# Nut With Gun at Town Hall **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 14, 2009, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377 "2009-08-14T03:04:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/201 "2009-08-17T18:56:30Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > I’ve been to over 20 countries. **I didn’t go to them to take political surveys of people so I could come home and tell people how shitty our country is**. I happen to appreciate ALL the freedoms we have here. – bolding mine. Ever think in technicolor? ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/202 "2009-08-17T19:07:51Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I see nothing “insane” about those comments. Sounds like something I would say… 🙂 Get thee to a Nuttery. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/203 "2009-08-17T19:12:17Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > And America will still be a free country if the Second Amendment is repealed and privately-owned firearms are banned. After all, the UK is a free country. How can it be? They have national health care. Ergo they are socialist slave-drones. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/204 "2009-08-17T19:16:00Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Now I live in the People’s Republic of Minnesota. When I go to a bar here, the odds are good there is no one within twenty yards of me carrying a gun. Well, unless it’s deer or duck season. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/205 "2009-08-17T19:18:21Z")
Now, that’s a point, kinda, but I thought I was clear we were talking about handguns, the kind you can easily conceal. Kinda hard to get a .30-.30 in a shoulder holster. ---
**Author:** ![emcee2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emcee2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emcee2k)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/206 "2009-08-17T20:10:21Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Now, that’s a point, kinda, but I thought I was clear we were talking about handguns, the kind you can easily conceal. Kinda hard to get a .30-.30 in a shoulder holster. They bring them into the bar? ---
**Author:** ![Kearsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kearsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kearsen)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/207 "2009-08-17T20:27:17Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > I could get behind that, to be honest. The second is there to defend the first, after all. 🙂 Are the privately funded ones not good enough? Are you saying that because you don’t know that for people to legally carry a firearm they have to be licensed? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/208 "2009-08-17T21:09:34Z")
> [@emcee2k](#): > > They bring them into the bar? Sure. You appear unfamiliar with the deep social importance of deer season. Nobody gets shot, either. They leave that out in the field. ---
**Author:** ![Kearsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kearsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kearsen)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/209 "2009-08-17T21:26:55Z")
> [@emcee2k](#): > > They bring them into the bar? Usually no. It’s typical in Texas to not allow firearms on the premises where alcohol is sold. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/210 "2009-08-17T23:42:46Z")
[Twelve Carry Guns – Including Assault Rifle – Outside Obama Event](http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/2009/08/twelve-carry-guns----including-assault-rifle----outside-obama-event.php?ref=fpa) People need to start hitting these people with water balloons. If one of them over-reacts and shoots someone they’ll totally discredit the anti-healthcare reform movement. Plus Dems in congress will get a nice opportunity to review the adequacy of the nation’s gun laws. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/211 "2009-08-17T23:52:33Z")
99.9% of the time you see the words “assault rifle” in a news article, it’s not an assault rifle. As I suspected, the article opens with: > [@](#): > > About 12 people were carrying guns, including at least one semi-automatic assault rifle, outside a building where President Obama was speaking today. There’s no such thing as a semi-automatic assault rifle YOU FUCKING IDIOTS in the news media. Why can’t you fuckers ever get this right? Why don’t you stupid motherfucking idiots ever do the tiniest bit of research on the weapons that you mention in your articles? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/212 "2009-08-18T00:30:24Z")
Its difficult to imagine a more crucial issue than the precise definition of a particular weapon. I can certainly understand why someone would be upset that some ignorant doofus might confuse a Glock with an Army .45! Do you know that many of the people admitted to emergency rooms for gunshot wounds cannot accurately identify the make and model of the weapon they were shot with! Imagine! We simply must get reporters of higher caliber. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/213 "2009-08-18T00:45:31Z")
Well, shoot. ---
**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:** [August 18, 2009, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/214 "2009-08-18T00:54:42Z")
Well, those gun carriers are giving their opponents ammo to use against them. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/215 "2009-08-18T01:00:23Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Its difficult to imagine a more crucial issue than the precise definition of a particular weapon. I can certainly understand why someone would be upset that some ignorant doofus might confuse a Glock with an Army .45! Do you know that many of the people admitted to emergency rooms for gunshot wounds cannot accurately identify the make and model of the weapon they were shot with! Imagine! > > We simply must get reporters of higher caliber. [“Assault weapons—just like armor-piercing bullets, machine guns, and plastic firearms—are a new topic. The weapons’ menacing looks, coupled with the public’s confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons—anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun—can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons. In addition, few people can envision a practical use for these weapons.”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Sugarmann) I abhor dishonesty. I know you do too, given how much you like to attack Republicans for their lies. So look at that, see the lie, and try to understand why it becomes important to us that they get it right. I know it won’t matter to you, you hate guns in all of their forms, but even so I know you can see the above statement for what it is. ---
**Author:** ![dba\_Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c37758/32.png) [@dba\_Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dba_Fred)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/216 "2009-08-18T01:01:29Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > \ > We simply must get reporters of higher caliber. I’d settle for ones who take better aim at the truth and don’t shoot from the hip. When they shoot their mouths off, are they exercising both their 1st and 2nd Amendment Rights? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/217 "2009-08-18T01:26:06Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > So look at that, see the lie, and try to understand why it becomes important to us that they get it right. These are _reporters_, not rocket scientists. They practically majored in writing about stuff they can’t understand. Guns are certainly no exception to that norm, and it’s a little naive to expect them to be. Bitching about poor reporting aside, if too many people take their guns to these events there _is_ going to be some sort of serious incident. In their eagerness to shoot down health care reform, I don’t think many of the organizers are giving sufficient thought to the ramifications of such an incident. All it’ll take is ONE asshole with a gun to spoil a whole lot of people’s fun this summer. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/218 "2009-08-18T01:29:25Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > …I abhor dishonesty. I know you do too, given how much you like to attack Republicans for their lies. So look at that, see the lie, and try to understand why it becomes important to us that they get it right… I’ll repeat my public stance: keep the goddam things. Its not worth it. I do not fear my fellow enough to keep a weapon handy, and he has no reason to fear me. > [@](#): > > …I know it won’t matter to you, you hate guns in all of their forms, but even so I know you can see the above statement for what it is. What flattery! “Even someone as blindly biased as yourself can, perhaps, have a rare moment of clarity in order to agree with me, before you withdraw into your cocoon of ignorance” You silver tongued devil, you. What a sweet-talker, I’ll give you just two hours to cut that out! But, sadly, no, I still don’t that much give a shit, and I’d never heard of this guy until you brought him into this. Am I expected to defend him, or what? I’ll take a part in your play, maybe, but I write my own lines. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/219 "2009-08-18T01:32:53Z")
> [@Kearsen](#): > > Are you saying that because you don’t know that for people to legally carry a firearm they have to be licensed? … no, they don’t. I’m not licensed. I got shotguns. One of them is so old it has no serial number, yet is mechanically almost identical to the ones that the Army uses in the current Iraq War. It is not licensed either. Both these things are perfectly legal. In fact, there is no record of this gun’s existence since it left the factory in the early 60s. But, for all intents and purposes, it is an essentially brand new gun, just barely broken in. And I’m saying it because I think it’d be a socially useful thing. Note: It was an AR-15. Which is about as accurate as you can expect a reporter to be about guns. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/220 "2009-08-18T01:35:32Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > You are aware that my answer was sarcasm. It got popular in big cities in the 50’s and didn’t seem to catch on in Podunk. To be fair, sarcasm had a presence in pop culture well before that, but it was considered a transgressive act that only certain out-groups (stereotypically, Jews and homosexuals) could get away with. In-group urbanites in the pre-50s era might have laughed at sarcastic/sardonic humor in the movies, but actually cracking wise at their friends and associates that way would have been social suicide. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377.md?page=12)