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Is It Time To Water The Tree Of Liberty?

Started by FOTD, August 18, 2009, 01:26:02 AM

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FOTD

Or just pee all over it?


Keep Deadly Guns From Being Carried In Public: Freedom States Alliance Weekly Alert August 14th, 2009

http://www.freedomstatesalliance.com/?p=299

PonderInc

People showing up at political debates and town halls with assault rifles slung over their shoulders is a terrifying image to me.  It creates an atmosphere that is the opposite of civil debate and respect for rational discussion and disagreement.  (As the weapons are designed for the sole purpose of killing humans, they are not exactly symbols of peaceful discourse.)  It strikes me as an intimidation tactic.  More frightening, it will encourage those who are truly crazy to do the same... until some wacko starts shooting somewhere. 

I know and respect many responsible gun owners, and I have no problem with people owning guns, as long as they have been trained in their safe and appropriate use.  But carrying an assault weapon to a town hall meeting is inappropriate. 

Remember when Dubya was prez, and he wouldn't even allow someone with an opposing T-shirt to attend his "public" appearances???!!!  That was a president who stomped on the Constitution.  (Think free speech, First Amendment rights, etc.)  Where was the outrage then?

I don't know who's encouraging these folks, but I don't appreciate it.  I value civil debate and the chance to learn something from those who disagree with me.  But I think we can talk, or even shout at each other w/o needing to be armed.  Personally, I don't want to see angry mobs defiantly shaking their AK-47s in the air.  (Ooops, sorry.  Wrong country.)  Wearing their assault rifles slung on their shoulders...

The great thing about our country is that it can handle diverse opinions through the democratic process.  No need for lethal force, when you have the power of free speech and the vote. 

Let us please remember this.


Ed W

I would expect that the guy walking around outside the President's meeting would have several sniper rifles trained on him from various angles.  If he made any move with it, he could be dead, even if it were inadvertent.  Imagine the howling from the right if that were to happen.

Rights are always accompanied by responsibilities, something too many people have forgotten. 
Ed

May you live in interesting times.

Conan71

Idiots like this do nothing but pour more gas on the fire on the debate to erode eveyrone else's 2nd Amendment rights.  Not cool.
"It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first" -Ronald Reagan

FOTD

It's all about intimidation. The biggest problem is that not all of these yahoos have their heads screwed on right and one of them is likely to go off half-cocked. If it does happen, there will be a big backlash and some very serious movement for gun control in this country.


GOP Rep. encourages guns at town hall meetings

http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/08/18/rep-gingrey-encourages-guns-at-town-hall-meetings/

"Asked by an MSNBC anchor on Monday, a Georgia Republican member of Congress actually encouraged Americans to attend public forums packing heat."


Makes you wonder why we hear no condemNation from the Repiglicans. Great cuntry.

rwarn17588

Quote from: Conan71 on August 19, 2009, 12:00:57 PM
Idiots like this do nothing but pour more gas on the fire on the debate to erode eveyrone else's 2nd Amendment rights.  Not cool.

+1

Cats Cats Cats

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/17/obama.protest.rifle/index.html

There is the semi auto rifle.  Wouldn't it be great if everybody just walked around with guns everywhere.  Then nobody could every pull a gun on you because it is already pulled.  Just make sure to wear your vest just in case somebody decides to shoot and you get hit by a stray.

FOTD



Randall Terry Forcibly Ejected From Healthcare Town Hall With Howard Dean

PERFECT!

nathanm

Quote from: Conan71 on August 19, 2009, 12:00:57 PM
Idiots like this do nothing but pour more gas on the fire on the debate to erode eveyrone else's 2nd Amendment rights.  Not cool.
I agree with the sentiment, although the Secret Service and Obama himself have been relatively low key about it, so I don't think there's a whole lot of support for a backlash against these nuts.

Note I don't think packing is nuts in and of itself, it's just nuts openly carrying at a protest of all places.
"Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration" --Abraham Lincoln

cannon_fodder

Do you know how many criminals carry guns around everyday?  It's the same proportion of criminals who want to carry guns around everyday.

Tighten gun laws and do you know how many criminals will carry guns around everyday?  The exact same number.

More strict gun laws have no effect on people who ignore gun laws. And generally non-criminals don't commit gun crimes. Thus, it seems unlikely that stricter fun laws will have any effect on gun crime.  Fairly common sense.

I want to decrease violent crime as much as anyone else.  But there is no indication that stricter fun laws cause law violent crime.  So the result of tighter gun control is a restriction on my rights for a false sense of accomplishment.  Which seems like all the rage since 9/11.
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I crush grooves.

nathanm

Quote from: cannon_fodder on August 27, 2009, 08:31:46 AM
Do you know how many criminals carry guns around everyday?  It's the same proportion of criminals who want to carry guns around everyday.

Tighten gun laws and do you know how many criminals will carry guns around everyday?  The exact same number.

More strict gun laws have no effect on people who ignore gun laws. And generally non-criminals don't commit gun crimes. Thus, it seems unlikely that stricter fun laws will have any effect on gun crime.  Fairly common sense.

I want to decrease violent crime as much as anyone else.  But there is no indication that stricter fun laws cause law violent crime.  So the result of tighter gun control is a restriction on my rights for a false sense of accomplishment.  Which seems like all the rage since 9/11.
Mr. Quixote, please pick up the white courtesy phone.

(Also, the last thing we need are stricter fun laws!)
"Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration" --Abraham Lincoln

cannon_fodder

Man, I'm all over the Freudian-esque typos these days.  We have plenty of strict "fun laws" too, but that's another thread.
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I crush grooves.

TheArtist

#12
What is it with our country (and our city for that matter) and guns and homicides anyway?  There is a thread on skyscraper page forums where people keep track of cities homicide rates and ours is abysmal. There are many cities in Canada and Europe with populations in the millions that have only a relative handful of homicides.

As of about mid August.....

Tulsa       pop   385,000    40 homicides
Ottowa            800,000     3
Vancouver        580,000    17
Montreal          1,855,00    21
Toronto           2,505,00    33
Copenhagen     1,170,00     6

What kind of gun laws do they have in Canada just out of curiosity?  Perhaps we just have more criminals? Or criminals who would want guns and want to kill.  But why is that? We have such tough criminal laws and high rates of incarceration, how can it be that we have so much crime and death? 
"When you only have two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other."-Chinese proverb. "Arts a staple. Like bread or wine or a warm coat in winter. Those who think it is a luxury have only a fragment of a mind. Mans spirit grows hungry for art in the same way h

cannon_fodder

Gun laws in Canada are marginally more strict than in the US.  Like the United States Canadians can have firearms of nearly any kind, though a permit is required for some.  Rifles are extremely common in parts of Canada. In addition to being able to legally purchase guns, it  would be incredibly easy to "smuggle" guns across the U.S. border.  By canoe, by walking, by small plane. 

So the availability of firearms is not the deciding factor. 
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I crush grooves.

Ed W

Homicides generally revolve around three things: sex, money, or drugs and alcohol.  (Well, OK, technically that's FOUR things, but consider drugs and alcohol as one since they alter behavior.)  Are Canadians different when it comes to these?
Ed

May you live in interesting times.