I say i want X really mean Y because my son suggested it

[AccountingDrone]

And as for those nutballs, what the hell do you need 15 rifles for? what do you need a machine gun for? don't tell me it's for hunting it's because you're a paranoid fucknut. Yes their are antique collectors blah blah blah but really come on?
.

Hm, if I hunt deer/javalina I need something a bit larger than the .22LR I use for shooting vermin like rats, racoons, opossums going after my birds and their feed. If I am going after small game birds from quail up to duck [I didn't hunt geese] I still need something smaller than a shotgun I would use for larger game like sheep, deer or javalina in states that do not allow solid shot like what my moisin nagant uses. So yes, you actually DO need a selection of guns for hunting, and in a house where there are 3 people and 3 people hunt that can be a dozen assorted longarms. And for javalina hunting, bear hunting and a few other types of game it is highly recommended to have a sidearm as well [especially if you are using a single shot bolt action gun, or one with a 3 round magazine.]

I also have a ruger 6 shot .38 caliber handgun that I had to buy when I was a security guard, my husband has his sidearm, that he used while hunting and for target practice to maintain his weapons proficiency for the military since the Navy in it's infinite wisdom really doesn't manage any sort of range time to practice shooting. I prefer the WW2 vintage Sauer 38H my father brought back from Germany - sentimental value and it fits my hand better than the ruger and uses the same ammo my husbands uses. Saves on buying ammo. And he also has some little oddball thing his greatgrandmother had to protect herself and home from looters in San Francisco right after the big earthquake. It takes some seriously strange antique ammo that is more or less impossible to find [or costs an arm and a leg] so it is a display piece.

[Apparently she had some pretty sharp opinions about Amadeo Gianini the founder of the bank that ended up as Bank of America, which would explain why so many customers are still dissatisfied with it and the property she was protecting was a house on Lombard. I don't think you could pay me to live on the side of a cliff! ]

[Chromatix]

On a slightly more amusing note: Hot Fuzz

Here in Finland, gun ownership is also very high. However, the rates of gun crime and gun accidents are both orders of magnitude lower than in the US (and that's after correcting for population size). The suicide-by-gun rate is only moderately lower, but that probably reflects the generally high suicide rate in dark, northern countries.

The difference is, I think, that gun ownership is regulated here in a way that it is not in America. Gun safety training is mandatory, and often received as a part of military basic training (since there is a conscription model here), or in rural areas even during childhood. Guns are genuinely seen as hunting and protection-from-wildlife and protection-from-Russia tools, and much less as toys or personal-protection measures. There wasn't a huge outcry when, after a school shooting, a ban on automatic handguns was implemented, and procedures surrounding licensing and mental fitness were tightened up considerably. The local gun lobby naturally took a keen interest in the proposals, but pronounced them to be a reasonable response.

The United Kingdom has some of the tightest gun regulations in the world. Gun ownership is therefore low - except among farmers, who typically have a double-barrelled shotgun as shown in the Hot Fuzz clip, largely for the protection-from-wildlife reasons. Illegal gun ownership is *also* low - for the simple reason that it is very difficult to steal guns that don't exist in the first place - and so British police are not routinely armed.

Japan also makes a very interesting case study, for similar reasons.

[blas87]

The second amendment was NOT intended for hunting or game. It's for in case the government decides to get tyrannical (like what everyone had just crossed the pond to get away from!) so the people can defend themselves.

I chuckle at the people who pound their chests "NO ONE NEEDS ALL THESE GUNS!", yet they probably have several of something that is not necessary to have, either.

It's my right to have 35 pairs of shoes, just like it is a person's right to own and bear arms. End of discussion. Don't like it? Join the rest of the nuts in the fight to disarm America, or even easier, just leave.

[Bloodsoul]

I just noticed how weird this topic title is going to be when those new Pokémon games come out later in the year.

[crashhelmet]

It doesn't mention them for the same reason it doesn't mention "Apollo Moon Landing" and "cellphone" - they're terms that didn't exist at the time it was written. "Small arms", referring to personal weapons (as opposed to artillery), was a term that DID exist. If it had been intended to apply ONLY to small arms, it would have used that term, instead of simply "arms".

So why is it perfectly fine for you to assume they meant all arms instead of "small arms" or "Muskets and flintlocks only" but not for me or anyone else to assume they didn't?

I don't think every citizen had a cannon in their front yard, did they?

[crashhelmet]

we've been over this before, it takes at most 1-5 seconds to change a clip. hi-cap magazines actually Jam more(weaker springs used to feed), as a matter of fact the aurora shooter abandoned one of his weapons because of that.

can I call bingo because almost every one of these 7 myths have been brought into play?

I'll quote myself, and even bold the part you chose to ignore

Yet the Tucson shooter was tackled and apprehended while trying to swap out his 30 round clip for another.

The Newtown shooter also had high capacity clips/mags and was forced to change them out less frequently.

The more often they have to change them out, the more opportunities for them to screw up and buy time for someone to escape or defend themselves.

[Hyena Dandy]

Do we need two threads for this now?