The result of gun control

[Brocktree]

Despite being a PC loyalist and anti-console gaming snob, my first memories of video gaming was actually playing House of the Dead at the local arcade. There is nothing more fun than testing your reflexes out with a good ole fashioned light gun.

 

Recently I got my hands on House of the Dead for the PC, and have been toying with the idea of purchasing a light gun for it. Unfortunately, apparently anything that even 'looks' like a firearm in my states is restricted. In otherwords, I run the very real risk of being fined/jailed if I possess this accessory.

 

This is where gun control leads, folks. You can't do sweet diddly squat, the nanny state makes every attempt to squeeze the fun out of your life. Oh well, looks like I'll get a fight stick peripheral instead, and play some Street Fighter First Strike instead.

[Dantius]

What, so you can own guns in your state but not things that look like guns?

 

If you just need to get some kind of FOID card/permit, I have no sympathy for your plight. I live in Illinois, one of the states with the toughest gun restrictions in the country, and I still own rifles and pistols. If you can't be bothered to figure out what the local laws are and how to deal with them, don't blame your stupidity on policies that haven't even been enacted yet.

 

(Incidentally, I'm considering purchasin a McMillan CS5, which requires ATF tax stamps. Anybody have experience with those here?)

[Death Knight]

You know whats insane about all this. Most of the people that play violent games, don't actually lead violent lifestyles. Its been proven as a study. I myself don't play games like that because I find it hard to do choices like that, but that doesn't mean someone else shouldn't.

 

You'd be amazed that jeffs games are pg on the site as its a fairly mature nature but mostly they don't show anything. They should be going after movies/tv series if they think games are bad. I watched series 1 on spartacus and its literally just a slashfest. They were even killing children that are about 14 years old.

 

People kill people, not video games.

[Lilith]

What, so you can own guns in your state but not things that look like guns?

 

i'm pretty sure brocktree doesn't live in the US, but in another country that has states and much stricter gun laws

 

she's still being paranoid in this case though, unless she goes around carrying the light gun in the street

[Dantius]

i'm pretty sure brocktree doesn't live in the US, but in another country that has states and much stricter gun laws

 

she's still being paranoid in this case though, unless she goes around carrying the light gun in the street

 

Huh, I saw "states" in her post and just assumed it was the US. My bad, I guess?

 

Point still stands, though. I can't imagine that light guns are banned, esp. since they're usually very clearly not weapons (bright orange/blue if memory serves).

[Randomizer]

I got one of the last water guns in black before toy companies were required to make them in colored plastic so police wouldn't mistake them for real weapons. There were a few publicized incidents where police accidentally shot children in the early 1990s who had realistic toy guns.

[Brocktree]

i'm pretty sure brocktree doesn't live in the US, but in another country that has states and much stricter gun laws

 

she's still being paranoid in this case though, unless she goes around carrying the light gun in the street

 

True, the law is unlikely to be enforced unless you go around brandishing a light gun on the street. Then again, who knows. The police might come to your home for an unrelated matter (eg. domestic call) and see the light gun. Yeah, the chances are pretty slim, but it's still ridiculous that this possibility should even exist in a 'free' (hah!) nation.

[Brocktree]

What, so you can own guns in your state but not things that look like guns?

 

If you just need to get some kind of FOID card/permit, I have no sympathy for your plight. I live in Illinois, one of the states with the toughest gun restrictions in the country, and I still own rifles and pistols. If you can't be bothered to figure out what the local laws are and how to deal with them, don't blame your stupidity on policies that haven't even been enacted yet.

 

(Incidentally, I'm considering purchasin a McMillan CS5, which requires ATF tax stamps. Anybody have experience with those here?)

 

You're calling me stupid, and you don't even know what country I'm in, and the relevant gun control regulations and restrictions? Talk about jumping the gun.

[Enraged Slith]

If that's all you've got to complain about, I'd say your country is doing a pretty good job.

[Brocktree]

If that's all you've got to complain about, I'd say your country is doing a pretty good job.

 

Who? Huh? Wha? That statement doesn't even make sense, and English is my first language. How can a country do a 'good job'? A good job at what?

[Callie]

True, the law is unlikely to be enforced unless you go around brandishing a light gun on the street. Then again, who knows. The police might come to your home for an unrelated matter (eg. domestic call) and see the light gun. Yeah, the chances are pretty slim, but it's still ridiculous that this possibility should even exist in a 'free' (hah!) nation.

When I was five I got arrested in Australia for playing Duck Hunt on an old Nintendo system. I told the police that the ducks were totally egging me on, but they just shoved me in the back of the police car. Needless to say, I've never been to Australia since: who would want to visit such an oppressive country?

[Brocktree]

I know of someone whose antique replica pistol was confiscated by police when attending residences for unrelated matters. You might think that your scenario is laughable, but if a cop has a bone to pick, you'd better watch out.

 

Edit: Hell, in America, they arrest kids for opening up lemonade stands: http://mynorthwest.c...ealth-inspector

 

And you think they wouldn't arrest you over a toy gun, if the regulation was in place? LOL.

[Harehunter]

I hear that the illustrious Senator Feinstein has introduced a bill that would confiscate any firearms that one may have upon their passing away. Actually what she said was that, if this bill were passed into law, that any guns a person owns could not be passed along to their heirs.

What's next?

[Dantius]

I hear that the illustrious Senator Feinstein has introduced a bill that would confiscate any firearms that one may have upon their passing away. Actually what she said was that, if this bill were passed into law, that any guns a person owns could not be passed along to their heirs.What's next?

Well, a friend close to the administration has tipped me off that Walton Simons could be Obama's go-to pick for the director of FEMA, so my guess is probably death camps.

 

I know my source is legitimate because his information was confirmed by a bunch of websites with black backgrounds and NEWSMAX adds for "One weird trick!"

[Lilith]

to be fair there are good reasons to have some restrictions on replica weapons: people do actually use realistic replica guns to rob stores, because who the heck is going to risk getting shot on the off chance that the gun is fake

[Dikiyoba]

I know of someone whose antique replica pistol was confiscated by police when attending residences for unrelated matters. You might think that your scenario is laughable, but if a cop has a bone to pick, you'd better watch out.

Wouldn't preventing cops with "a bone to pick" from abusing their power of arrest be more efficient then changing the multitude of laws a cop could use as an excuse to arrest people on?

 

Edit: Hell, in America, they arrest kids for opening up lemonade stands: http://mynorthwest.c...ealth-inspector

Dikiyoba will save you some time. Nothing Ghaldring said about the article is true (except that it happened in the United States), and there's a decent case to be made that the health inspector acted correctly.

[BMA]

 

When I was five I got arrested in Australia for playing Duck Hunt on an old Nintendo system. I told the police that the ducks were totally egging me on, but they just shoved me in the back of the police car. Needless to say, I've never been to Australia since: who would want to visit such an oppressive country?

 

Phew. Think of what they'd have done if you were seen playing that other NES game where you shoot cowboys and their pants fall off.

[Brocktree]

Wouldn't preventing cops with "a bone to pick" from abusing their power of arrest be more efficient then changing the multitude of laws a cop could use as an excuse to arrest people on?

 

No.

[Dantius]

No.

 

I'm assuming that you're using some nonstandard variant of "no" that really means "yes", because otherwise your position is nonsensical.

[Kelandon]

The OP here reminds me of a slippery-slope argument that people often make in the context of gun control: banning whatever is under consideration (say, assault rifles) is just the first step towards banning all guns and instituting death camps and....

 

My reaction is typically, "Huh?" No one's proposing banning all guns, building death camps, etc. If someone did, we would talk about that (and presumably reject the death camps, I would think). But we're talking about a completely different policy, so quit changing the subject.

 

The reason the OP reminds me of that is that Brocktree's position appears to be that any attempt at all to regulate the possession or sale of firearms leads to banning video game controllers. To which my reaction is, and I repeat myself, "Huh?" No, a law banning gun imitations leads to banning video game controllers. It is entirely possible to have a legal system that regulates at least some aspect of gun ownership without, say, forbidding people from owning things that don't fire actual bullets.

 

When analyzed literally, the OP is so silly that I assume it is an attempt at some kind of humor or irony, but the thing is, people say this stuff with a straight face, too, and it's hard to tell the difference.

[Brocktree]

Are you contending that bringing in some gun control regulation won't result in successive attempts to bring in even more gun control regulation? Who are you trying to kid? I live in a nation which *has* gone down the slippery slope. We got rid of automatic and semi-automatic weapons, then we had a buyback on handguns, then we got rid of imitation guns, now even toy guns are under scrutiny.

 

Give them an inch, and they will take a mile. Or as the Dutch say, give them a finger and they will take an arm (in Dutch, of course!).

 

Dantius, I expect the police to do their job, which is to enforce the law. If idiot lawmakers ban toy guns, then police officers are paid (from my taxes) to enforce this BS law. Of course a bit of leniency and latitude is nice, given that policing is a human profession. Nevertheless, the core issue is that the law is nonsense.

[Kelandon]

Are you contending that bringing in some gun control regulation won't result in successive attempts to bring in even more gun control regulation?

I'm contending that one can deal with the "even more" gun control regulation when it is proposed, not before anyone has ever thought of it. Down your line of reasoning lies madness.

[Mosquito---Slayer]

Are you contending that bringing in some gun control regulation won't result in successive attempts to bring in even more gun control regulation?

Theoretically it shouldn't go to the absurd levels of toy guns, hell, even practically it shouldn't , if it actually does go to those levels, that's a problem with the lawmakers not the laws.

[Alorael at Large]

If not having fake guns is the price of not having real guns, it's a price I'm eager to pay.

 

—Alorael, who knows someone who was robbed at gunpoint last week. Said person went out and got a handgun. He's a jumpy guy who once decked a friend for coming up to say hi in the dark. This will not end well.

[Rowen]

I need my guns and bayonets to fend off the pending Canadian invasion that will over run the US military and enslave all the southerners. The End Is Nigh! I Must Be Ready!

[Student of Trinity]

I'm assuming that you're using some nonstandard variant of "no" that really means "yes", because otherwise your position is nonsensical.

Dantius knows nos.

[Jerakeen]

I need my guns and bayonets to fend off the pending Canadian invasion that will over run the US military and enslave all the southerners. The End Is Nigh! I Must Be Ready!

 

Hey! You weren't supposed to know about that! Who talked?

[Dantius]

Dantius knows nos.

 

I am somewhat of a connosseur.

[Callie]

I need my guns and bayonets to fend off the pending Canadian invasion that will over run the US military and enslave all the southerners. The End Is Nigh! I Must Be Ready!

Oh dear...I'd hate to be beaten to death with a hockey stick!

[Triumph]

The Management would just like to take this moment to reassure you all that there is no Vast Canadian Conspiracy ™. Canada has always been at war with Eastasia and is no threat to you. Pay no attention to the weaponized hockey sticks behind the curtain.

[waterplant]

guns r bad, ok.

[Lilith]

support skeleton control laws. evil wizards are running rampant in america with their horrific skeleton armies and something has to be done. i'm not making some kind of joke or analogy here it's just fun to post about skeletons

[Student of Trinity]

Good luck stopping this. There are millions of skeletons in America. Many of them are cunningly hidden under layers of all-too-convincing human skin. Better to just give up now, really.

[nikki.]

Removing the skeletons from our streets would be a grave undertaking indeed, but it's only going to get worse if we don't work out a bona fide solution, and soon...

[Randomizer]

... at least before the zombie hordes arrive. At least there is a brisk business in zombie survival guides here in the US.

[Dantius]

Removing skeletons would do nothing to resolve the underlying problem, and if law-abiding citizens can't have skeleton armies, only lich overlords will be able to have them. What about our rights?

[Kelandon]

To show their opposition to skeleton control laws, politicians talk at great length about the skeletons in their closets.

[waterplant]

We are all skeletons, deep down...

[Mosquito---Slayer]

Skeletons and Evil Wizards have rights too, we can't just throw them off the streets, think of their skeletony families!!

 

Oh dear...I'd hate to be beaten to death with a hockey stick!

Fear not, you will be allowed to choose your own way of death, the Canadians are going to be nice and polite, Invasion or not.

[Callie]

No, you see, you just need to make the skeletons more manageable: issue a mandate that requires all necromancers and wizards to create their skeletons with osteoporosis.

[Mosquito---Slayer]

No, you see, you just need to make the skeletons more manageable: issue a mandate that requires all necromancers and wizards to create their skeletons with osteoporosis.

The United Society of Evil Wizards is going to oppose that mandate to death, let's see how you deal with our powerful lobby.

 

 

oops, Did I just make my profession too obvious.

 

 

[Harehunter]

Lilith, I have a bone to pick with you. You've initiated a boneafied distraction that has thrown this discussion completely out of joint. You've even gotten Nikki to pun gravely. I'm trying to get a project done with only a skeleton crew, and I've been working my fingers to the bone. Meanwhile, there's quite a skull session going on here that's got everyone's jaw bones flapping. It is really quite humerus.

[Triumph]

Tibia honest, I am really disappointed with you all. This ribbing is going too far. Ulnaless you behave, some mod might have to grow a spine and issue a sternum warning.

[Lilith]

stop it you're ruining it STOP IT

[Triumph]

Okay, let's get back to lobbying the U.S. government to outlaw and/or subsidize assault bones. I think the bipartisan approach would be to do both.

[Dantius]

stop it you're ruining it STOP IT

Death of the author, dude.

[Harehunter]

I was inspired.

 

There is a great deal of discussion as to the originating ideas behind the Second Amendment. The Supreme Court has ruled, and I believe rightly so, that the right to keep and bear arms is an individual right, not reserved solely for federal or state controlled military forces. The reference to the militia in the wording of the 2nd Amendment is not meant to restrict that right, but to provide support for it.

 

But why did the framers of the Constitution want that right explicitly defined in the Law of the Land? The Federalist Papers are one of the prime historical references as to what was going on in the minds of the people, and those elected to represent them. There is reference to the idea that a well armed citizenry was the last bastion against the encroachment of tyranny. It was due in no small part to the militias, volunteer groups of men with no mandate from the state, that the presumed tyranny of the King of England and Parliament was thrown off. Had there not been a well armed citizenry to start with, there would have been no militias, and no independence.

 

Is it possible for a tyrant to usurp the authority granted to the legislative body of government, and thereby become dictator over all those who had elected him to office? Witness Germany in the 1930's. Witness Cuba in the sixties. Witness the Bolshevic Revolution. Yes, it has happened, and it could happen here. I do not say that it is happening now, but there have been statements made that indicate a desire to strip our citizens of the rights guaranteed by the Law of the Land.

 

In the heated passion invoked by the recent events, there are people who would willingly give up those rights if they believed it would make them safer. "Peace at any price" led to a global war. Appeasement has failed to stanch the acts of violence against the west. And gun-free zones make better targets for deranged mass murders than someplace where they may be confronted by a law abiding citizen who has the means to put a stop to their antics.

[Student of Trinity]

I think the notion that an armed citizenry can oppose a tyrannical government by force is probably an outdated myth. Even if there were lots of military-grade weaponry in private hands, the actual military and police forces will have training and organization on their side.

 

For past examples, it's very hard to imagine any bunch of German or Russian gun enthusiasts offering even a speedbump to the Gestapo or the Cheka.

 

More recently, the Libyan revolution and the Syrian civil war will be important to study. My impression is that defecting military units and foreign intervention have been most significant, but perhaps there's some kind of case to be made that the resistance got under way in the first place using civilian weapons. Or did it? I have no idea.

 

In any case, though, it seems to me that any force in the US that was both heavily enough armed and well enough organized to resist the American government would itself be a serious threat to American civil liberties.

[Lilith]

I think the notion that an armed citizenry can oppose a tyrannical government by force is probably an outdated myth.

 

also we've already seen a rebellion against the US government back when the US military was a lot weaker than it is now. it was called the american civil war. guess who won

[keira]

I grew up in a very pro-gun family. My father and I would always go hunting and trapshooting together, and it was A Cool Thing. In addition, the second amendment very clearly states that citizens have the right to bear arms.

 

However, there is no, I repeat, no reason for Joe Consumer to be able to get weapons explicitly designed for killing humans. There is no utility for an assault rifle besides killing people, anyone who tells you otherwise is stupid. In addition, it just seems to me that if, for whatever reason, you needed to stand up to the US military (or really, any first-world army), I think you're going to need more than small arms when you're facing tanks, fighters, and missiles.

 

Hunting and sporting guns? Sure. A pistol for self-defense? Sure. An assault rifle designed to mow down people? How about not.