Things That Annoy You

[Sardondi]

He's a double threat: my skin crawls either just looking at him or simply listening to him.

[coaster]

Senseless violence. Unneeded bullshit that terrorizes people who are doing nothing but trying to live their lives. A block from my house some kid got shot twice. walked two blocks before collapsing at the grocery store. Hes in a coma with a bullet lodged in his lungs that they cant operate on. Spent some time today talking to his neighbors. I dont get it. I understand the need for guns, and I completely support the right to bear arms. But I dont understand why a person would shoot another person for no reason. This is an old neighborhood. Half of these houses around here are owned by seniors. We have a senior home right down the street. Its a quiet place. Hell, I think the loudest it ever gets is when I wonder outside after having a drink and whitle a tune. Then you hear some shots, and find out some kid was shot. I fucking hate it. I also hate it thats its happened before around here. I fucking hate violence. It annoys me to the very essence of my being. I also hate what this city has become. It was such a good place. Im bored with it all. Im sick of the news. I need a fresh start somewhere else. Jesus am I fucking tired of this shit. fuck...

[Eddie Coyle]

Senseless violence. Unneeded bullshit that terrorizes people who are doing nothing but trying to live their lives. A block from my house some kid got shot twice. walked two blocks before collapsing at the grocery store. Hes in a coma with a bullet lodged in his lungs that they cant operate on. Spent some time today talking to his neighbors. I dont get it. I understand the need for guns, and I completely support the right to bear arms. But I dont understand why a person would shoot another person for no reason. This is an old neighborhood. Half of these houses around here are owned by seniors. We have a senior home right down the street. Its a quiet place. Hell, I think the loudest it ever gets is when I wonder outside after having a drink and whitle a tune. Then you hear some shots, and find out some kid was shot. I fucking hate it. I also hate it thats its happened before around here. I fucking hate violence. It annoys me to the very essence of my being. I also hate what this city has become. It was such a good place. Im bored with it all. Im sick of the news. I need a fresh start somewhere else. Jesus am I fucking tired of this shit. fuck...

I say it all the time, but live in an urban setting long enough and you'll wish the 2nd Amendment was abolished post-haste. The proliferation of hand guns is a cancer. And again, if the Founders had any idea what the nation was going to become, they would have shit themselves and rewrote half of the Constitution.

[PB the Deplorable]

Senseless violence. Unneeded bullshit that terrorizes people who are doing nothing but trying to live their lives. A block from my house some kid got shot twice. walked two blocks before collapsing at the grocery store. Hes in a coma with a bullet lodged in his lungs that they cant operate on. Spent some time today talking to his neighbors. I dont get it. I understand the need for guns, and I completely support the right to bear arms. But I dont understand why a person would shoot another person for no reason. This is an old neighborhood. Half of these houses around here are owned by seniors. We have a senior home right down the street. Its a quiet place. Hell, I think the loudest it ever gets is when I wonder outside after having a drink and whitle a tune. Then you hear some shots, and find out some kid was shot. I fucking hate it. I also hate it thats its happened before around here. I fucking hate violence. It annoys me to the very essence of my being. I also hate what this city has become. It was such a good place. Im bored with it all. Im sick of the news. I need a fresh start somewhere else. Jesus am I fucking tired of this shit. fuck...

We have a group of people in this country that are constantly telling another group that a third group are a bunch of rascists and that the first group thus has no chance to succeed.  Just for politics.

I don't know if that's the problem where you are, but it's at the root of much of that kind of stuff in most of our big cities.

[coaster]

The founders had two reasons for guns. food and revolution.  if they saw what we saw in the last hundred years, they would spin right out of their graves.
Im not sure why the shooting happened. all I know it was a kid who walked by a party or something. theneighbor i talked to night  told me he just moved into town to stay with his siter and brother in law, and hes never been so scared. and this is supposed to be the good part of town. lol... mizzou gets closer by the day. I grew up in a small town, and even now, they dont have to lock their front doors when they go to sleep. one of the last places that dont have to do so. I must be sitting on my hands, because I have no idea why im not back there yet.
edit-pardon my typos, i drink to forget. sometimes i forget to not leave typos.

[The General]

           I say it all the time, but live in an urban setting long enough and you'll wish the 2nd Amendment was abolished post-haste. The proliferation of hand guns is a cancer. And again, if the Founders had any idea what the nation was going to become, they would have shit themselves and rewrote half of the Constitution.

They also would have been shocked that we let women, blacks, the uneducated, and non-landowners vote.

[Eddie Coyle]

They also would have been shocked that we let women, blacks, the uneducated, and non-landowners vote.

        That's why it's essentially a useless document in many ways in a modern world-freedom of religion to...Mohammedans?!, that would have been a bit of satire in late 18th Century Philadelphia. But then again anything beginning with tripe like "all men are created equal" is probably sketchy to begin with. Men aren't created, infants are born.

[coaster]

coastgab is smothered by politics and religion nowadays. makes it a bit unbearable.

[coaster]

I knew a black shiksa who converted to islam who liked to shoot guns ad fuck with mormons preacher president candidates but gave it up when  she couldnt find out if the father was a fake rastifarian  from jamica. and hootaytootay. and we dance. makes this weird fucking rock spin dont it. im rambling. one site i need to stop readin is coastgab when im drinkin. cause hey. you mormal fucks are getting abnomal. cheers.
edit-fuck it  i left the typos in this time. i usually fix em.  what the fuck do i care.

[Sardondi]

The people who perpetrate the violence don't give a good god damn about what's in or out of the Constitution. Criminals don't care what the law is. They're a hell of a lot better at avoiding getting caught for violations of it than normally-law-abiding citizens who take a bad turn. The "amateurs", who for whatever reason break out into illegality, are like lambs to the law-enforcement slaughter. So real thugs wouldn't get caught. It would be the folks who previously owned guns but who don;t want to surrender their only defense against a despotic government.

Do away with the 2d Amendment? well, you're guaranteeing you'll eventually live in tyranny, and that you'll fear your gov't more than you ever did any criminals. Law enforcement wouldn't even put all that many bad guys in jail, because they hide stuff for a living. Cops will be outgunned and overwhelmed, like Poland by Nazi Germany. We'll be Somalia, where you have territories ruled by crimelords.

If some Washington prick is gonna "fix it", then you'll get the final militarization of police depts. That'll work out well for those of you who post "all cops suck" stuff - because if you don't like 'em now, you have no idea what they'll be like when they're totally militarized. And how are they gonna find all these illegal weapons? Well, goodbye, 4th Amendment. But we don't really need that, do we? Not in the face of those nasty guns. So look for dragnets, sweeps of entire neighborhoods (you know, Iraq). And your other basic civil liberties will crumble, one by one.

The answer isn't destroying the 2nd Amendment, it's having more people armed. No shit. They have to be trained and be worthy of the responsibility. But criminals.are.not.stupid. The pros want to live, and they're not going to rob a 7-11 if they know the counter guy is packing just as much as they are; and they're not going to slow-ride through a neighborhood with guns sticking out of their car if they know they'll be ventilated like a colander. For the amateur crazies who want to go out in a blaze of glory? They'd be virtually a thing of the past. Every mass shooting I can think of would have been almost instantly ended had citizens been permitted to carry weapons. (Several states are already moving to this.) As soon as The Joker starts drawing down on some child, he'd be dead of traumatic lead poisoning. Some insane angry mope starts locking classroom doors to set up his kill zone, he meets the gang from "Dead Like Me" real quick.

The days of waiting on someone to come help us are over. We can't afford to turn our safety and survival entirely over to the police. They can't do it, whether natural or man-made disasters or crime. An armed society is a polite society. An unarmed society is a society which, whether t admits it or not, lives at the pleasure and whim of the ones who do have the guns.

[ziznak]

I knew a black shiksa who converted to islam who liked to shoot guns ad fuck with mormons preacher president candidates but gave it up when  she couldnt find out if the father was a fake rastifarian  from jamica. and hootaytootay. and we dance. makes this weird fucking rock spin dont it. im rambling. one site i need to stop readin is coastgab when im drinkin. cause hey. you mormal fucks are getting abnomal. cheers.
edit-fuck it  i left the typos in this time. i usually fix em.  what the fuck do i care.

heheh coaster you sure did tie a good one on tonight... whatcha drinking?

[coaster]

i like a stout mountain dew. thats all ill say other than im a connoisseur  of the cheap beers when there company, the liquor when they show up. and the booze when they are asleep. im am insomniac  brain with booze. terrifying.
edit-typos. im sure you'll find them.

[coaster]

criminals could give a shit less about gun laws. gun laws make criminals more efficient and make the average American a criminal. its absurd.

[Eddie Coyle]

          More guns? suicide and parricide would reach new levels as well. "The Ballad of Hollis Brown" could be our new national anthem. People in financial dire straits are more apt to turn the weapons on themselves and family than rob a bank. The "Armed Citizen" column doesn't tell you about 13 year olds finding their father's gun and blowing their friend's head of( which occurred on July 11, 1990 in my neighborhood) they don't tell you about the 15 year old girl who found her father's gun, and in her depression blew her brains out( which happened in October, 1991 in my neighborhood)...sure accidents will happen, and that girl could have hung herself, but a gun in the mouth provides finality. Instant death that pretty much only a gun can provide.

[BobGrau]

As someone who's been severely depressed many times in my life, I can assure you that if I'd had access to a gun I wouldn't be here now. Any other method forces you to stop and think about it.

[ziznak]

can't take back that jump off the bridge... can't bring that chair back to your feet either... if you're determined enough to go your gonna go.

The whole gun issue annoys the fuck out of me.  I grew up with a responsible gun owning father, witnessed the aftermath of an idiot friend accidentally shooting a 9mm into another kids jaw, and personally can't say where I am on this issue.  Sometimes I think the world would be safer if everybody was packing... sometimes I think the world would be a warzone if everybody was packing.  I like that we have the right but am unable to really judge who should or shouldnt have a gun... you could be the most level headed person in the world and get yourself all jacked up and depressed n kill yourself.  99.99999% of your gun carrying life you were fine but one little slip and that's it game over.

fucking annoying

[coaster]

if ever a gun ban is issued, crime would skyrocket. its so easy to rob and kill when they take guns away. they will take them away from the legal gun owners who own a gun for protection. i dont know about you, but ive never met a criminal who abides by the law. itll be pretty easy to break into a house and rob and kill when you know they dont have a gun. i know/ have known a few gun shot victims. gun laws are a joke. the only thing  you can do is limit/ban guns. the criminals will ways find a way. its a lost cause imo.

[onan]

Believe it or not gun violence as a whole is much less today than in the 70's.

There is no way to look at gun violence and not connect it to the number of guns in this country. But that is probably more coincidental than causal.

Most gun crimes are within the age group of 18-15 and predominantly male. Percentage wise, more blacks are involved in gun violence than whites. Over all more whites are involved in gun violence.

Other than that all I can offer is opinion.

Simply put gun ownership is a very costly "right". There are so many underlying issues that compound the violence.

[Sardondi]

But here's how I see the argument of those who believe in repealing the 2d Amendment or otherwise outlawing firearm ownership:

Step 1: Outlaw guns
Step 3: Elves and unicorns will gambol by the pink lemonade stream under a cotton candy sky

What's missing is the mechanism by which prohibition of firearms results in the elimination of danger. Why that is, it would seem, is that there is an assumption that "outlawing" something necessarily equals its destruction. It leaves out that huge question: "How?" See above for what government would have to do if it even tired to enforce such a ban...which is doomed to failure before it starts.

Because the people who will willingly comply with such a prohibition (although I'm not sure there would be that many) aren't the ones who are the threat. If the vast majority of firearms owners who are law abiding turned in their firearms, it would change crime not one jot for the better - although it could result in an immediate rise in violent crime as thugs realize its target base - lawful society - is unable to protect itself.

And here I thought prohibition brought on far more terrible ills than those it was meant to cure. That criminals laughed at prohibition, and actually thanked government for it. Or so we've been told, usually by the same people who want to prohibit firearms.

Ultimately it seems to come down to the fact that a large majority of those who favor prohibition seem to have an inordinate fear of firearms, primarily because they are totally unfamiliar with them (but for the unreality and insanity of tv, movies and video games). So much of the question to them is a function of "whose ox is being gored". Those who fear and flee firearms see their own lives and the lives of those who feel similarly (who likely make up most of their circle of friends and associates) impacted not one whit by a prohibition of firearms. And it's only human nature to have someone else pay the freight for what we want.

My own experience with firearms has been almost 50 years. Every single person I know to be a firearm owner is uniformly respectful of and careful with firearms and their enormous power for damage...just as they are any powerful tool like automobiles or chain saws. But they know that because of the immutable laws of physics that by observing a few simple rules we can almost totally prevent misuse, even accidents. It is when those simple rules are repealed, ignored or unknown that problems result.

The prohibition question also usually comes down along lines of how one looks at larger questions of the relative importance of personal liberty/responsibility vis a' vis the role and power of government. Up on side almost almost always means down on the other.

To me the huge societal cost of such a ban is literally prohibitive.

[Eddie Coyle]

As someone who's been severely depressed many times in my life, I can assure you that if I'd had access to a gun I wouldn't be here now. Any other method forces you to stop and think about it.

         Amen. Being that I've had pretty distinct suicidal and homicidal ideation, I don't trust myself enough to own a hand gun. I've had too many hot-headed incidents, internal and external.

           Unfortunately, a significant percentage of American society lacks introspection and or candor with themselves and believe they are responsible adults who'd never experience such thoughts. They have too much self control and restraint to ever let just weakness creep into their mind.

         

[Sardondi]

         Amen. Being that I've had pretty distinct suicidal and homicidal ideation, I don't trust myself enough to own a hand gun. I've had too many hot-headed incidents, internal and external.

Guys, regarding your self-described suicidal ideation and problems with impulse control, there truly are no other equally or more effective solutions which suggest themselves to you, other than a ban of an entire class of inanimate object which a majority of society finds to be extremely useful tools?

[Eddie Coyle]

Guys, regarding your self-described suicidal ideation and problems with impulse control, there truly are no other equally or more effective solutions which suggest themselves to you, other than a ban of an entire class of inanimate object which a majority of society finds to be extremely useful tools?

          I'd regulate hand guns/machine guns like they were explosives. Endless red tape, a socialist dream. No more buying at gun shows or through the mail. Make Draconian laws for those caught with weapon like the above, including deportation. IQ/EQ/Pysch tests required for ownership. Training. 6 month waiting periods. And in those "trouble spots"? Well, remember Wilson Goode vs MOVE in 1985.

            I know it's a pipe dream, we have 275 million people too many to enforce it.

         

[Sardondi]

          I'd regulate hand guns/machine guns like they were explosives. Endless red tape, a socialist dream. No more buying at gun shows or through the mail. Make Draconian laws for those caught with weapon like the above, including deportation. IQ/Pysch tests required for ownership. Training.

            I know it's a pipe dream, we have 275 million people too many to enforce it.

First, all fully automatic weapons, machine guns and submachine guns and assault weapons, are treated just as explosives: only Class III licensees (issued only after an FBI background check that is the equivalent of a security clearance) may purchase them, and the process is about a 3-6  month long socialist's dream. In the history of US firearms records there are no instances of a licensed machine gun having been used in a crime. I don't think there are any records of any machine gun being used, licensed or not: a crew-served weapon just doesn't lend itself to quick getaways.

As for licensed fully automatic submachine guns or assault weapons (these have precise meanings), which is what most folks mean when they talk about "machine guns", there have been two instances of a crime committed using them. Both were in the 90's, One was a murder by a corrupt Ohio police officer who filled a "hit" on an informant. The other I'm unaware about the details of.

As for handguns, they...
1) cannot be sold online (other than one Federal Firearms License holder [dealer] to another)
2) are sold at gunshows but under limited circumstances
    a)only to residents of that state
    b) following the laws of that state in addition to
    c) the identical federal process purchasers must follow at a brick-and-mortar dealer

So it's the same rules as buying a firearm in that state. It isn't any easier to buy at a gunshow. In fact it's generally more expensive since table owners overprice the guns: they know potential buyers get jazzed on all the choices, and get hot and bothered to buy something. Just like at a topless bar or car dealership.

And BTW, "deportation"? Saying is one thing, accomplishing it another.  There is no more deportation...for anything short of an assassination attempt. ICE is in shambles and there is a de facto embargo on any kind of deportation. (The ban on deportation may even be explicit by now.) A cursory effort is made at the border to turn some back, but that's all.

[stevesh]

As Sardondi and coaster have noted, it really doesn't matter whether banning/regulating guns is a good idea or not. It's impossible. The international trade in guns is huge and unstoppable. There are already an estimated 200 million guns in the US, and those of us who own them aren't going to just hand them over. Any reasonably competent machinist with a simple machine shop can make a working firearm, and ammunition reloading supplies are readily available. There's even a guy who has started an open-source 3D printable firearm project: http://defensedistributed.com.

The gun ship has sailed. Let's spend our time and energy finding other ways to reduce violence in society.

[Pragmier]

The phrase "if you outlaw guns then only criminals will have them" makes the assumption there are 2 distinct ways firearms are acquired: legally honest people, and through theft for criminals. In fact, the majority of guns acquired by criminals is not through theft; they enter the market as a result of initially legal purchases. They buy them from legal owners, or use straw buyers. If legal means were curtailed, then we might see a spike in firearms thefts - but that is not the primary source now. I feel guns should be more heavily controlled but not outlawed; as someone stated it's a right but there's a high societal price to pay for that right.

Has there been any significant attempt to prosecute those who sell guns to criminals?

[PB the Deplorable]

As a free person, I have the right to protect and defend myself, my family, and my property, and anyone else I come across that is in distress in any way I see fit.  Regardless of anyone else's issues, problems, lack of selp-discipline, views, etc.

End of story.

[Juan]

Here's what really annoys me - Ford is again selling 1940 coupe bodies, and I don't have the money to buy one and build a hotrod.

[Eddie Coyle]

           I hate to come across as a gun grabber, so I'll list other implements of death I oppose.

         Bridges higher than 10 feet, shoelaces and belts, water drinking contests, the weather, earthquakes, non-plastic cutlery, cleaning agents, concrete, autos, airplanes, trees and as of this morning, foreign nannies.

         Channeling Groucho Marx and the Ramones..."I'm Against It"

[Pragmier]

           I hate to come across as a gun grabber, so I'll list other implements of death I oppose.

         Bridges higher than 10 feet, shoelaces and belts, water drinking contests, the weather, earthquakes, non-plastic cutlery, cleaning agents, concrete, autos, airplanes, trees and as of this morning, foreign nannies.

         Channeling Groucho Marx and the Ramones..."I'm Against It"

Don't forget soda, and as mentioned on another thread cockroaches.

[Sardondi]

Gun control, like so many other socio-political issues, reminds me that while there are a whole array of issues, in people they tend to hang together in predictable clusters. You know what I mean. It's the old game of "Tell me what you believe about x, and I'll tell you what you think about x, y and z." I'm not trying to make any political point here, just an observation, because it's pretty much a mirror image which works both ways.

Of course it's not concrete, because some viewpoints, for example fairly pure libertarianism, don't follow the left-right yes-no template. So while a true libertarian might oppose criminalization of marijuana (actually more like any drugs), he would also deeply resent a government move to outlaw firearms in any way. 

But you know how it breaks down on the usual list of abortion, taxation, gun control, environmentalism, welfare and so on. Of course there are exceptions. Still I think you'd agree there's a definite predictable trend.

Some one may have thought about it more and broken it down differently, but it seems to me that the central divergent point may be the person's stand on personal rights vs. responsibilities, from which flows all else. Maybe you have another view, like one of the four main personality types (I forget what model that is), or so on. Anyway, just an observation.