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"Maybe there really IS something sick about obsessing over guns to the extent too many people in this country do?"=all gun owners?
Who is projecting, or just reading and reacting emotionally? First signs of maybe a little self reflection.
Time for more people to look inside themselves and evaluate this gun fetish. The fact that this fetish is acceptable in our country is a big part of the blame for what happened in Vegas. It's time for the government to stop placating a minorities sick obsession.
We have more guns than people in this country. How many is "too many"?
What happened in Vegas is a rare event - rarer than lightening strike. What are you trying to imply here?
In every instance of gun violence, mass shootings, terrorism, etc, I look for instances to differentiate me from the violent actor. In every instance, it was easy to do so.
Until now.
I told my wife tonight.., Paddock has shown no indication that he would be a mass-murderer. This is the first occasion that I can draw parallels with a shooter. And it concerns me. I am troubled. I am hurting for other's losses.
I pray to God that information comes available that separates Paddock from me and the many, many responsible gun owners I know.
The reality is that every human being has the potential for violence. Sure, we have the thin veneer of civilization to keep these behaviors at bay, but given time and opportunity, some individuals are going to commit acts like this guy did. Here in America we have been fairly insulated from this. But given the proliferation of firearms, along with other methods of mass lethality, and the fascination of our culture with violence, we will see more and more people resorting to acts like this.
Simply based on statistics this is inevitable. We have a strong willed minority with no desire to change the situation, and a firearms industry that is making billions and billions of dollars by pandering to these gun fetishists, so the likelihood of such events occurring will undoubtedly increase.
To get back to your original question it seems highly unlikely that you have any commonality with Paddock.
Last edited by GearHeadDave; 10-05-2017 at 07:32 AM..
[quote=Mad_Jasper;49716222]I know this is the political forum. I know this opens our discussions up to immature, bias and insulting responses. I am asking each of you that responds to put politics aside and offer unfiltered, non-political feelings. I ask the mods to allow for this honest discussion, but not allow trolling.
My honest feelings.
I consider myself right-leaning economically, left-leaning socially. I am pro-2nd Amendment. I own multiple handguns and long-rifles, 1000's of rounds of ammo, and my family has basic firearms training to defend themselves. I also enjoy shooting for sport (target practice), but I don't hunt. And am I am vehemently against hunting for sport. I have an allergy to deer meat so I feel no need to kill an animal for trophy. I am not alone.
In every instance of gun violence, mass shootings, terrorism, etc, I look for instances to differentiate me from the violent actor. In every instance, it was easy to do so.
Until now.
I told my wife tonight.., Paddock has shown no indication that he would be a mass-murderer. This is the first occasion that I can draw parallels with a shooter. And it concerns me. I am troubled. I am hurting for other's losses.
I pray to God that information comes available that separates Paddock from me and the many, many responsible gun owners I know.[/QUOTE]
Why would you even think that Paddock is like the overall majority of law-abiding gun owners in this country? I don't know what was going on with Paddock but he can't be compared to law-abiding gun owners.
"Maybe there really IS something sick about obsessing over guns to the extent too many people in this country do?"=all gun owners?
Who is projecting, or just reading and reacting emotionally? First signs of maybe a little self reflection.
Time for more people to look inside themselves and evaluate this gun fetish. The fact that this fetish is acceptable in our country is a big part of the blame for what happened in Vegas. It's time for the government to stop placating a minorities sick obsession.
Let's see if you can answer this question.
What is the magic number that makes up "too many" and who gets to decide that? A gun is just an object. It cannot hurt anyone without a person behind it pulling the trigger. A law abiding citizen who has a large gun collection is no more dangerous than a law abiding citizen with a large car collection. Both objects have the capability to hurt people, but neither can hurt anyone without a human being behind it.
So do you assume that people who own too many cars also have a sick obsession that needs to be regulated by the government?
What is the magic number that makes up "too many" and who gets to decide that? A gun is just an object. It cannot hurt anyone without a person behind it pulling the trigger. A law abiding citizen who has a large gun collection is no more dangerous than a law abiding citizen with a large car collection. Both objects have the capability to hurt people, but neither can hurt anyone without a human being behind it.
So do you assume that people who own too many cars also have a sick obsession that needs to be regulated by the government?
One car or one gun? And you didn't answer who gets to decide that number.
Again, both can kill people. Use some rational thought. Neither are dangerous unless someone decides to use it that way. A rock, a knife, a stick, a baseball bat, a rope, a guitar string, a high heel, a plastic bag, bare hands, etc... ANY of those can be used to take a life if the person using it decides they want to.
The wild thing is that this has been life. Planning scenarios where someone attacks to see how SWAT teams will react with the technology we provide them with. Planning terrorist attacks so a level of social invisibility is achieved. Creating security drills. Handling tasks like "This building is now a Federal Courthouse; secure it.". Having gone through simulations of response to attacks and learning to being aware of all those little details.
So what makes any of my ilk different from him? We are on the side of good and we are committed to being so. We have the same tools and the same knowledge as the bad guy, but we are on the side of good.
Of course, there is always that possibility that someone of us might change our minds someday about how we act but that is like what I was told in another job. Part of the interviewing was the determination of trust.
the difference is that you have to plan for the worst case scenario. in order to do that, you also have to plan how that worst case scenario might happen, and then plan further on how to stop it. for instance, back before world war two started in earnest, i believe this was around 1931 or so, the US government war gamed an attack of pearl harbor, but they didnt do it at pearl, they did it near panama where the terrain was similar so that is any one was watching they wouldnt know, in theory anyway, the harbor in question was pearl.
turns out the japanese were watching, and they remembered that, and realized that the location was similar to pearl harbor, so they planned to attack pearl and used the information they gathered from the earlier mock attack.
but those that fail to plan, end up failing in real life missions.
"Unmarried people who live alone, they must be close to the unstable kind, really the kind we must not let have guns, may even be better to lock them up before they do anything."
This could be a basis for a new witch hunt...............literally.
Literally for it was those woman who were unmarried, who lived alone that they liked to target for witch craft prosecution back in centuries of the uncivilized past................
....................just a thought.
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