The Great ILX Gun Control Debate

My cousin's wife sent this forward yesterday (names removed):

So today was dress up like a movie character or someone from a story book you like. Typically, he wanted to be a cowboy: he picked Clint Eastwood (the Good, the Bad & the Ugly) but he was not able to use any fake weapons in his holster ... you can't even do a paper rendition (or even draw) of a gun or knife in school these days and no lassos either. While we can all agree weapons don't belong in school, I don't think any of us ever imagined that dressing up like a cowboy for fun would ever be so controversial ..... After some discussion about what to do with his empty holsters, he decided to arm himself with the Constitution -- so that even though he can't go dressed up like the cowboy he wanted, he is still packing! (Thanks to his aunt for the pocket Constitution ... )

Context: the boy's dad -- an obnoxious conservative -- is a hunter and has taught his son to use weapons. I grew up around guns and have endured more than one hunting expedition, but way before the rash of gun catastrophes I was uneasy. Am I wrong in thinking this email is creepy?

the last sentence is pretty creepy

in general tho I would say cowboy costume does not require a gun so wtf

also: the boy's eight years old

I still remember vividly the quiet "why don't you take that home" talk I got from my teacher when I brought my Megatron Transformer to school

That's a different problem: Megatron was a fucking disaster as a robot when transformed.

you can't even do a paper rendition (or even draw) of a gun or knife in school these days

When i was in middle school (mid-90's) we had someone get thrown out of school cos he brought a tiny Star Trek phaser and was fake shooting it at a teacher. Though yeah, I know, "these days", Obama's anti-free speech state, yaddah yaddah yaddah

"Packing the Constitution stuff" is asinine, obviously. I don't have a problem with kids playing with toy guns, but I'd completely understand a school not wanting anything that looked like a gun inside the building.

Circa 1990, my teacher asked me to bring my air rifle to use as a prop in our class play (Pilgrims or frontiersmen or something) and the school didn't care about me wandering around with it all day.

After some discussion about what to do with his empty holsters, he decided to arm himself with the Constitution

amazing that the 8-year-old boy decided to bring the constitution into it, all by himself.

His friend went as a Native American for a cowboys-and-indians theme. They wouldn't let him bring a bow and arrows so he brought a stack of broken treaties.

wittle bitty cowboy could pack a blanket full of smallpox.

my sister just sent me a photo of the assault rifle cake her friend had made for friend's son's 15th bday. what in the fucking fuck.

friend: "no it's ok, he's 15 now"

almost to mass murderin age

http://gawker.com/pop-tart-gun-tyke-gets-lifetime-nra-membership-refuses-510531201

And remember, using kids as political props is bad. Until it isn't. Also, too.

thought you wrote the assault rife shot cake, Granny.

should've noted that this boy's parents are...a litigator and corporate attorney.

that's a terrible gun, kid

it's a terrible gun and I'm walkin with spiders (bc old pop-tarts attract ants, and ants attract spiders)

when I was in 6th grade (1977) our teacher did an exercise where she had two guys from class go out to "run an errand" and then come back, get into an argument, have one "shoot" the other with a cap gun, and then they both ran out the door. The teacher asked us to write down exactly what happened, what they said, what they were wearing, etc. - it was a lesson in subjectivity of the observer. I've never forgotten it, but more and more I think "wow I am old, that would never ever happen today"

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/batavia_geneva_st_charles/chi-10-hurt-in-shotgun-accident-at-gun-club-20130605,0,392342.story

another fun day at ye olde gun range

Make sure you're following David Waldman's #gunfail series at Daily Kos. He's on Week 21: http://www.dailykos.com/news/GunFail

Because the incident was an accident, police said there will be no criminal charges.

This shit drives me nuts. Since when is negligence which leads to injury not chargeable just because "it was an accident?" Auto drivers can't get away with that, why should gun owners?

lol auto drivers get away with that every day

True. But people at least have the good taste to get pissed about it sometimes.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/arizona/articles/20130607prescott-valley-boy-shoots-kills-father-abrk.html

http://i.imgur.com/aT9r7w2.jpg

Oh hey just a homemade drone w/a remote control handgun nothing to see here move along

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxThXvuP4Vo

The best part? This effort is all to advertise *smartphone screen protectors.* Just think what a REALLY motivated person could do.

that is insane yet strangely satisfying. digging the vaporwave soundtrack.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/arizona/free/20130716arizona-boy-shot-fort-huachuca.html

http://news.yahoo.com/fire-fears-trigger-u-rocky-mountain-ban-exploding-024811964.html

The U.S. Forest Service has blamed the targets for lighting 16 wildfires since 2012, seven of them in the five-state region under the ban. The blazes together cost more than $33 million to put out.

http://www.kmov.com/news/just-posted/Police-Gun-safety-219327371.html

LANCASTER, Ohio (AP) -- Police say an instructor at a central Ohio gun safety class has accidentally shot a student.

lol

"...(the student) tells the newspaper it appears (the instructor) didn’t know the gun was loaded..."

I mean, seriously

that is comedy direct from god. i have no other way to interpret it.

http://www.chron.com/news/texas/article/Gun-rights-rally-to-break-long-Alamo-tradition-4907464.php

i sincerely hope all these people just go ahead and shoot each other

Guns & Ammo editor steps down following pro-gun control editorial

eh fuck em all

He just didn't love guns enough

http://i.imgur.com/ZhJjF31.jpg

aw, he shd start a pacifist rival publication to axe cop

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R) is expected to sign a bill that even the National Rifle Association is calling the most “comprehensive gun bill” in recent state history. It allows guns in bars, nightclubs, and government buildings without security checkpoints such as libraries. It eliminates criminal charges for those who accidentally bring their guns to the airport or other secured buildings where guns are prohibited. It even expands the state’s Stand Your Ground provision to allow felons to invoke the defense, and allows guns in public schools by authorized teachers and administrators.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/03/25/3418602/georgia-governor-expected-to-sign-the-most-extreme-gun-bill-in-america/#

WTF?

It eliminates criminal charges for those who accidentally bring their guns to the airport or other secured buildings where guns are prohibited.

Yeah, Atlanta-Hartsfield is one of the biggest in the world, that can't be right.

LOL @ 'accidentally' bringing your guns to the airport. Does that work if you are Muslim?

Yeah they have to mean eliminating any state charges that exist over/above fed charges, surely.

This year there have been two cases of high school students in my county accidentally bringing their guns to school in their cars.

http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/schools/south-river-high-student-expelled-for-having-shotgun-in-car/article_46e48299-e807-5751-8d23-bb9bbf7b4800.html

http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/schools/shotgun-found-in-student-s-truck-at-southern-high-school/article_6602ec3a-9eb6-5517-8bdc-3b64d6779757.html

this happened once when i was in HS, kid had a hunting rifle back there and had forgotten in #countryshit

*it