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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Fucking Guns
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Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
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Posted
That link works.
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"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf
Posts: 9835 | From: Hogwarts | Registered: Aug 2005
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
Yeah, the link works. I don’t see the point though.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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Martin60
Shipmate
# 368
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Posted
To paraphrase Brian McLaren, America, the world's first first world failed state.
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Love wins
Posts: 17586 | From: Never Dobunni after all. Corieltauvi after all. Just moved to the capital. | Registered: Jun 2001
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Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081
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Posted
Here is somebody doing at least something about it: every time an elected official offers their "thoughts and prayers", she's tweeting right back how much money they received in donations from the NRA.
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Let's remember that we are to build the Kingdom of God, not drive people away - pastor Frank Pomeroy
Posts: 17944 | From: 528491 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Alan Cresswell
Mad Scientist 先生
# 31
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
Yeah, the link works. I don’t see the point though.
It's quite simple really.
In something like aviation, someone seeks to take out a plane and even the US slaps draconian measures on flying, restricting freedoms and rights to keep people safe.
In the UK we had someone walk into a school, shooting and killing 16 kids and a teacher. We looked at the law relating to firearms, changed them and more than 20 years later we've not had another mass shooting in a school. [other nations can say similar things]
Offering prayers and messages of condolence don't bring back those shot. They do fuck all to prevent future shootings.
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Don't cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.
Posts: 32413 | From: East Kilbride (Scotland) or 福島 | Registered: May 2001
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Alan Cresswell
Mad Scientist 先生
# 31
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Posted
Or, in the words of Martin Luther King Jr,
"The administration's only concrete response was to initiate a study and call for a day of prayer. As a minister, I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility. When a government commands more wealth and power than has ever been known in the history of the world, and offers no more than this, it is worse than blind, it is provocative."
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Don't cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.
Posts: 32413 | From: East Kilbride (Scotland) or 福島 | Registered: May 2001
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
As one of my cousins mentioned, one person put a bomb in his shoe to blow up a passenger jet, and now we all take our shoes off to be checked.
Every member of congress who refuses to address this, every member of congress who says 'this is not the time', every member of congress who cares more about their contributions from the NRA than about human life should be held responsible for the deaths of all these people who have been murdered because of their selfish actions.
Just another thought while I'm so angry...aren't a lot of these pro-gun, 2nd amendment congresspersons also pro-life? So life after birth is no longer sacred?
Sorry, Hosts, for the deceased equine I threw into the mix. I will take my licks.
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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Anselmina
Ship's barmaid
# 3032
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Posted
Practically speaking, how would it be possible to reduce gun ownership in the US? Even enough to reduce these kind of incidents? People wouldn't hand over their weapons, would they? In fact, every time something like this happens, it seems to harden the resolve to continue the proliferation and increase the ownership, because it's a constitutional 'right'.
It's as if murdered school-kids is acceptable collateral for the benefits of having a right to bear arms; but the real tragedy would be reducing the influence and power of the NRA lobby.
I can't imagine where a gun-owning culture could even begin to tackle that.
Feeling so very sad for the wasted lives and the relatives of the murdered.
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Irish dogs needing homes! http://www.dogactionwelfaregroup.ie/ Greyhounds and Lurchers are shipped over to England for rehoming too!
Posts: 10002 | From: Scotland the Brave | Registered: Jul 2002
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Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
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Posted
Ah, but the Congresscreeps you mention surely have a vested interest in the number of people killed by guns, given the huge amount of $$$ given by the NRA to put/keep them in power.
The bigger the industry, the bigger the load of dosh available.
An abortion doesn't require a bullet....
IJ
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Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
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Alan Cresswell
Mad Scientist 先生
# 31
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Anselmina:
Practically speaking, how would it be possible to reduce gun ownership in the US? Even enough to reduce these kind of incidents?
More or less the same way as gun ownership has been reduced elsewhere. Change the laws so that ownership of some types of gun is illegal and the people permitted to own guns is reduced. Introduce buy-back schemes for people to hand in guns that will be illegal in the near future. Destroy those guns. Once those guns are illegal, have amnesties where they can be handed in without facing prosecution for holding them.
It's not impracticable, if there's the political will to enact meaningful restrictions on gun ownership.
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Don't cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.
Posts: 32413 | From: East Kilbride (Scotland) or 福島 | Registered: May 2001
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Penny S
Shipmate
# 14768
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Posted
Perhaps a number of those projectors which stream images onto buildings around Washington, alternating those smiley images of the living people with the images of their bleeding bodies.
Would innumerable letters from the bereaved finally get through? And letters from the electorate of the men who do not represent the will of the people in this matter? Sacks and sacks of them. And denial of service by filling their emails over and over again?
It does occur to me that before any buy-back, amnesty or whatever, the supply of bullets would have to be cut to zero, and anyone who had pre-ordered a lot more than could be accounted for reasonably visited. Very carefully.
[ 15. February 2018, 10:26: Message edited by: Penny S ]
Posts: 5833 | Registered: May 2009
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Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
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Posted
I’m hoping the USA will arrive at a tipping point, when people say ‘no more of this’ and have an overwhelming voice.
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Garden. Room. Walk
Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008
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quetzalcoatl
Shipmate
# 16740
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Posted
I suppose the sentimentality about guns is an irrational element in US society, and therefore not amenable to reason, or even emotional shock. I guess eventually there will be a tipping point, but it could take a very long time. 50 years?
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I can't talk to you today; I talked to two people yesterday.
Posts: 9878 | From: UK | Registered: Oct 2011
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Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081
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Posted
According to this reasoning, which is hard to argue with, the tipping point was passed some time ago, and it didn't tip the way one might hope.
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Let's remember that we are to build the Kingdom of God, not drive people away - pastor Frank Pomeroy
Posts: 17944 | From: 528491 | Registered: Jul 2002
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bib
Shipmate
# 13074
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Posted
I'm guessing that the American people value keeping their guns so much that it is worth sacrificing a few schoolchildren to retain that right. For this reason nothing will change and further mass murders will continue long into the future. Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.
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"My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End, accept the praise I bring"
Posts: 1307 | From: Australia | Registered: Oct 2007
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Twilight
Puddleglum's sister
# 2832
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Posted
If the murder of six year-olds at Sandy Hook wasn't the tipping point, there never will be one.
As long as gun owners are unashamed of caring more about their hobby than the lives of innocent children, we will have guns.
They will just keep blaming everyone and every thing more than guns. They will frighten people with "active shooter," videos and imply that if you just do the brave thing, or have a gun yourself, you should be able to stop the taking of lives.
They will blame the mentally ill and further stigmatize them. They will blame violent video games even though countries like Japan have more violent games than we have and very little gun violence.
They will continue to talk about our constitution as though it was written by God.
Today I heard the sheriff in Florida angrily talk about the need for kids to notify someone when they see something suspicious on social media. He implied it was the shooter's fellow students who were at fault for not heeding the "red flags," on the shooter's Facebook site. There were 3000 kids in that school if the police think all their social media postings should be monitored they should do it themselves.
You know what's a red flag? A troubled, grieving teen with an assault rifle, but no adult questioned that, I guess.
Posts: 6817 | Registered: May 2002
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Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
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Posted
And Trump blames the pupils ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif) ![[Mad]](angryfire.gif)
He tweeted -
“So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!”
Twat
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Garden. Room. Walk
Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008
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Stejjie
Shipmate
# 13941
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
Twat
Sorry, Boogie, I don't think that's right.
What it should have been is:
"ignorant, victim-blaming, deceitful, gun-promoting, violence-facilitating, anger-stoking, dangerous, divisive, mendacious twat."
Though, to be fair, I may have missed some words off myself.
I mean.. . I try not to speak ill of people, I try to take seriously Jesus' words about the dangers of calling someone a fool and everything else. But when Trump comes out with stuff like this, indeed, pretty much whenever Trump makes a public statement or says anything on Twitter, it just confirms how deceitful and dangerous he is.
He should not be in office. Those words "President" and "Trump" should not be spoken together, unless they're followed by, "but then I woke up from the awful nightmare". But this is beginning to feel like a nightmare we're never going to wake up from.
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A not particularly-alt-worshippy, fairly mainstream, mildly evangelical, vaguely post-modern-ish Baptist
Posts: 1117 | From: Urmston, Manchester, UK | Registered: Jul 2008
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Twilight
Puddleglum's sister
# 2832
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Posted
Now I'm hearing the Liberal on "Morning Joe," talking about gun control with a Colorado senator talking about the laws they passed to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill and criminals. No one has mentioned to him that these school shootings would still have happened if those gun control measures were in place. Yes, this boy was disturbed but not diagnosed with a severe mental illness and not a convicted criminal.
Senator Rubio is spouting the usual, "It's too early to talk about gun control."
I'm tired of all the talk about talking about gun control. I think we need to ban guns, not try to predict who will use them to murder people.
If we're ever going to stand up to the NRA we should do it effectively, because these small measures we call "gun control," would be a whole lot of work for tiny band aids on the problem.
Posts: 6817 | Registered: May 2002
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Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Stejjie:
quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
Twat
Sorry, Boogie, I don't think that's right.
What it should have been is:
"ignorant, victim-blaming, deceitful, gun-promoting, violence-facilitating, anger-stoking, dangerous, divisive, mendacious twat."
Though, to be fair, I may have missed some words off myself.
I mean.. . I try not to speak ill of people, I try to take seriously Jesus' words about the dangers of calling someone a fool and everything else. But when Trump comes out with stuff like this, indeed, pretty much whenever Trump makes a public statement or says anything on Twitter, it just confirms how deceitful and dangerous he is.
Indeed. I rarely swear, spoken or written, but sometimes no other language is strong enough.
Meanwhile For sale today in the USA .
![[Tear]](graemlins/tear.gif) ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
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Garden. Room. Walk
Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Twilight:
Now I'm hearing the Liberal on "Morning Joe," talking about gun control with a Colorado senator talking about the laws they passed to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill and criminals. No one has mentioned to him that these school shootings would still have happened if those gun control measures were in place. Yes, this boy was disturbed but not diagnosed with a severe mental illness and not a convicted criminal.
Senator Rubio is spouting the usual, "It's too early to talk about gun control."
I'm tired of all the talk about talking about gun control. I think we need to ban guns, not try to predict who will use them to murder people.
If we're ever going to stand up to the NRA we should do it effectively, because these small measures we call "gun control," would be a whole lot of work for tiny band aids on the problem.
It wasn't too early to invade Kuwait
It wasn't too early to pass the Patriot Act
It wasn't too early to prevent passengers taking a bottle of water onto an airliner
It wasn't too early to ban citizens of those middle eastern nations that hadn't sponsored terrorism against the West
It wasn't too early to invade Iraq (again) then , Afghanistan strengthen Al Quada and Da'esh, to bomb Syria and fuck up half the Middle East which we continue to do
On the other hand, America's very own gun nuts continue unabated. Let's have that "Well-regulated militia" and, ideally, send them to the Middle East so they can be big brave boys over there.
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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ExclamationMark
Shipmate
# 14715
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by bib:
I'm guessing that the American people value keeping their guns so much that it is worth sacrificing a few schoolchildren to retain that right. For this reason nothing will change and further mass murders will continue long into the future. Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.
Well, without guns how are we going to defend our log cabins on the frontier against those vicious native Americans?
Posts: 3845 | From: A new Jerusalem | Registered: Apr 2009
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Twilight
Puddleglum's sister
# 2832
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
Let's have that "Well-regulated militia" and, ideally, send them to the Middle East so they can be big brave boys over there.
I love that idea! Let be sure to let them take their own guns, all of them.
Posts: 6817 | Registered: May 2002
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Honest Ron Bacardi
Shipmate
# 38
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Posted
Honestly, you are wasting your time (sadly). The argument has already been pre-discounted. Go and take a look at the comments over on Breitbart if you want to know what the heartland thinks about gun control right now.
I wish I knew what the answer was. Maybe there is no answer. Gun love passed from hobby to fetish long ago. You don't separate a man from his true love without a fight. There are ways to intervene when an individual is hell-bent on self destruction, but I doubt if there are any that can be used for whole subcultures.
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Anglo-Cthulhic
Posts: 4857 | From: the corridors of Pah! | Registered: May 2001
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
One of the deep roots of the problem is the propaganda that the NRA has been shilling for the past fifty years or so. Remember when Obama was going to take all the guns away? They ginned that up so that people would stockpile guns and ammo. How happy the manufacturers were! The NRA has a significant swathe of the population (see them over on Breitbart) who truly believe that all Americans everywhere should have guns at all times: in the pews, in the schools, in the malls. It is these hapless dupes that have to learn better. Because they vote, and those spineless congressmen can point to them and say, "But Americans want it this way!!"
I see at least one simple regulatory fix for this: insurance. Did you know that gun manufacturers are not liable for damage caused by their product? They rammed a law through Congress exempting them from any such penalties. Drug manufacturers, car manufacturers, the makers of candy or soda, none of these people get such protection. If I kill you with my Ford your heirs could possibly sue the manufacturer and win. And with this pressure the car people have made cars significantly safer in our lifetime. If the manufacturer of that AR-15 was liable to be sued by the survivors of all 17 victims, you can bet there would be a salutary effect.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
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Posted
BBC reports this sensible Tweet from actor Mark Ruffalo:
quote:
Prayers without accordant action are silent lies told to oneself, heard by no God, amounting to nothing. Action is the language of truth, the prayers of the Saints.
IJ
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Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
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St. Gwladys
Shipmate
# 14504
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Posted
There's a thread on f/b at the moment after someone shared a photo of a church notice board saying (paraphrase) that there would continue to be school shootings as long as Americans love their guns more than their children. It's caused quite a major stink.
It amazes me how a Texan friend, who is an active Christian, defends guns so vehemently. The argument seems to be that if guns weren't allowed, then the good guys wouldn't be able to defend the good people from the evil people who are misusing their guns. Yet she was anxious today because her infant school daughter had a lock down drill in school, and so she is considering home educating.
I'm not anti guns per se - I have shot with a powerful air pistol and an air rifle - but there HAS to be control. Otherwise, how many more school shootings will we have?
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"I say - are you a matelot?"
"Careful what you say sir, we're on board ship here"
From "New York Girls", Steeleye Span, Commoners Crown (Voiced by Peter Sellers)
Posts: 3333 | From: Rhymney Valley, South Wales | Registered: Jan 2009
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Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
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Posted
Alas, when it comes to (some) Americans and their obsession with guns, then common-sense gets its coat, leaves, and closes the door behind it.
![[Disappointed]](graemlins/disappointed.gif)
IJ
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Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
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Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
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Posted
A young man of my acquaintance, a devout Presbyterian very active in his church, was drooling the other day over the gun he was going to buy for himself on his 21st birthday. "Ah, yes, exactly the kind that Jesus would choose" was my response.
I honestly don't see how "Christian" and "gun owner" could be used in the same sentence.
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"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
Another relatively simple regulatory fix would be training. Nobody would have their gun taken away! But you would be obliged to be trained and certified in its use. I believe in Switzerland this has to happen once a year. If in the interval you become mentally ill, visually impaired, or physically handicapped so that your safe usage of that gun is affected, you lose your license. Could happen to anybody, right? It's an act of God, if you have a retinal tear and suddenly lose three quarters of your vision. You can still keep the gun! You just can't shoot it, but who wants a blind man shooting a gun, eh?
The charm of this is that all that training and certification has to be done by somebody, and thus the NRA would be comforted and have a significant income stream. (That's what they used to do, when I was a girl. They were mainly a training/teaching organization.)
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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Alan Cresswell
Mad Scientist 先生
# 31
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
And Trump blames the pupils
He tweeted -
“So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!”
Twat
He clearly hadn't seen the note which said this kid had been reported to the FBI.
Reporting doesn't help if it isn't accompanied by effective measures to help kids deal with the stresses of life. Not to forget making it difficult for disturbed kids to get access to guns.
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Don't cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.
Posts: 32413 | From: East Kilbride (Scotland) or 福島 | Registered: May 2001
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Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
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Posted
I think the time is long past for expecting any rational response from Lunatic Lonald Lump.
IJ
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Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
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RooK
1 of 6
# 1852
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Posted
How far was this individual from any of the rest of us, really? All of us are just a single tragedy away from feeling the kind of nihilistic pain that leads to these horrific events. Pretending that we can pick out "bad guys" is a childish fairy tale.
We need to protect ourselves from ourselves. We need to put away our high-powered deadly binkies and grow the fuck up.
Posts: 15274 | From: Portland, Oregon, USA, Earth | Registered: Nov 2001
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by RooK:
How far was this individual from any of the rest of us, really? All of us are just a single tragedy away from feeling the kind of nihilistic pain that leads to these horrific events. Pretending that we can pick out "bad guys" is a childish fairy tale.
We need to protect ourselves from ourselves. We need to put away our high-powered deadly binkies and grow the fuck up.
I dunno. Maybe Trump is right in saying that you can pick out bad guys. That one in the Oval Office looks and sounds like one.
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Alan Cresswell:
Offering prayers and messages of condolence don't bring back those shot. They do fuck all to prevent future shootings.
I get that. Just seemed a pointless, uninspired phrasing of an obvious POV.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Alan Cresswell:
quote:
Originally posted by Anselmina:
Practically speaking, how would it be possible to reduce gun ownership in the US? Even enough to reduce these kind of incidents?
More or less the same way as gun ownership has been reduced elsewhere. Change the laws so that ownership of some types of gun is illegal and the people permitted to own guns is reduced.
To have a chance, it would have to be a gradual thing. Going to a completely sensible number of weapons in one go would never happen in America. Though polls show most Americans favour some sort of gun control, it doesn't tell the complete story.
Part of the problem is that assault rifles, and other obviously unnecessary guns, are not the problem.
Pistols are. And far fewer Americans are comfortable with banning those.
quote:
Originally posted by RooK:
How far was this individual from any of the rest of us, really?
I don't tink most people would do what he did, but that doers not matter.
This shooter, like all the mass shooters, is statistically irrelevant.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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quetzalcoatl
Shipmate
# 16740
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Posted
Trump is just using a distraction technique, I think. He doesn't want to talk about gun control, but look, over there, there's someone we can blame, people who don't report weirdos, and then, there are people who do X and Y, so phew, I'm off the hook.
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I can't talk to you today; I talked to two people yesterday.
Posts: 9878 | From: UK | Registered: Oct 2011
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Doc Tor:
Perhaps Falling Down should be compulsory viewing.
Yeah, a revenge fantasy where the audience are expected to root for the weapon-wielding maniac for most of the film.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by RooK:
How far was this individual from any of the rest of us, really? All of us are just a single tragedy away from feeling the kind of nihilistic pain that leads to these horrific events. Pretending that we can pick out "bad guys" is a childish fairy tale.
We need to protect ourselves from ourselves. We need to put away our high-powered deadly binkies and grow the fuck up.
Not quite re the first. We are all human and share the possibility of violence, but being rageful and fantasizing about violence and actually doing it are different both within individuals experiencing the feelings and thoughts, and for others they might affect.
American Psych Association info provides some info. The "developmental issues" segment is helpful I think.
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Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.
\_(ツ)_/
Posts: 11498 | From: Treaty 6 territory in the nonexistant Province of Buffalo, Canada ↄ⃝' | Registered: Mar 2010
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RooK
1 of 6
# 1852
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by no prophet's flag is set so...:
We are all human and share the possibility of violence, but being rageful and fantasizing about violence and actually doing it are different both within individuals experiencing the feelings and thoughts, and for others they might affect.
So, if I understand your assertion correctly, the separation between ideation and action differs for various individuals. Well comrade, welcome to the fucking point. Firearms functionally close the gap between ideation and action to a terrifying degree such that a drastically higher proportion of humans are at risk of spilling their strong feelings over into deadly action.
Perhaps the risk of an assault weapon shooting spree is poignant, but it's all the drunken spouse fights that turn in to murder-suicides that rack up the big cumulative numbers.
Posts: 15274 | From: Portland, Oregon, USA, Earth | Registered: Nov 2001
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Hedgehog
Ship's Shortstop
# 14125
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
One of the deep roots of the problem is the propaganda that the NRA has been shilling for the past fifty years or so. Remember when Obama was going to take all the guns away? They ginned that up so that people would stockpile guns and ammo. How happy the manufacturers were!
And much the opposite has happened with Trump in office.
One of America's largest gunmakers is looking to file for bankruptcy. quote:
Remington’s sales have declined in part because of receding fears that guns will become more heavily regulated by the U.S. government, according to credit ratings agencies. President Donald Trump has said he will “never, ever infringe on the right of the people to keep and bear arms.”
and quote:
Remington’s sales plunged 27 percent in the first nine months of 2017, resulting in a $28 million operating loss.
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"We must regain the conviction that we need one another, that we have a shared responsibility for others and the world, and that being good and decent are worth it."--Pope Francis, Laudato Si'
Posts: 2740 | From: Delaware, USA | Registered: Sep 2008
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Doc Tor
Deepest Red
# 9748
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
quote:
Originally posted by Doc Tor:
Perhaps Falling Down should be compulsory viewing.
Yeah, a revenge fantasy where the audience are expected to root for the weapon-wielding maniac for most of the film.
Well, if that's your takeaway, then you're seeing a very different story to me.
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Forward the New Republic
Posts: 9131 | From: Ultima Thule | Registered: Jul 2005
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Alan Cresswell
Mad Scientist 先生
# 31
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Doc Tor:
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
quote:
Originally posted by Doc Tor:
Perhaps Falling Down should be compulsory viewing.
Yeah, a revenge fantasy where the audience are expected to root for the weapon-wielding maniac for most of the film.
Well, if that's your takeaway, then you're seeing a very different story to me.
The film is a bit spoiled by the Michael Douglas character not being an ordinary bloke, just like anyone else, who cracks under the strain of a failing marriage and life in general. If the Michael Douglas character was a normal guy who cracked it would have been a better, but much more disturbing film.
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Don't cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.
Posts: 32413 | From: East Kilbride (Scotland) or 福島 | Registered: May 2001
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Doc Tor:
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
quote:
Originally posted by Doc Tor:
Perhaps Falling Down should be compulsory viewing.
Yeah, a revenge fantasy where the audience are expected to root for the weapon-wielding maniac for most of the film.
Well, if that's your takeaway, then you're seeing a very different story to me.
Spoilers
Spoilers
Spoilers
It isn't a revenge fantasy ala Death Wish or Dirty Harry, but it is written to give sympathy for Douglas' character and the things he does represent the frustrations and fears of the audience. Perceived poor service, gang members, confronting a racist, attacking government waste; all things that people might dislike and might have a fantasy revenge thought about. It is OTT and the audience understand it is wrong, but they are meant to relate. At least until the end.
And it is the end, and pretty much only the end, that has the anti-gun message you imply.
Especially for Americans, but not only them. Though the people who need to hear it will ignore it anyway.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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rolyn
Shipmate
# 16840
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Posted
If Hollywood films glamorising gun killing have gotten the US into this mess then in theory some fragile hope exists that anti-gun films may get it out of it.
Eastwood has already tried this to some extent with his soul searching film Unforgiven . The average gun nut probably got his jollies off with the way that one ended anyway.
All this has however been left way behind with the impact of virtual reality and computer games. I am sorry to conclude that Hollywood may as well fart into a Hurricane as think it can come up with anything to halt the scourge of US killing-sprees undertaken by it’s own citizens.
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Change is the only certainty of existence
Posts: 3206 | From: U.K. | Registered: Dec 2011
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Martin60
Shipmate
# 368
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Alan Cresswell:
Or, in the words of Martin Luther King Jr,
"The administration's only concrete response was to initiate a study and call for a day of prayer. As a minister, I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility. When a government commands more wealth and power than has ever been known in the history of the world, and offers no more than this, it is worse than blind, it is provocative."
I can't find the source Alan. I don't doubt it for a moment.
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Love wins
Posts: 17586 | From: Never Dobunni after all. Corieltauvi after all. Just moved to the capital. | Registered: Jun 2001
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