Dealing with evil everyday is the reason why. The same goes for being in a theater of war for a very lengthy time. Not everyone deals with it as well as they could.

JUST because you have a firearm does not make it the same thing. Your TWISTED and STRANGE logic is still twisted and strange.

You hate, you hate what you have no idea about. And you talk about things that you have no idea about because you hate, you flame because of the same reasons.

Ignorance and arrogance do indeed walk hand in hand. The best way to change things is to remove your ignorance and arrogance. To do that you need to be informed and the only way to be informed is to LOOK at both sides of the story as if they could be correct, then after that chose from full knowledge of both sides. If anything from the last few posts you have fully shown that you know NOTHING of said subject other then what has been hand fed to you.

Another way is to drop ethics and embrace morals. Remove yourself from...

Stating my wife's and my opinion:

Properly licensed, we respect everyone's right to have a handgun (for personal protection) or a rifle (for hunting). In no way do we feel people have any need to own any type of assault rifle.

---

I own the civilian version the AR-14, AR-15, and AK-47. The civilian versions are semi-automatic, and I have used them for deer hunting in the state to my left. Know the difference. These are tools for my hobbies of target shooting. Much like an open face reel is a tool for fishing. I also own MANY types of shotguns for hunting and target shooting. I own many, many hand firearms. They too are for target shooting. I own a German Luger that my Grandfather took from Germany, that will never, ever be given up but from my cold dead hands with a huge pile of brass all around me.

I defend my home with a semi-auto shotgun 16 inch barrel with OOO Buckshot. It has a trigger lock and my wife is just as good at it as I am--if not better.

We are not victims. We are Masters of our own home. Now that conceal carry will be part of our state we will not be victims in public. Refer to Guy's last post here..........

Also....all of these stats I'm getting from you people are wrong. We have over 300,000,000 people in this Country. Your stats are wrong when applied to my Country. 35 million up north of us...

Rather than offering ways to make these mass killings fewer, ID argues to keep his armory. That does not seem to me to be constructive.

It is counterproductive. He is arguing that the Feds should come to his house and collect his guns, however he can't see that is what he is doing. A can't see the forest for the trees problem.

---

http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=70282&postid=1316695
VW Bobier wrote:

Here's something I found, there's more at the link below.


5 Lies The Gun Lobby Tells You

MYTH #1: More guns don’t lead to more murders.
MYTH #2: The Second Amendment prohibits strict gun control.
MYTH #3: State-level gun controls haven’t worked.
MYTH #4: We only need better enforcement of the laws we have, not new laws.
MYTH #5: Sensible gun regulation is prohibitively unpopular.

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/5-lies-gun-lobby-tells-you

http://www.alternet.org/about

AlterNet’s aim is to inspire action and advocacy ... Our aim is to stimulate, inform, and instigate.

At least they admit they publish opinion as fact, unlike faux ...

---

Rather than offering ways to make these mass killings fewer, ID argues to keep his armory. That does not seem to me to be constructive.

It is counterproductive. He is arguing that the Feds should come to his house and collect his guns, however he can't see that is what he is doing. A can't see the forest for the trees problem.

The list of guns he has is rather alarming, especially when you consider his temperament.

---

Reality Internet Personality

I own the civilian version the AR-14, AR-15, and AK-47. The civilian versions are semi-automatic, and I have used them for deer hunting in the state to my left. Know the difference. These are tools for my hobbies of target shooting. Much like an open face reel is a tool for fishing. I also own MANY types of shotguns for hunting and target shooting. I own many, many hand firearms. They too are for target shooting. I own a German Luger that my Grandfather took from Germany, that will never, ever be given up but from my cold dead hands with a huge pile of brass all around me.

I defend my home with a semi-auto shotgun 16 inch barrel with OOO Buckshot. It has a trigger lock and my wife is just as good at it as I am--if not better.

We are not victims. We are Masters of our own home. Now that conceal carry will be part of our state we will not be victims in public. Refer to Guy's last post here..........

I may be for the ban, but that is not on existing weapons, just on some parts and features, at least I'd hope, as I'm for the ban that Clinton signed and that I believe Congresswoman Pelosi and Senator Feinstein are introducing, and this time it should be permanent, NRA or no NRA. Now I was trained to use an M16, in either semi or full automatic mode, if a target moved I could hit it, more than 1 popped up I could dispatch them 1, 2, 3 or as long as the ammo held out from 50m to about 1190m, I'd tried for 1200m once(good enough for the Riflemans badge, as that's nearly the minimum snipers range from what I've read), but the bullet fell short by less than 1m, this was about 34 years ago, I was an Army Marksman and that was with an Army issue M16, these rifles will jam if not maintained properly, like dirt and rust. I know what the bullets do, their designed to do damage and not exit the body and so they cause internal damage inside the human body, being animals are bigger I'd rather have something with more stopping power Myself and a bolt action with a telescopic sight and small 6 round magazine should be plenty. Now I admit that it's not the same as when someone is shooting back at one and last I looked deer and such don't shoot, but if they get close enough, that hat rack is not mere decoration, some have found that out the hard way. If I were hunting I'd rather use a longer range high powered rifle with a scope, like a .308, instead of a .223 round, if I needed to hunt and if I were still capable. Oh and I do not feel the need to own a firearm, if I had to own one though, I'd rather have an AK47 or a CA legal derivative and I think there is one for CA, as they can be fired no matter how dirty they get...

---

The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=70282&postid=1316695
VW Bobier wrote:

Here's something I found, there's more at the link below.


5 Lies The Gun Lobby Tells You

MYTH #1: More guns don’t lead to more murders.
MYTH #2: The Second Amendment prohibits strict gun control.
MYTH #3: State-level gun controls haven’t worked.
MYTH #4: We only need better enforcement of the laws we have, not new laws.
MYTH #5: Sensible gun regulation is prohibitively unpopular.

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/5-lies-gun-lobby-tells-you

http://www.alternet.org/about

AlterNet’s aim is to inspire action and advocacy ... Our aim is to stimulate, inform, and instigate.

At least they admit they publish opinion as fact, unlike faux ...

Yep, couldn't agree more Gary.

---

The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

Guy The Great and The Only One Here Besides I.D., with sense, Posted The Below, From a link:

"Cowardice" and "self-respect" have largely disappeared from public discourse.

In their place we are offered "self-esteem" as the bellwether of success and a proxy for dignity.

"Self-respect" implies that one recognizes standards, and judges oneself worthy by the degree to which one lives up to them.

"Self-esteem" simply means that one feels good about oneself.

"Dignity" used to refer to the self-mastery and fortitude with which a person conducted himself in the face of life's vicissitudes and the boorish behavior of others.

Now, judging by campus speech codes, dignity requires that we never encounter a discouraging word and that others be coerced into acting respectfully, evidently on the assumption that we are powerless to prevent our degradation if exposed to the demeaning behavior of others.

These are sign posts proclaiming the insubstantiality of our character, the hollowness of our souls.

Crime is rampant because the law-abiding, each of us, condone it, excuse it, permit it, submit to it. We permit and encourage it because we do not fight back, immediately, then and there, where it happens.

...most people readily believe that the existence of the police relieves them of the responsibility to take full measures to protect themselves

...numerous courts have held, they (the police) have no legal obligation to protect anyone in particular.

"Call for a cop, call for an ambulance, and call for a pizza. See who shows up first."

Is your life worth protecting? If so, whose responsibility is it to protect it?

One who values his life and takes seriously his responsibilities to his family and community will possess and cultivate the means of fighting back, and will retaliate when threatened with death or grievous injury to himself or a loved one. He will never be content to rely solely on others for his safety, or to think he has done all that is possible by being aware of his surroundings and taking measures of avoidance. Let's not mince words: He will be armed, will be trained in the use of his weapon, and will defend himself when faced with lethal violence.

(ATF) statistics, fully 90 percent of violent crimes are committed without a handgun, and 93 percent of the guns obtained by violent criminals are not obtained through the lawful purchase and sale transactions that are the object of most gun control legislation.

As criminologist and constitutional lawyer Don B. Kates, Jr. and former HCI contributor Dr. Patricia Harris have pointed out, "[s]tudies consistently show that, on the average, gun owners are better educated and have more prestigious jobs than non-owners....

Florida State University criminologist Gary Kleck, using surveys and other data, has determined that armed citizens defend their lives or property with firearms against criminals approximately 1 million times a year. In 98 percent of these instances, the citizen merely brandishes the weapon or fires a warning shot. Only in 2 percent of the cases do citizens actually shoot their assailants. In defending themselves with their firearms, armed citizens kill 2,000 to 3,000 criminals each year, three times the number killed by the police. A nationwide study by Kates, the constitutional lawyer and criminologist, found that only 2 percent of civilian shootings involved an innocent person mistakenly identified as a criminal. The "error rate" for the police, however, was 11 percent, over five times as high.

It is simply not possible to square the numbers above and the experience of Florida with the notions that honest, law-abiding gun owners are borderline psychopaths itching for an excuse to shoot someone, vigilantes eager to seek out and summarily execute the lawless, or incompetent fools incapable of determining when it is proper to use lethal force in defense of their lives.

The possession of arms by the people is the ultimate warrant that government governs only with the consent of the governed.

The failure of our conservative elite to defend the Second Amendment stems in great measure from an overestimation of the power of the rights set forth in the First Amendment,

In United States v. Cruikshank (1876), the first case in which the Court had an opportunity to interpret the Second Amendment, it stated that the right confirmed by the Second Amendment "is not a right granted by the constitution. Neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence."

DEMON...Ballistic Powered and HOT

---

May we All have a METAMORPHOSIS. REASON. GOoD JUDGEMENT and LOVE and ORDER!!!!!

Just shows what sort of person you are, and probably a bad marksman, if you have to use assault rifles to go hunting.
Haven't you noticed there are rifles called hunting rifles.

And you don't go target shooting with shotguns, shotguts just spread lead around and hit anything within a large area.
The sport for shotguns is clay pigeon shooting.

This is what you should be using for target shooting.

Agreed on all points WinterKnight.

---

The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

A bit of time has passed. Not enough for the pain to ease, but enough that I can state my views.
I have stated them, probably almost verbatim, before.
But I shall reprise.

I have been a Life Member of the NRA for going on some 35 years.
I do not hunt for sport.
I do not presently own a gun, but have in the past.
I may again soon.
And I have no problem with regulating 'assault type weapons'. They are not necessary for hunting or local self defense.

The reason I have been a member of the NRA is that I staunchly support the constitutional right given to us by our founding fathers for the legal citizenry to bear arms to defend ourselves.

At the time, that right was written into the constitution not so much as to allow honest citizens to defend themselves against criminals, but more to allow them to defend themselves against any governmental action that would impinge upon their freedom and liberties. We had just defended our freedom and liberties against those we had fled.

As times have changed, the direction of that right has been turned to self defense against the criminal element, sad to say.
But, what the government wants right now is for you to forget what the primary reason for the right is.
And that is to allow the citizens to protect themselves from the government.

Friends, citizens, countrymen. Do not EVER let them take that right away from you. If they do, it shall be time once again to bear arms against the government.

And I pray that shall never again in this country's history be necessary.

---

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

I think the right to bear guns is probably too ingrained into the American public to much to change very much. They might be able to tighten some laws, but the general public wouldn't accept much more. Criminals and those intent on getting guns will always get them, one way or another. But I have to agree that the private arsenals of some people here are worrying.

Chris....
I hope you understand my reasons for reiterating the true reasons the right to bear arms in this country exists.

And it has nothing to do with the current sorrows. But everything to do with the current administration.

---

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

I think the right to bear guns is probably too ingrained into the American public to much to change very much. They might be able to tighten some laws, but the general public wouldn't accept much more. Criminals and those intent on getting guns will always get them, one way or another. But I have to agree that the private arsenals of some people here are worrying.

Thankfully there are no Private Armies to go along with those arsenals, but collectors like to collect stuff and as long as they aren't doing more than legal activities, I have no objection. whereas I don't think most people need a magazine size that's beyond 10 rounds, a flash suppressor, a muzzle break and I doubt civilians need a bayonet lug either. I'd looked up the price of a CA legal Colt M4 'rifle' out of curiosity and as of June 2012 that was $1,404.00 according to the pdf from Colt and no I don't know what shipping is to CA, it might be free at that price and I didn't check if they charged CA sales tax or not(50/50 chance there)... Not like I really want one, I'm too into PCs really, the M16 was once part of a job description as I had to be proficient with one and I was not merely proficient, it came fairly easy for Me and it didn't matter if I used My right side or My left side, I could shoot equally well either way and at long range too(up to about 1150m), moving or not, I'd need only 1 shot to knock down a target, I'd tried for 1200m, but the rounds fell short of the target with the Army spec M16 rifle that I was using back then, so I have a Marksmans badge w/Grenade and not a blue Riflemans badge. Mom said I have tunnel vision, years later the psychiatrist said I have concentration problems, basically what My Mother said and Mom knew this years before the Army had Me and years before the I saw the psychiatrist...

---

The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

WE still get gun massacres despite our gun laws.

Chris......
That is part of what I am saying. And you have recognized it.
Our gun laws are NOT the biggest part of what has gone on here. Nor are they the solution.

It is the general downfall of society, what our youth has been taught, or not taught, about morals and such. The whole premise that 'we cannot spank our children' because that's abuse.
Horseshit.
Liberal minded horseshit.

---

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

WE still get gun massacres despite our gun laws.

Chris......
That is part of what I am saying. And you have recognized it.
Our gun laws are NOT the biggest part of what has gone on here. Nor are they the solution.

It is the general downfall of society, what our youth has been taught, or not taught, about morals and such. The whole premise that 'we cannot spank our children' because that's abuse.
Horseshit.
Liberal minded horseshit.

Well here's something Mark, I don't think strangers should spank any child without written consent, nor should a parent do this with more than their hand, using a belt or a paddle I do not like, both instill fear in a child and yes I got spanked once without My Mothers permission by school district officials and the school district wide policy was that they needed permission to do so first and My Mother said no to giving permission, yet they did that anyway, so I dropped out of school, I later got a GED. My Dad used a belt of course, Mom complained that He was getting more and more strict(She also said He'd changed after coming home from WWII), She later divorced Him after He started to push Her around too much(She only stayed married to Dad cause of Me She said), one day He pushed too hard and She got hurt as She fell into a coffee table, She was lucky they were only minor cuts, after that I was tired of hearing the arguments, I asked nicely if they could quit that as I couldn't sleep when they did that, Mom was ok with stopping, Dad though didn't like Me asking that and turned towards Me and wanted to use the belt on Me and being I was 5'10.5" tall I said No, do not or I'll deck You, He advanced, I decked Him and told Him not to bother Mom or Me again, He did what I said and I did not like doing that, I'm not a violent guy really, bit of an introvert really.

Note: Dad and I didn't always disagree, She couldn't handle alcohol, halfway through a hard alcoholic drink She went out like a light was switched off(that was the one and only time He took Her out to dinner, as He had to carry Her to the car and then into the house), but this was a few years before He was divorced from Mom. Mom drank a up to a point when Her system could tolerate only so much alcohol and out She went, whether it was hard alcohol or white wine, wine would just take longer and then at some point She could go Jekyll and Hyde and get a bit mean, I wished She didn't drink and I know why She did, part of it was over sex or the lack cause of an operation and part of it was over money, plus She drove Dad away and He didn't help any, both of them needed help, both refused... Years later She told Me that She realized that she had a drinking problem, but that it was too late, days later, She was deceased, Her heart gave out one night in the Hospital and to this day I've never buried Her ashes, too expensive and that would cost more than $1,500.00 to do so and that I can't do either, I asked once and without a headstone it would have been about $3,000.00, My relatives would rather scatter Her ashes, I do not(they buried My Brother), so She stays here in limbo with Me. Years later We patched things up before it was too late and He was My friend once more, Cancer got Him a few years later though.

---

The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

Mr. VW Bobier:

Please DO NOT use My Thread as A Personal Journal Entry.

Thank You.

No, I could not use PM, because Mr. VW Bobier has me blocked.

DEMON...HOT and Bothered.

---

May we All have a METAMORPHOSIS. REASON. GOoD JUDGEMENT and LOVE and ORDER!!!!!

Maybe this horrendous incident is a turning point.

Newtown shooting: Cerberus to sell stake in firearms company Freedom

US private equity firm bows to pressure from California's teachers' pension funds, saying the massacre was a 'watershed moment' in the gun control debate

A US private equity firm is selling off its stakes in the firearms company that made the AR-15 rifle Adam Lanza used to shoot dead 20 children in a primary school last week.