[richarduk]

bit OT but something my friends in the USA might find interesting, AKs do get a mention

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7749474.stm

regards

Richard

 

[jwgraves]

thanks Richard. I must say that is a more balanced article than I would have expected from the BBC. I am sure the Guardian would look at us as gun nuts.

 

[stoyan79]

That article is written very well, I liked reading it!

Thanks Richard!

 

[rickyracer2]

Interesting article. Not biased as I thought it would be.

 

[jdub]

mum

Jessica a single mum... hehe... mum...

 

[A square 10]

interesting read , interesting take , would not have thought it of the BBC eather , but there it is ,

responce-

theres a reason this is the free country its been for over 230 years , and its not because our 'government' protects us so well , its because we the people protected it , and will continue to do so ,

weve not been invaded because as the japanese so wisely noted - theres a rifle behind every blade of grass , and thankfully there are shooters who know how to use them ,
ill note that today a lot of those rifles are japanese , british , russian , chinese , and german , but they still work and we have ammo , so its not any diferent than it was back then ,

lastly , the urbanites that hate our guns so can just not own and use them if thats what they choose , the part about a free country means they are free to choose not to , and we are free to hold and bear ours , it may be interesting to see who survives if and when the SHTF , you can damn well bet the urban areas will fall first and hard , but you can also bet that we in the rural areas wont give up easily ........... oh and we will eat well in the meantime too

 

[wazza2222]

Truth as she is spoke

I particularly liked the message "Gun owner/Gun victim, you choose"
As an emergency service shift worker in gun paranoid New Zealand, I understand that sentiment and have subsequently trained my beloved wife up in firearms usage. She is now licenced as a firearm owner (but of course, you are not allowed to have a firearm for protection in NZ, you are supposed to call the Police... har har har)

Ironically, we get BBC news reports here on our local networks and the Televised version of that report carried a disturbing parallel (subconcious bias?) When showing the Texas gunshop, we got cowboy music, and they show us big fat slobby looking people fizzing over guns. When they contrasted it with the broken spirited survivor of Virginia Tech (who's life is ruined ...sob) we got the "Piano by sympathy" music!
How cheesy is that?

Good for you America, fight for what is yours (we all lost it)

 

[royke]

interesting read , interesting take , would not have thought it of the BBC eather , but there it is ,

responce-

theres a reason this is the free country its been for over 230 years , and its not because our 'government' protects us so well , its because we the people protected it , and will continue to do so ,

weve not been invaded because as the japanese so wisely noted - theres a rifle behind every blade of grass , and thankfully there are shooters who know how to use them ,
ill note that today a lot of those rifles are japanese , british , russian , chinese , and german , but they still work and we have ammo , so its not any diferent than it was back then ,

lastly , the urbanites that hate our guns so can just not own and use them if thats what they choose , the part about a free country means they are free to choose not to , and we are free to hold and bear ours , it may be interesting to see who survives if and when the SHTF , you can damn well bet the urban areas will fall first and hard , but you can also bet that we in the rural areas wont give up easily ........... oh and we will eat well in the meantime too

Not all gun owners live in rural areas, no real gun shortage in Texas cities.........

 

[jdub]

USA

As soon as we start adopting European ideals we are done as the USA. They kept giving a little until it was gone. They threw each other under the bus until the last fox hunt was over. Thatss how it happens.

 

[elokoman]

that star-spangled banner still waves over the land of the free, and the home of the brave,

but now, many are wary of "change".

 

[caerlonie]

I particularly liked the message "Gun owner/Gun victim, you choose"
As an emergency service shift worker in gun paranoid New Zealand, I understand that sentiment and have subsequently trained my beloved wife up in firearms usage. She is now licenced as a firearm owner (but of course, you are not allowed to have a firearm for protection in NZ, you are supposed to call the Police... har har har)

Ironically, we get BBC news reports here on our local networks and the Televised version of that report carried a disturbing parallel (subconcious bias?) When showing the Texas gunshop, we got cowboy music, and they show us big fat slobby looking people fizzing over guns. When they contrasted it with the broken spirited survivor of Virginia Tech (who's life is ruined ...sob) we got the "Piano by sympathy" music!
How cheesy is that?

Good for you America, fight for what is yours (we all lost it)

I lived in the US for over 5 years,things are no better there.I told some of the folks there at work I was into shooting and a bit of hunting,you would have thought I had just run over their dog with the reaction I got.I would say that hunting is actually much more accepted here in NZ than there,thats been my experience anyway.

 

[LVSteve]

I lived in the US for over 5 years,things are no better there.I told some of the folks there at work I was into shooting and a bit of hunting,you would have thought I had just run over their dog with the reaction I got.I would say that hunting is actually much more accepted here in NZ than there,thats been my experience anyway.

I would agree that your experience is about par for the course in many places in the US, today. Mind you, the reaction from my relatives in the UK at seeing my current collection would be even more interesting.

While this is one of the less hysterical articles on guns from the BBC, it is still far from being fair, balanced and accurate. For example, they still insist that a semi-auto rifle with a pistol grip that looks like an AK-47 is an assault weapon. This inaccuracy is carried forward in the "...restricting the purchase of certain types of assault weapon...." comment. IIRC, Federal legislation from 1936 through to 1998 already makes it rather difficult to buy a true assault weapon.

jdub: What is so funny about "mum"? It is after all the root of "mom", which all you colonials saw fit to use instead.

 

[Guest]

interesting read , interesting take , would not have thought it of the BBC eather , but there it is ,

responce-

theres a reason this is the free country its been for over 230 years , and its not because our 'government' protects us so well , its because we the people protected it , and will continue to do so ,

weve not been invaded because as the japanese so wisely noted - theres a rifle behind every blade of grass , and thankfully there are shooters who know how to use them ,
ill note that today a lot of those rifles are japanese , british , russian , chinese , and german , but they still work and we have ammo , so its not any diferent than it was back then ,

lastly , the urbanites that hate our guns so can just not own and use them if thats what they choose , the part about a free country means they are free to choose not to , and we are free to hold and bear ours , it may be interesting to see who survives if and when the SHTF , you can damn well bet the urban areas will fall first and hard , but you can also bet that we in the rural areas wont give up easily ........... oh and we will eat well in the meantime too

Uhhh I live in the city .I so hate when people generalise and label people ! Hows about liberal or democrat or black or white . The nazi's were good at labeling people . lets see , jew , gypsie ,slav , pole ?this country remained free because of smart tolerant people that looked beyond labels and lived together ,unlike most parts of the globe where difrent factions have been butchering each others for years . My theory is the stupid will perish first . well........

 

[my-rifle]

Yup. I live in the city too. New Orleans in fact. I like and own my guns for several reasons. One is for protection. In truth that's a pretty unimportant reason, because in my area there is about as close to zero crime as you can get. Another is because I like to own pieces of history. The military surplus curios and relics I own were carried by people who changed the world. When I hold these firearms I feel a small piece of the sacrifices these people made in their efforts to change the world. The final, and perhaps most important reason is that they're fun. I love shooting, be it target-shooting, hunting, or "plinking".

There are plenty of us in the cities. We may have to drive a bit further to get to a place to shoot, but we enjoy our guns, and we'll work to prevent their prohibition - perhaps even more than our more isolated rural allies. After all - we have the social networks already in place and ready to mobilize politically to protect our rights. Cheers friends. We're all in this together.

And to our European brethren and cistern - I was surprised and happy to see how liberal the gun laws actually are in Europe (France particularly) compared to the impression I'd held of them. I have friends there who own most of the guns that I enjoy, and shoot them legally just as I do. The situation, my friends, is not as bad as you think.

 

[Begemot]

"...ready, as always, for a fight." You bet. Democrats are going to take a bad fall in mid-term elections if they tangle with second ammendment supporters. By and large, most of the "new" Obama voters I encountered seem unaware of how crucial it is for a presidency to have and maintain party control of the legislature.

 

[LVSteve]

"...ready, as always, for a fight." You bet. Democrats are going to take a bad fall in mid-term elections if they tangle with second ammendment supporters. By and large, most of the "new" Obama voters I encountered seem unaware of how crucial it is for a presidency to have and maintain party control of the legislature.

I work with a couple of guys who always vote for the candidate from the other party to the President. They like to see the Presidency and the legislators cancel eachother out so we can all get on with our lives.

 

[my-rifle]

I work with a couple of guys who always vote for the candidate from the other party to the President. They like to see the Presidency and the legislators cancel eachother out so we can all get on with our lives.

Wow! That's genius. I have to start doing that.

 

[5thShock]

"They believe the constitutional guarantee of the people's right to bear arms means that the balance of power between the government and the governed is different in America from anywhere else in the developed world. "
By Jove, I think he's got it!

 

[1911crazy]

Where's Al Roker Now when we need him to interview people about buying guns?

 

[mrbullets]

"They like to see the Presidency and the legislators cancel eachother out so we can all get on with our lives."

That theory didn't work this past election ...............