BillFitzmaurice.info

bassmonster wrote: I think I'm pretty considerate with my music listening habits

As am I. It sounds to me like your parents did a damn good job of teaching you right from wrong and how to act in public. And you can personally tell them I said that!
And a big thanks to you for being responsible and considerate of others around you. This world needs a lot more of this.

We cannot conceal weapons, no such permit...

As to the story, the guy is crazy. Heck he didn't even stay after the shooting. You will always have a small percentage of problems like this, but I'd rather have the freedom to carry a weapon than have to hope a police officer shows up to protect me. Legally, they are not required to save or even protect you as some court cases have confirmed.

I have my CCW and usually carry. Most of the time my carry weapon is a small Ruger LCP .380. I've never had to pull my gun and hope I never have to. In my state, Kentucky, you can actually open carry your weapon if you want to. You'd get some weird looks and be stopped by the police a lot though. Only place I have open carried is Red River Gorge state park. Kind of interesting having an a shotgun loaded up with slugs and strapped across your back while you hike/fish/walk around.

I'm not a gun collector but I have some pretty decent weapons. I actually kind of have to have a decent smattering of guns due to making custom rifle stocks. Colt AR sp6920, heavily modified mosin nagant target rifle, ruger lcp, springfield xdm 45, Ruger SR22 (Love it!), pump shotguns, semi-auto shotgun, over/under shotgun for clays, .338 lapua savage modified rifle for long distance shooting. I press my own rounds for the rifles so I can shoot cheaply. I do hunt but only use a compound bow and avoid doing any hunting on days when modern rifles are allowed.
For those of you that are Australian, my family is second generation from Melbourne. Whenever my cousins/family come over the first thing they want to do is go out to the private range and shoot. Most had never fired a gun before visiting and some of their thoughts on gun control appeared to soften afterwords.

gene wrote: Most had never fired a gun before visiting and some of their thoughts on gun control appeared to soften afterwords.

Gun control isn't the issue. People control is, as in keeping guns out of the hands of those who shouldn't have them. That doesn't mean screwballs won't still kill people, but I've never heard of anyone armed with a crossbow massacring even six people, let alone dozens.

Bill Fitzmaurice wrote:Gun control isn't the issue. People control is, as in keeping guns out of the hands of those who shouldn't have them. That doesn't mean screwballs won't still kill people, but I've never heard of anyone armed with a crossbow massacring even six people, let alone dozens.

Criminals are gonna always find ways to get guns. It's illegal for them to have a gun now and it doesn't stop them. There are too many guns out in the wild in this country already to put the genie back in the bottle even if every gun was made illegal. Not to mention the fact that they are not hard to make using a mill
True, you can kill someone easier with a gun than a knife/crossbow/etc, but the flip argument would be if everyone was armed, you wouldn't get very far in your massacre (usually. I'm sure there would be exceptions).

I'm a Libertarian so I'm pretty much just keep the government out of my life as much as possible. This includes guns so that's my thought process.

gene wrote:

Bill Fitzmaurice wrote:Gun control isn't the issue. People control is, as in keeping guns out of the hands of those who shouldn't have them. That doesn't mean screwballs won't still kill people, but I've never heard of anyone armed with a crossbow massacring even six people, let alone dozens.

Criminals are gonna always find ways to get guns. It's illegal for them to have a gun now and it doesn't stop them. There are too many guns out in the wild in this country already to put the genie back in the bottle even if every gun was made illegal. Not to mention the fact that they are not hard to make using a mill
True, you can kill someone easier with a gun than a knife/crossbow/etc, but the flip argument would be if everyone was armed, you wouldn't get very far in your massacre (usually. I'm sure there would be exceptions).

+1

I have a concealed carry permit....never have carried other than in my truck, but I'm sure there will be times when I'll want to stick one in my wife's purse when we are out....(she has a permit too).

I wish Texas had open carry ....trying to conceal is a bit of a pain, especially when you spend most of the year in shorts and short sleeves.

Gene, interesting to know.
What took you/your family to the US?

Quite true about the criminals getting guns if they want them.
There has been a massive rise in gun related violence in Sydney over the last 18 months, and almost none of the seized weapons have been legal, or are legal but stolen.

Since the new restrictions in gun laws here, the Australian Department of Criminology has shown
that there are very very few legally owned weapons involved in crime. Who woulda thought huh.

On a side note, if I get admitted to hospital here now, because I am a farmer and own a gun I have a red flag for suicide risk assessment

gene wrote: I'm a Libertarian so I'm pretty much just keep the government out of my life as much as possible. This includes guns so that's my thought process.

Amen to that. People must think that if the government makes it legal then everyone will do. Since prostitution is illegal in most places do people not do it cause it is illegal or they aren't interested in those types of thrills, or drugs, or extreme SPL in cars for this matter. The point I am trying to make is that all people have a moral compass, so are more skewed than others and some have a parts missing. Whether the government tells them its okay or not, they will do what they will do. Let the government reasonably tax, protect our nation and support our infrastructure so we can do what we do best, live our lives.

As for gun control,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/he ... rship.html
Out of all the states it seems to me the ones with the most guns per capita AL,WY,MO,SD,ND,AK, and WV aren't the states you hear about a lot of gun crimes and massacres. It could be a cultural thing since these gun numbers are skewed by the amount of hunters in those areas and the inherent respect for firearms taught from a young age in those communities.

Jim Jones set a record in 1978 for the largest US citizen death toll not broken until September 11th 2001, with kool-aid.....I repeat kool-aid....when are the feds going to put the blame where is so sorely needs to be put, on the Kool Aid Man, lets string his red a$$ up on the Washington Monument for letting this happen. It seems we always gotta blame something besides people being accountable for their own actions for this stuff.

I personally think everyone should be armed with one, and just one, rocket launcher.

The guy opened fire on a car with too much noise coming out of it? Does not compute.

I'm glad garden variety crims don't have guns here. If you need a rifle for sport or vermin control you can get one. Club members can use handguns at the gunclub range. Wife beaters and shoplifters need not apply.

A guy died in a fist fight here a couple of years ago. A badly aimed punch tore his aorta and he was gone before he hit the ground. The world is dangerous enough without every fool having a pistol under his shirt.

Guns are all about 'empowerment'. Just pull the trigger and the rest happens, piece of cake. Take any normal distribution and you get extremes. One side of that extreme is nutters. The right to bear arms = empowered nutters.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/Detr ... index.html

Only the victim had a legal firearm, and a license, with training, to carry it.

Charles Jenkinson wrote:Guns are all about 'empowerment'. Just pull the trigger and the rest happens, piece of cake. Take any normal distribution and you get extremes. One side of that extreme is nutters. Legalized guns = empowered nutters.

Seriously, Charles? Not all legal handgun carriers are nutters, just like not all Canadians are hosers, or hockey pucks, or whatever. I have taken training, more than required, I practice more than my police buddies, and I have only shot 1 person, who shot me first. If I had not been armed, I would not be here now. The man I killed, defending myself because he would have killed me, shot me with a stolen pistol. You choose, 911 or 9mm. I've made my choice, and I have also defended that choice in the military. I have earned the right to choose.

Thanks for your link to DJPhatman,

I didn't like the comments following the story turning to racist based observations...

You got me there DJ, before I edited. ...I can hardly blame the return key - the problem began somewhere else.

I would change my final sentence to 'The right to bear arms = a small amount of empowered nutters'.

...Now, where's the shoot 'em up smilie?

Harley wrote:I personally think everyone should be armed with one, and just one, rocket launcher.

Just the one rocket? I played enough Quake3 over the internet in my youth to know that if you can't get a direct hit, the splash damage is still gonna ruin someone's day.

ROCKET WARS!