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DPChallenge Forums >> Hardware and Software >> Unique way of "shooting" a picture!
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01/24/2004 12:32:14 PM · #1
Originally posted by kirbic:

Weapons ARE a problem in some inner city schools, and that is a sad fact.
the other sad fact is that the gun "issue" has become so two-dimensional. Since when is the comission of a crime the only conceivable use of a gun? In order to understand public support of gun ownership, you need only look at US history. The right to bear arms is written in the Constitution for good reason, and skill with a firearm for hunting and self-defense was a survival skill as recently as the first half of the 20th century (still is in some very remote areas). Sporting use of firearms also has a long tradition in the US. Even in relatively developed areas like my state (Wisconsin), hunting is very popular, and very much needed to control the deer population. It's not in the least related to survival anymore, but that is where the tradition started.
In short, when I see someone express incredulity that anyone would want to own a gun, I am amazed at the ignorance implied. Yes, there are problems attributable to widespread availabilty of guns, however we have a very old adage, "when guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns."
A firearm is a useful tool for the use it was intended, just as is a knife. Treated with respoect and used properly, firearms have a place in our society. Misused, they can be deadly criminal instruments. Punish the act of committing a crime with a gun, not gun owners in general.

It's not only inner-city schools ...

I have no problem with the rational, safe, legal uses of guns you describe. However, I suspect a majority of the guns sold in the US -- including "Saturday Night Specials," AK-47s, etc., are in fact sold for the purpose of killing other people, either in the commission or attempted deterrence of crime, and are not intended for hunting or "sporting" use.

What I find incredulous is that so many gun advocates are against the registration and background checks which would at least somewhat limit the diversion of firearms to the criminally-minded. If you are going to buy a gun for legal purposes, what problem do you have registering it? You register your car, boat; they know your address and phone number. If your gun is later used in the commission of a crime, I want to know how that came about, and hold you appropriately responsible.

I'm also pretty sure that there are more people killed accidentally and during domestic disputes than during the commision of other, "third-party" crime, so I have to consider the possibility that widespread gun ownership poses risks which outweigh the benefits.
01/24/2004 11:40:32 AM · #2
Originally posted by kirbic:

Originally posted by bcvieira:

In Europe we are far (yet) form having children in the schoolyard with guns in a daily basis. It feels strange to us the unthinkable normality that people take when looking at the guns issue.


From media coverage it may seem like kids in the schoolyard with guns is "normal" in the US. Nothing could be further from the truth. Weapons ARE a problem in some inner city schools, and that is a sad fact.
[...]
In order to understand public support of gun ownership, you need only look at US history.
[...]
It's not in the least related to survival anymore, but that is where the tradition started.
[...]
In short, when I see someone express incredulity that anyone would want to own a gun, I am amazed at the ignorance implied.


I am all for respecting tradition, after all we are the ones who have bullfights... But can we please ease off a bit? "I am amazed at the ignorance implied."? I do not consider myself an ignorant just because I don't think I should let my 4-year old daughter be near a gun. Can you say the same thing about everyone you know? We all know that firearms accidents only happen with a firearm...

Originally posted by kirbic:

Punish the act of committing a crime with a gun, not gun owners in general.


I could not agree more with you. Punishing the ownership of guns is like punishing browsers because you can buy drugs with it or punishing the mail because you can organize an assassination with letters.

All I was saying is that the gun issue is a problem. In the US.

Bravo for being a Agnostic photographer and for reading Isaac Asimov: You can not be a bad person ;)

It's just that here in Europe we live with a different point of view.
01/24/2004 11:06:06 AM · #3
I thought elitism was the American way...after all, why else does the person who puts up the most money get to run the country ?
01/24/2004 10:39:49 AM · #4
Originally posted by bcvieira:

Originally posted by Armadillo:

Quote from Willem
"By the way, I am always amazed when I see real guns in the challenges. Amazed at how many people apparently own one."
---

One?


Armadillo, you realize that Willlem is from Denmark, don't you?

In Europe we are far (yet) form having children in the schoolyard with guns in a daily basis. It feels strange to us the unthinkable normality that people take when looking at the guns issue.


From media coverage it may seem like kids in the schoolyard with guns is "normal" in the US. Nothing could be further from the truth. Weapons ARE a problem in some inner city schools, and that is a sad fact.
the other sad fact is that the gun "issue" has become so two-dimensional. Since when is the comission of a crime the only conceivable use of a gun? In order to understand public support of gun ownership, you need only look at US history. The right to bear arms is written in the Constitution for good reason, and skill with a firearm for hunting and self-defense was a survival skill as recently as the first half of the 20th century (still is in some very remote areas). Sporting use of firearms also has a long tradition in the US. Even in relatively developed areas like my state (Wisconsin), hunting is very popular, and very much needed to control the deer population. It's not in the least related to survival anymore, but that is where the tradition started.
In short, when I see someone express incredulity that anyone would want to own a gun, I am amazed at the ignorance implied. Yes, there are problems attributable to widespread availabilty of guns, however we have a very old adage, "when guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns."
A firearm is a useful tool for the use it was intended, just as is a knife. Treated with respoect and used properly, firearms have a place in our society. Misused, they can be deadly criminal instruments. Punish the act of committing a crime with a gun, not gun owners in general.
01/24/2004 10:11:28 AM · #5
Originally posted by Armadillo:

Quote from Willem
"By the way, I am always amazed when I see real guns in the challenges. Amazed at how many people apparently own one."
---

One?


Armadillo, you realize that Willlem is from Denmark, don't you?

In Europe we are far (yet) form having children in the schoolyard with guns in a daily basis. It feels strange to us the unthinkable normality that people take when looking at the guns issue.
01/23/2004 09:52:20 PM · #6
Quote from Willem
"By the way, I am always amazed when I see real guns in the challenges. Amazed at how many people apparently own one."
---

One?
01/23/2004 09:41:31 PM · #7
Originally posted by bcvieira:


"The Darwin Awards honor those who improve our gene pool... by removing themselves from it. (Of necessity, this honor is bestowed posthumously.)"

//www.darwinawards.com/

My dad always felt this was a sound basis for opposing mandatory motorcycle helmet laws.

Unfortunately modern medicine now allows too many of these to survive (at public expense) to reproduce anyway ...
01/23/2004 07:43:23 PM · #8
Originally posted by GeneralE:

One of the biggest problems with devices made in the shape of guns is that your local police officer or gangster will not usually have time or inclination to investigate its true nature before shooting you.



Eh! eh! eh! Now that will create a lot of Darwin Award nominees. Good for them!

"The Darwin Awards honor those who improve our gene pool... by removing themselves from it. (Of necessity, this honor is bestowed posthumously.)"

//www.darwinawards.com/
01/23/2004 07:08:35 PM · #9
Show me your boobies (while pointing the gun).

Hey Jacko has Fatherhood turned you into a comic! Or have I been away too long?
01/23/2004 06:17:54 PM · #10
Looks like a good way to get your head blown off. No thanks, I'll pass.
01/23/2004 04:18:13 PM · #11
Originally posted by Jacko:

Show me your boobies (while pointing the gun).


*wipes tears* too funny, your poor wife.
01/23/2004 08:52:45 AM · #12
Originally posted by dacrazyrn:

Originally posted by willem:

Toy guns need to have flashy colors, special shapes etc to be clearly recognisable so there can be no misunderstanding.

whats to keep a robber, etc. painting a real gun flashy, and in neon colors to try to fool peace officers?


Nothing, but at least they have done so with their own bad intentions and fully aware of what they did, so they risk being shot because of it...
And that is exactly why it is illegal in Holland to have real looking fake guns, to avoid both the people as well as police getting into uncecessary dangerous situations.

(you know that country ? ..... a lot of things which are illegal elsewhere are legal in Holland LOL)

At least you don't get innocent kids shot, because they are swaying around will real looking guns. The only guns they can get are clearly fake.

By the way, I am always amazed when I see real guns in the challenges. Amazed at how many people apparently own one.
01/23/2004 08:30:59 AM · #13
Show me your boobies (while pointing the gun).
01/23/2004 08:16:10 AM · #14
Originally posted by KevinRiggs:

...I just think its worth noting that some things that folks in their 30's or 40's in America took for granted growing up may have fallen victim to the social inflation of larger metropolitan areas or maybe its just the logical end to having so many firearms readily available. Who knows.


I agree with you Kevin. I think a lot of this violence results from how the children are raised at home and the lack of values being taught by the parents.

I remember as a kid, we always had meals at the dinner table as a family and talked. If you wanted to go out, you had to be home by dinner or you had to wait until AFTER the family dinner. Nowadays, it is pretty rare to see this type of home life, a lot of times because of how society is today - forcing both parents to work, and many times work extremely long hours.

People, just don't blame the guns for the violence, because there is ALWAYS someone pulling the trigger.

I'll stop there for now...sorry for the semi-political post...not my norm. :-)
01/23/2004 07:35:08 AM · #15
Originally posted by dacrazyrn:

I grew up playing cops and robbers and cowboys and indians. The guns looked real back then, too. I don't remember kids getting shot by police. I think if I ever saw a grown man in a uniform, bearing down on me with a gun, telling me to drop it....no hesitation! It is down!


I don't really want to get to political as that isn't the nature of the site but it might be worth consideration that when you were growing up and playing those games (as did I) 14-year old kids weren't carrying loaded handguns into the school for the purposes of intimidation, extortion or self-defense. Heck, it wasn't a big thing when I was in high school to carry a shotgun to school in a gun rack in the back of the truck window (veeerrrrryyy country area I grew up in). No one thought to run out to the truck to resolve differences. You just got a fat lip or busted the other kid's lip if there was a difference of opinion and no one around to stop it. Nowadays juveniles carry and use weapons. I just think its worth noting that some things that folks in their 30's or 40's in America took for granted growing up may have fallen victim to the social inflation of larger metropolitan areas or maybe its just the logical end to having so many firearms readily available. Who knows.
01/23/2004 07:24:48 AM · #16
Originally posted by willem:

Toy guns need to have flashy colors, special shapes etc to be clearly recognisable so there can be no misunderstanding.

whats to keep a robber, etc. painting a real gun flashy, and in neon colors to try to fool peace officers?
I grew up playing cops and robbers and cowboys and indians. The guns looked real back then, too. I don't remember kids getting shot by police. I think if I ever saw a grown man in a uniform, bearing down on me with a gun, telling me to drop it....no hesitation! It is down! I think the problem is an attitude of (usually teens getting shot) the kids that have no respect and then turn around and point the toy gun at REAL police.
01/23/2004 06:35:30 AM · #17
Stupid.

In Holland (where I originate from) it is illegal to have toy guns which closely resemble real guns. Toy guns need to have flashy colors, special shapes etc to be clearly recognisable so there can be no misunderstanding.

In Denmark where I live now, that is not the case, and toy guns look like real guns. They also have the highest percentage of bank robberies of total Europe. Makes you think .......


01/23/2004 06:22:58 AM · #18
Pitty it wasn't around in the 'Maxwell Smart' days...lol. I have to agree though it's a bit far fetched and a little 'sick' for this day n' age. Grrrrr.....
01/23/2004 06:19:04 AM · #19
I can see someone getting their ass blown away because of this and then the manufacturer being sued. Good for them. I think it is hilarious, I want one.
01/22/2004 06:36:06 PM · #20
I love the idea. the tenacity someone had to design something so un-PC. To thumb your nose so blatantly against the liberal desease that polutes this country. bravo!
01/22/2004 06:33:41 PM · #21
Russian roulette anyone?
01/22/2004 06:17:30 PM · #22
I can't see people walking around the streets using them, but it would be good fun for playing around with mates :)
01/22/2004 06:15:05 PM · #23
I'll take 2
01/22/2004 06:14:29 PM · #24
With toy guns going transparent or painted florescent colors. Now they make this. Stupid. Hopefully it's a concept that won't go to market. I can hear the lawyers now "Cha-Ching"($$$).
01/22/2004 06:06:59 PM · #25
That could be scary. What type of knuckle head thought of that?
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