# 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:** 254
**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:** [July 10, 2015, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/5061 "2015-07-10T14:41:33Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > To repeat, it’s about saving human lives. In some systems of morality, that’s about the most important thing there is, yanno? Perhaps you disagree. I agree it’s about saving lives. And in an ideal world I’d wiggle my nose and make all the guns vanish. But my name’s not Sabrina and even without the Constitutional issues you can’t change American culture to a diametrically opposed position by haranguing people. Frankly I’d rather start by dealing with the people who think that racking a shotgun in Walmart is just fine and the people who want to hand out revolvers in Crackerjack boxes and all the others who think the Second Amendment means that they can do Any Damn Thing They Want with a gun. I want people who think that it’s their job to be ready at any moment to fight off the Bad Guys at their local coffee shop to keep their paranoid fantasies to themselves. I want to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, the mentally ill and children. I want legislation based on good solid research, and I want the NRA to stop blocking that research. And overall I want to encourage \*\*responsible \*\*gun use, not drive the responsible gun users over to the side of the Crazies. And that’s not going to happen if you insist on an all-or-nothing position. So let’s first work toward removing the barriers to constructive dialogue rather than being one, and we’ll go from there. ---
**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:** [July 10, 2015, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/5062 "2015-07-10T15:50:27Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I agree it’s about saving lives. And in an ideal world I’d wiggle my nose and make all the guns vanish. But my name’s not Sabrina and even without the Constitutional issues you can’t change American culture to a diametrically opposed position by haranguing people. > > Frankly I’d rather start by dealing with the people who think that racking a shotgun in Walmart is just fine and the people who want to hand out revolvers in Crackerjack boxes and all the others who think the Second Amendment means that they can do Any Damn Thing They Want with a gun. I want people who think that it’s their job to be ready at any moment to fight off the Bad Guys at their local coffee shop to keep their paranoid fantasies to themselves. I want to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, the mentally ill and children. I want legislation based on good solid research, and I want the NRA to stop blocking that research. > > And overall I want to encourage \*\*responsible \*\*gun use, not drive the responsible gun users over to the side of the Crazies. And that’s not going to happen if you insist on an all-or-nothing position. So let’s first work toward removing the barriers to constructive dialogue rather than being one, and we’ll go from there. There are indeed gun crazies that I like to say “get off my side”. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/5063 "2015-07-10T19:14:45Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > It happens. Thankfully it hasn’t happened to either of us. > > Are you willing to bet your life that they aren’t going to harm you? > > I’m sure you guys (both sides) have been down this road already. Lets just say I am glad that I accidentally assumed the burglar was my dad and let him get off with my wallet (and several hundreds of dollars that I had taken out to use on the vactaion:smack:). Than to accidentally assume that my dad was a burglar and[fill him full of lead](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/wife-shoots-n-soldier-husband-thinking-burglar-article-1.2072028). ---
**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:** [July 10, 2015, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/5064 "2015-07-10T19:31:29Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Lets just say I am glad that I accidentally assumed the burglar was my dad and let him get off with my wallet (and several hundreds of dollars that I had taken out to use on the vactaion:smack:). Than to accidentally assume that my dad was a burglar and[fill him full of lead](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/wife-shoots-n-soldier-husband-thinking-burglar-article-1.2072028). But- but… We have to let stupid people kill themselves and their relatives to weed out the gene pool, or we’ll end up with an idiocracy. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/5065 "2015-07-10T21:34:59Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > But- but… We have to let stupid people kill themselves and their relatives to weed out the gene pool, or we’ll end up with an idiocracy. 😛 Please don’t do it. Don’t kill yourself or your relatives. The rest of us will get by even with a lowered IQ in the gene pool. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/5066 "2015-07-11T04:04:02Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Let’s try a _ **hypothetical** _ test. [my emphasis] > > … two criminals who are armed with knives and baseball bats. They see the homeowner and aggressively rush towards him. In the few seconds that have transpired so far, the homeowner realizes they are nobody he knows. > > …Which homeowner has the better chance at defending his life, and the lives of the rest of his family including an attractive 16-yo daughter asleep upstairs? Not to mention his gorgeous wife? Let’s talk about probabilities. Is such a home invasion one of the major threats you face? Do you keep kryptonite on hand in case a hypothetical villanous alien shows up? If you’re like me, failure to keep medications (like nitroglycerine) on hand reduces life expectancy many thousands of times more than a defense against home invasion by bat wielders would. A can of mace when they go out will probably reduce your wife’s and daughter’s risk of rape orders of magnitude more than your gun will. I’ve never been an anti-gun control freak, and used to blame America’s absurdly high death rate from guns more on cultural sicknesses than availability of guns. _ **Reading threads like this has changed mind. Many of you American gun nuts have sick twisted minds.** _ Risks need to be assessed quantitatively. For example, cutting or burning our grass to make it harder for snakes to hide improves my household’s safety far more than a gun would. The cynical right-wing nincompoops you gun nuts help to elect represent a far bigger threat to your quality of life than your hypothetical bat-wielding home invader. ---
**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:** [July 11, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/5067 "2015-07-11T16:21:02Z")
Allow me to posit the following hypothetical conversation: **Gun Owner** : “I was in a situation where having a gun kept me from being (robbed/beaten/raped/killed). Thank God I had a gun!” **Gun Control Advocate** : “But statistically guns are far more likely to enable suicide, accidentally kill people, or be used to murder. The number of self-defense uses don’t justify the harm guns do. They should be severely restricted or banned”. **Gun Owner** : “But what about _me_? I’d have been up shit creek if I hadn’t had a gun!” **Gun Control Advocate** : “That would have been regrettable; but I have to consider all the people who were harmed because guns are easily available in the US.” **Gun Owner** : “Are you saying that I, who didn’t do anything wrong, should have _agreed_ to be harmed, for everyone else’s sake??” **Gun Control Advocate** : “It would be for the greater good, yes.” Now, at this point, is the Gun Owner entitled to say “Fuck You!!”? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/5068 "2015-07-11T16:34:00Z")
Allow me to posit the following hypothetical conversation: Anti-Vaccination Loon: "I had a friend/family member whose child got a vaccination then developed autism! Thank goodness I don’t vaccinate my children! Pro-Vaccination Supporter: “But statistically vaccinations are far more likely to prevent dangerous and sometimes fatal illness. The unfounded fear of autism doesn’t justify the harm going without vaccinations does. They should be mandatory”. Anti-Vaccination Loon: “But what about my children? I don’t want them to get autism!” Pro-Vaccination Supporter: “Your belief is not based in realty. We have to consider all the people who would be harmed because of the unvaccinated children in the US.” Anti-Vaccination Loon: “Are you saying that my children, who didn’t do anything wrong, should have agreed to be harmed, for everyone else’s sake??” Pro-Vaccination Supporter: “It would be for the greater good, yes.” Now, at this point, is the Anti-Vaccination Loon entitled to say “Fuck You!!”? ---
**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:** [July 11, 2015, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/5069 "2015-07-11T17:24:39Z")
False analogy. Studies have failed to show a vaccination-autism link, whereas having a gun has demonstrably enabled people to defend themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/5070 "2015-07-11T20:02:47Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Which one is that? > > When come back, bring facts. :rolleyes: > > And kindly stop regaling us with your toddler-rape porn fantasies, and go get help. This rubber-glue thing hasn’t worked for you yet, but it is just one more thing you are too fucking dumb to recognize. Here is the only salient fact: you stated everyone is one bad day from mass murder and now you refuse to take ownership of it. I already linked in this thread to where you said it and I pointed out how you chickenshitted out of that thread entirely when called on it. You are a coward. You are a liar. Most of all, you are completely delusional in your assessment of both your basic intelligence and how you have “pwned” this (or any) thread. It’s a shame your father didn’t get his nuts bitten off by a shar-pei when he was a child. ---
**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:** [July 11, 2015, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/5071 "2015-07-11T21:13:18Z")
I’m glad this thread exists to be a ghetto for all this animosity and stupidity. Keeps the rest of the board nice. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/5072 "2015-07-11T23:12:11Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > I’m glad this thread exists to be a ghetto for all this animosity and stupidity. Keeps the rest of the board nice. > > Carry on. You’re just so, _so_ very cool. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/5073 "2015-07-11T23:29:19Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > To repeat, it’s about saving human lives. In some systems of morality, that’s about the most important thing there is, yanno? Perhaps you disagree. What about you and the preservation of lives? I have asked you before, without you answering, if you choose to not own guns because you fear you would commit murder if you had a gun. Care to answer that now? How could it do other than increase community respect for you to let it be public knowledge that you renounce arms in the interest of our safety? ---
**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:** [July 12, 2015, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/5074 "2015-07-12T00:14:36Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > You’re just so, _so_ very cool. Why, thank you! Coming from you it means so _very_ much! ---
**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:** [July 13, 2015, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/5075 "2015-07-13T14:43:44Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > To repeat, it’s about saving human lives. In some systems of morality, that’s about the most important thing there is, yanno? Perhaps you disagree. So I take it you are pro-life? Please prove that there are more murders as a result of the legal ownership of guns as opposed to banning private ownership of guns. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/5076 "2015-07-13T17:07:18Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Why, thank you! Coming from you it means so _very_ much! Take pride in your threadshitting, even though this is The Pit. Now that you have shat, move on. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/5077 "2015-07-13T17:11:47Z")
Still waiting to hear whether or not ElvisL1ves chooses not to own a gun for fear of committing murder. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/5078 "2015-07-13T20:52:32Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > So I take it you are pro-life? Please prove that there are more murders as a result of the legal ownership of guns as opposed to banning private ownership of guns. Already done, many many times, as you fucking well know. Of course, nothing can get through your wall of fear, can it? Now, when are you going to tell us what rate of murders should be “acceptable” (your own choice of word)? You’ve told us multiple times that there is one, but not what it is. So, what is it? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/5079 "2015-07-13T20:53:49Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > having a gun has demonstrably enabled people to defend themselves. And has enabled many \*more \*to get killed. Right? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729/5080 "2015-07-13T20:57:04Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > This rubber-glue thing hasn’t worked for you yet I’m not one of the ones trying it, am I? :rolleyes: Tell your delusional-psychotic friend who thinks people with a respect for human life are “hoplophobes”, and that some rate of killings is “acceptable”. Nobody but you is talking about child rape, either. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729.md?page=253) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-gun-news-of-the-day-part-1/648729.md?page=255)