Trump's Final 100 days

Quote: Paradigm

OK BBB, specifically what would you see as the appropriate new gun ban criteria...the specifics matter, let’s see how you do. That goes for anyone, I listed the gun restriction measures I thought could work/get passed by Congress in detail...there is a lot of hammering for bans on some types of guns...use specifics, don’t use undefined terms like “assault weapons” or AR-15’s (that is one model of gun). You’re a Congressman or Senator, what does a banned gun have/do that an unbanned gun doesn’t?

If I'm running the country, since you ask, I thought your list was excellent. I would not agree that nothing can be done about the two you excluded before that in the same post. But several people, especially Face, are doing a wonderful job of presenting valid arguments against blanket bans.

Despite that, it's possible the answer lies in ammunition, not the guns themselves. (And I don't claim to have THE answer to any of this).

So. Own as many guns as you like. Semi-auto, bolt-action, revolver, whatever. You get 10 bullets. Total. Bring back the spent cartridges, buy 10 more, assuming you aren't indicted for something while using them . Whatever gauge you need next. If you can't down a home invader with 10 shots, you're dead anyway. Most hunting permits don't let you have more than a couple a day as well. And what else do you need huge amounts of bullets for besides mass killing?

Ban banana clips, drums, ammo belts, etc. You won't need them anyway. Let the gun range and sporting-goods store stock ammo like any other controlled substance. Go qualify, count your brass, turn it in onsite.

IDK. Putting it out there for discussion. But if ammo is severely limited, maybe police don't freeze instead of challenging a shooter gone wild.

I'm still not convinced any gun control will address the real problem, which is, why do we have people among us who are willing to take innocent lives in large numbers? Short of solving that issue definitively, making it much harder for them to have the tools to do it seems practical.

Quote: AxelWolf

So I guess we should just wait untill the chances are high.

The issues with guns goes beyond school shootings, but this just happens to be another opportune moment to discuss.

No one even know that the 2nd amendment as practiced currently is necessary to a free society. It may only be necessary to make sure every community has access to their own armory, without guns all out in every house. No one knows.

And anyone (including me) says there is only one right way to deal with the arms situation is full of it. Because no one knows that either.

Quote: MrV

I'm surprised there haven't been more bioterrorist attacks, ala the Rajneeshees.

Remember those whackos?

Poisoned ten different salad bars at various restaurants in The Dalles, Oregon with Salmonella.

Lots of buffets in America these days, and lots of disgruntled souls pissed off at the world.

I did a lot of work on a JTTF on detecting/preventing Bio/Chem attacks. Might see an increased number of them if guns get hard to find, but for now, it's much easier for attackers to get the guns. And the chem/bio agents are difficult to develop, handle properly, and disperse effectively. But it can be done.

Just one more thing to keep worriers up at night.

Start tomorrow embedding assault rifles with RFID chips. What the chip can do, can improve when possible. For right now, the chip could be powered by a 1-2 year battery that has to be installed at a minimum, at a legal gun dealer. Don't replace the battery, signal goes off, that is picked up at numerous facility's, message broadcast by the chip says, come get this weapon, idiot owns it isn't responsible.

Put the sensors for location, among other info broadcast by the chip in schools, muni buildings, sporting arena's etc. Make scanners available to public as well. If chip fails or is altered it sends out signal. The area required and weight is about the same as an ink pen, which could have a infrared detector, rfid, and soon, firing pin interrupter.

Shouldn't be to hard, for the assault weapons to have a miniature camera lense, looking forward that tells AI what the gun is pointed at, Anything with a body temp, gun won't fire. These weapons aren't legal for any hunting that I know of? Again, chip could interrupt the firing pin. Allowances must be made for squirrels. Allow the chip to see through the scope, and identify anything, with an infrared signal.

It's not hard to imagine tech, where the chip could interrupt the firing pin, making it impossible to fire a bullet. The chip could also be controlled by Leo's, much like ignition interrupters now. Wherever these guns have been sold, there is a record of the transaction. not so for secondary sales. The chip info could be transferred as are car titles now. If not available now, chip could have a breath analyzer for drugs and alcohol, got to breathe clean to start firing, Three failures, and signal gets sent, talk to gun owner.

Anybody makes a bunch of money off this, I expect a cut.

The tech is available now. Probably a lot of current owners would be willing to add the chip tech, especially with taxpayer assistance.

President Babs, 10 rounds isn't enough for an average redneck hunter to get out of the cab.

Quote: beachbumbabs

IDK. Putting it out there for discussion. But if ammo is severely limited, maybe police don't freeze instead of challenging a shooter gone wild.

I think the ammo limit isn’t a good answer for a lot of reasons.

The Broward County cowards situation is a totally separate issue from what should/could happen with future gun legislation...geezus, you have unarmed teachers shielding kids with nothing but their bodies and their smarts and we got 4 Sheriff Deputies outside with the guns drawn taking cover behind their vehicles out front of the school buildings!!!

Sheriff Israel was pretty defensive about wanting specifics from the NRA lady during the CNN Town Hall wanting specific victims/circumstances she could reference when challenging him on why 39 visits by authorities wasn’t enuf to Baker Act this monster...meanwhile Coral springs Police Chief called him 5 days earlier reporting the fact that his troops were waiting outside while shots were being fired inside when Coral Springs Police showed up...I would say the Broward County Sheriff should think about retirment...he shouldn’t survive this if all these facts are verified by others.

I don't think Broward county sheriff got the memo about the "go in" training that had apparently become standardized for most departments responding to school shootings since Columbine. Of course, that's a half-ass excuse that doesn't really do much for their defense if it happens to be true. However, it might help the individual officers if they were following their original training.

Quote: petroglyph

Start tomorrow embedding assault rifles with RFID chips. What the chip can do, can improve when possible. For right now, the chip could be powered by a 1-2 year battery that has to be installed at a minimum, at a legal gun dealer. Don't replace the battery, signal goes off, that is picked up at numerous facility's, message broadcast by the chip says, come get this weapon, idiot owns it isn't responsible.

Put the sensors for location, among other info broadcast by the chip in schools, muni buildings, sporting arena's etc. Make scanners available to public as well. If chip fails or is altered it sends out signal. The area required and weight is about the same as an ink pen, which could have a infrared detector, rfid, and soon, firing pin interrupter.

Shouldn't be to hard, for the assault weapons to have a miniature camera lense, looking forward that tells AI what the gun is pointed at, Anything with a body temp, gun won't fire. These weapons aren't legal for any hunting that I know of? Again, chip could interrupt the firing pin. Allowances must be made for squirrels. Allow the chip to see through the scope, and identify anything, with an infrared signal.

It's not hard to imagine tech, where the chip could interrupt the firing pin, making it impossible to fire a bullet. The chip could also be controlled by Leo's, much like ignition interrupters now. Wherever these guns have been sold, there is a record of the transaction. not so for secondary sales. The chip info could be transferred as are car titles now. If not available now, chip could have a breath analyzer for drugs and alcohol, got to breathe clean to start firing, Three failures, and signal gets sent, talk to gun owner.

Anybody makes a bunch of money off this, I expect a cut.

The tech is available now. Probably a lot of current owners would be willing to add the chip tech, especially with taxpayer assistance.

President Babs, 10 rounds isn't enough for an average redneck hunter to get out of the cab.

My son worked this summer for a tech company developing miniaturized tech for police guns

Gun camera that would record actions from gun point of view. It would auto activate upon removal from holster. Officers had no choice to turn it off

Besides visual info it has a chip with downloadle data like distance to target speed etc metrics to help in any investigation

To both refute claims of police impropriety or support it based on immediate evidence

My son did software apps for it but he left so not sure where project is now

Quote: AxelWolf

So I guess we should just wait untill the chances are high.

Pretty much. In the real world you put your resources towards what does the most good against what is the biggest threat. Americans have the luxury of near unlimited money (we can print it and the world takes it) as well as living in such a safe society that ANY threat or danger, no matter how small. simply MUST be eliminated.

I remember 20 years or so ago there was a head-on fatal accident on a reversable roadway here. Someone left a gate up. Fluke. People actually thought the road needed to be closed! They hired a security guard to just watch the gate so nobody lifted it as a joke. He fell asleep it was so boring. So they hired another to watch the first one watching the gate. Really, this is America now!

Turning schools and every other place into armed camps is not the answer. Nor is grabbing guns, placing tracking devices, or limiting ammo purchases. Look at what failed here, it was good, old fashioned police work. Start there.

When the average student today can go to school for 145,000 days before they will statistically be killed by gun violence, it is time to calm the heck down and act rational. For those of you in Rio Linda, that means they can get to 800th grade.

Quote: MaxPen

I'm sure you will be back to regale me with one of your wall of text diatribes shortly. While the truth of the statement regarding wounding may not be factual and more myth than truth it was one of the reasons used to switch from 7.62 to 5.56. Some of the other reasons were that a soldier can carry 2 1/2 times more ammunition and barrel lengths were shortened to assist in getting in and out of vehicles on the modern battlefield. At least this is what I was told in 1988 at Camp Geiger.

Sorry I offended you; I could've and should've worded that better. But it's an important distinction to make. A very large part of the pop still believes in "shooting to wound" as if movie style shots of hitting someone's hand or disabling a leg are an easily accomplished and safer alternative. It's important to remember ALL rounds are lethal and designed to do as much damage as possible. Even "less than lethal" means like rubber bullets and bean bags should, IMO, be instead called "lesser lethal", because a shot to the head, neck, or chest still kills people.

No offense intended.

Experts can shoot to wound. The problem is there just aren't enough experts. Your average cop in NY puts in less than eight hours per year on the range. That's barely enough to be proficient, let alone be an expert. With the exception of military vets, an average NY cop will retire without ever coming under or engaging in hostile fire.

Quote: darkoz

My son worked this summer for a tech company developing miniaturized tech for police guns

Gun camera that would record actions from gun point of view. It would auto activate upon removal from holster. Officers had no choice to turn it off

Besides visual info it has a chip with downloadle data like distance to target speed etc metrics to help in any investigation

To both refute claims of police impropriety or support it based on immediate evidence

My son did software apps for it but he left so not sure where project is now

This is pretty cool tech...can you share the company name here or via PM?

I don't think "shoot to wound" is a valid choice in most cases. If you're drawing a weapon, I hope you have a very good reason to do so. And if you're discharging a weapon, you should be shooting to kill. Otherwise, you should not be drawing your weapon. Don't wave it about, threaten, aim at feet, their weapon, whatever - don't draw it unless you intend to kill with it, and suffer the consequences of doing so.

If you're not willing to do that, you shouldn't have a gun.

Now I'm reminded of another technology that has been resisted -- same way you protect your phone nowadays

Smart guns

Quote:

or guns that fire only in authorized locations, see Locationized gun. A smart gun, or personalized gun, is a firearm that includes a safety feature or features that allow it to fire only when activated by an authorized user.

Quote:

The most common question I got in response to my previous piece on the many problems with smart guns is, “even if you’re correct that smart guns are a bad idea, why is the NRA so opposed to letting the market even try to get it right?”

The NRA’s official position is that they don’t care one way or the other about smart gun tech, and that the market should decide, but we all know that’s baloney. The NRA doesn’t want smart guns to ever reach the market, at all.

So the question is, why? If smart guns as doomed to fail as I’ve previously argued, why not just let them fail in the market? Why try to prevent this technology from even having a chance?

https://techcrunch.com/2016/04/30/why-the-nra-hates-smart-guns/

Of course, when the lunatic can just walk up and buy the gun, no gun is smart enough.

Quote: rxwine

Now I'm reminded of another technology that has been resisted -- same way you protect your phone nowadays

Smart guns

You had better believe any sane person will resist it. When you need to use a gun, split seconds can count. Nobody wants a gun that may malfunction because the battery is dead, the wi-fi is down, or any other silly thing. These are a silly idea usually proposed by politicians and activists who lived a nice suburban life sheltered from the real world.

Quote: beachbumbabs

I don't think "shoot to wound" is a valid choice in most cases.

Police officers are trained to shoot to stop life threatening behavior and aim at central mass where they have a better chance of hitting their target and avoiding a stray shot that can kill an innocent person.

They are not instructed to ‘shoot to kill’ or ‘shoot to wound’.

ABC

Quote: AZDuffman

You had better believe any sane person will resist it. When you need to use a gun, split seconds can count. Nobody wants a gun that may malfunction because the battery is dead, the wi-fi is down, or any other silly thing. These are a silly idea usually proposed by politicians and activists who lived a nice suburban life sheltered from the real world.

Suddenly you make an argument against the market place sorting it out for us.. Not very conservative.

Quote: rxwine

Now I'm reminded of another technology that has been resisted -- same way you protect your phone nowadays

Smart guns

Won't happen. Too many dumb politicians.

Trump's idiot solution is to arm the teachers.

Quote: AZDuffman

You had better believe any sane person will resist it. When you need to use a gun, split seconds can count. Nobody wants a gun that may malfunction because the battery is dead, the wi-fi is down, or any other silly thing. These are a silly idea usually proposed by politicians and activists who lived a nice suburban life sheltered from the real world.

They are going to get...something. I only propose the chip on black rifles. Which isn't normally thought to be self defense. I use a scatter gun and a .38. I even take the question about a "jamming automatic" out of the equation. If they aren't pacified, next up comes much harder access for everyone, or just confiscation. It is a way to be able to keep fun weapons, rather than locking them up at the cop shop and having to check them out when you want them.
Three times now, I've been able to stop myself from being mugged or worse, just because the perp could see I had a revolver and had the "look", that I would use it. Long guns aren't appropriate in confined spaces for self defense anyway. My offer has nothing to do with any adjustment to your weapons. {just new sales].
What do you want to do, draw this line in the sand? I know it has to be drawn somewhere, but what would Sun Tzu do?

Quote: AZDuffman

When the average student today can go to school for 145,000 days before they will statistically be killed by gun violence, it is time to calm the heck down and act rational. For those of you in Rio Linda, that means they can get to 800th grade.

That is not what I said. A student has a 145,000 to 1 chance of being killed in a school shooting during a 13 year school career. Your statistic as you quote it is completely wrong.

Given that a student has a elementary + secondary school life of 2,340 days, you are saying that the odds of any child being killed during their school life is (145,000/2,340) 61 to 1. I wouldn't be sending any child to school if the odds were that high. So, please, quote the right figure, especially when I calculated it for you.

Americans go to much further lengths to ensure safety. In car safety. In drug safety. In airline safety. In child porn. In so many areas. But when it comes to gun control, standards go out the window.

Parkland is not just about schools anyway, though the children are protesting. It's against gun violence throughout the United States. The three major gun shootings in the last 5 months is what it's about. The other 340 mass shootings in 2017 are what it's about. The 15,000 suicides are what it's about.

Solutions are pretty easy and the expertise is not going to be found in this forum to change it. From what I can tell, one person (Face) actually is the only one who knows enough about weaponry to speak to the topic.

For me, it has to be a cultural change over a generation with rule changes factored in. And both sides have to agree to it and embrace it. Smoking was cool 50 years ago. Some people still smoke but it is no longer in the culture. Guns can go down the same cultural route.

It seems like both sides can agree on getting rid of things that make weapons automatic. They seem to agree on much higher scrutiny in background checks, and closing loopholes. But to me, gun safety and education should be high on the list. Educate the masses.

There are other alternatives.

You want a gun for self defense.

If I have a choice to be shot with something, I sure don't want a rifle being used by our soldiers in Afghanistan being shot at me, not only because I will likely die, but at least other gun choices might leave me alive long enough to get care and survive at the hospital and maybe even recover fully.

You want a gun that is going stop someone.

How much can you have of that without going overboard? Do you need a gun which leaves a grapefruit size hole in someone's back when you defend yourself? Maybe but hopefully not 99% of the time. Are grizzly bears trying to mug you?

Some guns should be easier to justify than others. And maybe easier to purchase.

I hate to come down and actually make it harder for hunters to purchase more powerful guns by having them jump through more hoops. But there might be ways around that, for instance, say, if you actually show evidence that you are a regular hunter, purchase of such guns would be fewer hoops. Years of responsible gun ownership should give you fewer hoops IMO. (unless of course you;ve been selling guns illegally out of your trunk)

Quote: boymimbo

That is not what I said. A student has a 145,000 to 1 chance of being killed in a school shooting during a 13 year school career. Your statistic as you quote it is completely wrong.

Given that a student has a elementary + secondary school life of 2,340 days, you are saying that the odds of any child being killed during their school life is (145,000/2,340) 61 to 1. I wouldn't be sending any child to school if the odds were that high. So, please, quote the right figure, especially when I calculated it for you.

Sorry if I read it wrong. I asked about how many day it would mathematically take, thought that was the answer.

Quote:

Parkland is not just about schools anyway, though the children are protesting. It's against gun violence throughout the United States. The three major gun shootings in the last 5 months is what it's about. The other 340 mass shootings in 2017 are what it's about. The 15,000 suicides are what it's about.

Again, we do not have a major gun violence problem. Take out the suicides and it crashes like a rock. Then the problem is mostly in the 4-5 most violent cities. They need to be cleaned out, if needed by getting the FBI to do something useful and work with the local cops to clean out the gangs. Same as they did with maifa in the most mobbed up cities a generation ago.

I can say one thing, I will never, ever take the other side seriously at the least until they stop blaming the NRA for the problems. Until they do that, they are not serious about solving violence, they are just coming off as the gun grabbers they are.

Quote: boymimbo

The 15,000 suicides are what it's about.

That is certainly no one else's business, how and when they choose to end their suffering. What [seriously] gives you any right,what so ever, to determine when someone else can leave their earthly bound ?

I do like the idea of new gun purchasers getting more scrutiny when purchasing than people who have been doing it okay for years. That doesn't address people like Paddock, but it does address a lot of purchases by would-be school kid shooters, probably young gang bangers, and so forth.

It would probably do some good, but then we have a problem with no one keeping records because no one wants Hitler coming to get your guns.

sigh.,

Several of us have had weapons training by Uncle Sam.
Thinking a person is an expert because they own a lot of something makes Haystacks Calhoun an expert on nutrition.

One more albeit "quiet" argument for gun control would be suicide prevention.

It's a lot easier to kill yourself with a pistol.

Quote: MrV

One more albeit "quiet" argument for gun control would be suicide prevention.

It's a lot easier to kill yourself with a pistol.

Always pays to do research though. Sometimes, people cave their whole face in without killing themselves. Then if they change their mind they have to deal with looking like dog butt. Maybe they'll get those face transplants perfected one day.

(not really dog butt, but no one really wants to look at dog butt, which is the point*)

*except other dogs.

Quote: petroglyph

That is certainly no one else's business, how and when they choose to end their suffering. What [seriously] gives you any right,what so ever, to determine when someone else can leave their earthly bound ?

Their suffering? 90% of suicide survivors (failed attempts) go on to live a full life, with only 23% attempting again. However, 82% of handgun attempts are successful and account for 51% of suicides, much higher than any other method. For example, drug overdoses are only 2-3% effective.

"According to the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in the US there were 8.3m adults who had serious thoughts of committing suicide, and 2.3m who had actually made plans to commit to suicide. Of those, 1.1m actually attempted suicide, but only just over 33,000 succeeded. Which would make the ratio of failure to success 33 to 1."

Updated figures: 44,965 deaths annually by suicide and 1 success for every 25 attempts. source

And of course it's someone else's business, especially if they are married, a parent, or a child. Suffering is usually temporary. A lot of people who attempt suicide are simply needing some form of mental help. The availability of a firearm just raises the suicide rate, a rate that has gone up steadily over the past 10 years.

And as for teenagers, same source as above:

"Based on the 2015 Youth Risk Behaviors Survey, 8.6 percent of youth in grades 9-12 reported that they had made at least one suicide attempt in the past 12 months. Girls attempted twice as often as boys (11.6% vs. 5.5%) and teens of Hispanic origin reported the highest rate of attempt (11.3%), especially Hispanic females (15.1%) when compared with white students (6.8%) and White females (9.8%). Approximately 2.8 percent reported making a suicide attempt that required treatment by a doctor or nurse. For those requiring treatment, rates were highest for Hispanic students with black males (4.0%) and Hispanic males (2.9%) having higher rates than white male (0.9%) students."

Good thing they didn't have access to a gun.

Quote: MrV

One more albeit "quiet" argument for gun control would be suicide prevention.

It's a lot easier to kill yourself with a pistol.

Why not just make it illegal, unless the state can collect a vig? Oregon...a state in the continental USA where it is legal to possess small amounts of heroin or other narcotics, but illegal to kill yourself without Dr. assistance.

Quote: boymimbo

.....And of course it's someone else's business,

Do you want the government to be able to tell people who they can have sex with? Whether or not to believe in Jeezus? Of course not, but the one thing people actually do own, which is themselves, you want to be able to take that control away from them. That's ridiculous.

It is still honorable to join the military and go to a foreign country and charge a machine gun nest, isn't it. Ban that.

Quote: rxwine

Always pays to do research though. Sometimes, people cave their whole face in without killing themselves. Then if they change their mind they have to deal with looking like dog butt. Maybe they'll get those face transplants perfected one day.

(not really dog butt, but no one really wants to look at dog butt, which is the point*)

*except other dogs.

No good deed goes unpunished

https://www.aol.com/article/news/2018/02/24/paul-manafort-got-caught-allegedly-committing-bank-fraud-because-he-didnt-know-how-to-convert-a-pdf-to-a-word-document/23370204/

Details on how manafort and gates conspired to do bank fraud. Apparently caught because manafort didnt know how to convert pdf to word

So he could edit $600,000 loss to $6mil gain to secure bank loans

Quote: petroglyph

That is certainly no one else's business, how and when they choose to end their suffering. What [seriously] gives you any right,what so ever, to determine when someone else can leave their earthly bound ?

In most cases
Its a permanent solution to a temporary problem
I suffer from deep depression
I totally get why people end their lives.
Takes time but you eventually come out of that darkness and are relieved you did not take a drastic action while in the deep depths of depression.
Can some end their lives without a gun, of course.
But
Less guns would mean fewer suicides due to its ease to end a life

I suspect this is particularly true of what I'd describe as "impulse suicides," i.e. ones which occur without much forethought or planning.

Having a gun an arm's reach away simplifies things.

Quote: MrV

I suspect this is particularly true of what I'd describe as "impulse suicides," i.e. ones which occur without much forethought or planning.

Having a gun an arm's reach away simplifies things.

It's better than doing 75 and swinging into oncoming traffic.

Quote: terapined

I suffer from deep depression
I totally get why people end their lives.

Sorry T., really. Need, better weed.

The self termination I support is those near end of life, who are not going to interrupt their suffering and choose to make a conscious choice to end their own misery.

I thought Dr. Kavorkian was a hero, not a criminal.

Quote: petroglyph

Do you want the government to be able to tell people who they can have sex with? Whether or not to believe in Jeezus? Of course not, but the one thing people actually do own, which is themselves, you want to be able to take that control away from them. That's ridiculous.

It is still honorable to join the military and go to a foreign country and charge a machine gun nest, isn't it. Ban that.

You cannot go out and purchase a suicide pill, correct? The government regulates that. People who commit suicide generally are not in a mental state to make a rational decision. You assume that they are. So answer me, then. Why can't I go out and buy a cyanide pill? Why are not there not private suicide practices that allow people to come in and take the pill, no questions asked?

For old aged suffering from terminal death, for preventing suffering, I completely support physician assisted death - it's available in Canada. My trip to Vegas next weekend is with a friend whose Dad took that option a month ago and we are going as a "get on with life" trip.

What I don't support is a teen who decides that they want to end their life, find a gun, and do it. I would rather that they find pills (3% effective), cut themselves (2% effective), put a bag over their head (23%) jump off a bridge (higher), and live. Then realize that life is worth living, and live a productive and successful life.

Quote: boymimbo

So answer me, then. Why can't I go out and buy a cyanide pill? Why are not there not private suicide practices that allow people to come in and take the pill, no questions asked?

It isn't the preferred outcome by those that have something to gain. Surely there are other poisons. Fentanyl comes to mind. Others I won't mention here. I'm not trying to encourage it. And laws won't stop it.

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For old aged suffering from terminal death, for preventing suffering, I completely support physician assisted death - it's available in Canada.

As it is in Oregon, after the establishment gets it's vig.

Quote:

What I don't support is a teen who decides that they want to end their life, find a gun, and do it. I would rather that they find pills (3% effective), cut themselves (2% effective), put a bag over their head (23%) jump off a bridge (higher), and live.

I don't want healthy, young people who are not in mortal agony doing so either. Without Dr. prescription, suicide should only be allowed for senior citizens, who make a rational choice to end their misery.

I had one friend who went the Dr. route, and his father wanted to. But without a diagnosis by a Dr. of a terminal illness, the medical profession will not assist. Apparently being old and in agony is not terminal.

Quote: boymimbo

My trip to Vegas next weekend is with a friend whose Dad took that option a month ago and we are going as a "get on with life" trip.

I am guessing the dad had family around him when he passed? Can I ask, do you know if he died fast, or did it take hours, with family waiting around for him to quit breathing?

It was fairly quick, and painless.

I don't object to someone trying to convince someone not to end their life for some of these terminal cases where someone wants to die. Actually forcing them to wait is a very questionable decision to me though. Physically keeping the means out of reach for instance.

Quote: boymimbo

It was fairly quick, and painless.

With my friend, it took hours. Canada probably has a better formula.

Quote: gamerfreak

Again, I’m not really in favor of banning anything, and you know guns better tell me if there is a piece to this I am not understanding. I still do not see how it’s accurate to say that there’s no difference between AR or assault style rifles, and other semi-automatic weapons like the Ruger Mini.

To clear up any uncertainty about terminology, by assault style I mean a Semi-Automatic rifle of any caliber, with a pistol grip and 20/30+1 capacity.

That Ruger Mini 14 is 10+1 max and has no pistol grip. Less capacity, less control, and less mobility than something like an AR-556.

So in a super hypothetical situation, you are tasked with accurately hitting 25 moving targets as quickly as possible. You are given the choice between a Ruger Mini 14, AR-556, a 9mm pistol, or a semi-auto shotgun. What is the best tool for the job?

I say "no difference' because there is none, at least not when considering the "big ticket" items like distance, accuracy, and energy.

The first hang up is easily explained. The Mini 14 is not "10+1". 10+1 may be the standard or most common configuration, likely because it is promoted as a hunting rifle and many states have capacity limits when out in the field. But it's a detachable mag, just like almost every other semi. Getting 20 and 30's is as easy for the Mini 14 as any single other gun. To make an analogy, most base model cars (Mini 14) come with 16" wheels (10rd mag). Most prime model cars (AR) come with 20's (30rd). If you for whatever reason want 20's on your Civic or 16's on your Challenger, it takes merely telling the salesman or making a stop at Canadian Tire to make it happen. The same goes for the Mini. No special orders, no friend with an engineering degree and 3D printer, no need to have a background in fabrication. Walk up to the clerk and say "Can I have a 30 for a Mini 14?" It's as easy as that (assuming you live in a free state).

Your question about accessories isn't answerable. If you were talking about things specific to the operation, like the design and parts within the action or the design and powder within the ammo, then yeah, those would have universal answers. But accessories are mostly a very personal thing. I've lived my whole gunner life with an affinity for bare bones, iron sighted, WWII-era type weapons with zero accoutrements. Playing with my Del-ton ("AR") is, in a word, frustrating. There are things on it I'm not in any way used to, which causes snags on tables, snags on clothing, try to take it off safety and end up dropping the mag, even holding the forward pistol grip just feels wrong. Someone who's carried a tacti-cool model for 2-4-10 years in the desert might only know an "AR" to have all this stuff on it, so grabbing my simple stick would likely feel weird af to him. I can see, even for one who does not like them, that a pistol grip could help in a full auto scenario with a large caliber weapon, like Vegas had (but did not get to use). But I can't think of a single person I know, including petite girls and my 9yr old kid, who I would hand a .223 and worry about them being knocked off balance. It's not a round you have to hang onto. For these reasons, all I see in a pistol grip is an opportunity for the shooter to get hung up or otherwise distracted / temporarily put out of service. YMMV; accessories are a personal thing.

I started to work on your "super hypothetical" but went full novella again lol. It's too tough, as again, it's a very personal thing. But if it was ME, and a hog farm needed to be eradicated due to pig flu, and there were 150 pigs in pens of 20 and I could only shoot for as long as I could hold my breath so needed to hit as many as quickly as possible, I'm using a shotgun. #4 buckshot will send out the same .22cal size projectile as an AR, only it's sending 21 of them for every one pull of the trigger. With an improved choke, that cloud of doom at 30' is about as big around as a can of GWAE juice. At 60', it's as big around as a roll of Brawny paper towels. The projectiles don't have the velocity to cause the shock damage to soft tissues that a rifle does, but firearms don't kill by shock, they kill by blood loss. And now you're losing out of 21 holes instead of 1.

And just so it's known, detachable, extended, and even drum mags are available for shotguns just as easy as anything else. 12, 15, 25, 50rd double drums, your only limit is the steel in your back and arms to tote the thing. Plus they're about 60% the cost of any composite rifle. $600 or so, brand new in the box. <~~edit: Typed faster than I was thinking. Strike through is unconfirmed, as the one cheap model I was thinking of can't be extended past 10rds, and the one model I know you can put 50 in is $2,500.

Look at Donald's body language as he gets schooled by Gov. Inslee of Washington.

This is a man who clearly isn't used to listening to anyone else, especially if they disagree with him. When he crosses his arms, you know he's just pissed. Love it.

Gov. Inslee confronts Trump: Our teachers don’t want to be armed

Quote: petroglyph

It isn't the preferred outcome by those that have something to gain. Surely there are other poisons. Fentanyl comes to mind.

I've read that Dolores O'Riordan, former lead singer for The Cranberries, suicided in a hotel room via fentanyl overdose. By report she had drug / alcohol issues (why is it so tough to handle fame?) and a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

Quote: MrV

By report she had drug / alcohol issues (why is it so tough to handle fame?) and a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

says Joe Walsh. too much of a good thing. Too many highs followed by too many downs. don't know who to trust. I guess some is genes, how grounded you were to begin with.

Quote:

I have a mansion, forget the price
Ain't never been there, they tell me it's nice
I live in hotels, tear out the walls
I have accountants pay for it all

They say I'm crazy but I have a good time
I'm just looking for clues at the scene of the crime
Life's been good to me so far

My Maserati does one-eighty-five
I lost my license, now I don't drive
I have a limo, ride in the back
I lock the doors in case I'm attacked

I make hit records, my fans they can't wait
They write me letters, tell me I'm great
So I got me an office, gold records on the wall
Just leave a message, maybe I'll call

Lucky I'm sane after all I've been through
(Everybody say I'm cool) (He's cool)
I can't complain but sometimes I still do
Life's been good to me so far

I go to parties, sometimes until four
It's hard to leave when you can't find the door
It's tough to handle this fortune and fame
Everybody's so different, I haven't changed

Quote: MrV

I've read that Dolores O'Riordan, former lead singer for The Cranberries, suicided in a hotel room via fentanyl overdose. By report she had drug / alcohol issues (why is it so tough to handle fame?)

That is a good question. It doesn't seem that unpleasant to us regular folk. Look at BIll Shatner or Chevy Chase though, they don't want fans speaking to them.

How People in Europe see the USA gun culture

They're right!