Guns, Guns Guns

cthia wrote:
What many don't realize is that Americans have had the use of firearms since we were snotty nosed kids "home on the range." Kids were literally taught to handle guns as soon as they could hold them. Guns were instrumental in taming the Old West

A Native American might have a different perspective on your use of the word "taming" there.

gcomeau wrote:

cthia wrote:
What many don't realize is that Americans have had the use of firearms since we were snotty nosed kids "home on the range." Kids were literally taught to handle guns as soon as they could hold them. Guns were instrumental in taming the Old West

A Native American might have a different perspective on your use of the word "taming" there.

I am a large part Native American. I attend at least one pow wow every year. I can shoot the gnat off a mosquitos' ass at ~ fifty yards. My Pemmican recipe is outstanding.

The taming of the Old West consisted just as much, if not more, of protection against outlaws and banditos than the Native American. You've read what White America chose to include in the history books. Some of my ancestors lived it.

cthia wrote:

gcomeau wrote:
A Native American might have a different perspective on your use of the word "taming" there.

I am a large part Native American. I attend at least one pow wow every year. I can shoot the gnat off a mosquitos' ass at ~ fifty yards. My Pemmican recipe is outstanding.

The taming of the Old West consisted just as much, if not more, of protection against outlaws and banditos than the Native American. You've read what White America chose to include in the history books. Some of my ancestors lived it.

Yes... White America chose to OVERSTATE the extent of their crimes against the native population and to DOWNPLAY how much they were fighting off the bad guys in their history books.

Like they are ever so prone to do.

cthia wrote:My brother said it best...

"I don't know what that is in the dark that's going bump in my family's night, but we all sleep a lot better about knowing whatever it is, daddy can shoot it."

Taking away a man's gun and making him live with the knowledge that he couldn't/can't do a damn thing while watching his wife, teenaged daughter and 9-yr-old raped, is not life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Once you open Pandora's box and let the guns out. You can't simply say "put them back in."

Except it turns out that what goes bump in the night is often a family member. I don't have the stats at hand but I'm pretty sure a gun in the house is much more likely to be used on someone who lives there than an intruder.

Regarding safety, the best analogy I can come up with is Europe. Go back 800 years and all the cities were walled, to keep their citizens safe. Today they don't need walls as they are protected by their general law and order.
If I was living in a society where it made sense to have a quickly available loaded firearm for safety, I'd move.
Australia only has 24M, compared to the US's 320M, but just the same a single armed home invasion makes national headlines. More likely to win the lottery than to have it happen.

Again, my brother said it best...

"I don't know what that is in the dark that keeps going bump in my family's night, but we all sleep a lot better knowing that whatever it is... daddy can shoot it."

So daddy shoots it, and it turns out to be an innocent neighbour arriving home, or even your teenaged daughter sneaking in late?
Funny first world developed country, where you are frightened by night noises. Statistically my extended family is so unlikely to have any home intrusion disaster that none worry at all.

cthia wrote:Again, my brother said it best...

"I don't know what that is in the dark that keeps going bump in my family's night, but we all sleep a lot better knowing that whatever it is... daddy can shoot it."

Annachie wrote:I suppose I can say that I feel better knowing that my dogs are barking at it before it's close enough to go bump.



Then again, I still want to buy a black powder gun

Really, who's got time to worry about two-legged creatures in Australia, unless it's the fucking kangaroo. And the two-legged creatures would be insane to kill each other instead of exercising mutual support. The whole damn country is out to get you in Australia. Your hands are pretty much full before you can turn on each other.

Childhood joke:
Why do they call Australia the land down under?

Because there's so much danger there that sooner or later you'll end up six feet under.

Your dogs must be really bored, or really busy. Have your dogs ever barked at a two-legged intruder? You mean after he got past the pythons, after getting past the crocodiles, after getting past the spiders, after getting past the jelly fish, after getting past the sharks before finally getting ashore? There's enough trying to kill you in Australia without having to worry about people. All of the ppl should be banding together to take out the large predators. It'll still leave the small predators like spiders, but hey, even the odds as much as you can. LOL


And if that isn't enough to keep you busy down under...

Australia's most dangerous animals

Steve had a close encounter with one of our apex predators, the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), while filming in the Northern Territory. He was measuring the bite of one crocodile - which has the most powerful bite of any species - when it bit the pole Steve was attached to,throwing him back and forth and making off with expensive equipment.

Great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias), however, have an undeserved reputation – they are responsible for an average of just one death per year, worldwide. “You're more likely to be eaten by a domestic cat,” jokes Steve.

Perhaps more threatening is the stinging stonefish (Synanceia verrucosa), found on Australia’s reefs. The pain of a sting alone can be lethal. “It produces such mind-blowing agony that the body goes into shock and the person dies,” says associate professor Bryan Fry, a venom researcher at the University of Queensland, in Brisbane.

Steve and his crew stumbled upon a spectacular predator in Sydney Harbour: the southern blue-lined octopus (Hapalochlaena fasciata), which is a kind of blue-ringed octopus. This mollusc has one of the most toxic venoms on the planet and bites cause paralysis within minutes, leading to respiratory issues and heart failure.

The world’s most venomous snake
Tracking down the world’s most venomous snake, the inland taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus), took the crew to a remote desert in south-western Queensland.

“The inland taipan is unbelievably elusive,” he says. The remote location is one reason there have been no recorded deaths by this species, even though one bite contains enough venom to kill several humans.

The potency of their venom allows the species to knock out prey quickly. “Taipans feed on the world’s toughest rodents that could severely injure or kill any other snake,” says Bryan.

Dangerous Australian spiders

The Sydney funnel-web (Atrax robustus) is one of the world’s most dangerous spiders. Its toxic venom evolved as a defensive tool against predators, rather than for attack. Unfortunately, humans are especially sensitive.

“As a fluke, we are particularly sensitive to funnel-web venom and thus bites are particularly devastating to humans,” say Bryan. However, there hasn’t been a death since the development of an anti-venom in 1981.

More deaths, however, are caused by the European honey bee (Apis mellifera). This species doesn’t have particularly potent venom, but the allergic reaction suffered by 1-2 per cent of the population coupled with the high incidence of bee stings make them second to snakes as the most deadly venomous animal in Australia.

Top 30 dangerous animals in Australia

This list was developed by the Australian Museum in Sydney. Museum staff rated animals out of 10 based on the threat they pose, combined with the likelihood of encountering one.
Danger rating: 10/10

1. Box jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri)

Danger rating: 9/10

2. Honey bee (Apis mellifera)

3. Irukandji (Carukia barnesi)

Danger rating: 8/10

4. Bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas)

5. Eastern brown snake (Pseudonaja textilis)

6. Saltwater or estuarine crocodile (Crocodylus porosus)

7. Sydney funnel web spider (Atrax robustus)

Danger rating: 7/10

8. Blue-ringed octopus (Genus Hapalochlaena)

9. Coastal taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus)

10.Common death adder (Acanthopis antarticus)

11. Cone shells (Conus sp.)

12. Dugite or spotted brown snake (Pseudonaja affinis)

13. Mulga snake (Pseudechis australis)

14. Red-bellied black snake (Pseudechis porphyriacus)

15. Tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier)

16. Tiger snake (Notechis scutatus)

17. Great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias)

18. Yellow-bellied sea snake (Pelamis platurus)

Danger rating: 6/10

19. Bluebottle (Physalia physalis)

20. Common lionfish (Pterois volitans)

21. Collett’s snake (Pseudechis colletti)

22. Highland copperhead (Austrelaps ramsayi)

23. Inland taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus)

24. Redback spider (Lactodectus hasselti)

25. Reef stonefish (Synanceia verrucosa)

26. Smooth toadfish (Tetractenos glaber)

27. Blue-bellied black snake (Pseudechis guttatus)

Danger rating: 5/10

28. Australian paralysis tick (Ixodes holocyclus)

29. Bull ant (Myrmercia pilosula)

30. Giant centipede (Ethmostigmus rubripes

Well that was an awful lot of words expended when all you could have said was "I don't have a response to this argument let's talk about wildlife instead".

gcomeau wrote:Well that was an awful lot of words expended when all you could have said was "I don't have a response to this argument let's talk about wildlife instead".

Au contraire mon frere, I do have a response to this argument. There is simply so much disconnect from non-Americans that my time requires me to be patient in my response, because of so much that needs to be addressed.

And because I've learned to take a deep breath when I'm passionately fuming and take a step back and take my time so as not to offend anyone, or step on any toes -- as best I can and as humanely as possible.

Plus the fact that that post was meant as a bit-o-humor. Humor extends life, I use it wherever I see an opening. See the humor thread.

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