Oh dear... I'm not in the real world, with actual human beings?? Planet x for the win!

I think someone should make this guy president, he's as good as George Bush!

Well, you guys are upside down

Being upside down has its benefits! Like it's especially useful for car manufacturers who want to test if their cars glovebox can still open while the car is upside down! ...But then there are the downsides like when the blood gets to peoples heads too much and they happen to elect a female prime minister from Wales/Britain

Could be worse! At least you don't try to elect a mormon who thinks that corporations are people and who's hobbies include firing people. XP

Some people do take things too seriously

It's definitely a serious matter, but the gun nuts are just acting like fuckwits at this point. The senate bill getting blocked just goes to show how completely unreasonable some people are that love their guns too much.

I do believe that the background checks need to be stronger especially those with mental illness and be able to check if someone was dishonorably discharged because in that situation any can say they were not military

What's the point of making the background checks stronger if not everyone has to go through one? The very first thing we need to do is make sure that every gun sale requires a background check. A better net would be great, but if we're not throwing it out wide enough it's pointless. It's disgraceful that the republicans in congress blocked this last bill and the people who oppose it are some of the dumbest fuckers on this planet.

obviously but i think its not so much about the background checks itself but the loopholes people find. I think if we closed the loopholes and ACTUALLY ENFORCED the laws yes i agree with you. Problem is you can have as many laws as you want but if no one enforces them what good are they?

We are enforcing the laws. The problem is that the NRA and republicans are doing everything in their power to weaken the laws. Back in January republicans in Colorado tried to pass a law which would let felons get guns and last month in Louisiana, because the state declared guns a fundamental right, a New Orleans judge ruled that convicted felons have the right to own guns. Additionally lots of states have laws purposely designed to be weaker than the federal law. In Virginia for example the V-Tech shooter was found by a court before the shooting to have a mental disorder that disqualified him under federal law from getting a gun. Because in Virginia law though he didn't meet their criteria, they never reported him in the NICS system and he was able to get guns. It's not that we aren't enforcing the laws we already have- it's that the dimwit gun huggers in the republican party keep trying to sabotage the laws.

I personally think this whole gun thing is a bit silly. Some people are taking things way to serious, that I've seen as far as going ahead and talking about killing the President over >.<

I think the far right have just gone bonkers. It's to the point when almost everyone can agree on something but a slim, very dangerous minority of people just see everything as tyranny. XP

Bonkers is an understatement. They've gone bat-poop crazy. I had one tell me that I shouldn't be in the Military cause I'm a Democrat and we don't support the war hence forth our Military. I was like "lolwut?"

I always got a kick out of telling the really hardcore conservatives that they're communists. Live in government housing, receive free medical care, free food or feed allowance, strict oversight over your professional and personal life. Sounds pretty socialist to me. *smirk*

But yeah, the conservatives in this country are way out of line. Most of them don't even seem to know what it is they're against anymore. Very worrying.

I've seen a lot talk like what the "Liberal Media" wants is communism >.>

When I hear them say that, it just shows me more that they do not know what they are talking about. I've met some who honestly believe that everyone should serve 2 years in the Military. I've told them they're stupid and I end up saying "Will you be the one to tell the Family of a fallen loved one, who shouldn't have been there in the first place or wanted to go, that they're gone forever". Most people I honestly meet say that have never served themselves, so it just irritates me more on how much people suck the cock of the Military.

Speaking of which, how are you enjoying life as a Civi again?

Not to mention that it would completely destroy our military readiness. We have a lot of scumbags wearing uniforms as it is from recruiting standards being dropped during Iraq/Afghanistan; so bad that there are downright bad human beings in some pretty high ranks. We saw how bad Vietnam fucked up the discipline of our armed forces and most western nations have phased out compulsory service. A draft is just a godawful idea for everyone, but the neocon autocrats in the military don't think that way.

I'm definitely glad to be out. I don't regret the time I spent in the Army; I got a lot of qualifications out of it and it was a broadening experience. There's absolutely nothing that could get me to sign up for another day of it though. My last assignment in Korea was more disillusioning than any other experiences I'd had in the military. There are a lot of people, many of which who wear NCO or officer rank, who if not for their uniform would be considered by society as thugs or just dipshits.

I've learned that lesson the day I was sent to the Hospital a 2nd time for internal damage, and my 1st Sgt wanted to pull me back out to run more 155 Rounds. Even now, working up in S1, I see plenty of corrupt shit happening all the time. The worst thing I've seen in the Military was I met a PFC who was a cook. Been in the Army for 10 years, made it to SPC a few years back but ran into an NCO that didn't like him and tried to kick him out of the Army. His ERB is what saved him from getting chapter out *With his deployments and what not* but he still lost rank and held an E-3.

He's been on 3 Deployments, two of them Combat Tours, has a purple heart and saw one of his friends get killed. When I was working with him *Due to a detail cause we were short on cooks* I saw E-4s and E-5's treat him like shit just cause he was a cook and an E-3. I was like "WTF, This guy is a legit veteran" and they stood there just harassing him.

I sometimes wonder if the Military is built for adults or just people who never phased out of High School

One of the DWI cases I did in Korea was a SFC who was out past curfew, passed out while driving drunk, drove off the road, and crashed his car into a shop off base. When the Korean police and paramedics showed up he was passed out sleeping with the car still in drive. When I interrogated the guy the next day he had no memory of the event and denied everything, then looked shocked when he saw the photos of himself asleep in the crashed car. The kicker of the story is that this guy was a member of the Audie Murphy club and had been charged with DWI twice before in his military career. It says something about an organization when a habitual drunk driver is able to make it to a position of high authority and prestigious membership. A friend of mine from Fort Stewart was stabbed 6 times in the neck by a SSG while on duty, said NCO later said to CID that he did it because the MP was 'fucking with him'. Fort Hood had major gangs operating on the instillation until a few years ago. For Drum had more shootings on base in the past 5 years than the city off base did. Our armed forces are full of people who would be in jail if they weren't in the service. It's fucking ridiculous.

And yet you'll see Hard Right Winged people defend them like crazy 'Cause they serve our country'. Like how they want people with PTSD to be able and still get guns. Military is pretty corrupt, and its the worse cock sucking hooah brains that get into high ranks

gawd guns and cuntry! yeehaw.

Not unless dat obaama is in offic techin my kidz da dum monkey evoluction shit when da bible is al we ned

He's taxing us so he can take our guns, shoot jesus, then make us gay marry an illegal immigrant in Benghazi!

wow...just..wow..

You're actually the perfect man to answer a question! So back in 1999 the NRA made a statement that "We think it's reasonable to provide mandatory instant criminal background checks for every sale at every gun show. No loopholes anywhere for anyone". The NRA has clearly reversed this standing, citing that they don't believe that this principal works. It's the widely held position of subject experts from top police officials to gunshop owners that where there are background checks required for sales, that they do work. What's your take on how the NRA could justify a complete reversal in policy and could it all just boil down to dogma rather than facts?

So I comment on your statement where you pretty much state that the military is run by corrupt fascist pigs, and you retort by by demanding me to answer for the NRA? Seriously?

I'm not demanding you answer a question, I just assumed that since you run the NRA page on FA that you would be able to explain a little bit about their policy. You seem like the kind of person who would be able to clear it up for me, because I honestly can't make sense of it. =]

All I'm speaking on is my own personal experience with he Army. I'm sure in the infantry you had a very different perspective on things because it isn't your lane do deal with troops who behave like criminals. My job wasn't to play the hooah hooah army games; after Iraq I spent the rest of my contract exclusively doing investigations and patrol. I appreciate people who did their job right, but I don't think that a person deserves any special respect just because they were in the armed forces. A lot of them are scumbags.

That's what I'm saying. Soldiers aren't any different from the general population; I don't give them any special credit for wearing a uniform at work because I'm well aware that they're generally no better human beings than a guy working at walmart or a bank.

I have a big problem with the prevalent culture in the military. It's not just a small minority of people doing the wrong thing. In Korea a curfew was enacted after US soldiers committed 3 rapes on locals off base in the span of about a month and a half. As a result, most of the base would get completely shitfaced at bars off base then come back in time for curfew at 1am, drink at the club on base, and cause a whole lot of trouble. The discipline problem was so out of control that we'd frequently have 2 MPs with a K9 at the pedestrian gate, cameras tracking people as they walk from the gate down the sidewalk, a patrol at the taxi stand, and 2 or more in the club dealing with people. Some nights we'd literally run from fight to fight trying to scoop people up and bring them into the station. Rank wasn't a factor as NCOs were just as likely to be acting like fools as their soldiers. Officers seemed a little better because they usually knew where to go when they were acting stupid and have the friends in the PMO or JAG who could help cover their back. The military culture raises people to believe they can get out of anything if they have the right friends and to feel entitled to respect.

Why should I give a soldier any special credit that I wouldn't afford a normal civilian? Great, you signed up for a job where you get treated like shit and paid shit. If you deployed, kudos for being part of a conflict which has sapped something to the tune of 3 trillion dollars from our tax payers. Don't get me wrong, I think that our soldiers should get the support they need, but I think that everyone deserves that support. I don't give the military any special respect and a good number of soldiers I've encountered didn't deserve that respect. When an organization has a wave of assaults and medical calls for substance abuse every weekend, routine SIRs for sexual assaults, and weekly arrests for DUI that's not what you call a few bad apples. That's what you call a trend.

You probably have no idea the amount of shit that happens on your instillation. Part of my dislike for the military isn't just the people who make up the organization (As I stated, it's not all bad people. Just a lot.) but the way problems are dealt with. Units try to keep everything hush hush and handle things way out of their purview in house. The military justice system is a bad joke; JAG could fuck up a wet dream and the officers who preside over court martial would be just as happy under-prosecuting to keep people's units from looking bad. When I was at Fort Drum it got to the point that we would charge as much as we could under state law so they'd go to a civilian magistrate judge instead. That was the benefit to having our PMO run by civilian DOD police. In Korea where military personnel run the whole show justice is a joke. I'd have to say that Talu_Lupus was dead on. The military is great for people who never developed past high school.

I'm just calling it as I see it, buddy. It's a 25k salary job that involves menial physical labor and and a lot of fuckfuck games. Nothing more

yeah, silly NRA and gun nuts. I mean who needs an AR for hunting? We should be banning everything that is black and holds more than one bullet. We must think of the children.

Amen brotha, we gotta get those evil military styleguns off the streets before they kill anymore people. Just the other day my buddy's assault rifle ran off on its own and held up a bank. Just terrible.

The legislation blocked in congress, S-649, didn't ban assault weapons or ARs. It didn't ban any types of weapons at all. This discussion isn't even about anything that drastic \=3

You make a blank statement regarding how "gun nuts" are crazy. Your previous journal might have mentioned S-649, but this doesn't. Since you strike me as the type of guy who loves to stand on your soapbox, tell me your idea for gun control in the US. Should be confiscate all firearms from law abiding US citizens, just like in countries like the UK and Australia?

And Bravo for citing the Daily Show. Totally a creditable source. How about you throw me some statistics from MoveOn.org while you're at it.

It was a funny clip from a comedy show that raised some valid points. The subject it was addressing was the defeat of S-649 and gun advocates trying to argue against background checks which then turned into a larger fundamental critique of if gun control in any form can be effective. It's all tongue in cheek ;]

If you're asking for my personal belief, no, of course I don't advocate confiscation and ban of all guns or anything crazy like that.
The legal right established in the constitution aside, the majority of gun owners aren't hurting anyone. Hunting and sport shooting is all well and good, and under castle doctrine I can even appreciate the desire to own a weapon for home defense.

That said, I don't like people carrying weapons in public. I think that the role of lethal force to protect life becomes the exclusive responsibility of the police as soon as you leave your door. I support restrictions on some types of weapons. Certain types of weapons have such a capacity to inflict serious harm that I think it outweighs all other factors. Even if my neighbor is the most responsible man in the world, I still don't want him to own a cruise missile or set up a .50 cal on his roof.

It would have been more funny if it wasn't so blatantly bias, but suck is my opinion.

I agree with everything you said, minus conceal carry. I believe that there is a place for conceal and open carry in our society, and if anything recent events should make it abundantly clear how important such is. If one of the other movie goers in the Aurora shooting had a weapon, the whole incident would have ended much sooner with far fewer casualties. However, with the shooter being the only one who was armed, he was uncontested and free to kill whoever he wanted to in that theater until the cops arrived. In regards to the Police, you of all people should know that the police can't always be there on time to stop crimes like these from happening. In make instances, they,re merely there for damage control. One last point regarding carrying I'd like to make is on women. There are so many instances where rapes and murders could have been prevented if the victim carried a handgun. Guns are the great equalizers after all; where even a scrawny 120 lbs woman can stand her ground against a 200+ lbs. male attacker. Me personally, I'd rather my wife carry a glock 26 than a rape whistle.

The problem with the notion that an armed bystander can be damage control for a mass shooting is that it hasn't paid off for society. Three cases come to mind. Most recent being the Clackamas mall shooting involvig a man with tactical gear and a bushmaster rifle. By the time an armed bystander confronted the shooter he had already killed 3 people, experienced a weapon jam, and killed himself with a sidearm. There's speculation that seeing the armed bystander contributed to the shooter's suicide, but no way for us to read a dead man's mind. The second and most publicized case was she shooter of congresswoman Giffords. There was a man at the Safeway carrying a firearm, but by the time he got to the sound of the gunshots the shooter had already emptied his magazine was thereafter subdued. A less used example is an incident in 1997 where a high school student in Mississippi shot 9 people. The assistant principal was armed and intervened, but by the time he was able to act the shooter had already carried out his attack and left the building.

Wishing that someone had been around to stop the bad guy is always a first thought in the wake of these shootings. The problem is that even in the best case scenario where someone competent and carrying a gun is only moments away, that can prove to be too long. Letting people arm themselves and act as proxy cops in event of shootings just isn't turning out to be a viable strategy.

Don't get me wrong here, I'm all for school districts which employ legitimate public safety officers and I think community policing programs which put cops in school districts is a great strategy. I just think that's about as far as that line of protection is going to get us. Beyond guns in school, ultimately our last line of defense, we need to look at more proactive and preventative measures. In the wake of Newtown the NRA talked a lot about putting guards in schools, but not a lot about keeping guns out of the hands of your emotionally disturbed son. Last line security measures like cops and guards- that's something that professionals in law enforcement should be advising on. Responsible gun ownership practices is the NRA's lane, and if there's one area that needed improvement after Newtown the most that would be it.

I can understand your desire to have firearms as an equalizer for those less able to defend themselves, but this kinda seems like treating the symptom and ignoring the disease. A justifiable homicide is always better than a murder, that's undeniable, but when it comes to policy we need to be reasonable and put potential benefits for society over potential benefits for the individual. If a person has a gun they may be able to defend themselves under the right circumstances, but it also opens the door to situations where deadly force is being used without a need. States with stand your ground laws for example haven't seen considerable declines in their murder or rape rates that set them apart from the crime trends in the rest of the country, but the number of justifiable homicides have increased greatly. I would argue that the best way to control crime is with meaningful reform, not building up that last wall of 'oh shit'. We need to look at social programming, mental healthcare, and working harder to keep guns out of the hands of people who are likely to use them in crimes.