At this point there really is no such thing as a gun accident. I think we should use the expression “gun inevitable”.
In this instance:
KillingTool successfully used to kill.
At the gun range:
KillingTool used to practice killing.
Slight hijack, as it’s not technically this subject… but… I honestly will never understand LEOs palling around with non-LEO firearms owners and other “range bros”.
Don’t cops get sick of walking into houses/buildings to see dead John and Jane Doe’s brains and other soft tissue splattered on ceilings, walls, and floors? Why hi-five Kyle Rittenhouse types when you know that you’re just going to have to walk down the street and write up / clean up dead bodies (and the pieces there of) in the future?
I mean when they looked at his AR-15, didn’t they just know that there were dead body notches just waiting to be carved into it?
In the news right now the serial killer of Gilgo Beach, Rex Heuermann, had in his home something close to 300 guns in the basement of is home.
Blockquote Why cops arrested Gilgo Beach suspect Rex Heuermann away from his home
[quote] Heuermann, 59, had up to 300 guns in a vault in the basement of the rundown Massapequa Park home he shared with his second wife and two adult children.
“We wanted to take him into custody somewhere outside the house, because of access to those weapons,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney explained to ABC News.
Of the hundreds of firearms, Heuermann is believed to have only had permits for about 92, officials previously said. [/quote]
When cops go to the range, don’t they get it that a good percentage of the people they see shooting there will be killers, but that they just haven’t killed yet? I’d think that they’d have to understand that to be the case.
This statement is flat-out wrong.
ONLY? ONLY!
Only in America.
Speaking as a social-liberal gun owner (ie I haven’t voted for a federal level Republican in decades due to the social issues, gun ownership < civil rights and he like), no, they don’t see them as enemies. They think of them as like-minded sorts that shoot targets shaped like Donkeys or jihadists. They’re perceived as allies, by the codes that the cops find socially significant.
Sure, they probably dread having to pick them up if they get called in on a drunk and disorderly, or a domestic violence, but socially they’re allies. The ones that vote the cop-supporting politicians and judges into office are key to keeping their perks after all.
No, you’re flat out wrong.
What’s a pistol good for? Hunting?
Legal or illegal, it’s designed for killing people. That’s it. Even showing it is called “Brandishing” which in most states is a felony.
( And if the pistol is a ‘Wall Hanger’ then why is it cleaned, oiled, and being shot at a range?)
< cue blustering talking point answer approved by The Crimson Skull >
Look, I’m all for doing anything to lessen the number of firearms and firearm-related deaths in this country.
But your statement that ‘a good percentage’ of people on a shooting range will be killers just cannot be right. You’re telling me that on any given day, on any given shooting range in this country, a significant number of shooters on that range will someday kill another person using that gun?
I don’t buy it. There must be thousands of shooting ranges in this country. There are over 100 of them within 150 miles of my house in Kansas. And there are about 20,000 non-suicide deaths by firearms each year in this country. The numbers just don’t add up.
You have pivoted from the above point to the point that guns are weapons designed for killing. This are two completely different points. I don’t think there is any evidence that says that “a good percentage” (whatever that is) of people who shoot at a range will be killers.
I am not a gun owner, I think there are too many guns in the U.S. owned by too many people who shouldn’t have them. But there are lots of truly responsible gun owners, many of whom shoot at a range for recreation, not because they intend to go out and kill someone. Probably a lot of them have a self-defense fantasy. But I think your first statement is baseless.
And if it sits in dust… and then is inherited /sold /stolen?
If that gun is ever used as intended, even if it takes decades, someone will die.
Another pivot. Is this killer of the future currently on a shooting range that is also being used by a LEO?
Nobody is arguing that there are too many handguns and too many stupid people who own them. But @CookingWithGas and I take exception to your statement about the percentage of people who are on a shooting range being future killers.
Their guns certainly are. And your exceptions Do Not Deflect Bullets.
I’m really not sure of your contention? Every firearm planet wide (indeed, every weapon) will be used for homicide before the heat death of the universe/death of the human race as a whole? My firearms have certainly caused death, but only elk, marmots and gophers. If you’re going to demonize me for what gets done with these guns after my death, well, go ahead I guess.
I wonder why cops aren’t exhausted having to treat every encounter with the public as one where the other guy has a gun and will kill you rather than be arrested.
How much nicer would the job be if pretty much nobody had concealed firearms?
Agreed. I thought about mentioning SCOTUS; I thought about mentioning Congress. I thought about mentioning the governor and state legislators… but all that does is add to the collective PTSD we all have from this real world.
Instead, I’ll mention that re-runs of “The Andy Griffith Show” (which granted was comedy fiction) seem like they were made in a different country or possibly a different planet.
(Post snipped by me)
In many places, it’s not the cops cleaning these people up off of the streets, or off the walls. In my years as an EMT, I saw many gun deaths, both self-inflicted and otherwise. Never once did I see a police officer clean or pick up anything associated with the corpse itself. The coroner, sure. But most of the “heavy lifting” for the bodies came from the fire department and the EMTs/paramedics who were on scene.
That’s not to say that it never happens, but it’s unusual in this area.
Perhaps confessing ignorance here, I did not know that genuine shooting sports (e.g., Olympic events, ISSF, etc.) were considered all that controversial. I have shot free rifle myself. There are significant issues re. contamination and pollution resulting from all the lead, copper, nickel, antimony, etc. though.
But you said the people at the range would be killers in the future. Please try to stay on topic. It’s okay to admit your initial statement was wrong, but you obviously are continually attempting to deflect from it.
Again, nobody here is disputing the facts that there are too many guns in our country and there are too many deaths due to firearms.
I typed people when I meant to type guns. I’m glad your knit-picking caught and dragged out that typo for all that it was worth. And while your hands are on your hips, an AR15 (usually) isn’t a handgun… and the ranges by me are for the most part limited to handguns.
Now, if you’re through doing Wayne LaPierre’s work for him, I’ll be on my way.
Riiiiiight. Took you 24 hours to figure it out?
I thought we WERE talking about handguns.
I don’t think I’ve ever posted anything that is remotely in agreement with LaPierre. I merely pointed out the ridiculous fallacy of your statement about people on shooting ranges.