The Millennial Point of View

[SuperNaut]

OP, are you expending the same amount of energy trying to convert your anti-Constitutionalist friends as you are in trying to divide gun owners?

If the answer is no, you need to focus.

When I perform a google search based upon the first line of any paragraph of your post it only shows up here on THR. So I must assume that you are only campaigning on this forum.

 

[Hacker15E]

He also crushed Romney

A 51%/48% election is "crushing"?

Is a 51-48 football game one where a team "crushed" their opponent?

 

[gp911]

Cho used pistols at VT to kill 32 people. It's just as easy to kill a large number of people with a revolver, pistol, etc when they are unarmed and hiding under their desks. Harris & Klebold had a 9mm carbine, a cut-down SxS shotgun, and the least effective of all their weapons was a Tec-9, a gun which has been on so many AWB lists essentially for looking scary and being mentioned in rap music.

Your suggestions won't do anything to deter crime. Also, the mental health system is indeed in shambles but I'm not sure what reforms will stop another massacre. People make crazy comments all the time but until they take action there is little we can do. If we go too far in the direction of curtailing the 1st amendment we'll be locking people up for simply saying the wrong thing and scaring somebody. I know the analogy about shouting "fire!" in a crowded theater, but we can't lock people up just for being creepy. That's a slippery slope with as many pitfalls as gun control laws, without a doubt.

I don't have the solution, but I know the consequences of implementing a bad solution and I'm not agreeing with one simply to feel I've taken action.

 

[Trent]

Nuts.

 

[captain awesome]

So we, as gun owners, really want to have our civic centers, schools, malls, and eventually homes built as fortresses impregnable to exterior forces?

I personally don't want an America where my kid's school was built to survive an infantry assault and under armed guard for fear of a madman. If our culture's that violent, maybe we should look at some stringent gun control.

You know, I really don't think any of this is expedient either. When you look at the size of our populace, the horrific incidents are extremely rare. I assume/hope your coment on more stringent gun control was sarcastic.

 

[OpelBlitz]

So, this whole NFA thing. What about states like mine where NFA weapons are totally illegal?

 

[statelineblues]

Here is a good article (written before Sandy Hook) about gun control and the first AWB -

http://kontradictions.wordpress.com...ew-the-assault-weapons-ban-well-ill-tell-you/

(MODS: If this violates any THR policy please feel free to move/adjust the entry)

If gun control advocates want to actually have meaningful discussion and debate about the “assault weapon” and “high capacity” ban, they MUST address these questions:
- Why ban cosmetic features?
- Why ban guns used in a mere 2% of crime?
- Why base gun control legislation on rare and statistically insignificant mass shootings to begin with?
- Why ban magazines that have been consistently sized since their invention?
- How would banning these magazines have saved lives, given that all a shooter needs is multiple magazines and 3 seconds of time (i.e. Cho)?
- How will a ban on either these weapons or magazines reduce crime, since there are many millions of them legal and available anyway, especially since production has ramped up after the ban’s expiration?
And most importantly:

After a decade of failure, why assume that the bans will reduce violent crime THIS time around?

 

[OpelBlitz]

How DARE you use logic and reasoning!

 

[monet61]

I appreciate the thought and effort in the OP. I agree with some of what you say and do not some others. Instead of making disrespectful comments to the OP, I would think that he deserves some props for being willing to put his thoughts out there, knowing full well the varied responses he would get. If we don't keep having reasoned discussions, we can't understand each other and become fractured and more easily defeated. JMHO.

 

[freyasman]

Monet61, the OP gets respect from me for at least putting some thought into his position; too often, people on both sides do nothing other than parrot sound-bites. However, thinking it through is not the same as reaching the correct conclusion. I would like to take issue with his belief that the POTUS is "more honest"... it is simply not possible to reach a high level of political power in this country with one's integrity intact. As far as an armed populace being "no match for the US Army"... I've been fighting insurgents in both Iraq and Afghanistan, off and on since 2003, and they're doing a pretty good job of exposing our deficiencies. In fact, the biggest reason my platoon took any casualties, was the complete incompetence and negligence of the Commander. After 19yrs of service, I can honestly say that the US Army's biggest obstacle to accomplishing ANYTHING, is it's own senior leaders.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Instead of making disrespectful comments to the OP, I would think that he deserves some props for being willing to put his thoughts out there, knowing full well the varied responses he would get.

If you have followed other posts of the OP's through our recent discussions, you'll understand why some of us are annoyed and a bit hostile.

 

[freyasman]

MachIV, i read some of the OP's earlier posts and he didn't make the best first impression on me either. But, he is, at least, thinking and we shouldn't discourage that. He's a young guy and he needs to remember that some of us have been walking this path a lot longer than him and we've learned a thing or two. (You paying attention, RocketMedic?) Lets take the High Road... and educate each other.

 

[fehhkk]

I play video games here and there, and I wasn't offended by what LaPierre said, because I know it doesn't apply to me. Seems like you're making it the entire point of your disagreement of his speech, while failing to look at the bigger picture.

Being out of touch, is supporting the liberalization of American values, like being against "innocent till proven guilty", and avoiding personal responsibility for your actions, especially the latter seems very common with millennials brought up in a sheltering family.

 

[Ramone]

I'm a 50 year old Veteran (USMC) with about no experience with Video Games, but I agree with most of your points- though the 'Semi-Autos as a new NFA catagory' just doesn't work for me.

I can't believe I am going to say it, but I would be OK with closing the 'Gun Show Loophole'- PROVIDED that the NICS system gets upgraded, and made more freely accessible. I think I'd even be OK with a NICS check for bulk ammo purchases (over 1K at a go?) (again, with a better NICS system).

I'd accept a federal level of firearms law to supercede the current mish-mash of state laws- I live for parts of the year in RI, NY, VA, and FL, (and I was in NJ for a good part of this past summer) and frankly, I think I have committed felonies just driving from location to location.

And I do think that regardless of what Pres. Obama might want in his heart of hearts, he knows that we cannot afford the resources required to confiscate 300 million privately owned firearms. I also noted his signing off on Carry in National Parks and Transport of firearms on AMTRAK as being more pro-gun than anyone expected.

Thanks for sharing this- I want to come back to it and consider your points in more detail when I've a bit more time.

 

[gearhead]

I'm a 50 year old Veteran (USMC) with about no experience with Video Games, but I agree with most of your points- though the 'Semi-Autos as a new NFA catagory' just doesn't work for me.

I can't believe I am going to say it, but I would be OK with closing the 'Gun Show Loophole'- PROVIDED that the NICS system gets upgraded, and made more freely accessible. I think I'd even be OK with a NICS check for bulk ammo purchases (over 1K at a go?) (again, with a better NICS system).

I'd accept a federal level of firearms law to supercede the current mish-mash of state laws- I live for parts of the year in RI, NY, VA, and FL, (and I was in NJ for a good part of this past summer) and frankly, I think I have committed felonies just driving from location to location.

And I do think that regardless of what Pres. Obama might want in his heart of hearts, he knows that we cannot afford the resources required to confiscate 300 million privately owned firearms. I also noted his signing off on Carry in National Parks and Transport of firearms on AMTRAK as being more pro-gun than anyone expected.

Thanks for sharing this- I want to come back to it and consider your points in more detail when I've a bit more time.

I would point out that the signing of carry in National Parks was simply due to not having a line-item veto available to him.

 

[KTXdm9]

Wow OP, class warfare and unsubstantiated cries of racism, where have I heard that before? You identified yourself as white how many times in your post? Seems you might be the one fixated on race?

Bottom line, I'm not interested in ceding any of my rights for some feel good (to the antis) legislation that criminals will undoubtedly ignore. The second amendment knows no bounds based on race, class, age, or gender. Without getting overtly political, I'd encourage you to look beyond the party line that you've dutifully repeated here.

 

[Derek Zeanah]

The National Rifle Association is calling for limitations on the First Amendment to protect kids from video games and movies and television violence, on the grounds that it programs us. That's really, really insulting to me and my generation. I grew up playing first-person shooters, hack-and-slash video games, and watching gory movies...

If you watch the presentation again, I don't think you'll see the NRA advocating for limitations on video games. Rather, that was a comment on our culture.

My wife, the pediatrician, thinks violent videogames have a negative impact on society as well. Why? because she has six year olds playing these realistic games, when kids can't tell the difference between reality and fantasy until age seven. This has consequences and changes how kids grow up thinking, especially if they're not mentally stable to begin with.

This isn't typical (it's the same 6 year olds who watch hardcore porn because they're unsupervised), but it's out there in society, and there's a strong possibility that some of our more disaffected youth are negatively impacted as a result.

it's worth study, and it's worth considering. Me? I don't think it'd affect me, but I'm too old for these new-fangled controllers so we'll never know. I grew up playing Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple ][.

 

[hillbilly]

I read your entire post, twice.

First, thank you for your service in the military.

Second, here's what I got out of your post. And I'm being truthful.

You really like video games. I mean really, really like video games.

And you are convinced that at the age of 24, you know better than everybody else, about what's good for society, about security, about guns, about who should have and should not have guns, and about advanced fighting tactics you mostly learned from video games.

Just curious. Have you read any of a David Codrea's "Only Ones" pieces that he collects and comments on?

 

[taliv]

it's an ugly pattern. 2 pages trying to convince us you're the typical American gun owner, and then "I voted for obama", and hey you guys don't really need those dangerous weapons.

I have news for you. You are not the typical American gun owner. And you don't speak for the "millennial" point of view either.

 

[Hacker15E]

I also noted his signing off on Carry in National Parks and Transport of firearms on AMTRAK as being more pro-gun than anyone expected.

Look into the history of that particular law and why it was made one.

President Obama sure as heck was NOT in favor of it, but he hated it less than he liked the unrelated bill it was attached to.

It certainly doesn't make him 'pro gun' by any stretch of the imagination, especially when compared to his long history of being for some pretty draconian gun control as an Illinois politician.

 

[Waywatcher]

Rocketmedic, as a fellow millennial I opened this thread with some trepidation. I was relieved after reading your entire post that you are a rational, reasonable, thoughtful, intelligent and level headed individual.

I agree with pretty much everything you have said. Especially about our President.

P.S. I am an EMT working on Paramedic.

A 51%/48% election is "crushing"?

Is a 51-48 football game one where a team "crushed" their opponent?

The USA doesn't elect a president based on the popular vote. Romney was crushed 332 to 206.
FWIW, the GOP has lost the popular vote in 5 of the last 6 presidential elections.

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

So you are that semi-auto guns should be added to the NFA? If so, why?

 

[Waywatcher]

So you are that semi-auto guns should be added to the NFA? If so, why?

If this is being directed at me, I would answer that the NFA has been largely effective at keeping that specific subset of guns from being used in the commission of crimes, and it has also effectively reduced the availability of these types of arms from the general public, and more importantly, the perpetrators of mass shootings.

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

effective at keeping that specific subset of guns from being used in the commission of crimes, and it has also effectively reduced the availability of these types of arms from the general public, and more importantly, the perpetrators of mass shootings.

Do you feel that keeping semi-autos out of the hands of the few who commit mass shootings is worth reducing their availability to the general public? If so, why?

 

[gc70]

If this is being directed at me, I would answer that the NFA has been largely effective at keeping that specific subset of guns from being used in the commission of crimes, and it has also effectively reduced the availability of these types of arms from the general public, and more importantly, the perpetrators of mass shootings.

The NFA registry was initially confiscatory in intent, involving a tax amount that only the wealthy could afford. The registry was closed entirely by the time the tax amount had become reasonably affordable. As a result relatively few firearms were registered.

How would inclusion in the NFA registry work for 5-10 million "assault weapons?"

How much is an additional $200 tax on a $1,000+ firearm going to reduce availability in any meaningful way?

In short, it seems you do not believe that 'assault weapons' should be readily available to the general public. Would you, personally, be an exception to that concept?