# 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:** 238
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4741 "2015-06-10T19:35:54Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Really? All gun deaths are caused by pistols? _That’s_ a novel contribution to this discussion. 95% of gun homicides are. I’m going to assume that the percentage for suicides is even more slanted towards handguns. I didn’t think this was controversial, but whatever. Throw your hat in with the undergrad student who thinks making hunters check out hunting rifles is a good use of taxpayer funds if you want. I’m not so married to this cause that I’m going to hitch my wagon to stupid. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4742 "2015-06-12T12:53:16Z")
A refreshing change from Florida Man: [Colorado Man Shoots Own Foot To See How That Feels](http://wonkette.com/588165/colorado-man-shoots-own-foot-to-see-how-that-feels) ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4743 "2015-06-12T17:12:40Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > For police, guns are necessary. For citizens, the police are necessary. When exactly did we give up on that quaint idea of “Government of the People, by the People, for the People”, and start regarding the public as something to be “policed”? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4744 "2015-06-13T00:38:47Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > A refreshing change from Florida Man: [Colorado Man Shoots Own Foot To See How That Feels](http://wonkette.com/588165/colorado-man-shoots-own-foot-to-see-how-that-feels) Hope you had a good day today. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4745 "2015-06-13T00:58:19Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > When exactly did we give up on that quaint idea of “Government of the People, by the People, for the People”, and start regarding the public as something to be “policed”? > [@](#): > > Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness POSITIVELY by uniting our affections, the latter NEGATIVELY by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first a patron, the last a punisher. From our friend Thomas Paine - so when? A long ass time ago. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4746 "2015-06-15T14:17:12Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > You actually _call_ friends and family “hoplophobes” to their faces, knowing full and well the word was created as an insult, not as a description of a real psychological problem that is recognized by a psychological organization? > Tell me something: In return, have they ever described _you_ as an “asshole”? I also tell my friends when they are being (unintentionally) racist. Do you just blow smoke up your friends’ asses or do you tell them when they are being irrational? ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4747 "2015-06-15T14:22:48Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > The purpose of a car is to get from point A to point B. It’s a necessary part of modern life. The purpose of a gun is to kill people. It is not a necessary part of modern life. > > There may be places where it makes sense to own a gun, say if you’re a rancher with rattlesnakes about. For most of us, it makes no sense. How does it matter what the purpose is? The risk of death or injury from some crazy person with a car while you are walking alongside a busy street is comparable to the risk of death or injury from a crazy person with a gun. Except we don’t do background checks before we let someone buy a car. You don’t have to be a rancher to need a gun. You can be a woman that travels alone. You can be a storeowner during a riot. You can be a human being that wants an effective means of self defense against larger or multiple assailants. The list is endless. > [@](#): > > And yes, many gun owners are low lifes. And it is this sort of generalization that makes gun control folks seem like bigots. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4748 "2015-06-15T14:25:31Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > The thing is there are actual hoplophobes out there. My wife is one. After having been chased around by her ex-husband on multiple occasions with a one of many loaded firearms (which he still owns) she does indeed have an irrational fear of guns, to the point that she gets panic attacks sometimes when she sees me with the television remote out of the corner of her eye and instinctively thinks I have a gun. That is hoplophobia. > > Calling gun control activists hoplophobes is a silly as calling NRA members [hoplophiliacs](http://definithing.com/hoplophiliac/) How is accusing someone of having an irrational fear of guns comparable to accusing people of being sexually aroused by guns? ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4749 "2015-06-15T14:29:18Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > For police, guns are necessary. For citizens, the police are necessary. Private gun ownership is only necessary for Dirty Harry fantasies of gun owners. There are a lot of people who pay for these fantasies with their lives every year. Cops aren’t your personal security detail. As the saying goes, when seconds count, the police only a few minutes away. Were guns necessary to the Korean storeowners during the LA riots? Or should they have relied on the cops that were driving through the rioters on their way to protect the homes in bel air and Beverly hills? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4750 "2015-06-15T14:50:07Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > How is accusing someone of having an irrational fear of guns comparable to accusing people of being sexually aroused by guns? They are both just name-calling designed to raise support from peers. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4751 "2015-06-15T15:30:22Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > They are both just name-calling designed to raise support from peers. And they both sound like they refer to fluffy bunnies rather than guns. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4752 "2015-06-15T16:39:29Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > And they both sound like they refer to fluffy bunnies rather than guns. Hmmm…I was envisioning kangaroos all this time. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4753 "2015-06-15T17:08:52Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > They are both just name-calling designed to raise support from peers. I think hoplophobia is an useful description of the irrational fear that some people have of guns. Hoplophilia is just potty humor. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4754 "2015-06-15T17:27:21Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > I think hoplophobia is an useful description of the irrational fear that some people have of guns. Not very useful if it’s also indiscriminately applied to the \*\*rational \*\*fear that some people have of guns. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4755 "2015-06-15T17:31:53Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > I think hoplophobia is an useful description of the irrational fear that some people have of guns. > > Hoplophilia is just potty humor. Are you pretending that you don’t know that “hoplophobia” was created as pejorative, or are you thinking that we are too stupid to know it? Either way, it doesn’t make you look very good. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4756 "2015-06-15T17:49:40Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > The purpose of a car is to get from point A to point B. It’s a necessary part of modern life. The purpose of a gun is to kill people. It is not a necessary part of modern life. > > There may be places where it makes sense to own a gun, say if you’re a rancher with rattlesnakes about. For most of us, it makes no sense. And yes, many gun owners are low lifes. I own several guns, and none of them are “purposed” to kill people. I shoot animals and eat them. I find eating to still be rather necessary even in this modern age. I don’t even know how to respond to the final sentence. Are you saying ranchers are “low lifes”(sic) or are you just trying to stir up shit? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4757 "2015-06-15T17:54:00Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > I own several guns, and none of them are “purposed” to kill people. You have guns that were actually designed to kill something other than people? Are they handguns or hunting rifles? ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4758 "2015-06-15T18:16:59Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > You have guns that were actually designed to kill something other than people? Are they handguns or hunting rifles? Who said anything about design? BobDipShit said “purpose”, but let’s go with design. I have a .410 shotgun, it was designed to shoot rabbits. It even has a rabbit engraved into the receiver in case I should forget what I’m looking for. I have a .22 rifle, it was designed to shoot, umm, small things, with small bullets. I use mine to shoot holes in paper. I don’t even have the decency to use paper targets with _pictures_ of people on them, like a proper low-life gun nut, just little circles. I have a 12 gauge shotgun. It was designed to shoot lots and lots of little tiny balls really fast. Probably would work on people, but as far as I can tell it was designed to shoot birds and that is the purpose for which I use it. That and clay pigeons. I have a bolt action .30-06 rifle. It was designed to shoot rather large bullets with considerable accuracy over long ranges. I haven’t asked the folks at Sako if they designed it to shoot people, but my guess is that they would say that it probably wasn’t an element of the design criteria. I use mine to shoot whitetail deer and elk. And a woodchuck once. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4759 "2015-06-15T18:22:02Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > Who said anything about design? BobDipShit said “purpose”, but let’s go with design. > > I have a .410 shotgun, it was designed to shoot rabbits. It even has a rabbit engraved into the receiver in case I should forget what I’m looking for. > > I have a .22 rifle, it was designed to shoot, umm, small things, with small bullets. I use mine to shoot holes in paper. I don’t even have the decency to use paper targets with _pictures_ of people on them, like a proper low-life gun nut, just little circles. > > I have a 12 gauge shotgun. It was designed to shoot lots and lots of little tiny balls really fast. Probably would work on people, but as far as I can tell it was designed to shoot birds and that is the purpose for which I use it. That and clay pigeons. > > I have a bolt action .30-06 rifle. It was designed to shoot rather large bullets with considerable accuracy over long ranges. I haven’t asked the folks at Sako if they designed it to shoot people, but my guess is that they would say that it probably wasn’t an element of the design criteria. I use mine to shoot whitetail deer and elk. And a woodchuck once. Hunting rifles. O.K.-Totally not designed to kill human beings. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/4760 "2015-06-15T18:44:49Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Hunting rifles. O.K.-Totally not designed to kill human beings. I’m not sure if you’re being sarcastic (even given your username ;)), but I would like to once again point out that BobDimBulb said “purpose”, not “design”. None of my guns have the purpose of killing people. I did not purchase them with that intent, that is not the purpose for which I own them, regardless of their potential efficacy toward that end. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729.md?page=237) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729.md?page=239)