toolbox

The size of the bullet is not nearly as important as its placement into the target. You can hit animals or people with a 12 gauge slug and if the shot misses vitals there is no garauntee that they will go down. Most criminals will be stopped when faced with a 22 cal weapon,without the need to fire a shot. Gang bangers waging war on each other will be more prone to spray lead back and forth at each other than a thug would be willing to risk getting shot close range by a potential victim with a 22. The closer you get to the mexican border,the more likely you are to need alot more fire power to defend yourself since the chances are greater that you might be targeted by ruthless mexican gangs with some weapons like the ones the US govt gave them(Holder),in which case a belt fed 30 cal and an RPG or two(which would be overkill in a US city) might not be enough if you were on an isolated ranch,say in Texas,defending your family and property. It is common knowledge that neither mexican nor US law enforcement has done much to stop these crime armies from doing anything they want down there. If I lived in South texas,no offense texans,but I would like to have at least a 308 semi auto and alot of magazine capacity to boot. But guns aside(my turn to take a slug off the bottle) lets talk about the reason for violence like the thread was intended to address. I'm still leaning towards the shear number of people there are. I think of it as a numbers game. For instance some studies have shown that chimps seem to have a small percentage of individuals born that kill youngsters in there own groups,and it is not uncommon for gangs of chimps to war against other groups when the populations get large in relation to the habitat. Chimps are our closest relatives as far as primates go right? If you compare the number of helpless victims that are targeted in the US by loner misfits to the huge number of people here,the percentage of victims has a decimal point followed by alot of zeros(divide number of victims by total number of people). Considering the huge population and increasing poverty,I am surprised that the level of violence is not much,much greater,not just in the US,but worldwide. I've said this over and over again,the rats in the cage breed out of control and then turn on each other.

Violence is part of nature. When a lion pride takes down prey,it is violent is it not? Humans are inherently inclined towards violence it seems, as are almost all other organism that are able to inflict harm against other organisms. Even herbivores use violence, even upon their own kind. Just watch horses or girraffs as they fight for food,mates,ect. Humans have learned to live together in peace for common good,we are more socialized than almost any other animals,and we have long standing and diverse cultures that seem to evolve with our existence. But humans are still drivin by our Ids,the animal urges within us all, that has alot more influence upon our decisions and behavior than most would admit. Human history is full of violence,and like most animals,we are most violent when we are hungry,thirsty,uncomfortable,ect. Humans are also inherently greedy just like other animals,and will horde wealth in the form of food,or other needed or desired things. Unlike other earthly creatures we have even created symbols of wealth called money to be used in place of actual rescources or goods. Humans tend to have a strong sense of individualism when compared to most creatures. If we had no individualism we would be like ants or bees, and even they have a collective identity as can be seen when they war against other nest of the same species. Humans also exhibit a collective identity between cultures,which can and has caused much violence. It seems we are monkeys with upright posture,good opposing thumbs and big brains capable of abstract thought,which have led to huge levels of technological advancement that no other earthly creatures have come close to,as far as we know. We have all this capability,yet our use of it is still selfish and greedy,very animal like,and so we have poverty and hunger. Those who have and those who have not. I also feel that some humans are more prone to selfish and violent expresion because it's in their DNA. If you look at human history,we have had our greatest growth in science,art,technology,and peaceful coexistence,when our populations were brought incheck by disease or other natural disasters. For instance,the period that followed the black death in europe called the renaissance. Less people,more rescources,less time spent competing for survival,more freedom from greedy rulers leading to more free time for contemplation and innovation,and more peace. Now here we are in 2013, and we have individual sefish desires, overpopulation,poverty,hunger,greedy leaders,ect,ect. Add to all this our technological advancements in weapons and I am surprised we do not see more carnage,everywhere. Do you think the romans would have less carnage with such destructive potential at their disposal?

Your definition of a victim is right on the money. I had some tweaker threaten me with a tire iron once. This guy came at me with his tire iron raised above his head yelling "your dead mother fucker",and then he noticed the 45 pointing at him and instantly became very polite and apologetic. He said quote "I'm sorry man,please do not shoot me" and then it got really strange as the guy dropped to the ground and begged me not to arrest him. I am not a cop,nor do I think I look like a cop. The guy was twackled out for sure,but instantly polite at first sight of the gun,and I did not have to fire a single round. So I went from potential victim to someone who received a very heart felt apology,instead of becoming a dead mother fucker.

So even if he is not a lesbian he might try acting like one.

It is often said that an armed society is a polite society.

Shatner ROCKS! I love it when he is on Howard Sterns show to. I bet William is a lesbian? I'm most certain Howard is a lesbian

If you look at the sheer number of people riding in or driving vehicles and the frequency and amount of time of riding in or driving them, driving kills a small fraction of the population,but still a much larger fraction than guns kill or injure.

You are drinking the koolaid if you think the drive to and from the DZ is more likely to kill you,unless you are riding a motorcycle. Your chances of getting in a wreck might be greater to and from the DZ,but just because you wreck your car does not mean you will die or even get hurt for that matter. You have the body and frame of the car shielding you from injury,and with newer cars you have not only seatbelts but airbags and the car will most likely crumple to absorbe some of the force of impact. You do not have this protection with motocycles or skydiving. I have known 11 skydiver friends and seen 2 skydivers I did'nt know die skydiving,along with well over 100 more injured. I'm 50 years old and everyone I've known either rides in or drives a car on a regular basis and I've only known 7 who have died in car wrecks,6 who have died on motorcycles. I do not skydive because it's safe,I skydive because it blows my skirt up and as a confirmed lesbian it feels airgasmic.

I wonder if you can get higher capacity mags in case you have to fend off a locust attack?

The Bugasalt I bet it works great on slugs and snails to,but look out for PETA

In reply to I think you should have to pass a test and have a license in order to own one,and then it should have to be registered. oh wait..... Right,like that has stopped the carnage. I want a faster,more powerful parachute to put in the back of my assault suv before there is a ban on them.

I can't believe they have not banned these high capacity super soaker type assault weapons in new york. I mean they have banned 32 ounce soft drinks because of their deadly potential when used with reckless disregard for safety.

22 cal guns are cheap to buy and super cheap to shoot as we all know. Shot placement is king and the 22 long rifle is very accurate as well as being quiet compared to more powerful rounds. I think they are popular with alot of criminals because you can toss them in the river so to speak without a huge loss in terms of money. Knives and blunt instruments are also very popular with criminals for many of the same reasons. I wonder if they will ban super soaker squirt guns,since some one could buy one at almost any store that sells toys,and then fill it with gasoline and spray a group of people with gasoline and then throw a malotov cocktail at their feet and run. I know it is far fetched,but there was that case where 2 teens tossed gas on a kid and threw a match on him and watched him burn. Sounds like an act of terror to me. The anti-gun extremist would ban everything that shoots a projectile if they could.

They should go after the vatican next

I never said the US was perfect,but neither is any other country. As far as the middle east is concerned,if I recall the muslim brotherhood was created to fight british mistreatment of the people there,and the muslim brotherhood is the precursor to all of the other islamic terrorist groups we have now. The US and the UK both use alot of middle eastern oil I'm sure. The US and the UK have supported each other in almost every conflict since we got past the war of 1812,and I like most of the folks I've met from the UK and the beer is pretty good as well.

You should see how well I grasp a beer bottle. My drinking team has a skydiving problem.

It's funny how alot of citizens of the UK view the US as a violent wild west full of ignorant redneck gun nuts on the edge of going on a rampage,yet they forget about britains history of rampant use of violence to conquest and subjegate people who could not fight back. I remember not long ago,when the UK was constantly in the headlines with the irish republican army blowing things up,like schools and what not. It seems the UK had the first group of modern terrorist killing innocent people along with law enforcement and soldiers. The british government would send in the tanks and the IRA would blow stuff up. Seems the UK has had plenty of violence in it's past,and history tends to repeat itself. We have violence in the US,so do other countries, but we also have over 300,000,000 citizens and who knows how many illegal aliens here,and as I've said before,we share a border with a poverty stricken and corrupt hot bed of violence called mexico. The UK borders the ocean.

my sides hurt

I live in washington state and I am disappointed that none of the county sheriffs here have taken a stand in support of our rights like sheriff Mueller and sheriff Hensley have. In the past I have seen oregonians as less conservative than we are on the other side of the river,but now I am pleasantly surprised. Hats off to sheriff Mueller of linn county oregon, and to sheriff Hensley of crook county oregon. I do not consider myself a conservative nor a liberal,but somewhere in the middle. You could call me practical or a realist.

As fucked up as the nazis moral compass was,the SS did have some stylish uniforms.

so you are saying the nazis made it easier for everyone to have guns? Did that include the jews,gypsies,and socialist,ect,ect,or just the people Hitler and his supporters felt would be good nazis?

It is a tough situation you are in,but you can't help someone until they truly try to help themselves,and even then it will most likely be alot of misery for you without achieving any success in controlling her addiction. I've known alot of people who have had substance abuse problems,but the ones who were addicted to meth are the worst. I have yet to see any tweaker I know kick meth. Tweakers will steal anything, and use anyone they can to feed the addiction. Tweakers will grab onto you, like someone who is drowning will pull under a rescuer, and drown you along with themselves. If she has family,then alert them so they can hopefully save the child. It is a tough thing to do,but I would advise you to leave this woman behind and move on.

Most of the gun violence in the US is gang related. We also share a border with mexico which has rapant violence,poverty, and political corruption. US law enforcement has done little if anything to stop latino gangs from inflicting violence on our side of the border,and these cartels have access to belt fed machine guns,RPG's,ect. Britain,australia,canada,and europe do not border violent,corrupt third world countries that funnel drugs,and violence over their borders at anywhere near the rate the US experiences.

The wild west was made wild by media spin. The media still spins it up as we all know.