A very funny comic about the suckieness of religion.
I'm gonna do something I know I shouldn't, but I feel it needs to be addressed. What happened this week in Newton was horrible, words can't describe how horrible this is, just like what happend last week and again in Aurora. And I thinking talking about this is a good thing, get your anger out. My Twitter feed exploded and I had to stay off for most of the day. People are angry and lashing out. Lots of "Don't say his name, he wants the press!" and "Fuck you gun owners and your rights!" And of course the gun owners "It's my god given right to own a gun!"But it's good to vent and Twitter is a great place for it.
Unfortunately they also decided to take 'action'! Now action is good, we need people to get off their asses and make a difference. But this isn't really action, it's reaction, it's all feeling and outrage and no thought or introspection.
I own a gun/rifle. I've fired it like 3 times. It's not a big gun, but it does hold 9 shots. Why do I have it? Protection. WELL, you say, people are more likely to be shot than to be able to use that gun for protection! Fair enough. But I live 40 minutes from the nearest police station. Sure they can drive faser than I do on regular roads, but they will most likely crash as the roads aren't that great, they're all dirt... All 20 miles of them. So if something does happen, like say people come to rob us, or drug runners from Mexico show up, at least I have something, the police will always be too late. (A couple of grifters killed a guy out this way a few years ago, nobody knew for days.) I've actually thought of getting a shotgun and a handgun just to be sure a weapon can be gotten too easily, just in case.
So I'm being 'asked' by these people to simply give up my gun, my right. Would this have saved those kids in Newton? Maybe, maybe not. But am I willing to give up the safety of my family for it. No. But Brett, those were children! Yes and it's very, very sad all deaths are. But giving rights way is a slippery slope. Look at the Homeland Security laws that gave the government so much power over us, and our personal lives.
So what should be done? The Left will demand action so why not take this opportunity to really look at what we can do to mitigate further shootings, WITHOUT taking away peoples rights. What has happened here, really happened, facts, not crazy assumptions. Limiting shots to guns? Limiting ammo? Limit ful auto? I'm not sure, but whatever is decided, lets not doing it hysterically, lets do it with knowledge and thought. Not everyone lives in cities with easy access to police and help. Some people still live in rural areas where help might be hours away, should these people give up their only means of protection?
So to sum up, not everyone lives under the same conditions, calm down and think don't just react.
EDIT: Laurell K. Hamilton retweeted this on Twitter and I think EVERYONE needs to read this.
Best,
Brett
I'll leave the comments open but if I get hysterical comments I will close them.
15 comments:
My suggestion is full time officers assigned to every school. Right now only high schools in my area have them.
That's a good idea, I thought about armed security guards as well. Money might be a problem to pay for them though... unless they already have them then that's a moot point;).
Both my HS's and all my other schools didn't have them but they were small.
Best,
Brett
I live in northern Michigan, where hunting is one of the major popular pass times. I would estimate 70% of the population in northeast Michigan truly believe the whole "You can have my gun when you pry it out of my cold dead hands" motto.
That being said I do not hunt and have zero interest in owning a gun. I didn't even enjoy having to use a gun in the army. I also have no need for a gun for protection, I live in medium sized predominantly retirement community where it's still safe to leave your car house door unlocked 99% of the time.
As Brett mentioned though, I do not live in the same situation as him and have no right to speak on his or anyone else's choice to have a weapon.
I really don't think it's possible to have intelligent, rational, conversations about gun control because it's such a personal issue with so many people, especially after school shootings occur.
I can fully agree that there is absolutely no reason for a civilian to have or carry anything type of automatic weapon. There's just no practical use for them beyond mass slaughter.
Limiting how much ammo you can have sounds like it's worth looking into, but I have no idea how you would go about controlling it.
Another thing the world is going to have to deal with soon is 3d printed guns. As of right now I read that the max shots they could get off before the weapon fell apart was six, but they are stupidly working on making them better. I guarantee within the next 5-10 years you're going to read about a mass shooting involving a 3d printed gun.
There's no easy solution and it it isn't going to come any time soon.
They are on duty officers and their assignment is the school. They are paid by the city/town and county police or sheriff's office.
I have to say that I believe, personally, that people are looking at the wrong issue.
It is not a gun issue. It is a mental health issue.
Look at it this way. When Columbine happened, people looked for someone to blame, and they blamed Marilyn Manson, because the two kids at the center of the shooting listened to Manson. Obviously, Marilyn Manson was not capable of dealing with such media attention, and took a few weeks out of the limelight.(Some argued that he should not have done so, as he had nothing to be ashamed of. But no artist had been under such intense criticism and scrutiny. Not before, and not since.)
Now we don't know what music the kid at the center of Sandy Hook was listening to, so instead blame has shifted to the gun making and selling industry. And yes, they made the guns, but if the guy had gone on a stabbing rampage, the cutlery/ combat knife industry be in trouble too?
What we should have been looking at then, and now, is mental health. How are so many kids getting their hands on weapons that require military training? And why are a relatively small percentage of those people using those guns to kill other people? Where does all this anger and repressed rage come from?
Then look at the number of convicted felons serving time in jail who suffer from a mental illness. 56% of convicts. So why does society seem far too happy to jail a person who is mentally ill rather than treat the illness, and reduce crime and prison overpopulation?
Protection from "who" exactly?
@el memo.
As Brett stated, in his post, a couple of grifters killed someone not far from where he lived, yet the police did not find out for days afterwards. The culprits could have ran for cover in the time it took to discover what happened, and the victim would never have gotten justice.
That is who he is talking about when it comes to protection.
Again, I can understand what he is talking about.
El Memo,
I guess you missed the part about the murder, there was also an incident with the local sheriff and drug runner from Mexico a few years ago as well, made the national news, the drug dealers fled mack to Mexico AFTER a shoot out. If they showed up here we could do nothing if we had no weapon. It's a worst case senario thing but I like to be prepared, it has paid off for me lots of times.
I'd rather they were not needed but you'd be wishing for one if 20 guys with knives showed up.
I've also thought about a compound bow, but I keep forgetting to look into it. But again an arrow isn't going to help much against a bullet, not matter how cool Hawkeye and Green Arrow make it.
Best,
Brett
I've also thought about a compound bow
Oh come on now Brett. We all know by the way you draw archers, that you really don't know how to shoot a bow. ;) Sorry, couldn't resist.
:D
I remember, a few years ago, a father and son were shot dead in the house where they lived, as they slept in their beds. This was about 2 or 3 miles from where I live, and it just scared the living hell out of me. These two were some of the nicest people one could meet, genuinely. The entire family was. The father had raised 5 children on his own after their mother died of cancer, and for him, and his son to be murdered...well, nobody knew why it happened or who did it, and even walking outside of one's front door, at night...it was nerve wracking. A week later they caught the guy who did the killing. Sadly, he was a mentally disturbed friend of the family, who had an imaginary grievance and shot them, and would probably have shot the rest of the family if they had been in the house at the time. At that time, I am glad I did not have a gun, because I probably would have shot someone at a moment's notice. That was how paranoid many of us were.
But a year or two later, my brother was involved in a car accident where a driver, while swerving to avoid my brother's car, managed to drive into a ditch. No collision took place, as my brother was stopped at the time, yet the other driver was speeding, and wrecked his car, yet managed to survive the crash, without injuries. My brother was grateful, until he discovered who the guy was...his family are the literal scumbags of society. Two of his brothers are in jail for rape, and he has a record with about 50 offences. Well, obviously, for some time, we were on tenderhooks. Going out at night, double checked every locks to make sure nothing happened to our house. For a whole year we were like this, until the court date arrived, and it turned out the guy had no drivers license, no insurance, and the car was not in his name. He didn't have a leg to stand on.
During the whole time of that incident, a gun would have been downright useful, as I carried a knife with me, but a gun or pistol has range. Something to scare someone off.
@Chris
Dang that's cold. Funny, but cold.
Dang that's cold. Funny, but cold.
Not my opinion. I was making fun of the fact that some people threw a shit fit over the way he drew Green Arrow drawing his bow.
That's what the wink was for. :)
M.O.R.
You just never know. It can get scary out here in the dead of night... it's too quiet!
And don't worry I LOL! at the Green Arrow thing! Still makes me giggle;)
best!
Brett
Oh yeah, don't worry Chris. I got it. I should have included an emoticon, because I was chuckling away at how funny it was. But in my laughing, I forgot to.
I remember that hissy fit the guy got into, because he was an archer himself. Also, there was a way to critique the work, and there was not, and he chose the third choice, which is the completely wrong way.
Hi Brett,
It's good to get your point of view on this issue, especially given that it is such an emotionally-charged one. I thought I might suggest a piece by Sam Harris on his blog (and hope that's okay).
You may know of him and have already read it, but for me it's a good way to talk about this with people who have such emotional reactions and who are quick to criticize those who choose to own firearms.
And the Dr. Fate costume is truly badass.
Best wishes,
Craig Alexander
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