+100
"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."
--Theodore Roosevelt
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
-- Mark Twain
"Man who stand on hill with mouth open will wait long time for roast duck to drop in."
-- Confucius
That is a pretty good video on the subject.
I was waiting for him to bring up the reason we have the 2nd amendment and he nailed it on the head. The constitution gave us the right to bear arms so if we ever need to overthrow the govt. due to it getting "fucked up" we'd be able to. The bad part of this now though... is that our military is such a huge force that this would be nearly impossible. It's sad really, our countries founding father's knew it would happen and by the looks of things in this day and age it's becoming more and more apparent that we are truly slaves to our govt. To a small extent right now... but I'm not one to go all political on anyone though, so I'll just quit there.
I do believe in citizens carrying firearms though, for more reasons outlined in the video. I have a concealed weapon permit myself and have taken the classes, done the fingerprinting, and paid the fees involved... The sheriff of the county I was living in was the one who actually signed all the paperwork. This is usually the case in most places that allow concealed carry permits. To "obey" the law, you have to prove that you're not some idiot just wanting a gun, you learn why 90% of the time you wouldn't ever pull a weapon where many people may think they would. Personally, I think this type of training is great and I see no reason why guns, in general, should/would/could ever be banned for people willing to go through the necessary steps to carry a firearm. When I got my permit back in 2002, there had never been a single case of a registered concealed weapon permit holder who'd ever committed a crime using a firearm, though they've probably stopped hundreds of thousands of crimes from happening... That itself should speak volumes that the people who go through all the proper channels to carry a weapon are people that the general public should be ok having around them.
*still rambling*
People would be surprised at how many people carry a weapon on them at all times...lol. It's actually illegal for a gun to be noticed when you have a concealed weapons permit. There are still states that have an open carry law, where you can run around like jesse james and shit... as long as you can see 3 inches of the barrel or holster... something like that. I know AZ you could. I just never really liked seeing that though... it's too uncomfortable for the general public most of the time... then there's the added factor that someone can come up and hit you with a baseball bat and jack your shit... not worth it to me.
If Wisconsin ever passes its concealed carry bill, I will carry a gun.
Unfortunately it's not this simple; a "law taker" can easily become a "law breaker" if he has a gun strapped to his hip in the rare occasion that the fragile manhood of people who need a gun strapped to their leg to feel safe is threatened enough to use it irrationally. People ALREADY die in one-on-one combat over retarded things like their kid's ice hockey games; what kind of shit would go down if guns were involved in every petty dispute that got people's hackles up? It sounds like a good idea, but people forget how often utterly stupid disputes turn to violence that wasn't the original intent of either person just because a situation escalates out of control.
I have to laugh at the video's claim that putting guns into the hands of people is an effective way of "preventing tyranny." Who is going to stand up to a cop who is persecuting someone unjustly? Even if people do, then you have the added problem of even more widespread dumbassery in the form of people "taking justice into their own hands." This fairy-tale idea of having an insurance policy on the law's inability to cover all it's bases would probably just end up leading to a fuckload of easily avoidable court cases in our already-over-worked judicial system, more people in our already-crowded jails, and, yes, more people dead over pointless bullshit, because people felt the need to promote their own fallacious sense of justice in a situation where they, wielding a gun, finally had the power to do something.
Besides, how often has anyone in here been in a situation where they actually could have prevented violence from occurring if they had a gun?
If gun control laws were stripped away, I would carry one just to protect myself from the people who wanted them repealed in the first place. I think it's good that shop keepers are allowed to have them, and I'm totally down for people wanting to protect their families, but the thought of everyone walking around with a 9mm on their belt just makes me shake my head at how paranoid we have become collectively.
But, for a certainty, back then,
We loved so many, yet hated so much,
We hurt others and were hurt ourselves...
Yet even then, we ran like the wind,
Whilst our laughter echoed,
Under cerulean skies...
The bottom line is violent crime goes up, not down, in places where gun control laws have been created. Law-abiding people having guns, though scary to some, prevents more deaths than it causes.
How many people would have died in Virginia Tech if the students had been armed? The gunman would have been shot down in seconds. Sure, some innocent people may get hit in crossfire, but I doubt 30 people would have been killed.
Ok, so there's one instance in the last year where a few lives might have been saved. Now consider how many idiots live on our country who have small enough penises/brains/emotional stability quotients or big enough egos/anger problems/insecurities that they would feel justified using a gun in a completely inappropriate situation.
IMO, the balance tips rather obviously in favor of people NOT running around strapped from the age of 21 on.
But, for a certainty, back then,
We loved so many, yet hated so much,
We hurt others and were hurt ourselves...
Yet even then, we ran like the wind,
Whilst our laughter echoed,
Under cerulean skies...
FYI:
Canada Firearms Registry - 2001
Population 33 million
Since:
2 school shootings
3 deaths
Ratio of school shootings to population: 0.06
Ratio of deaths in school shootings to population: 0.09
USA
Population 300 million
Same timeline?
20 school shootings
77 deaths
Ratio of school shootings to population: 0.07
Ratio of deaths in school shootings to population: 0.26
Also:
*CBCIn a cross-border comparison for the year 2000, Statistics Canada says the risk of firearms death was more than three times as great for American males as for Canadian males and seven times as great for American females as for Canadian females.
The risks of gun control?
ILE
7w8 so/sp
Very busy with work. Only kind of around.