General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Love of Guns Trumping The Love of Humanity
Making any and every lame excuse they can unearth just to hold onto their toys I am very disappointed but very hopeful that the tide is turning and a majority of Americans are seeing the error of our ways. Most of us want to live in peace and harmony loving one another.
OneGrassRoot
(22,920 posts)Puzzledtraveller
(5,937 posts)But you're post seems to want to portray any supporter as a right wing christian fundie, am I wrong? Just curious, and I do not own any guns myself.
OneGrassRoot
(22,920 posts)It was more a message for lurkers, not progressives.
I know MANY people read DU even if they don't join or interact.
I created an OP of its own instead.
a geek named Bob
(2,715 posts)Fresh_Start
(11,330 posts)With 30,000 deaths and over 100,000 injuries by guns per year, its clear guns are not in the best interest of society.
Read the news headlines, guns are not in the interest of society.
Its not even in the interest of their families, since it is far more likely that someone in the family will be killed with the gun, than that they will be used to kill someone attacking the family.
Women in particular should shun men with gun fetishes.
Those women are 5x more likely to be killed than women in households without gun ownership.
sasha031
(6,700 posts)Dems to Win
(2,161 posts)Blue Owl
(50,407 posts)villager
(26,001 posts)n/t
a geek named Bob
(2,715 posts)hunting for food and use for self defense is worship?
villager
(26,001 posts)As you well know.
a geek named Bob
(2,715 posts)I wasn't sure...
NONE of the firearms owners that I know have weapons that would fall under the AWB.
villager
(26,001 posts)n/t
a geek named Bob
(2,715 posts)All of us have vaults w/ biometric locks (of course, I added the same to one of my labs...)
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)So, I presume, are most gun control proponents. Problems arise when people on either side resort to sweeping generalizations, insulting depictions, and outright vilification of the other side. That kind of bullshit makes any useful dialogue impossible.
villager
(26,001 posts)Hopefully, this time, maybe so.
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)The rest of us? Yes. Same thing on the other side: the extremists will still insist on depicting all gun owners as potential psychopaths with fetishism issues who don't care about murder victims.
Hopefully the actual adults can have a real conversation and get something done.
villager
(26,001 posts)And thus, even the most reasonable gun control/purchasing/licensing provisions were routinely shouted down, scorned, etc.
As a result -- twenty dead kids, thanks to the "mainstream" of the gun proliferation side.
I await to see if there's really a changed tune, now.
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)That has not remotely been my experience.
Regardless, I think we can both hope that the reasonable, genuinely effective measures come about.
villager
(26,001 posts)... the experience of the rest of the nation, too.
But I guess that's part of our disagreement.
Note: Effective measures actually mean guns will be harder to get than they are now.
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)Might as well go ahead and declare itself an arm of the RNC...
villager
(26,001 posts)Too damn bad they've been allowed to dictate gun policy in this country.
tblue
(16,350 posts)And that's a lame excuse for supporting the manufacturers of death. I don't care about anyone's personal desire. Children are dying because of it. What part of that is so hard to understand?
a geek named Bob
(2,715 posts)And that's a lame excuse for supporting the manufacturers of death.
wanting to be self reliant is a lame excuse?
"manufacturers of death"... so are are knife makers
I don't care about anyone's personal desire.
Because your cause is FAR more important than individual rights...
Children are dying because of it.
in that case, why don't we lock up the crazies?
What part of that is so hard to understand?
I understand you are engaging in bombastic rhetoric.
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)But hey, if it helps you through this difficult time to dehumanize and vilify millions of Americans, then go for it.
a geek named Bob
(2,715 posts)villager
(26,001 posts)n/t
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)It's in fact a textbook example of false dichotomy.
Zoeisright
(8,339 posts)Anyone who is stupid enough to buy MORE guns in the fact of that cold-blooded massacre is criminally insane.
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)No complaints, anyway.
As for whether or not I've correctly identified a false dichotomy, let's just say that the opinion of someone who blunders in and offers a nice little combination of personal insult, straw man argument, appeal-to-emotion, and amateur psychoanalysis is not exactly one to value.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)A human being can only fire two at a time. So what's the need for dozens of weapons?
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)I'm not a collector, nor do I see the need for an "arsenal." I have five firearms, each for a very different purpose, most of them target shooting, two for self-defense (one a small carry pistol, one for home). I consider that to be a "lot," at least for my needs.
That said, I'm a bit uncomfortable with the overall idea of regulating on the basis of "need" in a free society. I'm not saying there shouldn't be exceptions, but it's something to consider very, very carefully before doing.
BTW, I suspect we share a hobby (audio...).
ManiacJoe
(10,136 posts)Different guns have different abilities and limitations.
Why to folks own both a minivan and a pickup truck? One is good for moving people, the other good for moving large or heavy objects. Use the right tool for the job.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)above. And I have never owned a firearm in my life. I've known people who hunt - and I have no particular objection to people who eat what they hunt - and even I know you don't generally use the same kind of weapon for hunting birds and deer, and target-shooting weapons are another class beyond that. People who live in isolated areas and have animals need to vanquish predators on occasion. All of that I get. What I do not understand are the people who feel compelled to have gigantic arsenals of dozens of weapons and tens of thousands of rounds of ammo. That speaks of some sort of rampant paranoia, to say the least.
I do not include in that number people who collect and preserve antique firearms. People who collect in that fashion are no different in my mind than those who collect antique cars or motorcycles; it's the historical aspect that motivates those collectors. Besides, it's pretty hard to wreak havoc with most single shot antique long guns when you can only fire a couple of rounds per minute.
villager
(26,001 posts)The "fallout" is the gun violence we live with as a result of policies dictated by the outsized paranoia of gun wielders.
ThatPoetGuy
(1,747 posts)But hey, if it helps you to make false accusations about what other people said and did, I'm sure you'll continue.
rbrnmw
(7,160 posts)It seems this person wants a reason to be snarky I wasn't trying to be mean or vilify anybody but I don't know what I said that garnered such a response
tblue
(16,350 posts)And yes we will continue calling them out for it.
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)hifiguy
(33,688 posts)for these inanimate objects is indicative of some truly deep-seated psychological problems.
I am very fond of my bass guitars and my audio system but if it were obvious that these objects were responsible, in other hands, for mass death I would have no qualms about their being registered and regulated or, in the presence of reasonable justification, confiscated.
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)I have no problem with reasonable regulation of a sort that actually has some chance of being effective. In the matter of spree-killings (which are not really the most pressing gun violence problem we have), one step I'd love to see is an expansion of the NICS background check database to include potentially disqualifying mental health issues beyond the involuntary commitments and adjudications it currently contains. I'd also like to see reasonable gun security measures mandated by law (if you can't be bothered to store your firearms securely, you shouldn't have any). Both of these steps could help keep weapons out of the hands of people likely to commit these atrocities.
the problem I'm having here lately is that any attempt at reasonable discussion of the way forward includes far too many people issuing broad-brush insults and indulging in hate speech under cover of people's understandably overwrought emotions. Sorry, but being horrified and even angry over a tragedy is no excuse for acting like a complete jackwagon to people who did nothing whatsoever to deserve it.
Not speaking to you with that, obviously...
Robb
(39,665 posts)...maybe it's because you're sitting too close to the monsters.
You don't get to stand between firefighters and the fire, then complain you're getting wet.
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)It's not my fault if someone fails to adequately differentiate between markedly different points-of-view and perspectives (that happen to share a few points of congruence) and goes on to make insulting sweeping generalizations. That's their critical thinking failure.
ThatPoetGuy
(1,747 posts)If you choose to stay quiet in the face of raging extremism, or to argue a less extreme viewpoint against moderate but opposing voices that are being drowned out by the shouting that you sorta agree with, then it is no one's fault but your own if you are painted with the brush that you claim does not match your color.
When one hapless soul is arguing for moderate gun control and fifteen racists are shouting her down, you have a choice; if you choose to argue against the moderate and look the other way for the racists, you've made a decision.
tblue
(16,350 posts)that the 'need' to have those kinds of firearms is an indication of some kind of illness that needs professional attention. It's true! Don't get an assault weapon. Get therapy!
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)...who fails to discern the difference between "want" and "need."
rbrnmw
(7,160 posts)Some type of gun control I obviously wasn't talking about people who have guns for hunting or self defense. I said toys so I think you knew I meant Sporting Guns like the Bushmaster. I think you want to shut any conversation down about any type of gun control.
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)And please dispense with the unnecessary and unfounded accusations of ulterior motives. Not only are you entirely incorrect, it's the very sort of thing that has made it almost impossible to have a reasoned, adult conversation on this topic here.
For the record, I've been consistently posting in support of a number of gun control measures. I will continue to do so.
spanone
(135,844 posts)Dems to Win
(2,161 posts)Arsenals of lethal weapons in private homes leads inevitably to periodic gun massacres. We've seen it again and again and again. And the gun lovers shrug and say these things happen, nothing we can do about it.....
NO MORE!
Freedom doesn't mean cowering in fear of my gun loving neighbors and their teen boys.
We need real, serious gun control now. FOR REAL.
The necessary first step is to repeal the second amendment. We don't need, and can't live with, the constitutional right to own a weapon of mass death. No more.
Repeal the Second Amendment Now.