# Stupid Gun news of the day (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 29, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729 "2013-01-29T19:01:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/21 "2013-01-29T20:29:40Z")
> [@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”.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kroger#Pittsburgh) Heh. I remember Kroger **s** from my childhood… ---
**Author:** ![Stealth\_Potato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Stealth\_Potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Potato)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/22 "2013-01-29T20:37:38Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I’m so confused. If a potato gun shoots potatoes, then what does an elephant gun shoot? :eek: Never mind that. What’s the potato gun for again?! ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/23 "2013-01-29T20:43:41Z")
> [@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”.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kroger#Pittsburgh) > > Heh. I remember Kroger **s** from my childhood… I take it you live in Western Pennsylvania? ---
**Author:** ![drew870mitchell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drew870mitchell/32/3946_2.png) [@drew870mitchell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drew870mitchell)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/24 "2013-01-29T20:48:51Z")
> [@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. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/25 "2013-01-29T20:49:38Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > I take it you live in Western Pennsylvania? :DYep. Giant Eagle is my grocery store of choice. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/26 "2013-01-29T20:57:16Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Wait, wait, wait. > > I’m so confused. If a potato gun shoots potatoes, then what does an elephant gun shoot? :eek: This is the real reason behind the limitations on magazine size. Picture a mag holding 30 elephants. The mind boggles. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/27 "2013-01-29T20:58:35Z")
So how is the other side racing to the bottom? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/28 "2013-01-29T21:03:28Z")
> [@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? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/29 "2013-01-29T21:10:44Z")
Given the note in his pocket, it looks like he was trying to commit suicide via cop, and failed. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/30 "2013-01-29T21:14:49Z")
Or he went to the wrong store to get a new banana clip. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/31 "2013-01-29T21:16:41Z")
> [@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”. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/32 "2013-01-29T21:20:45Z")
> [@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. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/33 "2013-01-29T21:42:39Z")
> [@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. ---
**Author:** ![Ionizer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5daacb/32.png) [@Ionizer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ionizer)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/34 "2013-01-29T21:50:09Z")
> [@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.](http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/warrant-23-year-old-man-fatally-shot-while-driving/nT8rm/) 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? ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/35 "2013-01-29T22:15:00Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Are you sure you don’t mean a clip? [Nope](http://www.knewance.com/comparisons/clip-v-magazine.html). ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/36 "2013-01-29T22:16:38Z")
> [@Ionizer](#): > > [Here’s one I came across earlier.](http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/warrant-23-year-old-man-fatally-shot-while-driving/nT8rm/) 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. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/37 "2013-01-29T22:46:40Z")
> [@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.:mad: ---
**Author:** ![Werekoala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7993a0/32.png) [@Werekoala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Werekoala)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/38 "2013-01-29T23:27:32Z")
> [@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. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/39 "2013-01-29T23:38:13Z")
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. > **[Gun Activists Heckled A Sandy Hook Victim's Father While He Argued For An...](https://www.businessinsider.com/gun-activists-heckle-sandy-hook-father-2013-1)** ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2013, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/40 "2013-01-29T23:39:13Z")
> [@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. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729.md?page=3)