[red-iron-pine]

> Lots of things that could be easily taken out of context, sure, and a fair number of things that are just plain inappropriate - but you could say the same for any community.

What kind of ridiculous copium is this?

i'm sure the quilting community says all sorts of terrible things that could be taken out of context.

the difference is they don't have a long history of gun violence. ain't no one showed up and killed 20 elementary kids with knitting needles. no one smuggled a crochet gear to a 17 year old and saw protesters crochet'd to death.

and what is your 2nd amendment right doing now? the government, and arguably global economy, is under threat and you're doing what exactly with these guns?

[875368945]

Personally, I’m using my guns to teach my trans friends how to shoot. The government (and their supporters) are increasingly vocal in their dehumanization and threats against trans people, and many (of my friends at least) are looking for protection.

What else would you have me do with my guns? (I’m also helping my non-trans friends get into shooting too.)

[ty6853]

>the government, and arguably global economy, is under threat and you're doing what exactly with these guns?

What do you suggest is done with the guns about that? You want us to kill over disagreement on economic policy?

[anon84873628]

People are not ready to take up arms over "economic policy". What they're concerned about is the flaunting of the Constitution by the Executive, and the dereliction of duty by Congress.

[pnemonic]

Global economics has the power to kill far more people than small arms ever could. We suggest you put your money where your exceptionally large mouths are.

[ty6853]

I understand there are arguments for it. I can even understand where they are coming from. What is interesting is many of these anti 2A sorts unknowingly speak their murderous intent out loud. They are that which they hate.

[pnemonic]

That's fair. It is highly hypocritical to call for the end of civilian gun ownership but expect civilian gun owners to save them from authoritarian goverment.

It is also hypocritical for civilian gun owners to claim they will use their 2A rights to protect themselves and other citizens from authoritarian government but fail to be vigilant enough to recognize the rise of authoritarianism.

This only works if the people that have guns are smart enough to know when to use them con(de?)structively. Unfortunately there are swathes of American gun owners that view politics like a football game that will never have any effect on them, and once it arrives on their doorstep it will be far, far too late.

[cryptonector]

> That's fair. It is highly hypocritical to call for the end of civilian gun ownership but expect civilian gun owners to save them from authoritarian goverment.

I wouldn't say hypocritical. I'd say cognitively dissonant. Not the same thing.

> It is also hypocritical for civilian gun owners to claim they will use their 2A rights to protect themselves and other citizens from authoritarian government but fail to be vigilant enough to recognize the rise of authoritarianism.

Private firearms ownership is an indirect and implicit threat of violence against tyranny. It may or may not work as such. It might only limit the degree of tyranny. Remember, armed citizens can't organize to commit violence against the state because the state has authority (or a patina of authority) and the ability to bring a great deal of force to bear on any hot spots. The state's ability to bring force to bear is limited though, but only in such a way that a huge number of citizens would have to rise up simultaneously and be patient enough to keep rising as the going gets tough. Therefore I think private firearms ownership can't stop tyranny altogether, but can moderate it. There is no hypocrisy or cognitive dissonance here.

[NoMoreNicksLeft]

>ain't no one showed up and killed 20 elementary kids with knitting needles.

Plainly false. Though people who advocate gun control never pay attention, there have been many high-profile mass murders/attacks where people did attack with knives/swords/machetes, and these have comparable body counts.

The UK is way ahead of you too, by the way. They've started to implement knife control, including orders for people to bring in kitchen knives to have the tips blunted.

>and what is your 2nd amendment right doing now? the government, and arguably global economy, is under threat a

And that government is perceived to be on the side of the gun rights proponents. The people complaining are largely those who have, in the past, eschewed gun ownership.

[RankingMember]

> orders for people to bring in kitchen knives to have the tips blunted

Can you link me to one of these? I googled and couldn't find anything, but am genuinely curious.

[hiatus]

While there have been numerous calls for this to happen over the years ([1] for instance), I could not find evidence that it was implemented.

[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20180528202625/https://www.indep...

[pnemonic]

The point was that knitting needles are not implements of violence, yet groups using them for the group's explicit purpose can have very bad and harmful takes. One does not need to have a weapon to be harmful. Our Dear Leader has proven that many times.

It is a good idea to stand on pro-gun rhetoric when you want all the guns on your side and not being pointed at you. You use confusing double-talk to trick them into believing you are on their side and you fight for them. In the US, there is the added benefit of poor education, which cripples critical thinking.

Also, the claim that melee weapons are somehow comparable to modern firearms is quite laughable. Where are you getting your data?

[NoMoreNicksLeft]

>Also, the claim that melee weapons are somehow comparable to modern firearms is quite laughable.

People laugh at all sorts of things that aren't very funny.

The body counts for most of the school shootings (and other, various, non-school shootings) that people complain about are just under double digits, or manage to roll right up into double digits. Blade attacks are perfectly capable of that many injuries and deaths within the time constraint of a typical police response. This is born by fact, where such knife attacks have managed those body counts. There are a half a dozen or more in recent years in China, and at least one in Europe that I can think of.

>You use confusing double-talk to trick them into believing you are on their side and you fight for them.

No one with any sense here thinks I "fight for them". I'm just showing that I'm not unwilling for them to exercise their own rights to self-defense. This is because a principle is at stake. If it also contrasts with the general lack of principles among those who advocate gun control somehow, that's their problem.

[cryptonector]

> and what is your 2nd amendment right doing now? the government, and arguably global economy, is under threat and you're doing what exactly with these guns?

It sounds like you're either advocating or wishing that gun owners "do something", something presumably violent. And that in a post ascribing desire for violence to [from context] militias and gun nuts. A bit strange, IMO.

[Ancapistani]

> What kind of ridiculous copium is this?

> i'm sure the quilting community says all sorts of terrible things that could be taken out of context.

The things said there are different in perspective from some of the things said here, just from another direction.

To be more specific, most of the time when I see someone say something like "hang 'em from the lampposts", it's in reference to LEO attempting confiscation or something. It should not be reasonably construed as a legitimate threat and is not intended as such. It's hyperbole.

People who are actually a risk are obvious based on their overall pattern of behavior.

> the difference is they don't have a long history of gun violence. ain't no one showed up and killed 20 elementary kids with knitting needles. no one smuggled a crochet gear to a 17 year old and saw protesters crochet'd to death.

Neither does the gun community.

We do have dangerous items as the center of the whole idea, though, which means the hyperbole I mentioned above is looked at much more closely than if a textile artist made the same comment. That has resulted in significant internal policing.

> and what is your 2nd amendment right doing now? the government, and arguably global economy, is under threat and you're doing what exactly with these guns?

The vast majority of us don't see things that way at all - this is exactly what "we" (i.e., the gun community) voted for.

That said, I've been an advocate for LGBT, minorities, and others at risk acquiring arms and training for decades. I'll continue to do that.