# April Sours... (Monthly Mini-Rants) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 1, 2025, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-sours-monthly-mini-rants/1016445 "2025-04-01T06:45:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-sours-monthly-mini-rants/1016445/41 "2025-04-04T01:38:30Z")
Any projectile is unsafe for unsuspecting neighbors, whether that’s someone coming home late or someone walking their dog after dinner/before bed, not to mention car tires & windows, whether that’s a bullet or an arrow. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-sours-monthly-mini-rants/1016445/42 "2025-04-04T01:46:12Z")
Soooooo … that’s a definite “yes” on the beheading-by-sword idea. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-sours-monthly-mini-rants/1016445/43 "2025-04-04T01:46:18Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > Wait. You said they let you approach them. You can safely and quietly behead them with a samurai sword! That’s how you end up with Bambi training for years in the woods by sensei Thumper to return and get his revenge on the one who killed his mother. [![](https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/069/699/700/large/theo-lagarde-asset.jpg?1700763865) ](https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/069/699/700/large/theo-lagarde-asset.jpg?1700763865) Samurai revenge stories don’t start with a rifle. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-sours-monthly-mini-rants/1016445/44 "2025-04-04T01:48:24Z")
Sigh. My Gobhi called a minute ago to finalize plans. As a result, I missed the chance to post this myself. I supppose I can forgive her. In time. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-sours-monthly-mini-rants/1016445/45 "2025-04-04T13:00:35Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Yup, illegal &, more importantly, not safe given how close neighbor’s houses are but those frikin’ things have no natural enemies & very little fear of humans. They’ll walk right up to your house & eat whatever you’ve planted, whether that’s flowers or a garden. There are way to many of them for the ecosystem to support & they are decimating the next generation of trees by eating all the leaves off the saplings. > OTOH, I have _thought_ about buying a BB gun. Quiet enough, non-lethal enough, & maybe it’ll cause them just enough pain to stay away. Understood, but a BB gun is still a ‘device’? I was in the lobby of a police station getting an accident report when I heard two local cops discussing a call. Someone shot someone with a BB gun. The response I remember hearing was, “It’s still a device. Somebody’s going to jail…” I’m guessing that goes for bows, crossbows, and slingshots (which are illegal here the same as brass knuckles and switchblades). I can’t vouch for swords… but I’ve anecdotally heard that swords freak out cops to the point where they shoot first and ask questions later. Maybe you could get away with using a bat? Just remember that the cops and the sanitation guys insist that dead animals be put in a plastic bag and disposed of with your regular garbage. If it won’t fit in one bag, it’s up to you to channel Joe Pesce and cut it in half so it fits into two garbage bags. Remember to tie the top; Sanitation freaks at garbage bags dripping blood. PS- Do your neighbors gossip? You might get a ‘rep’. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-sours-monthly-mini-rants/1016445/46 "2025-04-04T13:08:06Z")
Flamethrower. It’s the only way to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-sours-monthly-mini-rants/1016445/47 "2025-04-04T14:29:12Z")
> [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](#): > > Understood, but a BB gun is still a ‘device’? Which is why I emphasized ‘thought about’ & didn’t write ‘purchased’. > [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](#): > > I’m guessing that goes for bows, crossbows, and slingshots (which are illegal here the same as brass knuckles and switchblades). Oooh, now there’s an idea. Work on my sprinting (I only have to go ≈15’) & then **POW!** **BIFF!** a brass-knuckled punch to the antlers just like in the old Adam West version of Batman! > [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](#): > > Just remember that the cops and the sanitation guys insist that dead animals be put in a plastic bag and disposed of with your regular garbage. If it won’t fit in one bag, it’s up to you to channel Joe Pesce and cut it in half so it fits into two garbage bags. Remember to tie the top; Sanitation freaks at garbage bags dripping blood. One of the medics I used to run with was _the_ guy the cops called when they had a fresh kill from a car accident. He responded quicker than the state & they got a meal out of it a couple of days later. Win-win for them! I’m okay with chili but I don’t like it _that_ much > [@LSLGuy](#): > > Flamethrower. It’s the only way to be sure. as a volunteer firefighter, I can’t _not_ respond to an incident on my street; that may complicate matters. Now, if _you_ have a deer problem, I’ll come right over w/ the flamethrower since you’re in a different jurisdiction. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-sours-monthly-mini-rants/1016445/48 "2025-04-04T16:10:25Z")
> [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](#): > > I can’t vouch for swords… but I’ve anecdotally heard that swords freak out cops to the point where they shoot first and ask questions later. I have a feeling it’s not the sword that’s scary, it’s just that the kind of person liable to have a sword is scary. Sane people might carry a gun for protection. Sane people don’t carry around swords. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-sours-monthly-mini-rants/1016445/49 "2025-04-04T16:23:27Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Sane people might carry a gun for protection. Sane people don’t carry around swords. As my fencing teacher said “Don’t get cocky, a Glock beats any rapier.” ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-sours-monthly-mini-rants/1016445/50 "2025-04-04T17:12:26Z")
In a very very rural section of my state where houses just don’t get sold w/o 5 acres of land… out by where we used to buy our Xmas trees… there was a house on about 10 acres where they grew corn out back. They had a regular problem with deer eating their crops. Behind their house they built a huge wide 3 story high watch tower out of wooden beams. While waiting to pay for our tree, I asked one of the guys what that was about (I didn’t know that the same family that ran the Xmas tree farm owned that land also and grew the corn crop). Evidently one of the chores after dinner was to climb the tower, look for deer and other vermin, and to shoot them with rifles with night vision scopes. He said the cops never bothered them and the neighbors couldn’t even hear the shots. It might have been zoned specially as a commercial farm or maybe they had special permits? I don’t live out there, I don’t know. I pity any kids necking in their corn field though. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-sours-monthly-mini-rants/1016445/51 "2025-04-04T17:14:30Z")
Sane people don”t carry around guns, either. My opinion: I recognize that a large percentage of Americans disagree. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-sours-monthly-mini-rants/1016445/52 "2025-04-04T17:18:13Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Sane people don”t carry around guns, either. I think for the average person it’s not sane or at least not safe or practical to carry a gun around. I agree with that. And I say that as a gun owner myself. But there are certainly times when it makes sense. Even if you’re just talking about law enforcement and military people. A sword has no practical purpose anymore. It’s a relic of a time before firearms, when they were sensible tools of war. But it has no real place in society and it’s hard to give a legitimate argument why a person would be wielding a sword out in public. (Disclaimer - I also own a real cutting sword, a jian or “Tai Chi sword”, but I don’t walk around with the damn thing outdoors or anything; it’s for fun and exercise in the privacy of my home.) ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-sours-monthly-mini-rants/1016445/53 "2025-04-04T17:30:20Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I think for the average person it’s not sane or at least not safe or practical to carry a gun around. I agree with that. And I say that as a gun owner myself. I don’t think anyone meant to imply that you are ‘unsafe’ or ‘irresponsible’ that way. You’ve mentioned a CCW can be an option of you are a diamond currier or transporting your store’s cash deposit to the bank. It’s universally agreed that carrying w/o a license and w/o a CCW permit off of your property is just asking for trouble. That doesn’t mean that you can’t transport a locked bag and a locked ammo box out to a range or a large property where it is legal to shoot. Heck, you could even bring goofy targets to shoot at and as long as you have permission to and clean up afterward, no one would ever know or care. It’s a pricey sport though… and the dollar doesn’t buy what it did on Monday (the Dow is down Another 4%). At least typing and sharing ideas is still free ( for now ). ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-sours-monthly-mini-rants/1016445/54 "2025-04-04T17:35:28Z")
> [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](#): > > It’s a pricey sport though… Holy crap, the price of ammo!!! And I haven’t bought ammo in years. I bought a huge box of it with a bulk discount many years ago for shooting at the range. (I have never fired a gun anywhere but at a range, and I hope that is the case for the rest of my life, but shooting at a range can be really fun for me.) I haven’t gone shooting at all for almost a decade. I can’t even image what ammo must cost today. … I just looked it up. 1,000 rounds of standard FMJ bullets for my gun, at a discount wholesale price, costs almost as much as the pistol did when I bought. Each round works out to over 30 cents. That’s crazy. I’ll usually fire 100 rounds if I go to a range. That’s more than $30 being shot at a paper target. Damn. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-sours-monthly-mini-rants/1016445/55 "2025-04-04T17:53:43Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I can’t even image what ammo must cost today. \< Tin Foil Hat Time \> When there is a gold rush, the people who get rich sell the picks and the shovels. When the people have been indoctrinated to hate each other and the administration in charge is trying to force civil unrest and civil war, the people who get rich sell guns and ammo. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-sours-monthly-mini-rants/1016445/56 "2025-04-04T18:00:22Z")
> [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](#): > > When the people have been indoctrinated to hate each other and the administration in charge is trying to force civil unrest and civil war, the people who get rich sell guns and ammo. I don’t think that’s a conspiracy theory, I think that’s common sense. And borne out by history. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-sours-monthly-mini-rants/1016445/57 "2025-04-04T19:31:58Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > A sword has no practical purpose anymore. It’s a relic of a time before firearms, when they were sensible tools of war. But it has no real place in society and it’s hard to give a legitimate argument why a person would be wielding a sword out in public. The fact that no one carries a bat’leth anymore is why our society has lost all honor. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-sours-monthly-mini-rants/1016445/58 "2025-04-04T20:18:22Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > The fact that no one carries a bat’leth anymore is why our society has lost all honor. QAPLA’!!! [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Qapla%27.svg/2560px-Qapla%27.svg.png) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Qapla%27.svg/2560px-Qapla%27.svg.png) ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-sours-monthly-mini-rants/1016445/59 "2025-04-04T20:25:03Z")
I hate it when they “improve” things. My job went to a new timekeeping system. We used to be able to access the old one anywhere - on our phones, on our client computers… the new one, I HAVE to use my work laptop, and be connected to the VPN. The new system prepopulates with the same charge code from the previous week. If you changed that code so it had zero hours, it prepopulates it with that anyway, NOT the new one that actually had hours. The old system was better in every way. I have to access a virtual desktop (Citrix), and remote-desktop into one of our servers. They changed the way we access those servers so we no longer go through Citrix. Means we don’t have to memorize a password. Only… the new method takes 4-5 tries to succeed. And when it times out due to inactivity, the password isn’t an easily memorized one, but rather a randomly-generated one. AND we can’t simply paste it into the window to unlock the session. It’s a “feature”. This process easily loses me a half hour a day. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-sours-monthly-mini-rants/1016445/60 "2025-04-04T20:42:02Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > A sword has no practical purpose anymore. It’s a relic of a time before firearms, when they were sensible tools of war. But it has no real place in society and it’s hard to give a legitimate argument why a person would be wielding a sword out in public. We’ve been known to saber champagne bottles open after a flight. However, no one’s exactly walks around with it more than maybe, 10-20 yards from the chase vehicle where it’s kept to where we’re doing champagne. If I was a bystander & saw a guy with a saber & a half dozen people standing around him & no one screaming or running away I know I wouldn’t be overly concerned about it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-sours-monthly-mini-rants/1016445.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/april-sours-monthly-mini-rants/1016445.md?page=4)