Commander Riker

So... why, exactly, are you not bitching about samurai swords now? Just curious... I mean... it did kill someone. Oh wait.. you probably want law to limit the blade to 10"

The Nielsen ratings say they sell TV viewership and mobilization of the forces.

And yes Lucas, I agree, there's a perverse logic being postulated there. But that's just driven by the reality that the political cycle follows:

gun tragedy

outrage

crying parents

political pressure

attempted political action

+/- results

wash rinse repeat

Hey hey hey!! Don't you dare insunuate that the society is the problem here, ok? We should be thankful we have politicians to deal with these kinds of events.......

ooops... mixed my steroids with sarcasm again. My bad.

Alain... I read that article and it's interesting. I think there are people who like seeing gun violence because it supports their "agenda"

From that article : "Which is what got me thinking in the first place about what would have happened if the Tsarnaevs had been shooters rather than bombers. Maybe I am wrong about how things would have played out. But the country, or large parts of it, would finally have been forced to confront its cognitive dissonance about gun violence and terrorism, which, at the very least, would have been educational."

It's almost as though they want to see more gun use so they have a reason to say "see, I told you we shouldn't have guns!!"

Meh... muslims are overrated.

So wait a minute... am I a lone wolf because I see everyone else as sheep?

What you will get :

I am pretty sure I replaced my side mount and it didn't have spacer... but I could be wrong. Now I'm going to have to check.

Nice numbers, H! Powerful car is powerful.

But, but, but, that's ILLEGAL.

Good points, I suppose. Just because I feel I can self govern... doesn't mean there isn't 10, 100, or 1000 people for me that give zero shits and bleed the system. That that behavior they exhibit in an odd way then justifies the terrible system in place. I just think in general we could do better.

I have a gun and ammunition. Considering buying a co-worker's pistol and ammo......... without paperwork. dun dun dun

You cannot ignore the fact that as much as you want your government to ban something... whatever it is... 8 balls of coke... or magazines larger then x amounts of rounds... your government will ultimately do a terrible job and FAIL. They cannot do it... at best they can do a half assed job that at the end of the day, will be more effort then result.

I agree completely that it leads back to family... or in the least, how we treat one another. Just because I'm not family with someone, doesn't mean I do not want to help them. (please note, my super jacked up sense of family probably makes me more prone to wanting to help friends anyhow)

To those who say there is no good use for drugs... you're just a square, IMO.

So in your mind what's the difference Lucas?

Having to think a bit about that. Mostly, I'd like to see possession decriminalized (within reason). By that, no drugs in school zones, in court, etc. Primarily it would be to stop the completely failed war on drugs, and stop us from paying to put someone in a cage for having a plant. We pay tax dollars to arrest... put someone on trial... put them in a cage... feed them... wash them... and babysit them because of a PLANT.

(edit... decriminalization instead of legalization in order to keep companies from producing drugs... example Marlboro)

Now other drugs are not a plant, and are certainly terrible... however, the war on drugs has still failed. Not to diatribe about a completely different issue, but I am just comparing it to where we are thinking about going and why I'm against any kind of weapons ban.

If you ban weapons (or specific types or accessories).. you just create more busy work for police officers... more reasons to arrest... put someone on trial... put them in a cage... feed them... wash them... and babysit them because of program that fails to really catch anyone anyways.

If I want drugs... I can still get them... many many years after they have been "banned." So... if we ban any portion of weapons... the problem is... after many many years, the "bad guys" that everyone worries about will still get them because your government has proved to you it cannot stop trafficking. It can just put people in jail... and even make a business out of it.

Why in dafuq I'm still posting in this thread, I have no idea. I'm sure I'm being laughed at quite a bit... but that's ok. I'd just like to think we could aspire to help one other, rather then let greed run this place.

Oh wait... babies are being raped on fire in Africa. Our problems are meaningless.

i'm not for legalizing it,

Actually... I'm not for legalizing drugs either. I'm for decriminalizing them.

I guess you can make anything pale in comparison when you compare it to something around the world that is certainly more horrific.

Just saying... the war on weapons will be about as effective and cost efficient as the war on drugs. If you haven't noticed... that doesn't work either.

The final troll?

nm

I was thinking about this guy again today. All too often we see this now where someone an heros by cop... and we think "good... another piece of shit dead."

That guy got into his ford escort with an AK-47 (priorities in order, obviously)... and likely went out breaking traffic laws to instigate the suicide by cop. He clearly unloaded his magazine... and then just asked to be killed... which they did.

There is no telling how intensely unhappy his life was to get him to this point. I'm not saying "aww... poor guy"... because shooting at cops who are good people is a dickhead move. I'm wondering how we let it get to this point of unhappiness for people... and we, as citizens of the same society just don't care.

Boggles my mind.

Mike. The point I'm trying to make is this:

Accuracy > magazine size.

looks like a large magazine, just saying.

Magazine size = irrelevant.

You didn't say that. You argued that he could have had a different weapon and it wouldn't have mattered. And had their been a federal ban on all assault weapons maybe he would have had to rush them with a pistol or a katana. I don't agree with banning weapons as I'm sure you know. But, your argument was shitty and I'm trying to help Mike out

I was trying to convey that regardless of what weapon he had, they were going to have to use deadly force on him. That being said, what ever the weapon is... if it's a long range serrated spoon... or a cross bow... end result is the same.

Perhaps it is me and my shitty argument... but I don't understand how saying "you're not allowed to have this" (being any object you want) keeps people from actually obtaining that object. We outlawed booze... and look how well that went. We outlawed meth... and still... people use the shit out of it.

Do not ban items.... help people. Whether it be mental health or whatever... the people who go off like this are because they are hurting usually... or sometimes just completely mental.

Yeah... I think I need to be "terrorist" instead of "Level 3 member" Anyone able to do that for me? lol Maybe "Level 3 Terrorist"

WTF?

The katana, or even a less "scary" gun, probably wouldn't have put anyone in the background of the officers at risk. I think anyone would rather you come at them with a pawn shop katana than any kind of gun. Successfully preventing him from having this kind of weapon would have reduced his ability to do damage.

I do not believe the argument that having a different gun... or for example a low capacity magazine... decreases the risk to other people. This guy obviously wasn't going to follow the rules that you would have to "ban" those items anyways. So dafuq is the point? It's against the law to shoot police officers. So make it against the law to carry certain types of weapons?? Sorry, but the loonies, such as this guy (who we have no idea what mental illness or general distress was in his life) aren't going to follow laws pertaining to what kind of weapons they want to use when they aren't following the laws regarding the use of the weapon.

Once you're to the point where you're driving around in a car with a weapon... whether it's a 22 pistol... or a sniper rifle... or an AK... or M1... a shotgun or whatever... and you've decided that you're going to use it to go suicide by cop... no mountain of regulations imposed are going to make any difference on the situation. That person has made a choice, and are going to follow through it it.

Police officers should have great armor, and for that matter, great weaponry. They volunteered for a dangerous job of dealing with the mentally ill and serving the public. Why do we not do more to armor their vehicles? At least, I could see bullet proof glass being of great use here in this case.

OH... and thanks for pointing out the use of the word terrorist. Becoming quite popular. Maybe I'm a terrorist??

thankfully the good guys with a gun, took out the bad guy with a gun. but it was after he was able to get off 37 shots with a AK 47.

http://news.yahoo.com/ak-47-wielding-gunman-fires-37-times-shocked-225626374.html

I was JUST watching this. Even though this happened months ago, it looks like it's just now getting publicity.

Couple of things I'd like to point out here. His AK is super scary... and I mean that in a serious way. It expels quite a bit of ammunition and in a very loud fashion. When he opened fire, I cannot imagine how much those officers didn't want to be there.

However... after having obviously more rounds at his disposal, and even the drop on the officers... he didn't kill anyone. Were the officers shot? Yes, and it's terrible... but the purpose of assault rifles initially was to injure people on a battlefield, not kill them. It takes two more people to carry an injured person off the battlefield, and while demoralizing everyone that sees that.

In the context of this conversation the banning of weapons... WOULD NOT... have prevented this from happening. He would have found a way to go suicide by cop... because his mental stability (or lack thereof) was a motivational force in his life that couldn't be stopped. If he had come at them with a 20 dollar katana from the pawn shop, they would have still had to resort to the use of deadly force.

Glad that no officers were killed in this scenario... and glad he's dead. Less paperwork.

Knew it!