Is this before or after the tornado takes you over the magic rainbow?
Are the writings of the founding fathers (FF, I assume) gospel?
Why not have a licensing system like the U.K. and recreational shooting with the appropriate type of gun?
It’s the second part of the “Films Roger Won’t Understand But Will Rant About” trilogy. I can’t wait for the third FRWUBWRA film.
Since he never proposed this AT ALL, I’d really like to know where this “main question” came from.
It’s really quite simple. Any attempt at banning guns will likely work as well as our current attempt at banning drugs. There will always be a percentage of the population who will want a gun whether or not it’s legal. If every American gun manufacturer stopped making firearms, there are still plenty of gunmakers outside the US (Glock, Heckler & Koch, Beretta, Steyr, et al) who will continue making them. And you can bet your ass a lot of those foreign guns will make their way across the US border.
Even partial bans can’t do a whole lot. The assault weapons ban may have stopped some average Joes who wanted an Uzi. Thing is, the people who really want assault weapons like Uzis or AK-47s (modified for full auto, of course), and really want to use them in bad ways can still get them. Handguns? You’d be amazed at how short you can saw off a shotgun.
Which brings me to my next point. People need to be able to go out and hunt. Mostly because we’ve killed off a good chunk of the predator species ourselves. Once that happens, the prey species’ populations start to get out of hand, and hunting is certainly a more humane way of thinning the herd than starvation. So why not help the ecology and let the rednecks have some fun at the same time?
Is it heretical to say that a few lives lost to gun accidents and mistaken identity a year are worth the freedom to own a gun? Maybe. But guns are here and here to stay, legal or not.
All that being said, I do think the NRA is a bit nuts for opposing damn near every piece of gun-related safety regulation. And I think that without the First Amendment, all the other amendments are meaningless.
And one thing about Bowling for Columbine: Michael Moore did point out that the rest of the world loves guns and violent entertainment as much as we do. Hell, gun ownership is mandatory in Switzerland, and they don’t rack up nearly as many gun-related deaths as we do. But there’s an X factor somewhere that gives us our higher crime rates. Frankly, I think it has to do with the quality of our public education; and if I had the time to research it, I’d write a paper on it. But no matter what, it doesn’t have much to do with our national love affair with all things that go BANG.
I don’t think you mean “gospel”, I think you mean something like “inviolate” or “unalterable”, which the answer is, no, of course not. The intent of the makers of the Constitution is however very, very important in interpretation of the applicability of the USC and the BOR, as I believe any lawyer here would likely affirm…but IANAL.
And I think you misunderstand the “licensing” system of the UK, nor just how few people can actually practically engage in so-called “recreational shooting” in the UK. Note I’m not condemning my adopted country, just stating that recreational shooting is not something which is all that easy nor cheap to engage in.
The answer to the first question is yes.
The answer to the second question is because self-defense is a legitimate justification, not that there needs to be justification. Hunting is not the only purpose for guns.
Over the years, I owned several rifles, shotguns (I spelled it right! Yippeee!), and revolvers. 22s, 12 gauge, 30-30, 44 mag, the works. Somehow, I never shot myself, a loved one, my dog, not even the cat. I found it very relaxing to go to the range and do some target shooting, as the concentration needed tends to make you let go of distractions and tension. That whole clear your mind thing. I never blasted any burglars either. Should I feel cheated or something?
I am mystified though. How could anyone miss a burglar who at most is 10-15 feet away, given he is in your house, unless the person is totally lacking in any motor skills at all? At that range it is no more difficult than pointing your finger. Must have been a competitor in the Monty Python Stupid People Olympics to be that pathetic.
Oh well, come the sunset of the ugly guns rule, I’m gonna get me the Official Burt Gummer autographed bolt action 30mm planet buster gun. And blast my cat to hamburger (just kidding).
Anyone who thinks the World According to Michael Moore is all black-and-white oversimplified issues (with the lefty liberal being the good side of course) really needs to watch this film.
As others have pointed out, he looks at the gun violence issue from many different angles; as he does so, he makes no effort to disguise his own lefty attitudes on many of the relevant issues, but he is fair to his investigation of the overall question here, and yes, Michael Moore points out that widespread possesson of guns isn’t the reason that we have so much gun-related violence. It may be a movie by a guy with a lot of amused :rolleyes: -attitude towards the gun culture, the NRA, Charlton Heston, etc etc, but it is not an anti-gun movie. (I could see NRA folks happily exerpting his stats on the reasons why high per-capita gun possesison is not the root cause of the problem).
Also considered and then dismissed by his stats: the notion that our culture’s violent movies and video games are responsible.
I guess in Hong Kong they don’t realize that Michael Moore is a “Stupid White Man.”
Me, as soon as the assault weapons ban is expired, I’m putting bayonets on everything. The .22, the .44 magnum, the 9mm…I’m even putting one on my old paint pellet gun. That’ll teach all those schoolchildren who keep laughing at me…mocking me…taking their little “notes” in their little “notebooks”, watching me with their staring eyes, judging me, and finding me unworthy…I’ll show them! In fact, I’m going to mount a bayonet on my cat, so he can be like a Felicorn of Death, all sharp horn and teeth and claws…mmmmrooow! 
RT: ‘But Mike failed to address the main question, although he raised it often enough. Why not kick out the second amendment that gives him and his countrymen and countrywomen the right to possess guns?’
Marley: ‘Since he never proposed this AT ALL, I’d really like to know where this “main question” came from.’
Moore (either himself or through his characters) referred on many occasions to the second. He raised it. For me, the main question is why not chuck it out.
The more I read/watch Moore’s stuff, the more I realise how much a part of the system he is, how conservative. Dare to be radical, Americans!
What, didn’t understand what The Long Road meant by the Wizard of Oz reference :p? I believe he thinks that you are in need of a reality check after reading your prediction. And I can’t disagree. Unless you were trying to be clever or something, in which case that went right over my head :D.
I have never been in that situation but I have read from those who have that it is surprisingly difficult to shoot an intruder under those conditions. He is probably not going to stand still and you are obviously going to very nervous, shaky, the room might be dimly lit, and you will be working on autopilot from adrenaline.
What is amazing is that you will almost always miss the burgular but manage to spin around and shoot your cat dead center between the eyes.
I guess I was looking for “I disagree with your pessimistic prediction because…” not some half-arsed crack about tornados, when there just happens to (reputedly) be one on the ground about 20-25 miles SW of me as of the time of his posting, reputedly (depending on which channel I flip to) heading generally towards me.
In any event, it’s a speculative futuristic IMO, and people can either agree or disagree. It’s just nice to know that it’s one or the other I suppose.
Another generally pro-gun-control person who also does not want to see the Second Amendment repealed.
Just wanted to peep up and say that America is a huuuuuge place and gun laws vary widely. Each state and city has its own. I live in NYC and we have pretty strict gun laws. They don’t stop the gangstas or whoever from driving down to Atlanta or up to New Hampshire and carrying guns back with them, but legal gun ownership is a pretty tricky thing even for somebody with a clean record. So, please don’t assume what you see in movies and all is true everywhere. Thanks.
I’m in favor of a total ban on firearms, provided it includes the police and federal agents.
What?!
On preview I see that Shagnasty has already said it but…
Have you shot anywhere other than the shooting range? With your hearing and eye protection with a clear path to a nicely lit target. Okay, there may be a little, maybe even a lot of noise from the other lanes but you can concentrate on your target.
Try it when the adrenaline floodgates have opened and your heart is beating like a trip hammer. It’s just as likely, maybe even more likely that it’s dark. You’re investigating noises that sound like a break-in but you have no idea what you’re facing.
In my home state of Ohio the only justification for shooting someone is if you are in fear for your life. Those kinds of conditions don’t contribute to highly accurate shooting.
Fair enough, but the second was a product of its age, a different age, an age when some (most?, all?) of the founding fathers themselves owned slaves, as well as guns.
Times change and laws should reflect that.
Indeed they should. Thank God we have brave people like yourself to step up to the plate and determine which ones need to be changed.