Pantera shooting Iowa

Why? I see at least 20 anti-american post/day on this site and do nothing. I speak out that I am tired of it and have both american and european's  pissed at me. Why is this one sided? Why should we be the punching bag every damn day? ANSWER ME THAT!!!!

amygdala wrote: gdub411 wrote: [QUOTE=arcer] wouldn't have happened in a country that doesn't legalise, glorify and defend the right to bear arms Who says the gun he was weilding was legal? I'm sure in your prescious, safe countries the bad guys can obtain illegal arms easily enough. Save your self-righteous banter for another place. We americans are sick and tired of you.

ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart (manics)

america is a joke[/QUOTE]

case in point....I am always reactionary! I don't start this stuff.

Edited by gdub411

gdub411 wrote: Why? I see at least 20 anti-american post/day on this site and do nothing. I speak out that I am tired of it and have both american and european's  pissed at me. Why is this one sided? Why should we be the punching bag every damn day? ANSWER ME THAT!!!!

I've noticed it too but you need to relax.

arcer wrote: However, I would imagine that our firend was not linked with any criminal element, which he would have to be here, in order to obtain a gun.

You don't have to be linked to a criminal element.. you just have to know someone who has a gun, and the audacity to steal it from them... that could happen in any country.  I have a friend whose brother is a policeman in Paris. HIs girlfriend stole his personal revolver and shot his ex-girlfriend.  Imagine that... in France....geez, how shocking!!

arcer wrote: No, it was probably a case of this poor, obviously disturbed chap walking in off the street and purchasing this gun, or perhaps sourcing it from a member of his family.

You evidently have a misconception of what the process is in purchasing a gun in this country... the background checks are pretty intensive and it takes quite a while to get it done.  Maybe Dan can give you a better idea on this.

arcer wrote: I am a regular citizen, living in a country where firearms are illegal. I do not know how to buy a guy, nor would I know how to seek out the information needed to contact someone who would be willing to sell one.

I am also a regular citizen who doesn't have any contact with the criminal element, but I bet you if I had $500, I could go out and purchase a gun somewhere near here for less than that.

arcer wrote: Gdub - your fury at my self-righteous banter cannot disguise the fact hat there are more gun-related deaths in the US than in, I would imagine, all other developed countries. Wonder why?

A few years ago, there were more knife stabbing deaths in Finland than any other country.  Do you think they should of banned knives from the country?

In reply to all the Americans who got quite rabidly
upset by my post: To be honest, this was a needless
act of provocation on my part. I knew it would get
certain people exercised and that people's views on
this are entrenched and reactionary - on both sides.
It was a easy mark and I took it, and one I should
probably have left alone.
However, I firmly believe that the possession of
firearms, hunting knives, crossbows, etc should be
firmly regulated. Heavy regulation of possession
does not curtail people’s right to hunt (though i also
believe that in most cases that pursuit is wrong, as I
believe all blood sports - of which Ireland is an
unfortunate champion - are cruel and wrong).
If you want to hunt and your country endorses it, then
do so, intense regulation of access to firearms will
not prevent you indulging in your pastime if you are a
legitimate user of firearms for sporting means.
It is the way it is in the bulk of Europe and sport
shooting is in a healthy state judging by Olympic
performance.
I do believe that the NRA in the US is a reactionary
organisation that seeks to preserve a status quo no
longer relevant in more enlightened times. Its
relentlessly negative attitude to progressive,
meaningful gun control reinforces and exacerbates
the problem US society has with guns. In short I
believe its ultra-conservative stance encourages a
'over my dead body' attitude in which the possibility of
armed resistance is positively relished.
I agree, broadly, that people not guns kill people, but
if you give people guns then the propensity for killing
is vastly increased. it is basic common sense.
While I did seek to provoke a response, my opinions
on gun control are not an attack on 'the american
way'. I like america and americans. I fundamentally
disagree with certain aspects of policy and outlook
with regard to foreign policy and US domestic
lawmaking (The Patriot Act) and am dismayed by the
increasingly inward-looking attitude of 'fortress'
america.
For a country founded on the principles of 'give me
your poor, your huddled masses' etc, it is a sorry
pass for such an initially radically liberal country to
come to.
James made some points about freedom from the
yoke of oppressive regimes and the dangers of
imperialism.
There is a lesson of history there that appears lost to
the current holders of the superpower title.
It is a tale oft told throughout history and those who
do not learn the lessons of hoistory are doomed to
repeat them.
The fall of countless empires throughout the ages
has been predicated on expansion, complacency
(inspired by riches and the monopolisation of power)
and the eventual isolationism brought about by the
threat and increasing dissafection of those whose
futures are being determined by the vested interests
of empire. it is a boom and bust cycle that a wise
potentate would not ignore.

Also James’ points about Ireland's bloody struggle
for freedom in the War of Independence and the
resultant Civil War are well made but choose to
avoid a salient point. Once freedom was won and
the power struggles of the various local factions
were partially resolved, the right-thinking people of
this island chose to abandon their weapons and
attempt to return to a arms-free existence.
We have an unarmed police force and owing to our
recent (within the last 10 years) experience with
internal strife we have a very prohibitive stance on
the possession of firearms. It works. We have,
outside of a smattering of gangland related
shootings, a gun-free culture. There are few firearms
related crimes here.
We are far form perfect, indeed there are many
aspects of life that frustrate me as greatly as
anything i get riled about in other countries - and that
includes afghanistan, france, britain, japan, angola
anywhere where injustices or exclusions are
perpetrated. But the statistics on gun control, still do
not lie.
America is a wonderful idea, but like all ideals it is
imperfectly formed.
Just because we Europeans (and many others)
question the imperfections does not mean that we
are hostile to the ideal. Indeed, true democracy is
about discourse is it not?

threefates wrote: Yeh, it would... and it happens all the time.  Anyone can get a gun anywhere, if they have enough money and want one bad enough.

Hate to break the cycle of group-hugging but

Anyone else find the above statement ridiculous?

Anyone can get anything (available) if they have enough money ie WMD,anything.What a pointless statement.

cause i have a narrow outlook