11 Dallas police officers shot by sniper at peaceful protest. 5 officers dead.

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by Azure

No I'm serious. Most American gun owners hate the NRA and what it stands for.

Makes you question where they get all their money from however.

You wouldn't think it would be that hard to get a anti NRA organization that could be well funded by some Super PACs to start throwing money around to negate the impact.

[dobbles]

Originally Posted by wwkayaker

This is an unfair statement to put out there. He is making a choice for his family. With these events happening more frequently, ISIS craziness, etc, I think it can be argued that everybody is responding to the fear and paranoia to varying degrees.

but that is exactly the wrong reaction. we can't cower in fear from every hypothetical. and if we were doing a risk assessment, travelling to idaho with its extremely low population density and lack of ethnic diversity does not make it a prime candidate for some sort of BLM related event.

lastly, if it is reasonable for someone to not travel to the states in order to protect their family, what about all us poor saps that live in the states? should i stop going outside because of an unfortunate incident in dallas?

[wwkayaker]

Originally Posted by dobbles

but that is exactly the wrong reaction. we can't cower in fear from every hypothetical. and if we were doing a risk assessment, travelling to idaho with its extremely low population density and lack of ethnic diversity does not make it a prime candidate for some sort of BLM related event.

lastly, if it is reasonable for someone to not travel to the states in order to protect their family, what about all us poor saps that live in the states? should i stop going outside because of an unfortunate incident in dallas?

I'm not arguing that it is the wrong reaction. I just think it is inevitable.

[dobbles]

Originally Posted by wwkayaker

I'm not arguing that it is the wrong reaction. I just think it is inevitable.

i dont want to harp on this too much because obviously avoiding travel to the states isnt the problem. the problem is crazy people shooting others. but i just feel like the more we allow reactions like that to be seen as ok, we are just continuing to devolve. it reminds me of a comment i saw yesterday regarding the minnesota policeman murdering that guy; it was along the lines of "how come the lady in the drivers seat is holding her composure while the trained police officer is outside the car cursing and freaking out". we need to be advocating for rational responses on all sides.

[Regulator75]

WTF is this world coming too? I had no idea about this until now.

A meteor strike of epic proportion needs to put an end to our plague on our world and each other. We've had our brief time and it's time to start over.

Too many crazies and extremists to right this sinking ship.

[oldschoolcalgary]

Originally Posted by Azure

Yup. Obviously breaking those laws and actually being caught are two different things as well. There is nothing stopping me from taking my handgun and going for target practice on my land. Also, people would be surprised what passes off as a restricted weapon and what doesn't.

I think the most important thing about Canadian gun laws are the 8-12 week background check and training requirements. It makes a huge difference.

However, culturally we are a much different country as well. Even the people I know that own a lot of firearms and love to hunt and go skeet shooting are not 'this is my RIGHT' type of people. It is just something they enjoy doing.

true... in looking over the list of prohibited guns, there's actually a lot of pretty serious firepower that i didn't realize people could own here.... but people do, and they do pretty responsibly...

and i consider myself very much pro-gun control...

i think its too late in the US: the political "debate" is so partisan and there are so many politicians more than happy to conflate false narratives ("the government wants to take away our guns before they take away our Freedoms") there's not a lot of hope.

again, if they can't pass laws banning assault rifles or even extended magazines after Sandy Hook, or not allowing people on the terrorism watch list to purchase guns after Orlando, there's not a f'n prayer for any kind of substantive change...Ever

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Azure

If the US would switch to publicly funded elections, the NRA wouldn't have such a grip on the government, and in turn you would probably get more sensible gun legislation passed.

Right now there are hundreds of members of government both Democrat and Republican that refuse to support gun control legislation because the NRA has a huge influence over their constituency. Sad that money is such a driving force in the political world, but that is the reality the US faces right now.

So lets go ahead and elect Hillary or Trump and we'll continue financing politics with big money for another 8 years.

Respectfully I don't think it would make a difference, if anything it would push things more into the shadows.

[schteve_d]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

I wonder if he still has that Maserati.

He lost his licence, now he don't drive.

[Minnie]

The Purge - reality, not a movie. Except it's every day instead of one night.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Robbob

You wouldn't think it would be that hard to get a anti NRA organization that could be well funded by some Super PACs to start throwing money around to negate the impact.

It's not just the money, their members not only vote but also provide volunteers in districts. The NRA operates much like a union in this respect.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Regulator75

WTF is this world coming too? I had no idea about this until now.

A meteor strike of epic proportion needs to put an end to our plague on our world and each other. We've had our brief time and it's time to start over.

Too many crazies and extremists to right this sinking ship.

It's no consolation for yesterday's events, but there is far less extremism, racial antagonism, and violence in the U.S. today than there was 50 years ago.

1965: Watts riots. 34 dead and 1,042 injured.
1966: Race riots in 43 cities. 11 dead and 400 injured.
1967: Newark riots. 26 dead and 1,500 injured. Detroit riots. 43 dead and 2,000 injured. Riots in 127 other U.S. cities leave 83 killed.
1968: Martin Luther King assassination. Ensuing riots in 125 cities leave 46 dead and 2,600 injured.

Whole neighbourhoods were burned to the ground in these riots. Snipers fired at responding police and firefighters. Heavily armed Black Panthers marched into the California legislature. Volunteer militias patrolled white neighbourhoods in Chicago. The Soledad brothers stormed a courthouse, took a judge hostage and blew his head off in the ensuring chase. And that's not even getting into Vietnam, where by 1968 more than 500 Americans a month were being killed - most of them conscripts.

The U.S. has righted the ship in far worse seas than this.

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

It's not just the money, their members not only vote but also provide volunteers in districts. The NRA operates much like a union in this respect.

Yeah, just finished reading some things about them. They are extremely effective and efficient in the way they operate. Just wish they operated like that on a different cause.

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by Regulator75

WTF is this world coming too? I had no idea about this until now.

A meteor strike of epic proportion needs to put an end to our plague on our world and each other. We've had our brief time and it's time to start over.

Too many crazies and extremists to right this sinking ship.

Yeah let's kill 7 billion people because of the crazies and extremists

[bigtmac19]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

It's no consolation for yesterday's events, but there is far less extremism, racial antagonism, and violence in the U.S. today than there was 50 years ago.

1965: Watts riots. 34 dead and 1,042 injured.
1966: Race riots in 43 cities. 11 dead and 400 injured.
1967: Newark riots. 26 dead and 1,500 injured. Detroit riots. 43 dead and 2,000 injured. Riots in 127 other U.S. cities leave 83 killed.
1968: Martin Luther King assassination. Ensuing riots in 125 cities leave 46 dead and 2,600 injured.

Whole neighbourhoods were burned to the ground in these riots. Snipers fired at responding police and firefighters. Heavily armed Black Panthers marched into the California legislature. Volunteer militias patrolled white neighbourhoods in Chicago. The Soledad brothers stormed a courthouse, took a judge hostage and blew his head off in the ensuring chase. And that's not even getting into Vietnam, where by 1968 more than 500 Americans a month were being killed - most of them conscripts.

The U.S. has righted the ship in far worse seas than this.

Agreed - I remember my Mom telling me about watching Detroit burn from across the river.

A lot of fairly recent, violent history for sure.

[Regulator75]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

Yeah let's kill 7 billion people because of the crazies and extremists

The earth is long over due for another "big one", just saying...

[MrMastodonFarm]

Regulator continues to creep everyone out with his end of the world fantasies.

[Bandwagon In Flames]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

It's no consolation for yesterday's events, but there is far less extremism, racial antagonism, and violence in the U.S. today than there was 50 years ago.

1965: Watts riots. 34 dead and 1,042 injured.
1966: Race riots in 43 cities. 11 dead and 400 injured.
1967: Newark riots. 26 dead and 1,500 injured. Detroit riots. 43 dead and 2,000 injured. Riots in 127 other U.S. cities leave 83 killed.
1968: Martin Luther King assassination. Ensuing riots in 125 cities leave 46 dead and 2,600 injured.

Whole neighbourhoods were burned to the ground in these riots. Snipers fired at responding police and firefighters. Heavily armed Black Panthers marched into the California legislature. Volunteer militias patrolled white neighbourhoods in Chicago. The Soledad brothers stormed a courthouse, took a judge hostage and blew his head off in the ensuring chase. And that's not even getting into Vietnam, where by 1968 more than 500 Americans a month were being killed - most of them conscripts.

The U.S. has righted the ship in far worse seas than this.

Are you forgetting the 50 people murdered in Florida recently? What about the Ferguson riots just 2 years ago? Things are terrible in the US right now and only getting worse. Each of these murders is only raising tensions between white and black citizens.

[peter12]

Well, the Ferguson Riots were nothing compared to Detroit 1967. They called in the National Guard - a Guardsman was killed. More insanity ensued.

Although, I do think that 2016 is probably more analogous to 1968 than a lot of people want to admit. We are going through tumultuous times, and there are very real things at stake.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Bandwagon In Flames

Are you forgetting the 50 people murdered in Florida recently? What about the Ferguson riots just 2 years ago? Things are terrible in the US right now and only getting worse. Each of these murders is only raising tensions between white and black citizens.

Gunmen going on rampages in the US isn't new either. Although the frequency of rampages hasn't really changed in the last 50 years or so, the casualty figures have. My guess is that assault rifles are more easily available to the public now than they were in the 1960s.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Bandwagon In Flames

Are you forgetting the 50 people murdered in Florida recently? What about the Ferguson riots just 2 years ago? Things are terrible in the US right now and only getting worse. Each of these murders is only raising tensions between white and black citizens.

Yes, they're raising tensions. But in the 60s the police and national guard would deploy into a riot zone and just start blasting away at everything that moved. Ventilating apartment buildings and killing whoever was in them - bystanders, women, old men. There were black revolutionaries (and white allies) going around handing out weapons and molotov cocktails and systematically burning down city blocks and shooting at firefighters.

Originally Posted by peter12

Well, the Ferguson Riots were nothing compared to Detroit 1967. They called in the National Guard - a Guardsman was killed. More insanity ensued.

Although, I do think that 2016 is probably more analogous to 1968 than a lot of people want to admit. We are going through tumultuous times, and there are very real things at stake.

I think it is analogous. We're witnessing one of those social convulsions that comes around once a generation when the status quo becomes intolerable to a critical mass of people. But it's proving to be (and hopefully it will remain) less violent than the last big convulsion.