Behold: Our New American Culture

[21st Century Man]

I live just outside the city limits of Kennesaw, GA (My actual mailing address is Kennesaw)  where there is in place a law where every residence MUST have a gun.  Criminal activity is very minimal and has been in the years since 1982 when the law was adopted to counter increasing criminal activity in the years prior.

[GeorgieForPresident2216]

No, that is an answer. This is exactly the kind of knee-jerk reactionary balderdash I was referring to.

There are very few questions that have only one answer. Failing to keep this at the forefront of one's mind often leads one to a false sense of certitude and tunnel vision--ironically, one of the problems you cite with firearm possession, go figure. Perhaps you are compensating for something.

....

[/i]

It wasn't a knee-jerk reactionary statement.  Reactionary to what?  It's a position, and a position I've held for a long time.  I think you'll find it's a common one in the Western world outside of the United States.  You and those around you have obviously grown up with your beliefs and hold them very strongly.  I can pretty much taste your bile when I read your post so would ask what you are compensating for.  Hopefully we both want the same thing, which is greater safety for the public.  Thank you for sharing your views.

[GeorgieForPresident2216]

     Georgie, you are very naïve.  First of all, like many have said there are way too many guns in the hands of most families.  The "damage"  has been done. I can tell you that here in the South that no one is going to give up their arms for a little money.  I have a luger that I inherited from my father. He got it from his father.  I have no other gun but I'm thinking about getting a good rifle as I can shoot one of those with ease. I will never give up my weapon unless they "pry it from my cold dead hands."
...

Granted, it's not likely to ever happen.

[Jackstar]

there is in place a law where every residence MUST have a gun.  Criminal activity is very minimal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DPUI6y19TI


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwzaxUF0k18

[21st Century Man]

From the Marietta Daily Journal,

Kennesaw Historical Society president Robert Jones said following the law's passage, the crime rate dropped 89 percent in the city, compared to the modest 10 percent drop statewide.   "It did drop after it was passed," he said. "After it initially dropped, it has stayed at the same low level for the past 16 years."   Mayor Leonard Church was not in office when the law was passed, but he said he is a staunch supporter of it.   "You can't argue with the fact that Kennesaw has the lowest crime rate of any city our size in the country," said Church, who owns a denture-making company in Kennesaw.

[GeorgieForPresident2216]

    Second.  Criminals will always get guns from black markets if they can't get them from open markets.  The only thing gun control laws do is hamstring law-abiding citizens from protecting themselves.  Criminals think twice if they think their prey is armed.  I do believe in background checks though.  A felon or mentally unstable person should not have access to guns but that is as far as I go.  To determine if a person has mental instability means checking psychological history and while I think that stuff should be kept private, I do think checking the history should be allowed if it prevents a paranoid person from getting a gun.  People with mild psychological issues like insomnia should NOT be prevented from getting a gun.

America is in such a state I would probably want a weapon myself in many areas.  From what I've been able to read though, including a daily blog detailing every shooting incident recorded on the web, the occurance of someone stopping a violent crime with a gun is extremely rare.

[Jackstar]

Reactionary to what?  It's a position, and a position I've held for a long time.

guns are dangerous -> reaction -> subtracting guns is THE answer

It is so ingrained in your psyche you're not even seeing it. Consider restating your fundamental principles as a writing exercise.

I can pretty much taste your bile when I read your post so would ask what you are compensating for.

Since I actually like you and your posts, your vitriolic reaction seems wholly out of place. Hi!

Hopefully we both want the same thing, which is greater safety for the public.  Thank you for sharing your views.

Safety is an illusion. If you want guarantees in life, then you don’t want life. You want rehearsals for a script that’s already been written. Life by its nature cannot have guarantees, or its whole purpose is thwarted.

[Lt.Uhura]

Gun Deaths In America: Suicides Outnumber Homicides 2-to-1

...In 2012, the latest year for which data is available, 64 percent of deaths from gun violence were suicides, compared with 57 percent in 2006. This increase can be largely attributed to white males, whose suicide rate far surpasses black and Hispanic males of every age. Among white men ages 35 to 64, the death rate by firearm increased over 29 percent since 1990 (after being corrected for population growth), and a staggering 89.2 percent of those deaths were self-inflicted....

12/19/14
http://www.vocativ.com/usa/guns/suicides-outnumber-homicides-comes-gun-violence/?page=all

[albrecht]

Gun Deaths In America: Suicides Outnumber Homicides 2-to-1

...In 2012, the latest year for which data is available, 64 percent of deaths from gun violence were suicides, compared with 57 percent in 2006. This increase can be largely attributed to white males, whose suicide rate far surpasses black and Hispanic males of every age. Among white men ages 35 to 64, the death rate by firearm increased over 29 percent since 1990 (after being corrected for population growth), and a staggering 89.2 percent of those deaths were self-inflicted....

12/19/14
http://www.vocativ.com/usa/guns/suicides-outnumber-homicides-comes-gun-violence/?page=all

From the stats one would think Obama would support guns! What with all the white guys, often veterans, killing themselves.

[Juan]

Some 30-years ago I learned that stat about suicides.  As reporters, we didn't report suicides unless they were newsworthy in some other way - guy jumps to his death on a main traffic artery, the mayor commits suicide, etc. I suppose that's why more people don't know about the prevalence of suicide.

[paladin1991]

Much better, yes.  knives and blunt weapons take skill, effort, force, and time to use.  They force the attacker to respond to the violence he is inflicting, to see the blood and pain.  They carry the risk of self-injury, and they give an unarmed victim an opportunity to defend themselves.  It's really not a good idea to use a knife if you don't know what you're doing.

A handgun isn't like that.  It's an appliance like a hairdryer, used to solve a problem.  It takes seconds to grab, aim, and kill.  There's no association of pain, no time to withdraw once you see the damage you've caused.  And, as with my post above, if you have a handgun without having training, you won't respect the weapon.  You're more likely to use it without considering the consequences, or at the very least gain a false sense of self-confidence and put yourself into a bad situation.

Rage and desperation are funny things.  They are there for an instant, and then they dissipate as you come to your senses.  A handgun doesn't give you a chance to think about your actions.

I'm fine with a guy like Paladin being able to carry.  He has training and he respects the weapon.

Let's look at the stats of England vs. the USA.  Sorry, I don't have the reference but I'm sure I can find it if you want me to.  Rapes stats are about the same, within 1% for the number of incidents per 100 000.  That provides a baseline.  Sexual assaults are neither encouraged nor discouraged by the presence of firearms.  both societies are similar.  Violent assaults with knives and blunt weapons were something like 25 or 30% higher in England.  Of course, right?  They don't have many firearms available.  But the number of homicides were, I believe, about 4 times higher in the United States, which I would attribute to the presence of guns.  Sorry, I'll look for the article so I can back it up.

I think you are being naive.  And I don't like the idea of you being 'fine' with a guy like me having a firearm to the exclusion of others.  A right not exercised is a privlige and will soon be withdrawn.  As we are seeing.
I am fine with ppl not carrying a weapon as long as they own one.  They must be able to defend themselves, their families, their homes.
I would and do expect that ppl that own weapons of any sort will become familiar with them just as they would with any other tool.  go on YOutube, you will find any collection of fails videos'where ppl have screwed up anything fm using a snowmobile to bonking themselves with hammers.  Morons?  Probably.  But probably also in regards to understanding how or training to use those snowmobiles, hammers, slip and slides, etc.

[Jackstar]

Sexual assaults are neither encouraged nor discouraged by the presence of firearms.

[WildCard]

From the stats one would think Obama would support guns! What with all the white guys, often veterans, killing themselves.

You're deflecting. "Suicides Outnumber Homicides 2-to-1", totally neutralizes, "gun's reduce crime".


Obama hates whites? Tell me more about that? /troll emoticon

[albrecht]

You're deflecting. "Suicides Outnumber Homicides 2-to-1", totally neutralizes, "gun's reduce crime".


Obama hates whites? Tell me more about that? /troll emoticon

Is suicide a crime worth having on the books? Who do you prosecute when it is successful? Do you prosecute someone who attempts, but fails? I would think some counseling etc would be a better option. I also thought the latest social outcry was to legalize suicide at least for the elderly, deformed children, and those seriously disabled. Should it even be a crime for others? Certainly it hurts friends and family deeply but, I guess, the argument it is your own life.

I don't think having a gun would stop the "crime" of suicide but it certainly can prevent other crimes. I wonder why police feel the need to have them or those Hollywood types and politicians surround themselves with armed security all the time?

Re: Obama hating whites. Maybe not outright hatred but certainly some animosity towards them. Hence his desire to "fundamentally" change the country, with an open-border and immigration policy to encourage more minorities and Muslims to enter, and weighs in instantly any time their is even a whiff of discrimination or police acting inappropriately. Throwing around statements, encouraging protestors, judging guilt before a trial, using terms like "clinging to guns and Bibles," "typical white person," etc.

[yumyumtree]

Remember when Ian Punnet theorized that older people (like me, for instance) bemoaning the state of the world was actually nature or god's way of preparing them for death?  Since things were getting so shitty, they wouldn't feel so bad about leaving. Something  like that. I have to admit that there is a bigger and bigger list of stuff I won't miss.

[Jackstar]

Obama hates whites? Tell me more about that? /troll emoticon

You rubs-a the lamp, you gets-a the genie!

[albrecht]

http://abc7chicago.com/news/abc7-exclusive-woman-allegedly-attacked-by-group-near-uofc-campus/841913/

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/08/politics/fair-housing-rules-obama-administration/index.html

[Eddie Coyle]

http://abc7chicago.com/news/abc7-exclusive-woman-allegedly-attacked-by-group-near-uofc-campus/841913/

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/08/politics/fair-housing-rules-obama-administration/index.html

  (1) I'll blame the victim for being so foolish to take her kids through a shit zone, where it's night in the day time. And or gun the engine and run over the shits. Your skin is your sin, Ms Pederson. Since you're a white devil anyway...act like one!

   (2) Oh good, more Fergusons! As we commemorate the 70th anniversary of losing WWII.

[Sardondi]

I live just outside the city limits of Kennesaw, GA (My actual mailing address is Kennesaw)  where there is in place a law where every residence MUST have a gun.  Criminal activity is very minimal and has been in the years since 1982 when the law was adopted to counter increasing criminal activity in the years prior.

"An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life."
Robert A. Heinlein
 

[albrecht]

WTF is going on in this country. It is not just Obama's precious illegals who, apparently, decide to kill random people. Where is Obama on the "war on women" in all these cases??

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-fatal-shooting-in-hollywood-20150706-story.html

"Carrie Jean Melvin and her boyfriend were walking through their Hollywood neighborhood along McCadden Place near Sunset Boulevard on their way to get food about 10 p.m. when someone walked up behind them, aimed a shotgun at Melvin’s head and pulled the trigger...He was described as a black man in his mid-20s, about 6 feet tall, wearing dark clothes"

Read more here: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2015/07/08/3714184_woman-morro-bay-shot-killed-hollywood.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy....[/color]

[Jackstar]

Doubtful random. But for once, I agree with the gun prohibition whackjobs: this story would have been better if he had used a machete.

[FightTheFuture]

Remember when Ian Punnet theorized that older people (like me, for instance) bemoaning the state of the world was actually nature or god's way of preparing them for death?  Since things were getting so shitty, they wouldn't feel so bad about leaving. Something  like that. I have to admit that there is a bigger and bigger list of stuff I won't miss.

Amen to that, yummy. Anymore I feel like the proverbial bags are packed. When my ticket gets punched, it'll  be like taking my seat in business class and ordering a double martini. Take me home.

[albrecht]

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/07/14/brooklyn-elderly-woman-raped/
"A man who raped an 82-year-old woman in Brooklyn is on the loose."
"He is described by police as a black man, between the ages of 20 and 30, 5 feet 8 inches tall and 160 pounds. He has an Afro and a light beard. He was last seen wearing a white T-shirt with unknown writing on the front, gray sweatpants and Converse sneakers with white laces."

http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2015/07/14/illegal-alien-convicted-cartel-kidnapper-charged-in-texas-double-execution/
"Martin Casimiro Margarito, a 29-year old criminal alien from Mexico in federal prison, has been identified by the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office as one of the men responsible for an October 2014 kidnapping and double execution in the border city of Pharr."
Luckily this illegal is already in prison and was not "caught and released" for his last crime as so many others are under the Obama Doctrine. But, on the good side, Obama will be happy to see that the cartel violence, crime, and corruption is still flowing across his open-border.

[Mind Flayer Monk]

"Police have charged a man with trespassing, public drunkenness and indecent exposure after he was caught on a neighbor’s Pennsylvania farm in the nude, drinking beer among pigs. Police in Manor Township, Lancaster County, say 64-year-old Larry Henry told them, “I just like pigs” when they found him in the hog barn June 26 about 10:15 p.m."


http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2015/07/15/police-man-trespassed-naked-drank-beer-among-pigs/

[gbneely]

Sadly, this is the state of things in America today.

[paladin1991]

Sadly, this is the state of things in America today.

They should pick a country that they would appreciate more.


And go there.

[albrecht]

They should pick a country that they would appreciate more.


And go there.

It was indeed unfortunate that the well-meaning ideas of the ACS (founded Liberia), Lincoln's "Bureau of Emigration", Chiriquí plan and British Honduras plan, Marcus Garvey, etc never took hold in volume. But any who don't like our country are welcome to try again! I'm sure you will find the conditions so much more free and peaceful over there and certainly more economic opportunities.

[Eddie Coyle]

   The Margaret Sanger plan was the way to go.

[onan]

   The Margaret Sanger plan was the way to go.

Nobody that makes under 100,000 a year can have kids.

[Eddie Coyle]

Nobody that makes under 100,000 a year can have kids.

  I say that out loud daily as the bus and train I'm stuck on is filled with strollers/double strollers-"Can't afford a car, you shouldn't have kids yet". I reference ZPG programs as well.

   The two busiest stops for strollers on the bus? The housing projects and the ER.