This day in active shooter history.....

[fredd bear]

Excellent point - there IS no easy solution.   It is primarily a culture thingy.  Until USians decide that human lives are more important than their stoopid fucking Second Amendment, these shootings are going to continue apace.

Boru

No easy solution right now, but cultural yea. Far too many Americans worship an object.

THE main problem that I see, as an outsider is what seems to me to be a wilful misinterpretation of the Second Amendment to the US  Constitution. 

"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." .

. This was written in the eighteenth century, when the country had just fought the War of Independence. The people who did the fighting were free citizens, not a standing army..  It was reasonable to assume there might  soon be other armed conflicts., when those citizens may need to fight again. 

A major problem is also the National Rifle Association,  which as a lobbying group a has far more power than its membership might suggest.

But hey, what do I know.I'm just an ignorant foreigner.----from a country in which it is difficult to own a hand gun and where the number of gun deaths is not a national embarrassment

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Why do you always have to post like an asshole?

Pot meet kettle.

So, I'm ALWAYS a dick?

---

No easy solution right now, but cultural yea. Far too many Americans worship an object.

THE main problem that I see, as an outsider is what seems to me to be a wilful misinterpretation of the Second Amendment to the US  Constitution. 

"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." .

. This was written in the eighteenth century, when the country had just fought the War of Independence. The people who did the fighting were free citizens, not a standing army..  It was reasonable to assume there might  soon be other armed conflicts., when those citizens may need to fight again. 

A major problem is also the National Rifle Association,  which as a lobbying group a has far more power than its membership might suggest.

But hey, what do I know.I'm just an ignorant foreigner.----from a country in which it is difficult to own a hand gun and where the number of gun deaths is not a national embarrassment

And ardent gunners are not likely to join a well-regulated militia anyway. Their toys are more important to them than the security of the free state.

[fredd bear]

Pot meet kettle.

So, I'm ALWAYS a dick?

---

THE main problem that I see, as an outsider is what seems to me to be a wilful misinterpretation of the Second Amendment to the US  Constitution. 

"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." .

. This was written in the eighteenth century, when the country had just fought the War of Independence. The people who did the fighting were free citizens, not a standing army..  It was reasonable to assume there might  soon be other armed conflicts., when those citizens may need to fight again. 

A major problem is also the National Rifle Association,  which as a lobbying group a has far more power than its membership might suggest.

But hey, what do I know.I'm just an ignorant foreigner.----from a country in which it is difficult to own a hand gun and where the number of gun deaths is not a national embarrassment

And ardent gunners are not likely to join a well-regulated militia anyway. Their toys are more important to them than the security of the free state.

 After writing that, I hid under my desk. I was expecting to be attacked by enraged American gun owners. NO that wasn't the reason for the post.  I thought my perception might be appropriate. But then, my views are hardly original. I understand that the majority of Americans are in favour of radical gun laws.

ME? Ex grunt, rated marksman with 7.62 SLR. Also qualified with: Armalite, M60 machine Gun, Bren Gun, F1 sub machine gun, M26, M36 grenades.

I have nothing against guns. I like guns (don't own any) But civilians with guns care the crap out of me; far too many of them are far too ignorant and far too stupid to be allowed near any firearm. I've formed that opinion from various people I've met who are gun owners. Mainly from the fatuous nonsense  spewed by the NRA and other dickheads  after say a church shooting. OR that bastion of reason, president Trump, who actually said  a school shooting would not have happened had teachers bene armed. 


Jim Jeffries, Aussie comic very popular in the US, on guns:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rR9IaXH1M0

[onlinebiker]

Pot meet kettle.

So, I'm ALWAYS a dick?

---

THE main problem that I see, as an outsider is what seems to me to be a wilful misinterpretation of the Second Amendment to the US  Constitution. 

"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." .

. This was written in the eighteenth century, when the country had just fought the War of Independence. The people who did the fighting were free citizens, not a standing army..  It was reasonable to assume there might  soon be other armed conflicts., when those citizens may need to fight again. 

A major problem is also the National Rifle Association,  which as a lobbying group a has far more power than its membership might suggest.

But hey, what do I know.I'm just an ignorant foreigner.----from a country in which it is difficult to own a hand gun and where the number of gun deaths is not a national embarrassment

And ardent gunners are not likely to join a well-regulated militia anyway. Their toys are more important to them than the security of the free state.

But your badassedness will protect us all with a Kbar knife, right?


Sho nuf
.....

[fredd bear]

So, I'm ALWAYS a dick?

---

And ardent gunners are not likely to join a well-regulated militia anyway. Their toys are more important to them than the security of the free state.

But your badassedness will protect us all with a Kbar knife, right?


Sho nuf

[quote pid='1885506' dateline='1550439754']

I don't own such a  knife.  I do have some wicked sharp chef's knives AND one of  those huge old meat cleavers butchers once used. But what makes you think I'd rush to protect others?  That's why we have police.---in Australia, ordinary criminals, even armed robbers, don't usually have guns.... Here, there is no reason for an ordinary urbanite  to own a firearm. There is some justification for farmers to own a  rifle to kill foxes, 'roos, and other pests.. 

Nor do I have any enemies of which I'm aware. I lack the paranoia to believe some armed criminal is coming to rob me of--exactly what? I have nothing worth stealing, and no money in the house. The house is as secure as I can make it--and I have taken police advice on security--I just rang my local cop shop and asked. They were very pleasant to me.


The ordinary ,untrained , gun owner is more likely to shoot himself or a loved one than a criminal. AND of course, there is a serious risk of the accidental shooting of loved ones, especially children who get at the gun.

But hey, I live in Australia, where gun related crime isn't an issue.
[/quote]
 I really could not care less about the loopy gun culture in the  US.  The continuing mass  shooting are very sad, but utterly predictable.
I still think the NRA are bunch of cynical dickheads concerned with personal power. They don't give a rat's arse about  the ordinary US citizens

[onlinebiker]

The gun owners don't really care too much about the Aussies either.  I guess 0it evens out.


Heard in bar -

What do a clitoris and Australia have in common? Most guys know it' s down there, but simply don't care.

[Brian37]

No easy solution right now, but cultural yea. Far too many Americans worship an object.

THE main problem that I see, as an outsider is what seems to me to be a wilful misinterpretation of the Second Amendment to the US  Constitution. 

"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." .

. This was written in the eighteenth century, when the country had just fought the War of Independence. The people who did the fighting were free citizens, not a standing army..  It was reasonable to assume there might  soon be other armed conflicts., when those citizens may need to fight again. 

A major problem is also the National Rifle Association,  which as a lobbying group a has far more power than its membership might suggest.

But hey, what do I know.I'm just an ignorant foreigner.----from a country in which it is difficult to own a hand gun and where the number of gun deaths is not a national embarrassment

It was in the age of muskets and cannons. And you don't want your slave labor to rebel either.

But yea. It was not about individual ownership, but collective ability to prevent what the Colonists fought to free themselves from the King of England. 

You are not as ignorant as many living here.

The firearm industry, is just like McDonalds, Amazon, Exxon. If you are a CEO of a business, your goal is to expand the market and attract shareholders.

[fredd bear]

The gun owners don't really care too much about the Aussies either.  I guess 0it evens out.


Heard in bar -

What do a cltoris and Australia have in common? Most guys know it' s down there, but simply don't care.

The way I heard that joke it was; Why is an older woman like Antartica? Everyone knows where it is,  but no one wants to go there. Probably wouldn't work in the US, as most Americans would have no idea of the location of Antartica.    


))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

 Aussie version of foreplay:

Sharp nudge in ribs, and "You Awake?"

Ordinary Americans can't find Oz on a map. I'm sure they don't care, if they ever think of us at all.

True story; In New York, 1985.  Being polite, some one asked where I was from. I told him. He complimented me on my English. I shit you not

[Gawdzilla Sama]

So, I'm ALWAYS a dick?

---

And ardent gunners are not likely to join a well-regulated militia anyway. Their toys are more important to them than the security of the free state.

But your badassedness will protect us all with a Kbar knife, right?


Sho nuf
.....

You have so much dumbass today. Do you take pills to enhance?

[Yonadav]

But your badassedness will protect us all with a Kbar knife, right?


Sho nuf

[quote pid='1885506' dateline='1550439754']

I don't own such a  knife.  I do have some wicked sharp chef's knives AND one of  those huge old meat cleavers butchers once used. But what makes you think I'd rush to protect others?  That's why we have police.---in Australia, ordinary criminals, even armed robbers, don't usually have guns.... Here, there is no reason for an ordinary urbanite  to own a firearm. There is some justification for farmers to own a  rifle to kill foxes, 'roos, and other pests.. 

Nor do I have any enemies of which I'm aware. I lack the paranoia to believe some armed criminal is coming to rob me of--exactly what? I have nothing worth stealing, and no money in the house. The house is as secure as I can make it--and I have taken police advice on security--I just rang my local cop shop and asked. They were very pleasant to me.


The ordinary ,untrained , gun owner is more likely to shoot himself or a loved one than a criminal. AND of course, there is a serious risk of the accidental shooting of loved ones, especially children who get at the gun.

But hey, I live in Australia, where gun related crime isn't an issue.

 I really could not care less about the loopy gun culture in the  US.  The continuing mass  shooting are very sad, but utterly predictable.
I still think the NRA are bunch of cynical dickheads concerned with personal power. They don't give a rat's arse about  the ordinary US citizens
[/quote]

The much vaunted power of the NRA is massively exaggerated by its opponents. So much so that I jokingly tell people that the NRA thanks them for mentioning the NRA when they are kvetching about the NRA. Seriously, if everyone who is opposed to the NRA would stop talking and writing about the NRA, then the NRA would pretty much fade into oblivion. Opponents of the NRA really are the NRA's best publicity.

I am not sure about mass shootings being predictable. A few decades ago, we didn't have them. We had guns. Mass shootings? Not so much. Something has changed. I'm not certain of what it is, but I have a strong suspicion that it has something to do with the disintegration of the nuclear family in America. The overwhelming majority of mass shooters came from single parent homes. I'm always careful to say single parent, but some have accused me of 'attacking' single mothers. I'm not. It is a lot more common for women to be the single parents, but there have been mass shooters whose single parent was their father. When I say nuclear family, I just mean a couple and their dependent children. The couple can be husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, wife and wife, or husband and husband for all I care. But the statistics say that being raised in a single parent home correlates strongly with criminal tendencies, and most mass shooters came from such homes.

It should also be noted that despite mass shootings, shootings in general are down by half over the past 30 years.