Calvin's Canadian Cave of Coolness: Posted Without Additional Comment

Monday, January 24, 2011

Posted Without Additional Comment - You All Know How I Feel About Guns

12 comments:

Belle said...: Great cartoon.; January 24, 2011 at 11:00 AM
joe ackerman said...: gun go boom. man fall down. gun bad.

no, really.; January 24, 2011 at 12:22 PM
Lazarus Lupin said...: Drop hammer. Hammer bad.
Gun no bad.
Gun is dangerous.
Some people bad.
Some people very dangerous.
Bad dangerous person with a gun more dangerous.

Lazarus Lupin
http://strangespanner.blogspot.com/
art and review; January 24, 2011 at 12:47 PM
Wandering Coyote said...: Ah, my dad would love this. He's all pro-gun & thinks we should all be packing all the time. Grrrrrr.; January 24, 2011 at 1:26 PM
Kal said...: And Dat Why
Hulk Say
No Gun
Just Smash
And Smash And Smash

"No guns in Gotham"

Gun Make Dangerous People
More Bad
Hulk Say
Why Help Dem By Having Gun; January 24, 2011 at 1:34 PM
Lazarus Lupin said...: Darkwing duck says
let's get dangerous
probably not a good idea
base policy
on duck in mask; January 24, 2011 at 2:12 PM
Kal said...: If Not Duck
Then Who?
NRA? They Want
To Kill Duck And
All His Buddies; January 24, 2011 at 2:22 PM
Paladin said...: Wandering Coyote... I am your father.

Or not. I am contractually obligated as the Official Gun Nut of the Cave of Cool to at least make some kind of comment, though.

I'll limit it to just an observation, although the topic certainly deserves more time than I can currently give it. I think its interesting how people's perceptions of a situation differ given different viewpoints of the same event. Hoplophobes look at the Tucson tragedy and imagine it worse if law abiding, armed, citizens were there to "make things worse". I see the awful event and think how different it could have been if even one "normal" person had been there that day to face the nutjob - who was the only one with a gun.

I've never been in a similar situation. I've never had to shoot anyone. It is my fervent hope that I never experience either. Life is full of possiblities, though, both good and bad. I *have* had two occasions in my life where, had I not had a gun, I would probably not be here today.

My wish should I find myself in the wrong place at the wrong time is to have some other recourse to defend my Wife than covering her with my body while a madman plugs away at us. Preferably a recourse than involves me shooting the aggressor repeatedly until he stops moving.; January 24, 2011 at 3:33 PM
Kal said...: What about that guy who was at the Tucson shooting and DID draw his gun and ALMOST shot the WRONG person. Thank the gods he took a half second to concider what he was doing. In all of these incidents where the gunman is taken down before killing himself, it's the UNARMED people in the crowd that have stepped up.

I refuse to believe that myth that any ordinary armed person in that situation would have the calmness and presence of mind to do what needed to be done to end the carnage. It's very difficult for soldiers and cops to draw and use their weapons so I can only imagine how near impossible it is for an ordinary gun owner to do so in the split second it takes to make the decision to fire. Guns are just an accident waiting to happen.

The madman coming to your home is not a reality for anyone but the smallest percentage of people and the chances that your gun will be near enough to you to actually make a difference in that situation is an ever lower percentage.

I know you will not see my way but that is honestly the way I feel. I would LOVE to see SOME give on the NRA side towards easy things like not selling clips with more than ten bullets but I know how much of a slippery slope you all have been brainwashed into thinking it is. You owe your country SOME concessions if you don't want to lose your rights to have your guns entirely because that is what is going to happen if you insist of taking such a stridant stand. Okay, off my soapbox.; January 24, 2011 at 3:43 PM
Wandering Coyote said...: I just can't get into this argument because I have it so regularly with my dad and it just goes nowhere.

I think, however, that if we replaced guns with doggies, this world would be a better place. Let's pack puppies instead! Yeah baby!; January 24, 2011 at 4:34 PM
Kal said...: Or like on SNL we could all carry LAZER CATS.; January 24, 2011 at 4:44 PM
Paladin said...: Cal - Yeah, I think we're both pretty firmly entrenched. Makes an interesting discussion, though.

Even by the most conservative estimates, law abiding citizens in the US use firearms to successfully defend themselves thousands of times each year. For the rape victim that thwarts her attacker by using a firearm, she is not an insignificant statistic. For the store owner that stops a robbery, his statistic is not insignificant.

Indeed, bad people do use guns to do bad things. However, portraying law abiding gun owners as inept, ineffective, disasters who quail at actually defending themselves is inaccurate.

Your mention of Joe Zamudio is ridiculous in its reach. Mr. Zamudiio was not at the scene when the shooting was active. He arrived after the shooting had stopped. He performed in an almost text book example of what a person should do in that situation. When he arrived at an obvious scene of violence, he naturally assumed that the person standing with the gun might be a threat - just as the highly trained police would have. He assessed the situation and determined that the gun holder was not indeed a threat, and then assisted with restraining the actual shooter. He never even drew his gun.

As a reward for his bravery and restraint, he is now portrayed by you and others on the left as the gun nut that "almost shot the wrong person".

By most conservative estimates, there are currently over 300 federal and state laws restricting firearms possession and use in the US. In addition to that, there are a myriad of local laws to contend with. In my state, which is less draconian than many, in order to exercise my 2nd amendment rights I have to pay for and attend a 10 hour class periodically, pay a fee to the state periodically for the license, provide pictures and fingerprints at my expense, submit to a background check at the federal, state, and local level that takes weeks. I have to carry a license which I have to present to the authorities whenever I have contact with them that identifies me as a concealed permit holder - even if I am not currently carrying a gun.

As for the brainwashed comment, when Wayne Pacelle, HSUS director, outright states that his goal is to ban *all* hunting - that is not an imagined slippery slope. When Sarah Brady openly states that the ultimate goal is to ban *all* guns, that is not an imagined slippery slope.

As for the perception that if we do not yield on yet another "common sense gun restriction" we might loose all rights to keep and bear arms - That will never, ever happen.; January 25, 2011 at 5:22 AM