# Isn't anyone going to Pit the Denver Batman killer? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 21, 2012, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919 "2012-07-21T01:17:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/101 "2012-07-22T04:07:37Z")
OK, Chimara, super-dumbass, cite me one fatal attack of a plastic knife. There are probably thousands happening every day but the press just doesn’t cover them. They only cover the stuff where it involves a gun because of the great conspiracy. As to the 100 round clip: [http://www.surefire.com/mag5-100.html](http://www.surefire.com/mag5-100.html) They do exist. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/102 "2012-07-22T04:08:22Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > . . . is absolute, total bullshit. To equate an AR-15 with a 100 round clip and a .22 rifle used for plinking is the ultimate nonsense. It’s beyond comprehension. It’s like saying that just because a person is licensed to fly a Cessna 172 he should be able to fly, without question, a Boeing 747 or an F-35. > > Fuck the NRA and all their propaganda. They are a big part of the problem and they don’t care about a solution. We are all worse off because of them. Well if you want to get technical an AR-15 is a .22 Describe how to ban such a weapon without banning a .22 rifle used for plinking. Semi auto? Nope .22? Nope Gas operated? Nope Scary looking? Yes, but who decides what is scary? ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/103 "2012-07-22T04:09:27Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > A couple of weeks back the Strib (StarTribune) did a story about how there were over 100,000 permit holders in Minnesota. One of their notes was that while an amazing 1 in 7 Minnesotans has some kind of DUI violation on their record, a mere 1 in 525 CCW holders does. The revocation rate for bad behavior is something on the order of less than 1 in 10,000 permits per year. > > In short, I trust a CCW holder with a gun more than I trust you with a plastic knife in your hands. It looks like government oversight of guns works. Is this supposed to be an argument for _less_ gun control? ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/104 "2012-07-22T04:11:17Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > As to the 100 round clip: > > [http://www.surefire.com/mag5-100.html](http://www.surefire.com/mag5-100.html) > > They do exist. This is the scary part: “Due to tremendous demand, we are heavily backordered on our 100-round magazines.” Of course you just might need it if you have a hundred armed cans plinking back at you. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/105 "2012-07-22T04:11:27Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > They do exist. I admit that I was wrong about that. I’d never even heard of it. And I didn’t say there were murders or killings involving plastic knives. I said I would trust a CCW holder with a gun over YOU with a plastic knife. Very large difference. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/106 "2012-07-22T04:30:29Z")
So…nobody has addressed my post. Where I asked what to do about my mentally ill friend who cannot own a gun, but can go to the store and legally buy the ingredients to make bombs. Crazy people are crazy. I joke about my friend climbing a clock tower, but I know that won’t happen because we don’t have clock towers here. If my friend does finally lose it, he’s going to blow stuff up. How can we stop this from happening? This is an honest question. My friend is functional enough to stay in his home. What could all of you people suggest to stop him from making bombs and blowing up a mall? Should we just start rounding up crazy people and locking them up when they haven’t done anything? This is a serious question, because when Tony does go out in a blaze of fire, I’m won’t be like my neighbors who say “He seemed to be such a gentle person, he fosters cats and loves dogs” I’m going to be the one saying “I saw that coming a long time ago” ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/107 "2012-07-22T04:31:12Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > Well if you want to get technical an AR-15 is a .22 > Describe how to ban such a weapon without banning a .22 rifle used for plinking. > Semi auto? Nope > .22? Nope > Gas operated? Nope > Scary looking? Yes, but who decides what is scary? Don’t play that stupid game. Look, I’m not a gun nut but I’ve fired .22 pistols, .22 plinking rifles and several guns that were .22-250’s. To equate them is total stupidity. Just because it comes out of the barrel at .22 is irrelevant. It’ what’s behind it. A .22 rim-fire is nothing like what an AR-15 fires. A rim-fire .22 has a charge behind it that is the same diameter than the bullet. Here’s what I’m talking about: [http://www.americanhunter.org/ArticlePage.aspx?id=1964&cid=59](http://www.americanhunter.org/ArticlePage.aspx?id=1964&cid=59) So, don’t skew the argument with BS. And yes the AR-15 is different than you describe it. From Wiki: > [@](#): > > The AR-15 is a lightweight, 5.56 mm, air-cooled, gas-operated, magazine-fed semi-automatic rifle, with a rotating-lock bolt, actuated by direct impingement gas operation or long/short stroke piston operation. It is manufactured with the extensive use of aluminum alloys and synthetic materials. So, cut the Bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/108 "2012-07-22T04:32:41Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > I admit that I was wrong about that. I’d never even heard of it. > > And I didn’t say there were murders or killings involving plastic knives. I said I would trust a CCW holder with a gun over YOU with a plastic knife. Very large difference. Again, at your peril because I’m not out to kill anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/aca169/32.png) [@Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inbred_Mm_domesticus)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/109 "2012-07-22T04:34:05Z")
The killing occurred in Aurora, not Denver. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/110 "2012-07-22T04:34:21Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > I admit that I was wrong about that. I’d never even heard of it. > > And I didn’t say there were murders or killings involving plastic knives. I said I would trust a CCW holder with a gun over YOU with a plastic knife. Very large difference. I never heard of those mags either. I have my CCW license, and I carry all the time. If I had been there, I would have hit the floor and hid. If anyone wants to look up the Gifford shooting, there were several people who had guns, but they did as they were trained. They couldn’t get a clear shot so they just hunkered down and prayed. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/111 "2012-07-22T04:35:39Z")
> [@Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](#): > > The killing occurred in Aurora, not Denver. The much “safer” area of the metropolis. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/112 "2012-07-22T04:36:56Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > Again, at your peril because I’m not out to kill anyone. Yet. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/113 "2012-07-22T04:40:01Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Yet. Goddammit, if I ever see you I will kill you with my plastic knife. (Send me a description.) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/114 "2012-07-22T04:41:41Z")
See? Didn’t take much, did it. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/115 "2012-07-22T04:45:47Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > See? Didn’t take much, did it. Are you really that soft that a plastic knife is going to do you in? How about if I bring a Nerf ball and throw it at you? You can run to your mama. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/116 "2012-07-22T04:46:26Z")
> [@Faruiza](#): > > NO GUN LAW YOU COULD POSSIBLY THINK UP WILL EVER, AND I MEAN EVER STOP A PSYCHOPATH FROM ACCOMPLISHING HIS WEIRD ASS GOAL. A total US ban (not just 5 states) on assault rifles would have significantly reduced the carnage at this movie theatre. Plus side for the ban ? Quite a few people in Aurora would be alive today. What if the assault rifle didn’t jam Hey ? Maybe twice the casualties ? Downside for an Assault weapons ban ? Your turn. ---
**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:** [July 22, 2012, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/117 "2012-07-22T04:47:53Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > Goddammit, if I ever see you I will kill you with my plastic knife… Do I get a choice? I’d much rather be killed with a spork. I mean, my kids would have a cool story for the rest of their lives! _“And this is our new designer… hey, somebody ask him how his dad died. No, really, ask him!”_ ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/118 "2012-07-22T05:19:11Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > To equate an AR-15 with a 100 round clip and a .22 rifle used for plinking is the ultimate nonsense. It’s beyond comprehension. It’s like saying that just because a person is licensed to fly a Cessna 172 he should be able to fly, without question, a Boeing 747 or an F-35. This. This is what I don’t get: To fly airplanes, you need to qualify for the type you want to fly; a Piper-Cub-level license doesn’t let you fly a Learjet. Can’t legally drive a big rig if all you’ve got is a standard auto license. And yet you can buy pretty much any level of lethality, as long as (a) you’ve got a CC permit and (b) it’s legal in your state. I got my concealed-carry permit in Massachusetts, a state with some of the most restrictive gun-control laws in the country. There was no extensive training required in the handling and firing of the huge variety of weaponry available even under my state’s laws – just a five-hour qualifying class on everything from the parts of a gun (dummy exemplar) to how to load it (dummy ammo) to safety rules to generally described types of firearms to… well, it was an excellent overview course – and an NRA-devised course, taught by an NRA-accredited instructor, by the way – but there wasn’t a bit of live-fire training required to get my permit. Being a sensible type, I hired the instructor for a couple of live-fire training courses after my concealed-carry permit arrived and I bought my first handgun. He was a very good teacher of the mechanics of shooting, but still, I learned how to handle just one small segment of the gun world, the .22 semi-auto pistol – and there was no requirement that I get even that much practical education; if I’d wanted, I could have gone right out and bought a semi-auto AR-15, a 12-gauge shotgun, a .357 magnum without any training at all in how to use them. Frankly, the idea that someone with as little practical training as I’ve had could do that scares the crap outta me. We have varying levels of driver certification in this country, from passenger autos up to the CDL, and each level requires passing a test of knowledge and skill appropriate to that level. So why not a similar system for guns? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/119 "2012-07-22T05:30:16Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > We have varying levels of driver certification in this country, from passenger autos up to the CDL, and each level requires passing a test of knowledge and skill appropriate to that level. So why not a similar system for guns? Because the Constitution doesn’t guarantee the citizenry a right to keep and bear vehicles. As long as the current SCOTUS interpretation of the phrase “right to keep and bear arms” remains the same, I highly doubt there will be any kind of knowledge required in order to exercise that right, anymore than there will be any kind of knowledge required in order to vote. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2012, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919/120 "2012-07-22T05:44:20Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Because the Constitution doesn’t guarantee the citizenry a right to keep and bear vehicles. > > As long as the current SCOTUS interpretation of the phrase “right to keep and bear arms” remains the same, I highly doubt there will be any kind of knowledge required in order to exercise that right, anymore than there will be any kind of knowledge required in order to vote. Sigh… You’re quite likely correct. I realize what I suggest is doomed, not least because practical considerations haven’t a snowball’s chance of surviving the hellfire blast of Second Amendment absolutism. One could argue for it under the “well-regulated militia” clause, but good luck with that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-anyone-going-to-pit-the-denver-batman-killer/628919.md?page=7)