quade 4
riddler 0
QuoteThank goodness the Second Amendment is a check on what we will learn.
You haven't stated it, but you are alluding that the 2nd Amendment keeps the government in check, with armed citizens standing up to it.
Whether or not you believe it, I know others do. But I have to say that the argument just doesn't hold water to me. I think it might have been true back when the Bill Of Rights was enacted. Back then, the federal government wasn't the size it is today, and didn't have the money, power or resources to fight it's owned armed citizens.
Today, it's a much different story. Our military budget, resources and technology are far superior to any other country, or an armed citizen army. What good is a semi-auto rifle against an M-1 tank? How does even an illegal machine gun compare to a predator drone? There are a lot of privately owned guns in America, but the U.S. military can still defeat the entire armed civilian population of America, even if everyone stood against them.
Perhaps the American soldiers might stand up for what's right, and not go Iraq here in our homeland. But probably not. Soldiers do what they're told. Oliver North did. Scads of officers and regular troops did the wrong thing in wars like Vietnam because they were told to. For every good man in the military that will disobey direct orders, there are thousands that will do what they're told. The soldiers will justify it with the same prejudice that was used in southeast Asia (gooks) or the middle east (towel-heads). The army in California will have no problem killing dumb pig-fucking rednecks in Alabama, and the army in Alabama will have no problem killing the pot-smoking liberal hippies in Kalifornia. So if the government tells them to go door to door and take away our guns, they will do it. It will be bloody, but the military will win that war.
The 2nd Amendment was enacted for a good reason. That reason is no longer valid. Now, there are other, perfectly good reasons to own guns (I think people SHOULD own guns), but trying to scare the government isn't one of them anymore. The government isn't scared of any private citizen, or even all of us put together. And that may be the biggest problem we have in the U.S. today.
Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD
Quote
Perhaps the American soldiers might stand up for what's right, and not go Iraq here in our homeland. But probably not. Soldiers do what they're told. Oliver North did. Scads of officers and regular troops did the wrong thing in wars like Vietnam because they were told to.
refresh my memory - who won that war? Who won in Iraq? Hint: it wasn't us. And these were conflicts where it was easy to identify gooks and sand n*. In the US, the people are absolutely indistinguishable from the soldiers.
Coreece 190
Quotehow many people are killed by fire or tornadoes while AT SCHOOL?
(Clearly that was the intention of the statement. Sheesh!)
That statement doesn't really mean much...
Highest death toll for a single school fire - 95
Highest death toll for a single tornado in schools - 69
Highest death toll for a single high school shooting - 13
Your secrets are the true reflection of who you really are...
mnealtx 0
QuoteTHEN all this bullshit about not trusting the government came into play.
Interesting version of history - is that from one of your screenplays?
"I am a mortal enemy to arbitrary government and unlimited power. I am naturally very jealous for the rights and liberties of my country, and the least encroachment of those invaluable privileges is apt to make my blood boil."
-- Ben Franklin
"I consider the foundation of the [Federal] Constitution as laid on this ground: That "all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States or to the people." [10th Amendment] To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specifically drawn around the powers of Congress is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible of any definition."
-- Thomas Jefferson, "Opinion on the Constitutionality of a National Bank" [February 15, 1791]
"[G]overnment, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer."
-- Thomas Paine
"There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. "
-- James Madison, Speech to the Virginia Ratifying Convention [June 16, 1788]
Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706
SkyDekker 1,465
QuoteLike the draft dodgers of my yourh? Like whistleblowers?
Many European countries have the same. Draft dodgers in Holland for instance get a very different treatment than draft dodgers in the US.
More recently, military personal refusing to obey the government aren't particularly applauded.
QuoteWe Americans know our government's history.
Well, those who can find it on a map maybe.
normiss 800
QuoteI know enough about the US that describing it as 'peaceful' would be almost funny.
That tells me you really don't know much at all about our country.
jclalor 12
QuoteQuote***Guns have always been secure in a gun safe.
Many people believe that is not the correct place for them though, since they should be readily available should a home invasion take place.
Then their is the accidental shooting of a young child that just breaks your heart.
Our children at times, sure do pay a high price for us to have the rights to own guns.
http://lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2011-05-21/sheriff-calls-9-year-olds-death-very-tragic-hunting-accident#.T06AJfGPWSo
For every 1 child shot at school, 10 more were shot, maimed or killed
hunting with Dad or Gramps.
I wonder what price it would be too high for us to reconsider how we ow do things.
Keep in mind I have been a gun owner my whole life.
JohnRich 4
QuoteQuoteGuns have always been secure in a gun safe.
Many people believe that is not the correct place for them though, since they should be readily available should a home invasion take place.
Do you wish there was a law requiring all guns to be locked up?
Should there be home inspections by police to enforce that law?
What about people who don't have children in their homes - would they be exempt?
What would the effect be upon people who need their gun for self defense in their home?
What about law enforcement officers? With children?
normiss 800
You know there are rapid retrieval and safe storage options out there.
I decided I wasn't that paranoid. 
Quote
....
1, Do you wish there was a law requiring all guns to be locked up?
2, Should there be home inspections by police to enforce that law?
3, What about people who don't have children in their homes - would they be exempt?
4.What would the effect be upon people who need their gun for self defense in their home?
5. What about law enforcement officers? With children?
1. Yes
2. Yes
3. No
4. What's your definition of *self defense in their home*?? Why do *others* need guns in their homes???
5. Do *they* enjoy different laws?
I can't believe it - I just replied to a silly post.
So what. It's fun.
dudeist skydiver # 3105
normiss 800
On the plus side, you gave silly answers as well.
It works out.
That FBI agent is full of crap.
Over 4,000 people die every year in America from fire.
The number of people shot in schools for the 2005-2006 year was 15.
That's the kind of crap information that misleads so many people and makes them become gun-o-phobes.
JR, how many people are killed by fire or tornadoes while AT SCHOOL?
(Clearly that was the intention of the statement. Sheesh!)
The World's Most Boring Skydiver