# What is "Positive Gun News"? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [September 4, 2019, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675 "2019-09-04T12:32:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/181 "2019-09-09T16:42:59Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I actually did understand his point. He was saying that the right wing manipulates non-conservatives into self-censoring themselves from telling the truth by appealing to their sense of fair play. > > Personally I feel this is not the case. I feel that moderates and liberals are saying what they believe is true. But Der Trihs does not share their views on what’s true and does not want to concede that the problem may be that his view on what is true is not correct. So he invents a conspiracy that is concealing the truth from everyone. This allows him to rationalize his belief that he is right even when everyone else is saying something different. > > This is pretty much the same thing Donald Trump does when he complains about the media posting Fake News about him and his administration. Political debates have become assymetrical, here and elsewhere. Did you really not notice this? Dems, libs, and progressives are bound to an idea of “fairness” that doesn’t exist on the right, in argumentation, but also in the real world, at the border, in the climate, and in human rights. The right has abandoned reality publicly and definitively. Comparing that with fake news claims is ridiculous. The claims are not based on any interpretation of reality. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/182 "2019-09-09T16:44:16Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > So if you’d rather the innocent victim be tortured, raped and or murdered Honestly, what I really want is for the innocent victim to not be staring down the wrong end of a gun. You see, many of these “positive” stories begin with a criminal pointing a gun at someone, and end with the good guy pointing a gun at the criminal. Many many many more stories that don’t meet the “positive” criteria begin and end with a criminal pointing a gun at someone. One might suggest that the most positive gun story of all is one where nobody has a gun pointed at them. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/183 "2019-09-09T16:47:51Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I can accept that might be a right wing tactic. But it’s only going to work in an environment controlled by people with a right wing agenda. In those cases, they can ensure that no counterbalancing views are allowed. > > That’s not the case here. A single thread of positive gun news is not going to eliminate all of the other threads on gun control where opposing views are common. People work the refs all over, especially here. You are in a dream land. The whole point of any technique like that would be to make it work in the “neutral” environment, not the hive. You sound like Mark Zuckerberg telling us everything is going to work out great. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/184 "2019-09-09T16:53:08Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Honestly, what I really want is for the innocent victim to not be staring down the wrong end of a gun. > > You see, many of these “positive” stories begin with a criminal pointing a gun at someone, and end with the good guy pointing a gun at the criminal. Many many many more stories that don’t meet the “positive” criteria begin and end with a criminal pointing a gun at someone. > > One might suggest that the most positive gun story of all is one where nobody has a gun pointed at them. The “positive gun news” in that thread is about vengeance, the death or maiming of a violator/societal loser for revenge-fantasy narcissistic supply. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/185 "2019-09-09T19:04:46Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > 1. PGNOTD is an attempt to prove a point through anecdotal evidence. This is not a scientifically valid method; it is an appeal to emotion and cheerleading. The thread has an underlying agenda of promoting or at least condoning unfettered gun ownership. Of \*course \*there are individual cases where a gun has saved lives. That is not an argument for the proliferation of guns, and that is why I for one find the thread disturbing. Playing Lucifer’s Barrister ------ I could claim that every dramatic news story and pretty much all the follow-ups (including threads here at the SDMB) after a shooting happens are nothing but anecdotal evidence and appeals to my emotions to jump on the cheerleading anti-gun bandwagon. Sure there are cases when guns have been used for committing mass murder but that is not an argument for banning certain types of guns or banning all guns. But I guess that is why I happen to like the thread. I also question that the thread promotes the proliferation of guns. To me it more promotes responsibility for yourself; your personal safety and responsibility for your actions. I haven’t noticed any posts there suggesting we roll back to before the 1968GCA or the even earlier initial control acts – just links to real-world cases. Very few of the stories in my memory even come down against reasonable controls although some do debate what could be called reasonable. I don’t know really. If the thread was more than simple reports of news stories maybe I would find it disturbing to see it somewhat regulated. But how it is played and has played out I think its a worthwhile addition. ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/186 "2019-09-09T19:05:47Z")
So, wait, if I want to start a thread to discuss a political topic, but don’t want the usual gang of trolls to come in and threadshit all over it, all I have to do is start it in MPSIMS? I could start a thread about, say, the Bernie Sanders campaign, specify in the OP that only pro-Bernie viewpoints are welcome, and the Mods would actually enforce that? Is that right? Or is this a special rule just for the gun nuts? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/187 "2019-09-09T19:17:05Z")
Read post #76. It explains everything. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/188 "2019-09-11T00:40:34Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > One might suggest that the most positive gun story of all is one where nobody has a gun pointed at them. As a devout pacifist, I agree. One might. That’d get one warned, then Banned because of posting that kind of thing into that thread. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/189 "2019-09-11T03:06:19Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > As a devout pacifist, I agree. One might. > > That’d get one warned, then Banned because of posting that kind of thing into that thread. > > :dubious: There arent several other gun threads where you can post that?😕 I am sure we have at least three. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![sps49sd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@sps49sd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sps49sd)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/190 "2019-09-11T03:34:07Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Honestly, what I really want is for the innocent victim to not be staring down the wrong end of a gun. > > You see, many of these “positive” stories begin with a criminal pointing a gun at someone, and end with the good guy pointing a gun at the criminal. Many many many more stories that don’t meet the “positive” criteria begin and end with a criminal pointing a gun at someone. > > One might suggest that the most positive gun story of all is one where nobody has a gun pointed at them. In the Positive Gun News event I know best, the home invader was unarmed- except he was larger, and was in all likelihood stronger and faster, than my mother. If she hadn’t been armed with her .38 S&W there would be nothing “positive” about the story from her point of view. ---
**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:** [September 11, 2019, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/191 "2019-09-11T04:35:57Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > There arent several other gun threads where you can post that?😕 I am sure we have at least three. :dubious: Guess what? _Nobody_ is stopping all those “positive” gun stories from being posted in those other threads. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/192 "2019-09-11T04:53:16Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Guess what? > _Nobody_ is stopping all those “positive” gun stories from being posted in those other threads. To some extent, they would be a hijack. A discussion of what the Founders meant and Thoughts on the 2nd Ad are not really the place to bring those up, unless someone says 'well, no ones life has ever been saved with a gun in the house" . You start LOTS of threads, and you seem to want people keep to _your_ topic on those threads, do you not? But not for this thread, eh? ---
**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:** [September 11, 2019, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/193 "2019-09-11T05:28:15Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > To some extent, they would be a hijack. A discussion of what the Founders meant and Thoughts on the 2nd Ad are not really the place to bring those up, unless someone says 'well, no ones life has ever been saved with a gun in the house" . > > You start LOTS of threads, and you seem to want people keep to _your_ topic on those threads, do you not? > > But not for this thread, eh? I don’t believe I’ve ever started a thread with the instructions that people only tell me what I want to hear, outside of maybe the very recent “Good gun control news” I posted as a test counterpoint to the protected gun thread. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/194 "2019-09-11T07:25:27Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I actually did understand his point. He was saying that the right wing manipulates non-conservatives into self-censoring themselves from telling the truth by appealing to their sense of fair play. > > Personally I feel this is not the case. Well, you are wrong; it’s literally part of the playbook. The Right knows exactly how their opponents react and have known how to manipulate them that way for decades. It’s how they’ve gotten so fair despite their numerous flaws; all they have to do is mechanically push the right rhetorical buttons and the majority of their opponents will roll right over for them. There’s classes and instruction manuals for this sort of thing. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > So when the right wing does it, it proves the right wing is evil. And when the moderates or the left wing does it, it also proves the right wing is evil. No, it means that the moderate and left wingers are enabling evil, because they are so desperate to be “fair” to the right that they will feed the rest of humanity as human sacrifices to it. > [@Thing\_Fish](#): > > So, wait, if I want to start a thread to discuss a political topic, but don’t want the usual gang of trolls to come in and threadshit all over it, all I have to do is start it in MPSIMS? I could start a thread about, say, the Bernie Sanders campaign, specify in the OP that only pro-Bernie viewpoints are welcome, and the Mods would actually enforce that? Is that right? Or is this a special rule just for the gun nuts? it’s for the Right in general. People have for years here gotten away with pushing things like conservative religion and “race realism” that would get them banned if they used the same tactics for a non right wing position. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/195 "2019-09-11T17:36:09Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I don’t believe I’ve ever started a thread with the instructions that people only tell me what I want to hear, outside of maybe the very recent “Good gun control news” I posted as a test counterpoint to the protected gun thread. [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=881786](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=881786) ---
**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:** [September 11, 2019, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/196 "2019-09-11T17:45:44Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=881786](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=881786) I haven’t objected to different opinions in that thread being present-wtf are you talking about? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/197 "2019-09-11T18:15:03Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I haven’t objected to different opinions in that thread being present-wtf are you talking about? I beg to differ. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/198 "2019-09-16T19:55:36Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I see you shut down the Positive Abortion thread. Is this your policy going forward? Are all Positive News threads trolling? I was wondering this myself. I’m having a hard time squaring that with the mods’ defense of the right of pro-gun people to a ‘safe space’ of their own. If I started a “Positive News about Labor Rights and Union Organizing” thread, do I get my thread where only positive things can be said about labor rights and union organizing, or would it be closed like the abortion thread was? Who gets their ‘safe space’ and who doesn’t? ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/199 "2019-09-16T22:17:05Z")
The [Positive abortion news and experiences](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=881502) thread was closed, but the decision was appealed and the thread has been re-opened. That thread has simply fallen off the front page (depending on your browser settings of course). I suspect the thread is going to be inherently low traffic. An actual defensive gun use is likely to be a traumatic experience for the people directly involved (however legally and morally justifiable their decision to use a firearm was), but pretty often a DGU is also _newsworthy_, allowing the rest of us (who weren’t directly involved) to re-post and comment on their stories. The decision to have an abortion is a private medical decision, and you rarely get items in the local or national news media about private medical decisions. The number of people willing to share their very personal experiences in a “Positive abortion news and experiences” thread is likely going to be small (and let’s face it, the total pool of people who could share such stories isn’t very big to begin with; alas, there just aren’t that many active Straight Dopers around anymore). ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/200 "2019-09-16T23:41:05Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I was wondering this myself. I’m having a hard time squaring that with the mods’ defense of the right of pro-gun people to a ‘safe space’ of their own. We are not taking sides, one way or the other. All we are doing is asking people to actually stick to the topic of a thread. If that thread upsets you, and you don’t even want it to exist, well, you know where the Pit is. Just because it is an upsetting thread doesn’t mean that anyone gets a chance to derail or intentionally corrupt it. The “no threadshitting” rule applies to all threads. This isn’t unique to the gun thread. We are not making special rules for that thread. > [@RTFirefly](#): > > If I started a “Positive News about Labor Rights and Union Organizing” thread, do I get my thread where only positive things can be said about labor rights and union organizing, or would it be closed like the abortion thread was? Who gets their ‘safe space’ and who doesn’t? You can start a thread on any focused topic. If you want to explore only the positive aspects of labor rights, then feel free to start such a thread. Just be clear about exactly what point of view your thread is from (pro-union, I assume), so that it is clear exactly what is considered “positive” and not, and be clear that you are not looking for a debate on the topic. Anyone who posts something “positive” from an anti-union point of view or trying to engage in any sort of labor debate would be off-topic and those types of posts would be moderated. And, of course, those with opposing views are free to create threads of their own, if they so desire. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675.md?page=11)