Getting Desperate, Or Silly... On Guns v. Smoking v. Cars... And What Is "Needed"...

[WillyT]

My reply:

If we had a sufficiently high-tech modern public transit system, most people might not need a car. And exemptions could be made for rural counties, police, fire, first responders, et. al...

But first... we'd have to HAVE... a sufficiently high-tech modern public transit system.

BUT...

ALL of those systems would have to be analyzed, tested, people trained, people hired for oversight, etc...

So why not do the same for guns ?

Ever heard of the DMV ?

For me to drive... I have to study for a test, pass the test, get my car registered, pay for insurance, ALL which goes into the states database. AND...

There is all sorts of governmental oversight and clean-up...

The DMV, CHP, local police, local fire department, county sheriffs, first responders, hospital rooms, coroners offices, jail cells, etc...

ALL regulating the "freedom" to own a perfectly legal tool; a car.

Why don't you responsible gun owners promote the very same thing for YOUR "indispensable" tool ???

[Tx4obama]

1. Leave my cigarettes alone!!! :) n/t

[Mojorabbit]

2. I wish you had put gun in the title so I could trash the thread

like I am doing to all gun threads before opening it.

[pkdu]

3. Why are you trying to infringe my right to kill deer with my truck whilst smokin a ceegar? Nt

[WillyT]

4. LOL !!!

That's good.

[Recursion]

5. Most of us "gun people" agre with you

Here's the amazing thing that happened when I started actually listening to people: I realized we had a lot of common ground.

The ideas you mentioned make a lot of sense.

[WillyT]

8. Thank You For That !!!

[Honeycombe8]

6. Please stop with the guns = cars analogy. They're not the same, and those "controls"

will never happen.

[WillyT]

7. Why ??? - They Are Both Legal To Own, And Possibly Dangerous To Others, And/Or The Owners...

So what's the difference ?

[Honeycombe8]

9. I've been through this with other posts. They're not the same.

I'm tired of 'splain' it. But you know the difference.

Do you take your gun out and drive it on public roads every day?

Does your gun weigh several thousand pounds?

Is you gun creating pot holes and other wear and tear on our public streets?

Does your gun require you to know what strange squiggles on signs mean?

Do you have to park your several thousand pound gun on a public street between two other several thousand pound guns?

Do you have to sit on your gun and go over ice filled streets?

If you pull your gun on a public street, and someone else to your left pulls his gun, what do the "rules of the gun" say as to who has the right of way to shoot first?

If you're out shooting on the public streets at night, and you are approached by a gun coming from the other direction, should you turn on your gun's brights to make sure he sees you?

Is it dangerous to text while shooting?

Is it legal to shoot through a yellow light, trying to beat the red light?

Does your gun have so many safety features that it needs to be inspected annually to ensure it is safe to shoot on the public streets?


It's just silly. Most people with guns keep them at home or take them hunting. They're basically simple instruments, compared to cars. And they're not legally "used" on public streets by average citizens. In some ways, they're not as dangerous as cars. They're not as complicated as cars. Anyone can get a car, even if mentally ill or a convicted felon. There's no comparison.

Most people want reasonable gun control. This isn't a reasonable control, and it wouldn't do anything to curb mass murders, which is the point. So you don't like guns. I get it. Most people disagree with you, though, and I must say that I agree with them. A homeowner or hunter having a gun is reasonable and is not going to change in this country. Charging them more will simply make people think, there go those Democrats, again. More taxes. You don't want a middle aged woman not being able to afford a handgun for protection. That doesn't help anyone.

[WillyT]

10. Either I Missed It... Or You Did Not Answer The Question ??? - Once Again...

Why Don't You Responsible Gun Owners Advocate For Education, Testing, Registration, Regulation, Recycling, Disposal, Etc...

What's the problem ???

[Honeycombe8]

11. I am not in favor of taxing guns like cars are taxed.

(cars are inspected and taxed annually) You mentioned taxes. As I said....I don't want to prevent someone from being able to afford to buy a handgun for protection. That's not helpful to anyone. There's no reason for an annual tax on a gun. Cars are inspected and taxed annually because they are out on the streets, damaging streets and using public services.

Guns are taxed like any other consumer item purchased.

I agree that guns should be tested and education given to the extent that tvs are.

TVs...you keep them in your home, rarely take them outside, except that tvs are much more complicated and harder to connect and learn to calibrate and use.

You must be from an area where you don't grow up around guns. You seem to think they're much more complicated, difficult to use or learn about than they are. These mass murders didn't happen because the shooters didn't take a class on how to properly operate their guns.

Registration is fine with me. Education? That's not gonna happen. You need to be realistic.

But NONE of this will stop mass murders.

We're talking about controls to lessen mass murders, remember? We're not in a free for all to harm gun owners, tax them more, or punish them for owning something that someone else used to hurt someone or that you disapprove of. If that were the case, we ought to add an extra tax on kitchen knives, a common weapon for murder.

Did you see my point about how guns differ from cars?

[WillyT]

12. I See That A Gun Is Not A Car... And That A Car Is Not A Gun... And Neither... Are A TV...

But you seem to be saying that gun control might be a poverty issue.

And that poor people that want to own a gun, might not be able to afford the taxes.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME ???

Jesus man... DO NOT work for the NRA.

Even those looney-toones know better than to say that.

And BTW... Yeah... I've shot many guns...

From BB to 22 to 38 to 44 to 45 to AK to StreetSweeper...

Was pretty damed good a skeet shooting too.

But... I was keenly aware of the Hunter-Gatherer/Macho nature of all this.

Which was proved one day, when one of my Best Buds, the one that taught me that...

"Every Gun Is Loaded" And All The Rest...

Ended up "half in the bag", after he was shown up by another macho idiot who pulled up to the quarry where we were shooting, in his brand new BMW, and pulled out a street-sweeper shotgun, and then a modified fully-automatic AK-47.

As we drove home, in my 1964 Ford Galaxy Convertible (top down), my "Instructor" because he was drunk, and had been shown up, decided to fire his AK-47 up into the air.

And even though he was armed, and I was not... I looked at him and said,

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME !!!"

So yeah... I've shot guns, was pretty decent at it, and TOTALLY changed my mind when I met some of the assholes who are allowed to own them.

[WillyT]

13. Kick !!!

[krispos42]

14. If I was going to be using a gun in a crowd of people...

...I would expect to be trained, tested, and inspected as well. It's call the army.


If you are fortunate enough to own a large parcel of property, you don't have to study or take a test, register your car, pay for insurance, etc. if you're going to be driving on your own property and not using the public right of way.


And if I'm going to be carrying a pistol in public, I don't see taking a test and getting a permit as unreasonable.



I don't see gun registration as equivalent as car registration. Cars are registered because they are vastly more expensive than guns and have property taxes that need to be paid on them, and in many or most states they need to have a record of safety and emissions checks. And to use the public roads, that is a requirement that is put upon them.

People don't pay property taxes on their guns, they don't get safety inspected, and they don't pollute the air.