Straight Dope Message Board

[jasg]

Plenty of it on both sides of the fence, easy to have a race to the bottom. Post your favorite news report here.

I'll lead with this AR-15 in Krogers. Perhaps he is a vegetarian out hunting 1

[elucidator]

Sure, you make fun, but when was the last time you were charged by a rogue asparagus? Or stalked by a celery? You'd be damned glad to have serious firepower! 2

[Elmer J. Fudd]

Originally Posted by elucidator

Sure, you make fun, but when was the last time you were charged by a rogue asparagus? Or stalked by a celery? You'd be damned glad to have serious firepower!

Celery? We want to learn how to defend ourselves against celery, do we? Getting all high and mighty, eh? Fresh fruit not good enough for you eh? Well I'll tell you something my lad. When you're walking home tonight and some great homicidal maniac comes after you with a bunch of loganberries, don't come crying to me! 3

[CalMeacham]

Originally Posted by elucidator

Sure, you make fun, but when was the last time you were charged by a rogue asparagus? Or stalked by a celery? You'd be damned glad to have serious firepower!

I'm not worried. I still have my trusty Potato Gun.
















http://www.amazon.com/American-Scien.../dp/B0006GK8H8 4

[llcoolbj77]

I worked at the NRA. One of my primary jobs was to take phone calls from concerned citizens about their rights' in their respective states. What I really ended up doing was begging folks to please not bring their loaded firearms everywhere just to prove a point... it would not be the point we wanted proved, so to speak. 5

[silenus]

Originally Posted by CalMeacham

I'm not worried. I still have my trusty Potato Gun.
















http://www.amazon.com/American-Scien.../dp/B0006GK8H8

Wait, wait, wait.

I'm so confused. If a potato gun shoots potatoes, then what does an elephant gun shoot? 6

[running coach]

Originally Posted by silenus

Wait, wait, wait.

I'm so confused. If a potato gun shoots potatoes, then what does an elephant gun shoot?

Image trying to store 5,000 rounds of ammo. 7

[CalMeacham]

Originally Posted by silenus

Wait, wait, wait.

I'm so confused. If a potato gun shoots potatoes, then what does an elephant gun shoot?

And where do they get Baby Oil from? 8

[running coach]

Originally Posted by CalMeacham

And where do they get Baby Oil from?

Same place as Baby Powder which is the left over residue. 9

[Werekoala]

Wow, that's awful - how many people did he kill? 10

[ElvisL1ves]

Are these Girl Scout cookies made from genuine Girl Scouts? 11

[kayaker]

Originally Posted by jasg

I'll lead with this AR-15 in Krogers. Perhaps he is a vegetarian out hunting

Shocking!! I didn't realize Krogers was still in business. 12

[ElvisL1ves]

Originally Posted by elucidator

Sure, you make fun, but when was the last time you were charged by a rogue asparagus? Or stalked by a celery?

Never. *I* stalk THEM. 13

[ElvisL1ves]

Originally Posted by jasg

Perhaps he is a vegetarian out hunting

"Vegetarian" is an Indian word for "Can't hunt, can't fish, can't cook." 14

[Labrador Deceiver]

Originally Posted by kayaker

Shocking!! I didn't realize Krogers was still in business.

I was just getting ready to point and laugh at the extra "s". I feel like my Grandmother wrote the OP.

But, yeah, Kroger is one of the biggest retailers in the United States. You could say they're still in business. 15

[running coach]

Almost Live!-Veggie Kill 16

[Bryan Ekers]

Sometimes you need full auto when you're attacked by leafy vegetables and can only hope to God to survive.




Lettuce spray. 17

[Czarcasm]

Elephant Parts-Vegetable Safari 18

[ElvisL1ves]

Sometimes you need a ray gun. Or a Robot. 19

[jasg]

Originally Posted by Czarcasm

Elephant Parts-Vegetable Safari

EP is one of my favorites (even touches on the 2nd with NNS) and actually ran through my mind when I read the original news about guns at Kroger. 20

[kayaker]

Originally Posted by Labrador Deceiver

I was just getting ready to point and laugh at the extra "s". I feel like my Grandmother wrote the OP.

But, yeah, Kroger is one of the biggest retailers in the United States. You could say they're still in business.

a protracted labor strike in 1983 and 1984. During the strike, Kroger withdrew all of its stores from the Western Pennsylvania market, including some recently opened "superstores" and "greenhouses".

Heh. I remember Krogers from my childhood... 21

[Stealth Potato]

Originally Posted by silenus

I'm so confused. If a potato gun shoots potatoes, then what does an elephant gun shoot?

Never mind that. What's the potato gun for again?! 22

[Labrador Deceiver]

Originally Posted by kayaker

a protracted labor strike in 1983 and 1984. During the strike, Kroger withdrew all of its stores from the Western Pennsylvania market, including some recently opened "superstores" and "greenhouses".

Heh. I remember Krogers from my childhood...

I take it you live in Western Pennsylvania? 23

[drew870mitchell]

Originally Posted by llcoolbj77

I worked at the NRA. One of my primary jobs was to take phone calls from concerned citizens about their rights' in their respective states. What I really ended up doing was begging folks to please not bring their loaded firearms everywhere just to prove a point... it would not be the point we wanted proved, so to speak.

I would find it interesting if you wrote about your experience there.

Semi-related: yesterday they had Bob Costas on The Daily Show. I haven't watched the extended interview yet but I think he made the correct point by focusing on gun culture instead of technical or legal quibbles. The rampant paranoia for one's own safety, either from other citizens or from a supposed tyrannical government, doesn't reflect well on us as a society.

IMHO there's a lot more hay to be made in addressing why people feel they must be packing to feel safe, than in banning magazines used in a tiny fraction of killings. Sure, self defense is your prerogative, but whenever people are motivated by fear we need to continually re-evaluate whether we are being rational. 24

[kayaker]

Originally Posted by Labrador Deceiver

I take it you live in Western Pennsylvania?

Yep.

Giant Eagle is my grocery store of choice. 25

[Rick]

Originally Posted by silenus

Wait, wait, wait.

I'm so confused. If a potato gun shoots potatoes, then what does an elephant gun shoot?

This is the real reason behind the limitations on magazine size. Picture a mag holding 30 elephants. The mind boggles. 26

[Zebra]

So how is the other side racing to the bottom? 27

[njtt]

Originally Posted by Rick

This is the real reason behind the limitations on magazine size. Picture a mag holding 30 elephants. The mind boggles.

Are you sure you don't mean a clip? 28

[Ethilrist]

Given the note in his pocket, it looks like he was trying to commit suicide via cop, and failed. 29

[ElvisL1ves]

Or he went to the wrong store to get a new banana clip. 30

[woodstockbirdybird]

Originally Posted by Werekoala

Wow, that's awful - how many people did he kill?

Oh, is that the definition of "stupid" now? The thread's not called "Evil gun news of the day". 31

[Airbeck]

Originally Posted by woodstockbirdybird

Oh, is that the definition of "stupid" now? The thread's not called "Evil gun news of the day".

Yeah, evidently we can only define something done with a gun as stupid if there is actual death resulting from it. 32

[Euphonious Polemic]

Originally Posted by Werekoala

Wow, that's awful - how many people did he kill?

I take it that your point is that if he did not kill anyone, or intend to kill anyone, then "no harm, no foul", is that correct? Any everyone is just making a big deal out of nothing?


Well, for the shoppers in the store, how were they supposed to determine what was in the mind of the man with the gun? Was he a patriot exercising his rights? Was he looking for suicide by cop? Was he about to hold up the store? Was he recently divorced and depressed and was going to kill as many people as possible?

How were the people in the store to know?

So I believe they were right to call 911. I don't think they were feeling particularly happy at this point.

Once the police arrived, they drew their guns. How were they to know what was in this man's mind? (see list above) Were the police correct to do this? I believe they were. I hope there were no other police matters that needed them at that moment.

Bottom line.... So nobody was killed - that is a good thing. So was this "no harm, no foul"? No, in my opinion it was not. Harm was caused by this doofus. 33

[Ionizer]

Originally Posted by Airbeck

Yeah, evidently we can only define something done with a gun as stupid if there is actual death resulting from it.

Here's one I came across earlier. Man kills a 22yr-old guy who pulled into wrong driveway. Killed him as he was trying to get the fuck out of the driveway, too. Of course, his 'defense' is he thought his home was being invaded, so he goes OUTSIDE to shoot him. After he fired a stray round into the air, and maybe injuring someone else in his masculine fantasy world. God Bless America! Right?

The homeowner is a chickenshit who should shoot one more round - into his own head, of course. That would be the smartest thing possible for such proud-to-own-gun persons. I bet he lacks the moral courage to self-enforce his own death penalty.

Anyone want to show how much safer we all are with such upstanding citizens ready to murder anyone crossing into their fantasy lands? 34

[Rick]

Originally Posted by njtt

Are you sure you don't mean a clip?

Nope. 35

[Kolak of Twilo]

Originally Posted by Ionizer

Here's one I came across earlier.

I saw that earlier too. Considering the kid he killed was an immigrant from Colombia and the old guy is claiming he feared his home was being invaded, I'll be surprised if anything happens to him at all. 36

[ducati]

Originally Posted by Kolak of Twilo

I saw that earlier too. Considering the kid he killed was an immigrant from Colombia and the old guy is claiming he feared his home was being invaded, I'll be surprised if anything happens to him at all.

No, he'll face punishment. This is a couple of miles from me. My daughter goes to that school. The local DA is pretty intolerant of shenanigans like this.

Apparently I live on the fringe of cell service for every carrier. People stop in front of my house, or in my yard daily to make a call before heading into the Dead Zone. I could cap them all, but Danny just won't let me. 37

[Werekoala]

Originally Posted by Euphonious Polemic

I take it that your point is that if he did not kill anyone, or intend to kill anyone, then "no harm, no foul", is that correct? Any everyone is just making a big deal out of nothing?

No, my point is that all we've heard for the last several weeks is that the only reason anyone would want to own an AR-15 is because they want to kill people with it, so I naturally assumed he went into the store guns a'blazin'.

You know why those people were probably freaked out? 1.5 months of 24-7 hysteria-inducing hype, especially and particularly about that type of gun. You can't get away from it in the news, no matter your source, so everyone is hyper-sensative to an AR-15. I'd be willing to bet most of those people didn't even know what one WAS before this all started.

That's the point - man with AR-15 kills nobody, and is in fact completely and legally within his rights to do what he did, but is a huge idiot nonetheless. All he did was feed into the mass hysteria, so I do fault him for that - but he had help.

People always talk about others seeking fame from over-publicized incidents - do you think he would have done this without all the recent coverage? NO, he was an idiot trying to make a point - which will be completely drown out by the indignity and fear mongering from one side of the debate. For instance, how many "Stupid Gun News of the Day" stories/threads there were on the intarwebs prior to Sandy Hook?

So yes, this is VERY stupid gun news, on many fronts. 38

[Lamar Mundane]

I'll nominate the idiots who heckled the parent of a dead Sandy Hook child while he was holding a picture of his dead son. I'm surprised they didn't picket the funerals.

This reminds me of when all the people with pilot's licences heckled the survivors of the 9/11 attacks, because airplanes don't kill people, terrorists kill people.

http://www.businessinsider.com/gun-a...-father-2013-1 39

[Airbeck]

Originally Posted by Werekoala

You know why those people were probably freaked out? 1.5 months of 24-7 hysteria-inducing hype, especially and particularly about that type of gun. You can't get away from it in the news, no matter your source, so everyone is hyper-sensative to an AR-15. I'd be willing to bet most of those people didn't even know what one WAS before this all started.

I doubt anyone at the store knew or cared that it was specifically an AR-15. Everyone knows what a military style rifle looks like, it doesn't matter the model number, and that's what caused the fear and the ensuing police situation, not media coverage of Sandy Hook. This guy did something that, while technically legal, scared the crap out of the people in that store and caused the police to get involved only increasing the stress and fear of the situation. He caused this to happen and you are blaming the media for the people being scared of a guy with a big gun walking into a store? No matter what part of my life we're talking about, if a guy walked into the store I was in carrying a military looking rifle over his shoulder, I'm probably gonna freak out a little and be scared. This has nothing to do with the media coverage of Sandy Hook, or that it was specifically an AR-15. This is an idiot waving his big gun in everyone's face to try to prove some point about how he should have the right to wave his big gun in everyone's face and its their fault and the media's fault if they get scared. 40

[Werekoala]

See, that's what I mean - he wasn't "waving his big gun" in anyone's face or he likely would have been shot (which is why he had the note, I'm sure). Hyperbole, anyone? And just how did the police become involved if someone didn't call them? So yes, I posit that someone(s) in the store saw a big, scary-looking gun and freaked and called the cops on this huge idiot. I posit that everyone in the United States is currently hyper-aware of big, scary looking guns, which may have contributed to the call in the first place. But I also posit that he woundn't have DONE it if it weren't for all the hyperbolic crap that's been spewed on both sides of this "debate". Can we at least agree on that? 41

[Airbeck]

Bullshit. This would have happened a year ago, or 10 years ago. Or could have. Are you saying that this definitely would not have happened prior to Sandy Hook? That this is a brand new thing, people being afraid of guys walking around in a store carrying a military looking rifle? Can you excuse this guys idiocy any harder by the way? Blaming everyone on both sides of the debate, except for the guy with the big gun in the grocery store?

Oh, and gee a person using hyperbole to illustrate a point on an internet message board - perish the thought. 42

[Fear Itself]

It is only a matter of time before one of these yahoos get taken down by another gun extremist like those who said the shooter in Aurora CO could have been prevented if everyone in the theater had been packing a gun. 43

[Werekoala]

Originally Posted by Airbeck

Bullshit. This would have happened a year ago, or 10 years ago. Or could have. Are you saying that this definitely would not have happened prior to Sandy Hook? That this is a brand new thing, people being afraid of guys walking around in a store carrying a military looking rifle?

Reading is fundamental - I said he likely would never have done this in the first place were it NOT for the ensuing anti-gun (and more importantly, anti-gun-owner) hysteria. Of course someone might have been scared 1 or 5 or 15 years ago. My point is that it never would have happened in the first place, absent this circus we're enduring. 44

[Der Trihs]

Originally Posted by Werekoala

You know why those people were probably freaked out?

Because a man showed up showing off a lethal weapon when he had no rational reason to do so. He wasn't a cop, he wasn't a soldier, he wasn't leaving a gun store, he wasn't hunting. Fear is the rational response to someone like that. He's lucky that there weren't any of his fellow Second Amendment fanatics around who decided to be "heroic" and shoot him.

Originally Posted by Werekoala

People always talk about others seeking fame from over-publicized incidents - do you think he would have done this without all the recent coverage?

Quite possibly; gun fetishists get off on scaring people. They're bullies at heart. Scum. 45

[Werekoala]

Originally Posted by Der Trihs

Because a man showed up showing off a lethal weapon when he had no rational reason to do so. He wasn't a cop, he wasn't a soldier, he wasn't leaving a gun store, he wasn't hunting. Fear is the rational response to someone like that. He's lucky that there weren't any of his fellow Second Amendment fanatics around who decided to be "heroic" and shoot him.

Quite possibly; gun fetishists get off on scaring people. They're bullies at heart. Scum.

Fear is not a rational response unless you've been trained to be afraid of guns, or more importantly people who carry them. He wasn't showing off, he was (again, important point) completely and legally carring his rifle on his shoulder - and being a complete moron in the process. We do not know if he was a "fetishist", bully, or scum, but being an idiot isn't illegal either.

Then again, having been following your posts on the wider matter at hand, I'd expect no less from you. 46

[Stealth Potato]

Originally Posted by Lamar Mundane

I'll nominate the idiots who heckled the parent of a dead Sandy Hook child while he was holding a picture of his dead son. I'm surprised they didn't picket the funerals.

This reminds me of when all the people with pilot's licences heckled the survivors of the 9/11 attacks, because airplanes don't kill people, terrorists kill people.

http://www.businessinsider.com/gun-a...-father-2013-1

Did you watch the video? He didn't get heckled. He asked a question to the audience, waited in silence (during which nobody spoke up), then prompted the audience a second time, after which a couple people piped up and were then silenced by the moderator. 47

[Hentor the Barbarian]

My mother is in her 70s. She has the guts to brave the grocery store unarmed on a weekly basis.

This guy is just one giant fucking pussy. 48

[Airbeck]

Originally Posted by Werekoala

Fear is not a rational response unless you've been trained to be afraid of guns, or more importantly people who carry them. He wasn't showing off, he was (again, important point) completely and legally carring his rifle on his shoulder - and being a complete moron in the process.

So you agree with us that this guy was stupid to do what he did. Which is the point of the OP of the thread, right?

So what do you disagree with exactly? I've lost the point that you are making in this thread at this point. Was the Kroger guy being stupid or not? Or do you just think that the whole idea of having a stupid gun news of the day thread is stupid in and of itself? I'm now uncertain of the point of your original sarcasm since we're all seemingly agreeing that this guy was stupid at this point, correct? 49

[Der Trihs]

Originally Posted by Werekoala

Fear is not a rational response unless you've been trained to be afraid of guns, or more importantly people who carry them.

Guns are tools for killing. If you aren't afraid of some stranger carrying a gun in a place he has no reason to, you're an idiot.

Originally Posted by Werekoala

He wasn't showing off, he was (again, important point) completely and legally carring his rifle on his shoulder - and being a complete moron in the process.

He was showing off, that was the whole point. And I don't care in the slightest that it was legal, legal and moral aren't the same thing. For that matter it isn't legal any more here in California; that kind of stunt instigated the passage of a law against it. 50