Me And A Gun

[Beretta]

With all due respect, please leave this type of opinion thread in other venues or in the off topic section if you must. I dont come here for this.

[TTK]

With all undue respect....don't read it then....!

[Blobe]

With all due respect, please leave this type of opinion thread in other venues or in the off topic section if you must. I dont come here for this.

lol with a nick like yours indeed.
don't shoot yourself tho :/

[stevie7s]

Look closely and you will notice there is even a larger problem at hand. - one of them is a Yankee fan!!

[Posh]

With all due respect, please leave this type of opinion thread in other venues or in the off topic section if you must. I dont come here for this.

I'm going to post my reply to Razorphish one more time because it kinda coincides with what I would say to this reply, with a special tweak for you:

Thank you for "all due respect" concerning my stance on guns and children with guns. Um, my section is about all things replica, as can clearly be seen. I've talked about bags, cars, watches, shoes, clothes, travel, art, philanthropy AND my own thoughts and opinions, if I feel like expressing them. Everyone is welcome to provide a counterpoint against or in support of these opinions; I won't censor anybody because I don't like them or what they say. Posh's section is an exchange for ideas and learning.

Due to the largess of the site principals, I was given a great deal of latitude in what topics I wanted to present to the RG readers. If you don't like my social, education, art, relationship or other miscellaneous commentary, by all means ignore it and focus on the replica topics. Or just ignore the whole section completely; that is the beauty of free will.

Nobody's putting a BERETTA to your head and telling you to read my articles, YET.

[superdave]

I understand your point but it's necessary to look at the bigger picture especially when dealing with kids and weapons. These toy guns are and expression of hatred, and that hatred is not something that parents alone are responsible for.

[SFA437]

That being said I will put out there that I think private gun ownership in the US should be illegal. There is just no reason for it.

Lets say someone like me, with my degree of training was determined to kill you- even without a firearm. Let's say a knife, or even less offensive- a baseball bat. What is the best response?

Call the police- I've turned your head into a canoe before you hit the last "1" in 911

Run- I routinely do 5:30 miles and can sprint quite well. You [might] get away if you're lucky and I'm tired

Back up 4 quick steps and draw a firearm- The sight of the firearm backs me off, and if it doesn't two center of mass and one cranio-ocular tops me. In addition reaction gaps favor the intial move, so you drawing the weapon is completed before I can backswing.

You are far more likely to kill yourself or a loved one then to defend your home.

The FBI UCR (Uniform Crime Report) for 2006 shows the defensive usage of firearms 1,188,607 times (reported to local PD). According to you- over 1.2 million people died in the US last year from shooting family members. Laughable. Do some research prior to spouting off statistics and BTW Dr. Trent Lott has completely discredited the study from which that piece of rhetoric came from and the authors themselves have apologized and said their research was designed to produce a certain result.

The argument about the constitution is just silly, its says "the right to bear arms" which does not mean the right to own any weapon I want and carry it when ever I want. I am an engineer and know how to make chemical weapons but I don't think anyone is comfortable with that.

Ah- so the 1st Amendment should only apply to a moveable typeface printing press and quill pens. Plus the 4th and 6th should only apply to your actual person and home, allowing warrantless searches of you e-mail and interception of telephone conversations. None of those were around when the Constitution was framed (please note capitalization of Constitution). In addition a chemical weapon is regulated by international treaties and is an indiscrimate weapon similar to explosive devices. "Arms" in the frame of the Constitution were weapons commonly employed by civilian infantry raised in time of war. Rifles and handguns predominantly but a shotgun showed up on occasion.

As a side note the word "regulated" does NOT mean Federally controlled. The word in the 1700's meant drilled or trained.

The developing world is another story, people there live by a set of rules so different then what we know in the US. Having to kill an animal so it doesn't eat your children is a reality in some parts of the world. Pirates, kidnappers, thieves, rapists, and murders who work with or sometimes for the police are real concepts in the developing world.

So we do not have thieves, kidnappers, rapists and murderers in the United States? Thank GOD! All the cops can go home and we'll all sit around sipping decaf vente vanilla chais at Starbucks and share a group hug! Hallelujah- Paradise on Earth- right in downtown Washington DC (oh wait can't go there after dark- wonder why since we have no murderers, kidnappers or rapists).

I was a cop for 13 years and the best thing going is an armed populace. Even Colin Ferguson stated he chose NY to go on a rampage because he KNEW nobody would have a firearm and be able to stop him. My wife carries a .38 Airweight and I feel better knowing she does. I will never subscribe to a theory that says it is perfectly OK for a 110 pound woman to fistfight a 280 pound rapist.

Bottom like guns are tools, if the benefit of having the tool out ways the danger you should have one, if not then don't. Sorry NRA guys you have to make the decision on a society wide basis not on an individual basis or it doesn't work.

Well since more people are killed yearly with blunt instruments than with firearms- nobody should have one. Sorry Home Depot and Louisville Slugger. More people are manually killed each year than with erroneously named "assault weapons" so nobody should have hands and feet. Well just the police and the Army- they're the only ones who really need them.

In a perfect world, there would be no use for a firearm for defensive purposes. We do not however live in a perfect world. I've seen depravity in the States that outshines what I see here in Iraq. Most of that is fueled by drugs with the occasional true sicko tossed in the mix. Making a firearm illegal does absolutely nothing. Dope is illegal yet I can get whatever I want less than 30 min from my front door. I'd rather not fistfight the crackhead with the knife, or even the crackhead with a gun. I can out-think, out-move and out-shoot 90% of the population. I simply refuse to throw myself on the mercy of those who have none.

While I love Posh to death- I am glad, TRULY glad, she has not had to face the harsh realities of what people do to each other and I pray she never does.

Some of us (Anubis, Guacano and Novesh for example) have seen it up close and personal. I've seen mass graves and smelled that smell that lives inside you forever. I've seen entire families killed by a single intruder and dealt with the aftermath of a home invasion gang rape; but I have also seen a dead skell in a hallway with a scared citizen holding a firearm. I know which way I'd rather have an incident work out.

As for my child, I would rather him be EDUCATED about firearms, to know their inherent destructive power and that people don't respawn after a .45 to the dome like in Call of Duty. I want him to look at a firearm as a tool and not something "cool" to be f**ked with when a parent or adult is not around. I want him to know that if someone is playing with a gun or finds one, he should leave the area, find an adult and tell them what is going on. Education trumps ignorance every.... single.... last.... time.... period.

I want my wife to know she won't have to wait 3-5 minutes for the cops to show up if someone kicks in the front door, she can deal with the situation immediately.

Again I prefer not to have my family dependant on mercy from those who have none.

I do however respect her point of view and her decision to not own a firearm is hers and hers alone. I just do not wish for others to force a false worldview of this supposed peace, love and farfegnugen that we supposedly have in the US. Reality intrudes on my life quite a bit and I will choose to carry or not to carry a weapon myself- it is not anyone's place to choose FOR me.

"Si vis pacem, para bellum" Those who wish peace prepare for war. Just as valid now as it was 2000 years ago. I've seen organized war and random civilian violence up close and personal. I have taken life in defense of myself and others not just here but in the States.

It is in NO way pretty, or full of glory or to be crowed about over drinks. It is a deeply moving event. It wasn't fun, or a "rush".

All in all, I am glad I was armed at the time because if I was not, I would not be here typing and my wife would be a widow and my son without a father.

[Posh]

I understand your point but it's necessary to look at the bigger picture especially when dealing with kids and weapons. These toy guns are and expression of hatred, and that hatred is not something that parents alone are responsible for.

I didn't think I would have to point this out but they're not all toys and they're not all from one country.

There's Uruguay, Cambodia, Myanmar, Angola, Rwanda, United States, Slovenia, Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Pakistan, India and Nepal. I asked for pictures from everywhere with guns that were real and toys. The toy guns look very similar to real guns; they aren't designed in unrealistic colors like red or yellow. You cannot tell and that's why I asked for the mix. Can you tell which are real and which are fake, besides the ones that are captioned as such?

[SFA437]

Can you tell which are real and which are fake, besides the ones that are captioned as such?

I can identify each and every toy, as well as the weapon it was based on- but I am somewhat uniquely qualified to do so

[SFA437]

Child pageants with 3-10 year old girls tarted up to look like 42nd St. hookers bother me FAR more than a child target shooting or hunting with his family BTW

Talk about CREEPY!

[Yggdrasil]

Everything has the potential to kill...whether it be guns or Step ladders/slippery showers/electric toasters/hair dryer/Stairs cases/fruit cake/,etc.

Human life is fragile. All life is for that matter.

Besides guns these things would also kill if used for that purpose: A knife//large hands/big sticks/sharpened sticks/rocks/cars/pillows/high heeled shoes/heavy objects like candle sticks/frying pan/sculpture/hammer/rope/hard cover book/a towel/ plastic bag/Legos/rolled newspaper/CRT monitor/clipboard/wooden or metal chair, etc.

[painm8ker]

I just wants kids to be able to be kids without having to deal adult realities. That's just what I feel.

There's plenty of time for gun play when you're an adult; Uncle Sam (and some mercenary companies) are giving people the chance to take the lives of other people with guns if they want it. So why not wait a few years?

Lets hope some day we live in a world where this is possible. 2/3 of the world lives in such a way that it isn't. In another thread you posted that "money is the great equalizer" in the super safe developed world that true. For the other 2/3 of the worlds population guns are. To your point about the bad guys being better armed and many, I suggest that the part of helpless victim while possibly safer is not preferable to many and not something a child should have to endure either.

Your spot on about the US and developed world though, having a gun here around children is just irresponsible.

[SFA437]

Your spot on about the US and developed world though, having a gun here around children is just irresponsible.

I don't get why you think ignorance is better than education.....

[razorphish]

This is a watch forum.

...and Posh, in my opinion, they gave you too much leash (latitude).

And another thing, why don't you just start your own blog? It's obvious that your rambling, self-indulgent threads are designed for your own inflated ego.

Start a blog and post a link with the address. Then, the poker playing, Poshists will follow you there and kiss your a$$ somewhere else in cyberspace.

This is a watch forum.

R

[Posh]

Lets say someone like me, with my degree of training was determined to kill you- even without a firearm. Let's say a knife, or even less offensive- a baseball bat. What is the best response?

Who's going to stand there and not try to defend their lives against imminent danger? You don't need a gun for that. Sometimes you need the strength and will to survive.

Shooting at the walls of heartache, bang bang. I AM the warrior.

So we do not have thieves, kidnappers, rapists and murderers in the United States? Thank GOD! All the cops can go home and we'll all sit around sipping decaf vente vanilla chais at Starbucks and share a group hug! Hallelujah- Paradise on Earth- right in downtown Washington DC (oh wait can't go there after dark- wonder why since we have no murderers, kidnappers or rapists).

Uh, DC isn't THAT bad. I feel safe there. I do know guy friends who have been mugged in Georgetown and Charles Village, Baltimore. In all honesty, the guys I know who got mugged could've been mugged by Elmo or Cookie Monster. I mean these are your typical yuppies or hipsters. They just have "victimize me" written all over them.

Me and my girls put on our b*tch face and go to town, without men around. You don't need a gun when you have on your b*tch face. You better recognize!

I was a cop for 13 years and the best thing going is an armed populace. Even Colin Ferguson stated he chose NY to go on a rampage because he KNEW nobody would have a firearm and be able to stop him. My wife carries a .38 Airweight and I feel better knowing she does. I will never subscribe to a theory that says it is perfectly OK for a 110 pound woman to fistfight a 280 pound rapist.

A gun is not going to stop a determined 280 pound man from raping a 110 pound woman. My mom has had patients who had guns, on their person and in their homes, and knew how to use them who were still victims of sexual assault, both by strangers and people they knew. She now has to help them cope with feelings powerlessness and fear. A few of these people now realize that a gun doesn't guarantee ANYTHING. And it's not because my mom told that's how they should feel; because my parents own ONE handgun (my mom's not a hypocritical member of the psychology field). I honestly don't think I've seen it since they bought it for "protection," at my father's behest.

A gun DOES NOT make you automatically safe. But that it does is what I hear from gun proponents all the time and there's evidence everywhere to the contrary. It provides "safety," a false sense of safety, yes. If you don't feel safe enough just armed with your wits, since most times that's all the "weapon" we have, then nothing is going to make you feel secure. I

As for my child, I would rather him be EDUCATED about firearms, to know their inherent destructive power and that people don't respawn after a .45 to the dome like in Call of Duty. I want him to look at a firearm as a tool

Um, I don't think most kids believe a gun "respawns" in real life like in the VIDEO GAME "Call of Duty."

A gun isn't a "tool." A band saw is a tool. A gun is an istrument designed and devised with only ONE real purpose: to destroy and end life. That's why they were invented and that's continue to be made. Why does everybody glass over this fact like it doesn't exist?

There's a LOT of money to be made in making things that destroy life instead of preserving it

[Mudcat]

This is a watch forum.

...and Posh, in my opinion, they gave you too much leash (latitude).

And another thing, why don't you just start your own blog? It's obvious that your rambling, self-indulgent threads are designed for your own inflated ego.

Start a blog and post a link with the address. Then, the poker playing, Poshists will follow you there and kiss your a$$ somewhere else in cyberspace.

This is a watch forum.

R

+1

[Posh]

This is a watch forum.

...and Posh, in my opinion, they gave you too much leash (latitude).

And another thing, why don't you just start your own blog? It's obvious that your rambling, self-indulgent threads are designed for your own inflated ego.

Start a blog and post a link with the address. Then, the poker playing, Poshists will follow you there and kiss your a$$ somewhere else in cyberspace.

This is a watch forum.

R

Oh. Okay. I see. The fact that there's a section of topics not pertaining to watches is okay as long as it's not mine.

I hope you're going into every thread that has nothing to do with watches and making sure they know to "stay on topic."

No? Just mine? I'm honored.

[Guanaco]

What are they ONLY for exactly and why? That's my question to you.

Self defense of course [aka protection], target practice and hunting. What do you think I was gonna say? Shoot everyone I can see?

[rAc]

@sfa, dc is a rough place, their crime statistics per small areas is retarded compared to other departments.

@posh, everyone "knows some people" who had "something happen" to them that goes directly against anything which is popular theory. I know cops who've gotten robbed at gun point, while being in full uniform, and had their guns on them.

You are right, guns are not the end all to any confrontation. But they are a great piece of mind, TOOL. They are tools, I can hammer in a nail with my glock just as well as I can with a hammer

SFA has a great point about education. Once a person has been properly educated about guns and gun safety, the chance of them doing something, or allowing something to happen (a crime) is MUCH smaller than someone who is incompetent or has never been educated. Example - self defense shooting in an EXTREMELY high crime area, 2 robbers on 1, who had a concealed carry permit and fatally wounded one robber, otherwise he'd be dead.

Find out the stats on how many people who have VALID licenses to carry commit gun related crimes as compared to those do not have licenses to carry...the proof is right there.

[SFA437]

Who's going to stand there and not try to defend their lives against imminent danger? You don't need a gun for that. Sometimes you need the strength and will to survive.

Shooting at the walls of heartache, bang bang. I AM the warrior.

Strength and the will to survive are a mindset and are the singular most important tool to surviving a violent encounter. There are however other tools. Everything from a kubotan to pepper spray to a firearm.

Stand in front of me while I shoot at you with a 357- all the will and strength in the world won't help. Quite simply you will die. If you run, you will die tired. If you move to cover and return fire you stand a chance.

Uh, DC isn't THAT bad. I feel safe there. I do know guy friends who have been mugged in Georgetown and Charles Village, Baltimore. In all honesty, the guys I know who got mugged could've been mugged by Elmo or Cookie Monster. I mean these are your typical yuppies or hipsters. They just have "victimize me" written all over them.

Me and my girls put on our ***** face and go to town, without men around. You don't need a gun when you have on your ***** face. You better recognize!

I chose DC because it consistently ranks, along with other cities where firearm ownership is restricted, in the top 10 per capita murder rates. Again you've touched on mindset. I've done details in Port Au Prince and Petionville Haiti unarmed and came out unscathed. Wasn't fun but a brain is your best weapon, everything else is secondary.

A gun is not going to stop a determined 280 pound man from raping a 110 pound woman. My mom has had patients who had guns, on their person and in their homes, and knew how to use them who were still victims of sexual assault, both by strangers and people they knew.

Again, mindset. Along with having the firearm, the person must also be mentally prepared to take human life. Not many people have that within them in the US due to social conditioning. I have seen 110 pound women and dead 280 pound rapists. I've also seen what you describe.

A few of these people now realize that a gun doesn't guarantee ANYTHING.

You are 100% correct. A firearm GUARANTEES nothing. What it does do is help to equalize a disparity in force. Notice I did not say it DOES equalize a disparity in force, just that it helps. Again mindset and training come into play here. Not just "I know how to load and unload it" or "I can put holes into paper" but proper training.

A gun DOES NOT make you automatically safe. But that it does is what I hear from gun proponents all the time and there's evidence everywhere to the contrary.

Nothing makes you automatically safe, nor have I ever said that. I take my evidence from the Federal Bureau of Investigations Uniform Crime Report Annexes. 1.1 million defensive uses of firearms in 2006 (haven't seen 2007's stats since I'm where I am). That does not mean someone was shot- simply the presentation of the weapon in most cases dissuaded the skell from his/her chosen course of action.

If you don't feel safe enough just armed with your wits, since most times that's all the "weapon" we have, then nothing is going to make you feel secure.

So you propose I do patrols through Baghdad armed only with my wits? Surely you jest . Here's a question for you- if wits are enough, why do police officers carry firearms? Even better why does the Secret Service carry them? Surely you do not posit they have no wits about them....

A gun isn't a "tool." A band saw is a tool. A gun is an istrument designed and devised with only ONE real purpose: to destroy and end life. That's why they were invented and that's continue to be made. Why does everybody glass over this fact like it doesn't exist?

A firearm is indeed a tool. It is used to harvest game, it serves as a badge of office (a military officer's sidearm), it serves as a visual deterrent (a police officer's sidearm) and it serves to defend one against violence.

As for destroying life, there is something I instilled in every rookie I had on my range (over 400). In a deadly force incident, you do not shoot to kill. You shoot to live.

As I stated before, if I was not armed on numerous occasions I would be dead. I'm happy with the drugged out lunatic on the slab rather than me.

[razorphish]

Posh,

Got your PM and I didn't understand it. I think if you're going to hang in this forum, you need a thicker skin.

Oh, by the way, why did you choose Mrs. Gordon Gekko as your moniker?

Don't you understand that the economic crisis in which we're faced has been caused by the very Wall Street dinks in which you've associated by name. I can almost guarantee that the majority of them, while finishing their Harvard MBA, jerked - off to that movie (Wall Street) and dropped a load every time Gekko uttered the pharase "Greed is Good'. Why choose that as a moniker - or did you just think it was cute and witty?

Besides, Gekko hated his wife. He was banging the mermaid.

R

[superdave]

In a single year, 3,012 children and teens were killed by gunfire in the United States, according to the latest national data released in 2002. That is one child every three hours; eight children every day; and more than 50 children every week. And every year, at least 4 to 5 times as many kids and teens suffer from non-fatal firearm injuries
American children are more at risk from firearms than the children of any other industrialized nation. In one year, firearms killed no children in Japan, 19 in Great Britain, 57 in Germany, 109 in France, 153 in Canada, and 5,285 in the United States

[razorphish]

Oh. Okay. I see. The fact that there's a section of topics not pertaining to watches is okay as long as it's not mine.

I hope you're going into every thread that has nothing to do with watches and making sure they know to "stay on topic."

No? Just mine? I'm honored.

No, this thread is posted under "General Replica Discussion". Your post does not discuss a replica - unless you count the photos of the toy guns. If that's the case, then some of the toy guns seem to be fine replicas. I value sfa's input on the matter considering he's an expert and stated he could identify the genuine on which they're based. However, that wasn't your point. Your point was to post a thread and vomit your opinion. Again, in a watch forum under the wrong sub-thread.

And WTF does a Tori Amos song have to do with it?

R

[Guanaco]

*sigh* Anti-gun liberals will always be trying to screw us gun owners around for their selfish purpose, let me explain one thing to you to set this straight: Guns are here to stay, they're not going anywhere, if you ban guns in any way to the people then the criminals will always find means to get them, they break the rules and they don't follow them hence why they're criminals and not law abiding citizens. To top it off, if guns are not at hand people can kill each other with anything, from kitchen knives to their own hands or feet, guns don't kill people and neither do bullets, people kill people and guns just make it easier, but so do knives and explosives which can be made easily with common household items [a.k.a. pipe bombs].

Guns are for hunting too, they're tools, tools for self defense, leisure and hunting... sure, they can be used for killing humans, but also that kitchen knife you use to chop vegetables while cooking dinner, even a broken piece of glass, etc. I'm pretty sure you would be thankful if your house were being robbed and had a shotgun or pistol in your hand to protect yourself with.

I'm sorry, but saying guns are a bad thing is ignorance at its best.

[Blobe]

This is a watch forum.

blablabla

This is a watch forum.

Why did you feel the urge to tell us you are changing your life, quiting your phone and stuff? If posh can't put a piece about guns, why should we read your life experience?
(Even tho it was interesting)

This argument is just not good