Guns, Guns Guns

Common sense is needed here. No one should be concerned about muzzleloaders (unless they are 32 pounders!) regardless of bore, as their rate of fire is too slow to cause a massacre. Long range modern big bores 50cal or 20mm are a different matter, some hunters and enthusiasts can justify them but they should be controlled.
Any semiautomatic weapon is a concern. Luckily no nutter has thought of using a 12 gauge Street Sweeper with a cylindrical magazine loaded with SGs as they could kill hundreds in a relatively short time (I know that they were useless against raptors in Jurassic Park, but come on?).
No hunter needs more than a five round magazine and if an enthusiast (like me) wants to shoot 30 rounds off at a range then have some restricted magazines locked up at the range.
Implementing stricter gun controls won't make a big difference initially, but over time the situation will improve. As for having hired guards at each school, the wages would be much better spent on teachers to educate kids so they will become better citizens.

Daryl wrote:No hunter needs more than a five round magazine and if an enthusiast (like me) wants to shoot 30 rounds off at a range then have some restricted magazines locked up at the range.

I've run into a daddy boar, three mommas and about fifteen little piglets in the woods one fine day. I backed away slowly and oh-so-silently.

A few hours later, a soldier of mine ran into a similar (same?) group. He did the same thing, except not so silently. Oops. I saw him come flying out of the woods with an "aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAaaaaah!" as he runs past.

I heard similar screams throughout the day.

As evening wore on, a sergeant major caught one sergeant ambling back down the road. "Got all your land navigation points?"

"4 out of 5 is good enough. There's a bunch of boars on the last one and I'm not going near them."

"Those little piggies are more scared of you than you are of them!"

Uh huh. Five minutes later, a sergeant major, a sergeant, and a private are all walking through the woods. Off to the left, there's a quiet little grunting sound.

"See, it's not going to come out and bother us!"

From in front, they heard another irritated grunt. "Huh. Hey troops, hold up a moment, let's give them time to run off."

That was when they heard a THIRD grunt, very annoyed, very loud, and very, very close. The bushes five meters to their right shook. The sergeant had just enough time for a quiet, "FML, they've got us flanked," before all three boars came charging out.

"AAAAAAAAAH!"
"AAAAAAAAAH!"
"AAAA-OOF!" The sergeant launched himself back up off the ground, caught up to and passed the sergeant major and his private.

"What the hell?! You grabbed my vest and threw me on the ground behind you!" he yelled at the sergeant major.

"Well... you're wearing armor, so you've got the best shot of anyone if they catch you. And as nimble as you are, you can still climb a tree wearing all that gear. And besides, I'm not that fast, but I figure as long as I can outrun *one* other person..."

Nobody got hurt that day, although one sergeant major got cussed out real good. A lot of that was because almost every person there was in the top 5% of physically fit people in the entire Army, and the vast majority were in the top 1%. Those who can't sneak can sprint really fast. But a single 30 round magazine early in that day, and we could have been having BBQ for dinner instead of running for our lives.

Do you realize that "Any semiautomatic weapon" covers somewhere in the neighborhood of 75% of all firearms in the US?

As far as target shooting, a lot of us don't go to a gun range, we go to the middle of nowhere.

You might want to read the article thinkstoomuch posted, the author's responses to the things you've mentioned are much better than what any of us can give you.

Daryl wrote:Common sense is needed here. No one should be concerned about muzzleloaders (unless they are 32 pounders!) regardless of bore, as their rate of fire is too slow to cause a massacre. Long range modern big bores 50cal or 20mm are a different matter, some hunters and enthusiasts can justify them but they should be controlled.
Any semiautomatic weapon is a concern. Luckily no nutter has thought of using a 12 gauge Street Sweeper with a cylindrical magazine loaded with SGs as they could kill hundreds in a relatively short time (I know that they were useless against raptors in Jurassic Park, but come on?).
No hunter needs more than a five round magazine and if an enthusiast (like me) wants to shoot 30 rounds off at a range then have some restricted magazines locked up at the range.
Implementing stricter gun controls won't make a big difference initially, but over time the situation will improve. As for having hired guards at each school, the wages would be much better spent on teachers to educate kids so they will become better citizens.

I've actually been in the situation of sharing thick bush with lots of wild pigs, and carrying a SKK with 30 round magazine & have to agree that was an exception. Busiest 10 seconds of my life & got more than 15. Nearby friends said it sounded like a roll of thunder. But in general more than 5 is not needed. Even though in Australia we did get rid of most such weapons years ago, a professional pig hunter can get a special license for such guns.

All this reminds me of my favorite song, well when I was kid and played it and played it until I wore out the old 78, to my parent's great relief: Red Foley's Cincinnati Dancing Pig:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaPS0CM38pY

Enjoy, pig snort, pig snort

Poker

Daryl wrote:I've actually been in the situation of sharing thick bush with lots of wild pigs, and carrying a SKK with 30 round magazine & have to agree that was an exception. Busiest 10 seconds of my life & got more than 15. Nearby friends said it sounded like a roll of thunder. But in general more than 5 is not needed. Even though in Australia we did get rid of most such weapons years ago, a professional pig hunter can get a special license for such guns.

So which do we make the laws for? "In general" situations, or "Wow, I'm really glad I had that" situations? Because in general, you don't shoot a firearm every day...

Hey! The woods are the bear's Home!
Doesn't the bear have the right to
defend himself In His Own Home?

And what are you doing invading Bear's Home
with a Big Bearkilling Gun, anyway?

Naughty Moose

[quote="RandomGraysuit"]

You encounter a bear in the woods.
Not a cute little 350 pound brown bear.
A big, pissed off papa grizzly.
Do you SERIOUSLY want to be carrying a .22 pistol
against that? Also, what do you prefer to be
carved into your headstone?

quote]

I believe that anyone who purchases a firearm of any type should show their ability to properly handle the weapon and when and when not, use of a weapon is appropriate.
I also believe that any weapons allowed to law enforcement should be allowed to the civilian population.

Common sense and appropriateness is what is called for.
In Australia semi/full automatic rifles like the SKS, AR15 and so on are banned from general ownership. Because we have a big problem with feral animals it is possible (with much effort) to get a special licence for professionals to use such weapons culling herds of animals like pigs, horses, donkeys and camels that are devastating the Australian outback. John Citizen has no chance of holding one legally, as there is no reason for him to have one.
Rereading your post I think I may have finally come to understand why there is a different outlook between US citizens and the rest of us. One reason we don't want large numbers of high powered semi/full automatics in the community is the danger that a radical right wing group might try and overthrow the legally elected government by force. Your comment that citizens should have at lest as powerful guns as do the authorities indicates that you would think it was a good thing to overthrow your government if in your opinion it had strayed from the correct path.
Big gap in world views there.

alphapatch wrote:I believe that anyone who purchases a firearm of any type should show their ability to properly handle the weapon and when and when not, use of a weapon is appropriate.
I also believe that any weapons allowed to law enforcement should be allowed to the civilian population.

Just out of wonderment, why does it have to be "radical right wing groups"?

John Brown of Harper's Ferry fame would probably say the same thing as alphapatch did. He would not have been considered "right wing" at that time. Actually probably wouldn't be right wing, now, either. He did steal stuff which I do have a problem with.

The view you are talking about is inviting tyranny of the majority. Which I would very much disagree with.

Merry Christmas,
T2M

Daryl wrote:Common sense and appropriateness is what is called for.
In Australia semi/full automatic rifles like the SKS, AR15 and so on are banned from general ownership. Because we have a big problem with feral animals it is possible (with much effort) to get a special licence for professionals to use such weapons culling herds of animals like pigs, horses, donkeys and camels that are devastating the Australian outback. John Citizen has no chance of holding one legally, as there is no reason for him to have one.
Rereading your post I think I may have finally come to understand why there is a different outlook between US citizens and the rest of us. One reason we don't want large numbers of high powered semi/full automatics in the community is the danger that a radical right wing group might try and overthrow the legally elected government by force. Your comment that citizens should have at lest as powerful guns as do the authorities indicates that you would think it was a good thing to overthrow your government if in your opinion it had strayed from the correct path.
Big gap in world views there.