Saturday's Garage Sale
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wizardzz wrote:
Yet there are close to the same amount of guns and cars in the U.S.
A car has a purpose other than killing and/or maiming things, in fact it's relatively difficult to do if the other person(or people) involved are paying attention. Being rather large, noisy and quite slow when compared to a bullet. It's also reasonably difficult to sneak a car into a building and ram into a few dozen people, but I've seen enough of those dumb driver shows to know it is entirely possible with enough effort. Just lacking on the sneaking. The comparison doesn't quite work as a gun is a hand weapon that effectively eliminates someone's ability to defend themselves against you should you decide to use it at any decent range, I'm not sure how you're not supposed to be concerned when someone has one. A car on the other hand can be avoided fairly easily unless you're crippled or not paying attention as it's hardly going to sneak up on you or if someone's decided to go crowd surfing in a carolla.
Hmm, yeah. Tell that to all the people killed by car bombs around the world.
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering” - Wernher von Braun -
In preparation for our impending change of address, we had a garage sale on Saturday. After about an hour, we'd racked up quite a cash stash, so my wife suggested that based on the current social climate where people steal things like hair extensions, a pile of used bricks, and other such things, that I should put on a pistol for the remainder of the day. Unable to find any flaws in her logic, I concurred. About 45 minutes later, the cops showed up, and some lady (that had been at our garage sale about 40 minutes prior) was standing in the street pointing at me kind of frantically, and talking to the cop in the lead car (there were two squad cars). I was sitting in a lawn chair sippin' on a glass of ice-tea, and the cop comes up and starts a conversation: Him: You're scarin' the lady in the street. Me: How so? I'm not in my car. If she's nervous about being in the street I don't blame her - you should see the way people drive through here. My advice is that she get out of the street. Him: She's concerned about your gun. Have you been out in the street with it? Me: Nope. Him: Have you had it out of the holster? Me: Well, yeah. I had to make sure it was loaded. I did that inside the house, though. Him: Well, the lady's nervous. Me: As long as she doesn't come on my property and threaten mine or my wife's life, she has nothing to worry about. If someone else were to try something, she can rest assured that we exercise Texas gun control in our house. Him: What kind of gun control is that? Me: We hit what we're aiming at. He smiled, and the conversation turned to types of pistols, the pros/cons of open carry, and the sheeple that are scared that a gun in a holster might jump out on its own and start killing and maiming with abandon. We both had a good laugh, and guessed that the concerned citizen that reported "man with a gun" was probably a liberal on federal assistance. He left, with a promise to educate the lady concerning the law regarding open-carry on one's own property. Last we saw, the lady was getting quite animated and upset, and appeared to stomp back up the street in a huff. The cops left, and I was still in the lawn chair when this guy in a pcikup truck drove up. He got out, walked right up to me with a stern look on his face. Me: Mornin'! Wanna buy a big TV? Him: You think you're somethin' carrying that gun, don't ya. Me: Well, one thing I think is that I'm armed and you're an idiot. So much for the theory that "an armed society is a polite society".
Great story John. I respect your right to own and carry your gun. I work with two guys that both have concealed carry licenses and love their guns. I'm happy for them. Personally, I have never been in a situation in my life where I have ever needed a gun. I know there are always going to be exceptions, but in general, I feel that if you need a gun, then you made a mistake 10 steps previously that put you in a bad situation. I hope to always stay away from trouble before it escalates. I hope you never have to use your gun, except for pleasure (and that doesn't mean shooting dumb a$$ people!). Hogan
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wizardzz wrote:
Yet there are close to the same amount of guns and cars in the U.S.
A car has a purpose other than killing and/or maiming things, in fact it's relatively difficult to do if the other person(or people) involved are paying attention. Being rather large, noisy and quite slow when compared to a bullet. It's also reasonably difficult to sneak a car into a building and ram into a few dozen people, but I've seen enough of those dumb driver shows to know it is entirely possible with enough effort. Just lacking on the sneaking. The comparison doesn't quite work as a gun is a hand weapon that effectively eliminates someone's ability to defend themselves against you should you decide to use it at any decent range, I'm not sure how you're not supposed to be concerned when someone has one. A car on the other hand can be avoided fairly easily unless you're crippled or not paying attention as it's hardly going to sneak up on you or if someone's decided to go crowd surfing in a carolla.
Is the speed limit 10mph where you live? People are killed by cars at a higher rate than guns, which is odd, given their similar numbers and that they aren't designed to kill people. Something about 3000 pounds of steel, plastic, and glass travelling at any rate of speed is just, dangerous.
"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. " — Hunter S. Thompson My comedy.
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wizardzz wrote:
Yet there are close to the same amount of guns and cars in the U.S.
A car has a purpose other than killing and/or maiming things, in fact it's relatively difficult to do if the other person(or people) involved are paying attention. Being rather large, noisy and quite slow when compared to a bullet. It's also reasonably difficult to sneak a car into a building and ram into a few dozen people, but I've seen enough of those dumb driver shows to know it is entirely possible with enough effort. Just lacking on the sneaking. The comparison doesn't quite work as a gun is a hand weapon that effectively eliminates someone's ability to defend themselves against you should you decide to use it at any decent range, I'm not sure how you're not supposed to be concerned when someone has one. A car on the other hand can be avoided fairly easily unless you're crippled or not paying attention as it's hardly going to sneak up on you or if someone's decided to go crowd surfing in a carolla.
But we don't have a constitutional right to own cars. We do have that right with firearms.
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Hmm, yeah. Tell that to all the people killed by car bombs around the world.
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering” - Wernher von Braun -
Is the speed limit 10mph where you live? People are killed by cars at a higher rate than guns, which is odd, given their similar numbers and that they aren't designed to kill people. Something about 3000 pounds of steel, plastic, and glass travelling at any rate of speed is just, dangerous.
"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. " — Hunter S. Thompson My comedy.
I grew up with idiots doing 60 down gravel roads, pay half a lick of attention and you'll be fine. Otherwise I'd be a greasy splotch across some back road. Having had the discomfort of having both aimed at me on one occasion or another, I'll take a car aimed at me every damn time. Yes, they can kill people, and they do. That hardly equates something with actual utility, and if I remember my stats correctly considerably more users, to a weapon.
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I grew up with idiots doing 60 down gravel roads, pay half a lick of attention and you'll be fine. Otherwise I'd be a greasy splotch across some back road. Having had the discomfort of having both aimed at me on one occasion or another, I'll take a car aimed at me every damn time. Yes, they can kill people, and they do. That hardly equates something with actual utility, and if I remember my stats correctly considerably more users, to a weapon.
Distind wrote:
they (cars) can kill people
No, cars don't kill people. Drunk and otherwise impaired drivers of cars do.
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering” - Wernher von Braun -
Distind wrote:
a common option
a common custom option. Especially in Mideastern countries.
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering” - Wernher von Braun -
Distind wrote:
they (cars) can kill people
No, cars don't kill people. Drunk and otherwise impaired drivers of cars do.
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering” - Wernher von Braun -
Distind wrote:
a common option
a common custom option. Especially in Mideastern countries.
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering” - Wernher von BraunAlright, now can you explain to me how exactly someone stuffing a large amount of explosives into a car and detonating it translates to a reason to keep people from having cars? It seems like a damn good reason to keep explosives out of their hands, but without a car you can pack a bag full of it well enough. Or if someone actually bothered to get creative a satchel full of the stuff attached to a form of public transport(which the suddenly carless masses would be taking) would probably be more effective than your average car bomb.
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Car that slips off a jack while you're under it'll kill you just as well as one aimed at you. Or with a car bomb strapped to it per your mention earlier. I'm not trying to be anti-gun, I'm anti-crappy comparisons.
Yeah, the comparison isn't the best, but the point is still valid. BTW, car slipping off jack is still operator error. Hence, he killed himself.
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering” - Wernher von Braun -
Great story John. I respect your right to own and carry your gun. I work with two guys that both have concealed carry licenses and love their guns. I'm happy for them. Personally, I have never been in a situation in my life where I have ever needed a gun. I know there are always going to be exceptions, but in general, I feel that if you need a gun, then you made a mistake 10 steps previously that put you in a bad situation. I hope to always stay away from trouble before it escalates. I hope you never have to use your gun, except for pleasure (and that doesn't mean shooting dumb a$$ people!). Hogan
snorkie wrote:
I feel that if you need a gun, then you made a mistake 10 steps previously that put you in a bad situation.
You mean like walking along minding your own business on a bright sunny day and having a couple of hoodlums come up and rob you? Or how about the chain of bad decisions you made when you got up in the morning, and decided to run down to the corner convenience store for a morning paper, only to have some idiot come itn to rob the place just after you get there? Oh wait - I know! It was a chain of bad decisions you made that caused the low-life to break into your house while you're sleeping. I don't go looking for trouble, and in fact, I go out of my way to avoid it. I'm a mostly stay-at-home kind of person. However, if trouble comes looking for me, I won't hesitate to put a bullet in its pointed little head.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997 -
In preparation for our impending change of address, we had a garage sale on Saturday. After about an hour, we'd racked up quite a cash stash, so my wife suggested that based on the current social climate where people steal things like hair extensions, a pile of used bricks, and other such things, that I should put on a pistol for the remainder of the day. Unable to find any flaws in her logic, I concurred. About 45 minutes later, the cops showed up, and some lady (that had been at our garage sale about 40 minutes prior) was standing in the street pointing at me kind of frantically, and talking to the cop in the lead car (there were two squad cars). I was sitting in a lawn chair sippin' on a glass of ice-tea, and the cop comes up and starts a conversation: Him: You're scarin' the lady in the street. Me: How so? I'm not in my car. If she's nervous about being in the street I don't blame her - you should see the way people drive through here. My advice is that she get out of the street. Him: She's concerned about your gun. Have you been out in the street with it? Me: Nope. Him: Have you had it out of the holster? Me: Well, yeah. I had to make sure it was loaded. I did that inside the house, though. Him: Well, the lady's nervous. Me: As long as she doesn't come on my property and threaten mine or my wife's life, she has nothing to worry about. If someone else were to try something, she can rest assured that we exercise Texas gun control in our house. Him: What kind of gun control is that? Me: We hit what we're aiming at. He smiled, and the conversation turned to types of pistols, the pros/cons of open carry, and the sheeple that are scared that a gun in a holster might jump out on its own and start killing and maiming with abandon. We both had a good laugh, and guessed that the concerned citizen that reported "man with a gun" was probably a liberal on federal assistance. He left, with a promise to educate the lady concerning the law regarding open-carry on one's own property. Last we saw, the lady was getting quite animated and upset, and appeared to stomp back up the street in a huff. The cops left, and I was still in the lawn chair when this guy in a pcikup truck drove up. He got out, walked right up to me with a stern look on his face. Me: Mornin'! Wanna buy a big TV? Him: You think you're somethin' carrying that gun, don't ya. Me: Well, one thing I think is that I'm armed and you're an idiot. So much for the theory that "an armed society is a polite society".
How did that make you feel?
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snorkie wrote:
I feel that if you need a gun, then you made a mistake 10 steps previously that put you in a bad situation.
You mean like walking along minding your own business on a bright sunny day and having a couple of hoodlums come up and rob you? Or how about the chain of bad decisions you made when you got up in the morning, and decided to run down to the corner convenience store for a morning paper, only to have some idiot come itn to rob the place just after you get there? Oh wait - I know! It was a chain of bad decisions you made that caused the low-life to break into your house while you're sleeping. I don't go looking for trouble, and in fact, I go out of my way to avoid it. I'm a mostly stay-at-home kind of person. However, if trouble comes looking for me, I won't hesitate to put a bullet in its pointed little head.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
-----
You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:
However, if trouble comes looking for me, I won't hesitate to put a bullet in its pointed little head.
Heey! Don't start stereotyping now - most aliens around these parts seem to peacefully mind their own business in their own little corners (mainly the top left corner) ;P
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In preparation for our impending change of address, we had a garage sale on Saturday. After about an hour, we'd racked up quite a cash stash, so my wife suggested that based on the current social climate where people steal things like hair extensions, a pile of used bricks, and other such things, that I should put on a pistol for the remainder of the day. Unable to find any flaws in her logic, I concurred. About 45 minutes later, the cops showed up, and some lady (that had been at our garage sale about 40 minutes prior) was standing in the street pointing at me kind of frantically, and talking to the cop in the lead car (there were two squad cars). I was sitting in a lawn chair sippin' on a glass of ice-tea, and the cop comes up and starts a conversation: Him: You're scarin' the lady in the street. Me: How so? I'm not in my car. If she's nervous about being in the street I don't blame her - you should see the way people drive through here. My advice is that she get out of the street. Him: She's concerned about your gun. Have you been out in the street with it? Me: Nope. Him: Have you had it out of the holster? Me: Well, yeah. I had to make sure it was loaded. I did that inside the house, though. Him: Well, the lady's nervous. Me: As long as she doesn't come on my property and threaten mine or my wife's life, she has nothing to worry about. If someone else were to try something, she can rest assured that we exercise Texas gun control in our house. Him: What kind of gun control is that? Me: We hit what we're aiming at. He smiled, and the conversation turned to types of pistols, the pros/cons of open carry, and the sheeple that are scared that a gun in a holster might jump out on its own and start killing and maiming with abandon. We both had a good laugh, and guessed that the concerned citizen that reported "man with a gun" was probably a liberal on federal assistance. He left, with a promise to educate the lady concerning the law regarding open-carry on one's own property. Last we saw, the lady was getting quite animated and upset, and appeared to stomp back up the street in a huff. The cops left, and I was still in the lawn chair when this guy in a pcikup truck drove up. He got out, walked right up to me with a stern look on his face. Me: Mornin'! Wanna buy a big TV? Him: You think you're somethin' carrying that gun, don't ya. Me: Well, one thing I think is that I'm armed and you're an idiot. So much for the theory that "an armed society is a polite society".
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But we don't have a constitutional right to own cars. We do have that right with firearms.
Ah, glad you saw where I was headed. Yet we let anyone with $500 buy a beater.
"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. " — Hunter S. Thompson My comedy.
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snorkie wrote:
I feel that if you need a gun, then you made a mistake 10 steps previously that put you in a bad situation.
You mean like walking along minding your own business on a bright sunny day and having a couple of hoodlums come up and rob you? Or how about the chain of bad decisions you made when you got up in the morning, and decided to run down to the corner convenience store for a morning paper, only to have some idiot come itn to rob the place just after you get there? Oh wait - I know! It was a chain of bad decisions you made that caused the low-life to break into your house while you're sleeping. I don't go looking for trouble, and in fact, I go out of my way to avoid it. I'm a mostly stay-at-home kind of person. However, if trouble comes looking for me, I won't hesitate to put a bullet in its pointed little head.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
-----
You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
-----
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997Where do you live that you have to deal with that sort of stuff? Maybe I don't want to visit Texas now! I live in St. Louis which has very high crime when you look at the numbers and I don't feel unsafe. I don't need a gun either. I have never been robbed, but it could happen some day. If it does, I'll hand over my valuables and have a great story to tell later. Its just a wallet and phone. Maybe I'll start packing a gun when they ingrate it into a smart phone. Hogan
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Alright, now can you explain to me how exactly someone stuffing a large amount of explosives into a car and detonating it translates to a reason to keep people from having cars? It seems like a damn good reason to keep explosives out of their hands, but without a car you can pack a bag full of it well enough. Or if someone actually bothered to get creative a satchel full of the stuff attached to a form of public transport(which the suddenly carless masses would be taking) would probably be more effective than your average car bomb.
LOL. I'm not suggesting anything of the sort. Yeah, bombs have been placed on public transportation.
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering” - Wernher von Braun -
Where do you live that you have to deal with that sort of stuff? Maybe I don't want to visit Texas now! I live in St. Louis which has very high crime when you look at the numbers and I don't feel unsafe. I don't need a gun either. I have never been robbed, but it could happen some day. If it does, I'll hand over my valuables and have a great story to tell later. Its just a wallet and phone. Maybe I'll start packing a gun when they ingrate it into a smart phone. Hogan
snorkie wrote:
Where do you live
Planet Earth. Same as you.
snorkie wrote:
over my valuables and have a great story to tell later
Unless they shoot you in the head so you won't be able to identify them.
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering” - Wernher von Braun -
Where do you live that you have to deal with that sort of stuff? Maybe I don't want to visit Texas now! I live in St. Louis which has very high crime when you look at the numbers and I don't feel unsafe. I don't need a gun either. I have never been robbed, but it could happen some day. If it does, I'll hand over my valuables and have a great story to tell later. Its just a wallet and phone. Maybe I'll start packing a gun when they ingrate it into a smart phone. Hogan
I believe that John's point was that you don't have to do something stupid in order to wind up in danger. To answer your point, you don't have to live in a "dangerous" neighborhood to have your house broken into and a convenience store in a "good" part of town can be robbed just as easily as one in the "bad" part. If you happen to be there when it happens and if the bad guy decides to leave no witnesses, you're screwed if you have no means of defending yourself.
snorkie wrote:
I'll hand over my valuables and have a great story to tell later.
It's not about the valuables. Things can be replaced and generally aren't worth someone's life. Your life, however, can't be replaced. If you hand over your wallet to the mugger and he decides to go ahead and kill you just to make sure you don't have any extra change in your pocket, you aren't going to be telling any stories, great or otherwise. That's where defending yourself comes into play -- not as a means of keeping your "stuff".