Let's get political. Gun Debate!

Well since it was brought up….what is the solution to our obesity problem? I’ve joked with people for years about a fat tax. Just tax a person per pound that they are over weight. They are costing the country crap loads of money (estimated 150 billion). They are the biggest strain on the healthcare system. Why not make them pay for it and discourage them from being unhealthy at the same time? Works with cigarettes to some degree. What is our current solution? To limit the size of a soda you can buy from the 7 Eleven, no trans fat, and kids can’t take certain foods to school. Forget education and personal responsibility, we need the government to tell us what we can eat too. Sounds a little like the solution to our mass killing problem. Make it smaller and harder to use and it won’t happen anymore.

If only that kid (I don’t want to say his name as a way of snubbing him from fame) had been fat I would have made the argument that being physically active has been linked to better mental health.

With the recent supreme court ruling on Obamacare the government probably has enough taxing power to implement it. No offense to you big boned people out there and no worries because I’m pretty sure we won’t see it in our lifetime. Not with all those obese voters.

I became an NRA member when I got my pistol permit. I let it laps after the first year. I currently have my hunting license. The state brings all of the bears that they remove from more populated parts of the state and lets them go in various parts of my town. Now we have a bear population problem. They go through screen doors and into houses on occasion and are pretty brave in general. I’ve heard rumors of a bear hunting season in CT but as of right now its only legal in MA. I guess people crashing into them with their cars and poaching only off sets their numbers so much. Then again it’s the moose I REALLY worry about hitting but maybe I’m just paranoid.

Nature IS beautiful and bear tastes delicious.

Actually, the comparison of guns needing more guns and food solving obesity is sort of a good comparison.

People need to be far more educated on guns, so they can make INFORMED decisions. I have no problem with someone who does not like guns. I have a problem with someone who wants to make the choice for me.

By the way, I own no guns. (ok, fine, I have a pellet rifle for target plinking)

Obesity IS similar. People need to be educated and frankly, beated into their heads they CANT blame the food. Its NOT the pizza's fault. Its not understanding their are consequences to what you shovel into your body... without adequate exercise. If people could be taught and brought up with this concept (like going back to MAKING people have PE, teaching them about nutrition earlier in school, doctors talking about it from an early age, etc) I think there would be FAR less fat people bloating about.

So, for guns, if people learned how they operated, maybe fired a rifle or something, and then went on with their life, I think it would be easier for them to make decisions without being based in fear. Its quite easy to say "BUT GUNS KILL SO EASILY!" and want to ban them. But is it really the guns fault?

Is it the food's?

No.


All in all, this society is so fucking retarded and politically correct that everything is fucked 6 ways from sunda. What people here need is more education... actual education, not classrooms teaching how to pass tests. People need to be given A's AND F's. Ice cream ISN'T for everyone. Not everyone CAN or DESERVES to win. Oh you tried hard? Well, be happy with second, third, or forth place.

If we were a society of rational minded people again who weren't fucking retarded who want to buy the cheapest solution they can, the easiest pill to swallow, or the easiest law to pass to "fix" something... we wouldnt have this problem.

---

Welcome to the cult of JVL drink the koolaid or be banned.

Morten. Do you eat chicken? If so do you have ANY idea what those creatures go through (literally living hell) before they reach your grocery store? Eggs? Any idea the hell that egg layers go through? Pigs? Cows?
I'm not saying any of it is right. I went vegan several years ago for health reasons and NOT for the animal cruelty side. I have become a fairly good ultra distance runner, and diet is part of the reason. But since I made the switch I learned a lot about the mass cruelty that is our animal agriculture system, and it solidified my reasons for maintaining the way of life.
Most people don't know or don't care. I don't hold it against them. Nobody is a saint, and you cant live that ethos without being a hypocrit somewhere.. but think about it before you throw stones at Gene for dispatching rabbits. Every person who grabs a pack of deli meat is guilty/complicit in far greater cruelty.

JVL. Nice response. I agree! Kids can be cruel, and they most likely were cruel to Adam Lanza.

Had a great time at the local range with some very stable fighter pilot friends and wives. .22lr semi automatic rifle FTW. Put all rounds through a quarter sized circle at 20 yards iron sight.

Have you ever met such a strange guy as me? Fiscal conservative vegan non hunting gun enthusiast pilot running rally guy!

Quote
frumby
Morten. Do you eat chicken? If so do you have ANY idea what those creatures go through (literally living hell) before they reach your grocery store? Eggs? Any idea the hell that egg layers go through? Pigs? Cows?
I'm not saying any of it is right. I went vegan several years ago for health reasons and NOT for the animal cruelty side. I have become a fairly good ultra distance runner, and diet is part of the reason. But since I made the switch I learned a lot about the mass cruelty that is our animal agriculture system, and it solidified my reasons for maintaining the way of life.

Have you ever met such a strange guy as me? Fiscal conservative vegan non hunting gun enthusiast pilot running rally guy!

Hi Frumby,

Yes I struggle and I've spent years being vegetarian, vegan, and omnivore at various times.

Factory farming is cruel and if anyone doubts it, watch the movie "Earthlings".

I eat grass fed, free range, organic when ever possible.

I don't grab meat from the deli counter, it's full of sodium nitrate, made from the left over meats, and usually has a high fat content.

Since you've made the comparison of "home defense" animal killing and factory farming both having elements of extreme cruelty. One is sadly born into the human foold chain where the other is killed due to tresspass.

I think it's hardly a comparrison.

One is doomed from birth where the other is born free and looking for food.

Morten,
2 shots with the pellet gun to dispatch the 'possum. First one pretty well took it out. If I had known what was out there I'd have grabbed a .22 . Why didn't I call my dog off? Hard to do with a Bassett hound and a doggy door. I have a small fenced yard and 2.5 acres. My land is cleared and mowed. There is a creek nearby and we've seen several possum dead in the road a 1/4 mile away. How the 'possum got in the wire meshed fence is a mystery. First one in 12 years. They are a pest, same as the rabbits. Both can carry rabies and most certainly attract coyotes and that is my big concern. The neighbors across the road have had issues with racoons and coyotes both. We have two smallish dogs and a cat with a bad ticker. I'm sorry you get upset over such things. I've never been the fly wing pulling type but shooting a pest, deer, duck, rat has never bothered me. We have deer in the yard thru out the summer and they are no bother other than eating the small trees. We enjoy watching them. You probably don't want to hear about the starlings...

I read an interesting article yesterday.

I do online trading as a hobby (with very little money). When AMR Corp (American Airlines Parent Company) filed for bankruptcy protection I bought some stock. The stock is currently trading at 450% of what I paid.

I don't feel guilty throwing money at a losing company because it needed it.

I would never invest based on this article I read:

Statistically after mass shootings in the US (this according to the article), the stocks in some firearm manufacturers drops because pension funds, major investors, etc distance themselves from the companies. This results in sudden dumps of stock and the subsequent stock value declines. (*buy*)

As a result of a traggic shooting, people get paranoid, and the sale of firearms increase. By the time the next quarter rolls around, the companies are posting higher proffits and guess what... the stocks rebounds in value. (*sell*)

Gross to think of people profiting from a horrific tragedy like Sandy Hook!!!

7 rabbits can produce enough food to feed a family of four.

---

Grant Hughes

Morten... Thread creep I know. But look. The whole Doomed from birth and living free thing doesnt sit well with me. An animal born into our agriculture system didnt choose that. Is its life worth less? Or worthless? How would that animal feel about that? For most of our human existence we we're lucky to get enough calories, and it was a fool who questioned where the food came from. Now we have the luxury of being able to choose. I'm not tooting my horn here. I'm an average little 37 year old white guy... But my athletic performance is improving. Top results (third twice and fifth once) in really tough mountain races of over 100 miles 162km. My point is that with a few tweaks a meat free diet can be very healthy and even performance enhancing.
The deli meat thing was an example. The point is that if you're going to call out Gene (a good guy) for shooting opossum or rabbits then you ought to be waking through the stores with 'murder' stickers to put on all the meat! That being said, if the subject is broached with respect and the correct tone I think it doesn't hurt. Anyone with an open mind should at least consider the point.

This thread is hilarious. We're quite a collection of unique individuals here, and we can all learn from each other.

Merry Christmas!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/24/2012 02:05AM by RWD4ME.

Vegan is potentially unhealthy in my opinion. I used to be what I called commercial meat veg which meant all organic. That got too pricey but now I only buy red meat and pork locally where I know guy who butchers them and where they come from. Chicken we get from a friend. Coop might show up at rally shop this spring for eggs and goats for milk and eventually maybe some rabbits and a pig. Well are...

---

Grant Hughes

Quote
RWD4ME
.....I am with Jens, I don't like killing. I have compassion towards all living things, and would my family would have to be physically threatened without any way out before I resorted to lethal force.
.......

Well perhaps I overstated it a bit.

I'm in farmland, and in the late spring some farmers spread chicken crap or cow crap or god knows what. Mostly the odor is tolerable, but the damn flies that come with them by the thousands aren't. Not only do I kill the flies with flypaper, I whack those damn things with a swatter. They land on food, in glasses, etc, etc., and I have to cover any food. This happens roughly two times a year.

Also in the fall and through the winter I trap mice like they are going out of style. Most die in the traps; some don't. Those still alive are taken out in the trap and I chop them in half with a hatchet, throw away the trap, and leave the bodies. Something usually comes along within a day or two and takes them. When I first moved here several years ago I was horrified by the whole thing, but now it's just another day in farmland. I tried poisons, but they left dead rotting, stinking bodies under things and in walls etc.

This past summer I suddenly had some much larger crap showing up in the garage for a few days. Not knowing what I was about to deal with I purchased a couple of rat traps, and just incase I caught something large and hostile I bought some .45 ACP shot shells. Perhaps it/they caught the vibe. It/they stopped crapping anywhere I could find.

Actually it is time for my daily ritual of checking the traps in the basement and out in the garage......

Quote
frumby
.......

Had a great time at the local range with some very stable fighter pilot friends and wives. .22lr semi automatic rifle FTW. Put all rounds through a quarter sized circle at 20 yards iron sight.

Have you ever met such a strange guy as me? Fiscal conservative vegan non hunting gun enthusiast pilot running rally guy!

I have yet to meet a rallyist who the majority would consider "normal". We (me in the past tense) drive like maniacs through forests, near the edges of cliffs, past giant rocks, etc. There ain't nuthin' sane about that.

Quote
MarkHille
......The state brings all of the bears that they remove from more populated parts of the state and lets them go in various parts of my town. Now we have a bear population problem. They go through screen doors and into houses on occasion and are pretty brave in general. ......

Nature IS beautiful.....

Not asking you exactly what town, but roughly where? All friggin' summer the media was talking about Bears west of the CT river showing up in people's garages, houses, etc. I'm about 15 minutes east of Willimantic, and I haven't had any issues with bears...... yet. My wife kept bugging me to put up bird feeders for years, but I refused because I didn't want to attract anything. After all the bear sightings this year in western CT my wife stopped bugging me about bird feeders.

Speaking of nature being beautiful. We have coyotes around here. In the summer I really enjoy listening to them howl. It gets old after a while, but they are far enough away that it isn't loud.

Also, we have many breeding large hawks here. They are fun to watch in the summer when they are hunting. I wish I had a camera this summer when I saw one swoop down about 50' away, pick up something large (giant rabbit? groundhog?) and I watched it struggling to rise into the air. It flew for probably 200' about 2' off the ground before it could start slowly gaining altitude. Reminded me of a heavily loaded Galaxy C5A.

Which reminds me it is trap time here also. They got in our 5th wheel last year. Nasty, nasty little creatures. Last week alone I did about $700 in repairs to two customer cars from mice damage. Chipmunks are nearly as bad. People with outside dogs, I've taken literaly a gallon of dog food out of a heater core on a Caravan. They love eating the insulation on Ford fuel injector wiring. Wierd.


They make shot shells for a 45ACP? I have them for .22 and .38.

Yup we're a doofy bunch but I wouldn't trade any of you guys for two more just like ya!

Quote
heymagic
......
They make shot shells for a 45ACP? I have them for .22 and .38.

....quote]

Yup. CCI brand (don't know if there are others). Bought them at a local country gun store. (10 round box for $15 this past summer). Didn't want to use bullets .22 or .45 (let alone 5.56) due to possible damage, and also incase the critter was moving around making a clean shot difficult.

They told me I would have to manually cycle the gun, but they cycled perfectly in a Springfield Armory XDS which has a steep feed ramp and heavy recoil springs. For my needs manually cycling would have been fine. Did not try them in my Colt Gold Cup 1911.

I tried 2 rounds into cardboard from 6' and 12'. They produced a good pattern out of a 3.3" barrel. Some day I'll get around to trying them into wood (wood stairs in garage/barn where the crap was) and off concrete at angle to see the amount of damage they might produce if I need to use them. Of course this will be a controlled experiment with safety glasses, etc, etc, to avoid damaging me and stuff in my garage.

With any luck the thing is gone and won't be back.