[worry]

A gun range worker's perspective on his workplace, the industry, the culture, and unsettling changes in the way they overlap inside the bubble: http://www.motherjon...un-range-worker

(It's a fairly quick read too).

[EmperorMagus]

Interesting documentary about the American gun culture

[Primateus]

 EmperorMagus, on 18 September 2016 - 07:16 AM, said:

Interesting documentary about the American gun culture

"Let natural selection take its course"

And that, friends, that right there is the problem in a nutshell. Or like that older couple said "We're not the problem". That might, in some ways, be true. They're not shooting anyone, and no one is saying otherwise. But what they are doing, is enabling a culture of irresponsibility with their refusal to even contemplate a reasonable compromise.

[EmperorMagus]

 Primateus, on 18 September 2016 - 11:22 AM, said:

 EmperorMagus, on 18 September 2016 - 07:16 AM, said:

Interesting documentary about the American gun culture

"Let natural selection take its course"

And that, friends, that right there is the problem in a nutshell. Or like that older couple said "We're not the problem". That might, in some ways, be true. They're not shooting anyone, and no one is saying otherwise. But what they are doing, is enabling a culture of irresponsibility with their refusal to even contemplate a reasonable compromise.

I think the problem is more in a failure of causal reasoning. They don't understand that lack of regulation is what makes guns so easy to find for criminals.

Also, pure racism plays a part as well, who do you think they are protecting their families from?

[Primateus]

 EmperorMagus, on 19 September 2016 - 02:56 AM, said:

 Primateus, on 18 September 2016 - 11:22 AM, said:

 EmperorMagus, on 18 September 2016 - 07:16 AM, said:

Interesting documentary about the American gun culture

"Let natural selection take its course"

And that, friends, that right there is the problem in a nutshell. Or like that older couple said "We're not the problem". That might, in some ways, be true. They're not shooting anyone, and no one is saying otherwise. But what they are doing, is enabling a culture of irresponsibility with their refusal to even contemplate a reasonable compromise.

I think the problem is more in a failure of causal reasoning. They don't understand that lack of regulation is what makes guns so easy to find for criminals.

Also, pure racism plays a part as well, who do you think they are protecting their families from?

I would rather use the term "Othering" as I have no doubt these people wouldn't hesitate using their weapons of people they would consider white trash. So, othering is a more encompassing term for what these people would consider threats to their rights.

Also, giving it some thought, the only interviewee in this short docu I actually found truly scary was the guy in the red shirt. He seemed, for lack of a better word, angry with a side of determination to defend what he obviously believes is his right. I will also agree that racist is probably the correct ism to describe him.

[EmperorMagus]

 Primateus, on 19 September 2016 - 07:11 AM, said:

 EmperorMagus, on 19 September 2016 - 02:56 AM, said:

 Primateus, on 18 September 2016 - 11:22 AM, said:

 EmperorMagus, on 18 September 2016 - 07:16 AM, said:

Interesting documentary about the American gun culture

"Let natural selection take its course"

And that, friends, that right there is the problem in a nutshell. Or like that older couple said "We're not the problem". That might, in some ways, be true. They're not shooting anyone, and no one is saying otherwise. But what they are doing, is enabling a culture of irresponsibility with their refusal to even contemplate a reasonable compromise.

I think the problem is more in a failure of causal reasoning. They don't understand that lack of regulation is what makes guns so easy to find for criminals.

Also, pure racism plays a part as well, who do you think they are protecting their families from?

I would rather use the term "Othering" as I have no doubt these people wouldn't hesitate using their weapons of people they would consider white trash. So, othering is a more encompassing term for what these people would consider threats to their rights.

Also, giving it some thought, the only interviewee in this short docu I actually found truly scary was the guy in the red shirt. He seemed, for lack of a better word, angry with a side of determination to defend what he obviously believes is his right. I will also agree that racist is probably the correct ism to describe him.

Thinking about it, othering does indeed seem like the proper term for it. From the fear point of view, I find the old woman the most scary. She tried to run over an armadillo because "her babies" could have gotten leprosy from it.

Ever heard of animal control?

[Primateus]

 EmperorMagus, on 19 September 2016 - 08:12 AM, said:

 Primateus, on 19 September 2016 - 07:11 AM, said:

 EmperorMagus, on 19 September 2016 - 02:56 AM, said:

 Primateus, on 18 September 2016 - 11:22 AM, said:

 EmperorMagus, on 18 September 2016 - 07:16 AM, said:

Interesting documentary about the American gun culture

"Let natural selection take its course"

And that, friends, that right there is the problem in a nutshell. Or like that older couple said "We're not the problem". That might, in some ways, be true. They're not shooting anyone, and no one is saying otherwise. But what they are doing, is enabling a culture of irresponsibility with their refusal to even contemplate a reasonable compromise.

I think the problem is more in a failure of causal reasoning. They don't understand that lack of regulation is what makes guns so easy to find for criminals.

Also, pure racism plays a part as well, who do you think they are protecting their families from?

I would rather use the term "Othering" as I have no doubt these people wouldn't hesitate using their weapons of people they would consider white trash. So, othering is a more encompassing term for what these people would consider threats to their rights.

Also, giving it some thought, the only interviewee in this short docu I actually found truly scary was the guy in the red shirt. He seemed, for lack of a better word, angry with a side of determination to defend what he obviously believes is his right. I will also agree that racist is probably the correct ism to describe him.

Thinking about it, othering does indeed seem like the proper term for it. From the fear point of view, I find the old woman the most scary. She tried to run over an armadillo because "her babies" could have gotten leprosy from it.

Ever heard of animal control?

She was scary, sure, but I found the guy in the red shirt worse, because, as I mentioned, he seemed angry and determined. He also seemed like the type of guy who couldn't care less about the lives of people who didn't share his point of view. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I especially found the picture of him and his wife all dressed in white a bit unnerving as it, to me, evoked images of cotton farms and confederacy with all the fucked up mentality that follows it.

On the other hand, the first guy, while he seemed scary on the outside, I didn't really get that vibe from him, despite his absolutely terrifying statement about natural selection. He seemed like a guy who only said that because he liked guns, and he didn't really know how else to defend that "enthusiasm". That's not to say he's stupid, but more that he, to me, seemed like he hadn't given it much thought.

The least scary interviewee was actually the dragon arms guy. He seemed downright reasonable.

[amphibian]

 High Geek of Crawfish, on 19 September 2016 - 11:18 PM, said:

Armadillos do indeed carry lep. I approve of putting them down but I'd not try to run them over. That shell can fuck your tires up quickly. Shotguns are much easier. I haven't watched vid.

You also have the option of not touching or dealing with the armadillos at all. Especially if it's on a road that you're driving on and not in your yard.

[LinearPhilosopher]

 amphibian, on 20 September 2016 - 01:11 AM, said:

 High Geek of Crawfish, on 19 September 2016 - 11:18 PM, said:

Armadillos do indeed carry lep. I approve of putting them down but I'd not try to run them over. That shell can fuck your tires up quickly. Shotguns are much easier. I haven't watched vid.

You also have the option of not touching or dealing with the armadillos at all. Especially if it's on a road that you're driving on and not in your yard.

dont have contact with the armadillos and you will be fine. Armadillos don`t have a miasma around the transmits leprosy.

These people are nuts though, watched about 15 minutes of it. Its as if they fantasize about the opportunity to be some sort of domestic hero

This post has been edited by LinearPhilosopher: 20 September 2016 - 01:58 AM

[EmperorMagus]

 High Geek of Crawfish, on 20 September 2016 - 02:04 AM, said:

If someone is dumb enough to purposely run them over they deserve a busted rim. I have to dodge them nightly. They re so blind they walk right up to me till I shoo them off. Disgusting creatures. Wisely I'm not in the habit of carrying a shotgun at night on ambien but I hear on average 2 shotgun blast a night from 1-4 am and you can take it to the bank they re shooting those or possums. Kountry

In the video, this women said something like this " I was driving my car, an Armadillo was on the road, I thought they carry leprosy! this is my chance to protect my kids!, and tries to run over the poor creature"

Which is borderline crazy.

[worry]

I think everyone's aware of the trend or the general truth of this, but the numbers on US gun ownership are now more than ever truly shocking.

78% of American adults own 0 guns.
19% own half of the guns.
The last 3% own the other 50% of the guns.

https://www.washingt...-americas-guns/

[Tapper]

 worry, on 20 September 2016 - 03:38 AM, said:

I think everyone's aware of the trend or the general truth of this, but the numbers on US gun ownership are now more than ever truly shocking.

78% of American adults own 0 guns.
19% own half of the guns.
The last 3% own the other 50% of the guns.

https://www.washingt...-americas-guns/

There's probably a 97% overlap between that 3% and the Three Percenters...

[Nicodimas]

Some American rights being expressed...enjoy!!

http://bearingarms.c...campaign=buffer

[Cause]

 death rattle, on 20 September 2016 - 03:38 AM, said:

I think everyone's aware of the trend or the general truth of this, but the numbers on US gun ownership are now more than ever truly shocking.

78% of American adults own 0 guns.
19% own half of the guns.
The last 3% own the other 50% of the guns.

https://www.washingt...-americas-guns/

Bizarre numbers! But perhaps not so shocking when I think about it. if America was a hundred people; 78 people have o guns, 19 people own at least one 1 gun (math tells me they should average 2.7 guns) and 3 people own on average 17 guns. It really only takes on serious collector in the final 3 people to skew the average. A 9mm, a 45, a musket, a rifle, a shotgun, a hunting rifle etc etc. I doubt even end of the world preppers own 17 M16S for personal use. It seems to me that is most likely a collection or perhaps as I think sometimes happens a wealthy estate with a few hunting rifles for the guests to shoot quail.

[amphibian]

Think more like this guy decides to put his entire retirement savings into buying 15 pistols, 20 rarer rifles, and maybe a few Mossberg shotguns. And maybe keeps adding on as he gets jolts of fear regarding geopolitical stuff.

This post has been edited by amphibian: 27 December 2016 - 05:43 PM

[worry]

https://www.thetrace...d-boy-st-louis/
The Reasonable Killing of An 89-Pound Boy
A child is gunned down for stealing change in heavily armed St. Louis, and Missouri gets a taste of what justice looks like when the NRA calls the shots.An interesting look into how NRA-pushed legislation -- in this case Stand Your Ground's malevolent uncle, Castle Doctrine -- empowers fear and leads to disaster. How more guns -- or even the perception of more guns -- drives neighborhoods into being more dangerous, not less.

[EmperorMagus]

So based on the Stand Your Ground principle, I can legally shoot a person on the street because I feel he is threatening me?

And the person can shoot back because I'm threatening him.

Exactly what is stopping shoot outs on the streets?

Fuck the NRA.

[worry]

That's actually exactly right. Hypothetically if you feel you're being threatened, you can shoot. That second person, now feeling threatened, can also shoot. What's stopping shootouts -- apart from the vast majority of people not wanting to kill other people -- is basically the first person who felt threatened successfully shoots the other one to death or otherwise neutralized status, or the second person was never a threat in the first place. Of course that doesn't mean you won't be arrested and tried, but like this article points out, nearly 70% of SYG defenses in Florida have been successful. And that's since 2005 when it was adopted, so a decade's worth of data.

[EmperorMagus]

Jesus Christ.

Hypothetically, a rich person can have a estate in a poor part of the city. Every day, putting a large quantity of food (or heroin if you want to be more accurate) in the middle of that property and taking a place somewhere with line of sight of everything inside the property.

Open the gates, watch the poor and the homeless pour into the estate to partake in the offerings, and snipe one of them at your pleasure. You can even make it a sport and charge people for the pleasure!

Just like in Brent Week's Night Angel trilogy.

This post has been edited by EmperorMagus: 07 January 2017 - 02:21 AM

[worry]

I think even under Castle Doctrine you'd still have to convince a jury that you felt threatened, so I don't think an extreme hypothetical like that would get past a jury. But the language does seem to be rather broadly permissive -- again, at the NRA's behest -- and the real-world cases do lead one to believe that even minor encroachments can be met with (and legally excuse) extreme force.

Edit: And I fear that Castle Doctrine likely has more proponents than Stand Your Ground, simply because it involves your home/property. It's a little greyer. Since the trends show guns are more and more concentrated in fewer people's hands, I hate to paint Americans in such a broad brush here -- but I still think even "moderates" and "liberals" can have a mean streak when it comes to punishing "criminals". So for example, they might be fine with treating any and all burglars the way you'd treat home invasion robbers, because the latter are so scary and "you never know".

This post has been edited by death rattle: 07 January 2017 - 02:25 AM