Problems
We have all kinds of problems in America. But I believe the biggest problem facing the country today is not civil discourse on social media, Russian meddling in elections or the Bachelor on ABC. The biggest problem facing America today is STUPIDITY.
Not individual stupidity like people who are running to beat the train, they make it across then jump back on the tracks to flip the train off and get killed! That is individual stupidity. Natural selection will weed out that kind of stupid.
The most dangerous kind of stupid is organized. Let's call it Organized Stupidity. This phenomenon often happens when a group of people get together to form a committee.
Organized Stupidity often happens when well meaning people form a committee.
Committees are usually formed to solve a problem. Unfortunately, committee members often have hidden agendas, don't work well together, or forget to take their meds that day. The committees themselves end up making the problems worse before they get any better. The more powerful the committee, the more they will screw things up. You’ve seen this in action. You just know it as the government.
The Florida house voted to decline discussion on an assault weapons ban in favor of debate on whether pornography is dangerous to public safety.
Students vs The NRA
On Tuesday of this week, government stupidity was on full display in Tallahassee Florida. The Florida State house opened the session with a prayer for the 17 students killed in school, then with no sense of irony, promptly voted not to even discuss a bill to ban assault weapons. Instead, they voted to debate if pornography is dangerous to public safety.
So, a money shot might be dangerous to society; but gun shots? No problem. Apparently an assault weapons ban is like a remake of the Brady Bunch, not even worth discussing.
| Money Shot | Gun Shot |
|---|---|
 |  |
To be more absurd Florida lawmakers would have to show up in chicken suits.
I've Been to this Party Before or Bring in the Clowns
Now comes the silliness. After much hand wringing and choir singing, we will hear a back and forth debate about gun laws, mental heath and the second amendment. It will go something like this:
Gun laws wouldn't have stopped this tragedy. We need to focus on mental health.
-Other countries have the same level of mental health issues, but only we have mass shooting after mass shooting.
Guns are protected by the second amendment.
-But that was 241 years ago when the British were coming! The second amendment was written to maintain a "well regulated militia." Not so Johnny go-fuck-up can shoot up a school, or a nightclub or anything else for that matter.
Law abiding citizens should be able to own a gun for sport shooting and hunting.
-If you need 600 rounds per minute to kill a deer maybe hunting ain't your goddamn sport!
And so on and so on...
Then the gun advocates will put together an argument about self defense that sounds reasonable. Lifetime criminals will state in TV interviews how they avoided homes where the occupants might be armed. There will be a rush to buy more guns before the coming ban. And then congress will go silent. The people will forget. Trump will say something stupid and we will all become distracted by the online backlash when SZA doesn't win a Grammy.
SZA didn't win a grammy and other bullshit distractions.
Real Shit
The second amendment was important at one time. Now it is being used to help enable a weapons industry worth billions. And some of that gun money finds its way into the pockets of politicians and political groups. Combine that with how much we love violence. And we do love violence.
Once while playing Grand Theft Auto, I was having such a great time, shooting pimps and banging hookers, I got a hard on.
In America we love tough guys with guns, from Clint Eastwood to Queen Latifah. Firearms make us feel powerful and strong, even sexy. Back in the day, I would play Grand Theft Auto all night long. The raw violence and complete freedom to commit crimes and make money was fun and intoxicating (not to mention I would also be intoxicated). One night I was having such a great time, shooting pimps and banging hookers, I got a hard on. It scared me so bad, I quit playing. True story.
The Kids Are Alright
Students and supporters rally against gun violence on the steps of the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee - Mark Wallheiser / AP
I was all set to post this article with a "nothing will be done ending". But the students in Florida and around the country inspired us all. I was all set to say that I have been to this party many times before. That I have real doubts that anything of significance will happen in Congress. But, Trump did throw in bump stocks, wait that was from the last tragedy a few months ago. Can he do that? Well better late than Nader, uh I mean never.
And then this announcement: The pro gun Florida legislature is nearing a deal for gun legislation. Baby steps, maybe. But a victory none the less. And none of this would be happening without the voices of teenagers. I salute you all.
Now, can you just pull up your pants?
I'm probably going to offend you by starting out this way, but: There is no such thing as an assault weapon. Assault is a verb, it's an action. If you have the intent to hurt someone, by the very act of hitting them, you have committed Assault.
From the Law Dictionary: Assault. ... An assault is carried out by a threat of bodily harm coupled with an apparent, present ability to cause the harm. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in either criminal or civil liability.
Under that definition, any weapon may be an Assault weapon; from a knife to a baseball bat, to a rifle.
That's why you can't get a ban on Assault weapons. The description would be too varied.
Like I tell other people, an AR-15 is variation of the .308 hunting rifle. It is a semi-automatic firearm, which means that it fires one round for every pull of the trigger, without having to pull back a bolt, seat a round, and push that bolt forward.
Almost every gun today is a semi-automatic, from the venerable revolver to the AR-15.
An Automatic weapon is one in which you can fire more than one shot with each pull of the trigger, and those weapons are illegal without a federal automatic firearms license.
First off, in order to pull of an assault weapons ban, you have to outlaw Assault....which, by the way, it's already illegal to assault anyone. Doing so comes with a prison sentence that varies in response to the level of the assault.
My next question is this. Are you wanting to get rid of the AR-15 because it looks Scary?
This is an AR-15.......(above)
A .308 hunting rifle. (Above)
Does the addition of the muzzle break, the plastic handguards (The pieces that surround the barrell.) and the pistol grip make it an assault weapon?
No, what makes it an Assault rifle is the human action that follows, namely the taking of life.
Stop blaming the damn rifle, and start blaming the criminals that carry out the act.
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Not at all interested in what a weapon is called. I am interested in stopping senseless killings. I am not offended. But I have one word to answer you: Australia.
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You are comparing apples to oranges. Australia doesn't have a bill of rights, so they never had the right to own weapons at all. America has the bill of rights, and the one that permits us to own weapons is number two. Free speech is number one. It sort of shows you the importance of responsible weapons ownership.
By the way, if you take away my legally owned weapons, the criminals, gangs, thugs, and cops will still have them, and most of the killings are by criminals, gangs, thugs, and cops. Imagine that.
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Australia doesn't have a mass shooting every other week either. They prove that gun laws can work when the nation decides that enough is enough. Period. (Mic drop). I take a bow and leave the stage.
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The problem is Americans in general, I think. Not guns or laws.
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Its a tragedy what happened but truly has nothing to do with banning guns or gun control. Why does the gov need to know every person that own a firearm which ones and how many? What does that accomplish really think about it how many firearms are purchased leagally everyday? Now compare that to deadly shootings. If you pull gang violence out of the data (because they do not buy their firearms legally and no gun control will stop them) it is like 99.9% of all firearms sold will never be used in the commision of a crime. So banning bump stocks (basically a hillbilly toy) doing universal background checks and requiring all sale both private and commercial to go through the system does what exactly? It makes it immposible for a private citizen to privatly own a firearm.
Our privacy is a human right as is our right to bare arms and our right to freedom of speech. If they can use the bad actions of a few to justify taking the liberty of the rest we are all screwed.
The gov has no right to know what i purchase or where i do so and not becase im doing something wrong because they are in place to serve me no survail and control me.
The second ammendment is as crucial today as it was when the brits were coming. The communist are coming full force to take all your freedoms away and the second they can take away your guns is the moment they have won
Plus i dont see them posting or sending notice of all their gun purchases and sales or showing a list of every non officer who has been given or sold a firearm. The gov fight for more secrecy for them and less privacy for us.
Outside of emotion think of the only type of gov which would want to ban its citizens from firearms. Not to protect the citizens but to protect their rise to tyranny.
And the last part of my ramble
Please do compare the crime rates in lets say chicago a no gun zone to dallas or any other open carry state it is unbelievable
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Buddy, same answer to you. Australia.
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Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by davidpompeii from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows. Please find us at the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.
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Hey David,
Come check out the results of #comedyopenmic (COM contest 1)....guess who won top10 :) Congrats!
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