DOES NOT mean that a citizen should take an assault weapong to aprotest, even as a publicity stunt. Stuff like that makes the wearer/carrier look like a wackaloon, and likely causes most of use to dismiss them and any legitimate points they make.

All that said, as some one who owne a weapon or two, and shoots recreationally, you’ll pry my shot gun out of my cold dead hand before I let the state tell me I can’t have it.

By: MadScientist

MadScientist — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 06:50:28 +0000

@Greg: That’s pretty slack for that guy to be able to get into a courtroom with guns; everyone knows you don’t take guns into court houses or federal buildings and I’m surprised the courthouse wasn’t guarded better; even in Prescott (which had a population of about 2000 back then) I’d have to empty my pockets and hand over my pocket knife and about half of the police on duty seemed to be at the courthouse. Way back when I was in Phoenix the news stories always went on about how dangerous a city it was but it always seemed a pretty good city to me. Old friends tell me a lot has changed in 20 years and that I wouldn’t recognize the place anymore.

By: JosÃ©

Are people really intimidated by the guns?

I’m not. I earned my riflery merit badge, and many of my best friends are hunters (Does that sound too much like “some of my best friend are gay”?). I live next door to a gun club (Does that sound to much like “I have a black friend”?), and I’m never intimidated by the people going in or out of there. However, the few times I’ve ever been in the presence of people with guns who clearly held some animosity towards me, you’d better believe I was intimidated.