Interesting thing about the 2nd amendment.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

They tend to destroy what they don't understand. Which could be almost anything.

Shit, yes.  If John Wayne was ever able to reach across time, he'd have pistol-whipped Jefferson to death for being a liberal hippie.

I tried to explain Separation of Church and State and the religious philosophy of the founding fathers to a Texan bagger yesterday.

He countered with LALALALALA NOT LISTENING FOX FOX FOX BILL O'REILLY GABBA GABBA FUCK, of course. 

You can't argue with mythology, Stella.  And why even bother?  Every time I talk to a teabagger, I get a little dumber.  It's not worth it.

[Juana]

I dunno. I don't really think Lincoln's assassination was a bad thing on the long run. We'd never have gotten the Thirteenth and Fourteenth amendments he'd have lived, since that was Radical Republicans' idea and he was not keen on either the faction or (eta: or would have been) the amendments as he thought(eta:/would have thought) they were too extreme. I don't think Post Reconstruction would have ultimately been any different and the color line would have still be ruthlessly enforced, if not more harshly. The Radical Republicans actually sort of cared about the newly freed population, though, and Lincoln had enough clout (which, Jackson, his VP, didn't when he tried to carry out Lincoln's intended program) to have stopped it.
/historical tangent


Anyway, these are all good and very interesting points.

Thing is, any nation who would make owning firearms a constitutional - rather than a statuatory - right, is by definition a country in which the inmates run the asylum.

I'm not sure I'd have it any other way.  My country is pathologically insane, but somehow it still works.

For now, I suspect.

They tend to destroy what they don't understand. Which could be almost anything.

Shit, yes.  If John Wayne was ever able to reach across time, he'd have pistol-whipped Jefferson to death for being a liberal hippie.

I tried to explain Separation of Church and State and the religious philosophy of the founding fathers to a Texan bagger yesterday.

He countered with LALALALALA NOT LISTENING FOX FOX FOX BILL O'REILLY GABBA GABBA FUCK, of course. 

Ain't that always the way?


And yeah it really has become mythology. Bootstraps and GUNS GUARANTEE MAH FREEDOM. Two things you'll never be able to persuade most Americans are wrong.

[Mangrove]

1920 Firearms Act started it off, really, though there was some pistol legislation in 1903.

Basically, post-WWI fear of social unrest, Communism and crime led to the need for licences to buy firearms, and to provide reasons for wanting them.

Thank you, sir!

I did wonder if this was connected to WWI.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

And yeah it really has become mythology. Bootstraps and GUNS GUARANTEE MAH FREEDOM. Two things you'll never be able to persuade most Americans are wrong.

I support gun ownership for entirely different reasons:

1.  They're FUN.

2.  An armed country is by definition a dangerous country...And "safe" is a BAD condition for primates.  So, while everything else becomes safer, we should at least keep THAT hazard around.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

They tend to destroy what they don't understand. Which could be almost anything.

Shit, yes.  If John Wayne was ever able to reach across time, he'd have pistol-whipped Jefferson to death for being a liberal hippie.

I tried to explain Separation of Church and State and the religious philosophy of the founding fathers to a Texan bagger yesterday.

He countered with LALALALALA NOT LISTENING FOX FOX FOX BILL O'REILLY GABBA GABBA FUCK, of course. 

You can't argue with mythology, Stella.  And why even bother?  Every time I talk to a teabagger, I get a little dumber.  It's not worth it.

I know. I just wanted to watch him turn purple.

If I do this and one of them gets an aneurysm, am I immune from prosecution? 

[LMNO]

And yeah it really has become mythology. Bootstraps and GUNS GUARANTEE MAH FREEDOM. Two things you'll never be able to persuade most Americans are wrong.

I support gun ownership for entirely different reasons:

1.  They're FUN.

2.  An armed country is by definition a dangerous country...And "safe" is a BAD condition for primates.  So, while everything else becomes safer, we should at least keep THAT hazard around.

I would add to that the very reasonable "hunt your food" argument, although that argument doesn't make a good case for assault rifles and such.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

They tend to destroy what they don't understand. Which could be almost anything.

Shit, yes.  If John Wayne was ever able to reach across time, he'd have pistol-whipped Jefferson to death for being a liberal hippie.

I tried to explain Separation of Church and State and the religious philosophy of the founding fathers to a Texan bagger yesterday.

He countered with LALALALALA NOT LISTENING FOX FOX FOX BILL O'REILLY GABBA GABBA FUCK, of course. 

You can't argue with mythology, Stella.  And why even bother?  Every time I talk to a teabagger, I get a little dumber.  It's not worth it.

I know. I just wanted to watch him turn purple.

If I do this and one of them gets an aneurysm, am I immune from prosecution? 

Yeah, pretty sure that falls under "protected speech".

[The Good Reverend Roger]

And yeah it really has become mythology. Bootstraps and GUNS GUARANTEE MAH FREEDOM. Two things you'll never be able to persuade most Americans are wrong.

I support gun ownership for entirely different reasons:

1.  They're FUN.

2.  An armed country is by definition a dangerous country...And "safe" is a BAD condition for primates.  So, while everything else becomes safer, we should at least keep THAT hazard around.

I would add to that the very reasonable "hunt your food" argument, although that argument doesn't make a good case for assault rifles and such.

1.  The 2nd amendment has never been about hunting.

2.  Balls.  I am FAR more accurate with an assault rifle, on account of the pistol grip.  Also, they don't fill the animal with buckshot, and they still kill quicker (ever chase a wounded deer?).  They're a perfect weapon for hunting.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Another fun thing to point out to teabaggers is this:  Suppose the government DID care about said teabagger (or his guns) enough to come after him.  Are they going to come for him at his house, at 5 PM?  Or is more likely that they'll just grab his ass at the grocery store when he has his hands full, or at the bar where he can't bring his gun (and he's too drunk to do anything)?

If they DID come for him, they'd do that, and he'd go along quietly.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

Another fun thing to point out to teabaggers is this:  Suppose the government DID care about said teabagger (or his guns) enough to come after him.  Are they going to come for him at his house, at 5 PM?  Or is more likely that they'll just grab his ass at the grocery store when he has his hands full, or at the bar where he can't bring his gun (and he's too drunk to do anything)?

If they DID come for him, they'd do that, and he'd go along quietly.

Saving that one. The coup de grâce. 

[Pergamos]

Let me expand on that. 

Okay, so we have this huge population, and we have about one gun per two people.  This obviously makes for a potentially dangerous situation.

But if Jon Q Public can be controlled anyway, by popular media and pre-packaged, shrink-wrapped "resistance movements" provided by the same people fucking John Q Public, then the potential danger is meaningless.

Think of it this way...My dog is HUGE, and is perfectly capable of ripping me literally limb from limb.  However, there's no danger, because my dog is incapable of forming the intent to do me harm.  It not only doesn't occur to him, it CAN'T occur to him.  It's simply not in his mental framework.

So nuts with guns?  They're a danger to you and I...Recent events have proven as much.  But a danger to the government?  Not even close.

It's actually even more than that, we have 88 guns per 100 people.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Let me expand on that. 

Okay, so we have this huge population, and we have about one gun per two people.  This obviously makes for a potentially dangerous situation.

But if Jon Q Public can be controlled anyway, by popular media and pre-packaged, shrink-wrapped "resistance movements" provided by the same people fucking John Q Public, then the potential danger is meaningless.

Think of it this way...My dog is HUGE, and is perfectly capable of ripping me literally limb from limb.  However, there's no danger, because my dog is incapable of forming the intent to do me harm.  It not only doesn't occur to him, it CAN'T occur to him.  It's simply not in his mental framework.

So nuts with guns?  They're a danger to you and I...Recent events have proven as much.  But a danger to the government?  Not even close.

It's actually even more than that, we have 88 guns per 100 people.

Are you counting cops and the military?

[Pergamos]

no.  I got the numbers off Wikipedia, and it's civilian guns.  That deosn't include the military, I don't think it includes cops.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

no.  I got the numbers off Wikipedia, and it's civilian guns.  That deosn't include the military, I don't think it includes cops.

Wow.  That's AMAZING.     I'd heard 50%.  We can't afford to give poor people medical treatment, but boy howdy, can we arm up!

[Reginald Ret]

I'm pretty sure that number includes children.
You may just have more civilian owned guns than able bodied adults in your country.