# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/61 "2019-09-04T17:34:28Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Do you think that, if someone posts a thread about their upcoming marriage to their same-sex partner, it should be allowed for someone in that thread to start lecturing about the sinfulness of homosexuality? Or do you think that view should be restricted for the purposes of that specific thread? The Positive Gun News thread isn’t about a poster’s experience, tho. It’s a general thread. If someone started a thread a few years ago about how much they were looking forward to same-sex marriages occurring in the US, why wouldn’t someone be able to post that they were not looking forward to them? If I start a thread about how much I’m looking forward to marijuana being legal for recreational use in all the US someday soon, would someone be threadshitting for saying they were not looking forward to it and here’s 15 reasons why? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/62 "2019-09-04T17:45:09Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > That’s quite different. The topic is about the event. Homosexuality is incident. I’m not seeing how its different. A thread about a same-sex marriage is about the “event” of the marriage in precisely the same way that a thread about someone using a gun to fend off a robber is about the “event” of protecting yourself with a gun. The politics around the legality of SSM or private gun ownership seem equally incidental in either case. > [@](#): > > How would you moderate Positive White Supremacy News? I have a lot of trouble imagining how a thread like that could work without violating board rules against either hate speech, or trolling. ---
**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 4, 2019, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/63 "2019-09-04T17:47:35Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > That’s quite different. The topic is about the event. Homosexuality is incident. > > How would you moderate Positive White Supremacy News? Bringing pornography and white supremacy into it is just distracting from the conversation. How about answering the question I posted above? Czarcasm created a “Positive Gun Control News” thread. Do you think that someone should be allowed to post about the defeat of gun control laws as a “positive” in that thread? ---
**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 4, 2019, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/64 "2019-09-04T17:52:51Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Do you think that, if someone posts a thread about their upcoming marriage to their same-sex partner, it should be allowed for someone in that thread to start lecturing about the sinfulness of homosexuality? I dunno, how many teenagers can we expect to wind up dead during the wedding? If it’s greater than zero, such as we had in the very first post of the positive gun news thread, then perhaps tempering the happy news is in order. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/65 "2019-09-04T17:53:31Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > It was clearly threadshitting, and a fine example of it. Don’t be so disingenuous. This is my view. And all the likes for scumpup’s post on page 1 ---
**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:** [September 4, 2019, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/66 "2019-09-04T17:53:33Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I’m not seeing how its different. A thread about a same-sex marriage is about the “event” of the marriage in precisely the same way that a thread about someone using a gun to fend off a robber is about the “event” of protecting yourself with a gun. That’s not how you framed your example of a poster sharing his wedding, though. He didn’t invite others to share their same sex marriage experiences. > [@](#): > > I have a lot of trouble imagining how a thread like that could work without violating board rules against either hate speech, or trolling. Fair enough, though I think there’s a fair amount of whose ox is being gored in play there. Positive Gun News could just as easily be labelled as trolling, given the leaning of the board. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/67 "2019-09-04T17:56:11Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Positive Gun News could just as easily be labelled as trolling, given the leaning of the board. Then you’re basically saying, if the vast majority of Dopers support X, then for someone to start a thread praising Y is trolling. Pretty soon only pro-X views would be permitted. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/68 "2019-09-04T18:02:07Z")
That sounds like an average day on the Dope: You have something positive to say about President Trump / conservatives / Republicans? Then you must be trolling (in the minds of certain posters). ---
**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:** [September 4, 2019, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/69 "2019-09-04T18:03:06Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Bringing pornography and white supremacy into it is just distracting from the conversation. Meaning this policy is for Guns only, and don’t you dare try to apply it to other controversial topics. Got it. > [@](#): > > How about answering the question I posted above? Czarcasm created a “Positive Gun Control News” thread. Do you think that someone should be allowed to post about the defeat of gun control laws as a “positive” in that thread? If all things are equal, “Positive” is a relative term, not determined by the NRA. So, yes. It is up to each poster to determine what is “Positive”. I don’t think controversial topics should be protected from contrary comments, on either side of the debate. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2019, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/70 "2019-09-04T18:06:33Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Then you’re basically saying, if the vast majority of Dopers support X, then for someone to start a thread praising Y is trolling. Pretty soon only pro-X views would be permitted. I agree with you. I don’t think controversial topics should be moderated against discussion of both sides of the issue. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/71 "2019-09-04T18:10:52Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > That’s not how you framed your example of a poster sharing his wedding, though. He didn’t invite others to share their same sex marriage experiences. I don’t see how that’s relevant to the comparison. I would think a “Tell me about your gay marraige” MPSIMS thread would be an equally inappropriate place to start a debate about the legality or morality of SSM. > [@](#): > > Fair enough, though I think there’s a fair amount of whose ox is being gored in play there. Positive Gun News could just as easily be labelled as trolling, given the leaning of the board. There is absolutely a lot of selective ox-goring going on here, no doubt about that. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2019, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/72 "2019-09-04T18:20:14Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > There is absolutely a lot of selective ox-goring going on here, no doubt about that. I support open discussion of both sides of controversial issues, not couching them in semantic armor to shield them from contrary opinions. You? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/73 "2019-09-04T18:34:02Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I support open discussion of both sides of controversial issues, not couching them in semantic armor to shield them from contrary opinions. > > You? I think the board is big enough to support threads that aren’t debates, or that are interested in debating a subsection of an idea without having to relitigate the entire issue from first principles in every thread. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/74 "2019-09-04T18:40:55Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I support open discussion of both sides of controversial issues, not couching them in semantic armor to shield them from contrary opinions. As \*\*Miller \*\*said, this then makes it impossible to focus on only one aspect of a particular issue. You would have people dragging in all kinds of unwanted “we’ve already hashed this over a thousand times before” stuff into a thread. It’s like the threads about female circumcision/FGM where some people would insist on dragging in the issue of male circumcision - which is an entirely different matter - into the debate - and thus stalling everything up. ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/75 "2019-09-04T18:41:02Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I support open discussion of both sides of controversial issues, not couching them in semantic armor to shield them from contrary opinions. > > You? Again, where is your “open discussion” of how a store chain prohibiting open carry is positive gun news? What would be the reaction in a “Positive Automobile News” thread (populated with discussions about features, horsepower, speed limit increases, etc.) if someone showed up and posted a link to an article about banning parking in some city? More accurately, a post containing a link with no explanation whatsoever of how this is positive news for car owners? How would you expect those who own cars, use cars, and/or had a strong attachment to cars react? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/76 "2019-09-04T18:44:59Z")
Here is some helpful advice (from [here](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=867186&page=3)) > [@Czarcasm](#): > > Just because a minority can’t(or doesn’t want to) figure out the rules is no reason to change or dump them. They seem to work just fine for the rest of us. > [@Colibri](#): > > I would just advise anyone who feels they are personally too dense to figure out general social norms that don’t seem to be a problem for 99.9% of posters to just stay well away from the subject. Sorry, but if you are claiming you just can’t figure any of this out, just don’t post about it. > [@Fenris](#): > > Normal people, growing up, are socialized to know societal norms. If you are not one of these people, either learn, and learn fast or shut up. > [@Bone](#): > > I stated with no ambiguity that there will not be a prescriptive ruleset. Our rules are descriptive for the most part. This isn’t hide the ball - there is no ball. It’s not like there is a secret set of rules that exist that we aren’t sharing. > > If the thrust is to ask for a set of delineated prescriptive rules - then the answer is no. That will not be forthcoming. We don’t craft our rules that way and there is no intention or inclination to start now. Hope this helps. Regards, Shodan ---
**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 4, 2019, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/77 "2019-09-04T19:18:58Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > You know, this is pretty simple and anyone that maintains otherwise is being obtuse, intentionally or otherwise. That thread is for discussion of news articles about guns being used in a positive manner, period. If you don’t think that is possible, don’t open the thread. The moderation of the thread has been pretty consistent throughout. > > Full disclosure: I am a (multiple) gun owner with a concealed carry license in my state. I don’t generally carry, but do like the option to do so. I think that the moderation has been consistent is what troubles some anti-gun folks. Back when folks would sometimes start a thread around someone using a firearm to protect themselves or others, or uses in sports, it was easy for some people to pile on and ridicule the whole thing basically closing any real discussion. Having a set thread allows the Mods to give a voice to those who do see a positive side to legal firearm ownership and that isn’t a bad thing at all. And I have a CWP, do usually carry. And other than when it comes to guns and religion I’m pretty much the definition of liberal. Don’t know that it matters but I figured why not. ---
**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 4, 2019, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/78 "2019-09-04T19:45:51Z")
> [@Orwell](#): > > Again, where is your “open discussion” of how a store chain prohibiting open carry is positive gun news? It’s in the same place as where one discusses any sort of “reasonable” gun control, like how felons aren’t allowed to buy guns. Would it be positive news or negative news for a court to uphold such a law? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/79 "2019-09-04T19:52:21Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > It’s in the same place as where one discusses any sort of “reasonable” gun control, like how felons aren’t allowed to buy guns. Would it be positive news or negative news for a court to uphold such a law? I think this sort of argument (in the context of “Positive Gun News”) is in bad faith, like pro-lifers arguing about how hospital-ambulatory requirement laws for abortion clinics are “positive” for abortion because they’re going to make things safer for abortion patients. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675/80 "2019-09-04T20:22:29Z")
The biggest problem with the thread, IMO, is the title and the way that it implies that “positive” is an absolute, not a personal judgement call. As it _is_ a personal judgement call and not something objective, people who don’t agree with that judgement call are not allowed to express their opinion about this thing that is clearly an opinion; IMO that is the major reason why the thread is so frustrating to so many: the thread considers the matter closed and not open to interpretation or discussion. Moderator actions seem to reinforce this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-positive-gun-news/839675.md?page=5)