Bull. Access? No difference.

Post #179,272

10/14/04 12:40:18 PM

10/14/04 12:46:27 PM

Well, one difference. There was MORE access back then.

EVERY kid I knew 20-30 years ago had a gun.

Far fewer have them today.

Sorry - it's not access to weapons that do this - it's that kids are taught, from an early age, that they are not responsible for anything. It's ALWAYS someone or someTHING else's fault. Slip on a sidewalk? Sue the person who's house sits behind it.

Burn your tongue on hot coffee? Sue the person that made it.

Murder someone? It's access to guns. Or society. Or something.

Bah.

Imric's Tips for Living

Paranoia Is a Survival Trait
Pessimists are never disappointed - but sometimes, if they are very lucky, they can be pleasantly surprised...
Even though everyone is out to get you, it doesn't matter unless you let them win.

Nothing is as simple as it seems in the beginning,
As hopeless as it seems in the middle,
Or as finished as it seems in the end.

Edited by imric Oct. 14, 2004, 12:46:27 PM EDT

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Post #179,274

by pwhysall

10/14/04 12:48:56 PM

Sounds like you need a psychiatric evaluation!

Post #179,275

by imric

10/14/04 12:51:41 PM

That's not MY fault.

Current societal values drove me to this point.

There... Am I back in line with normal society now?

Imric's Tips for Living

Paranoia Is a Survival Trait
Pessimists are never disappointed - but sometimes, if they are very lucky, they can be pleasantly surprised...
Even though everyone is out to get you, it doesn't matter unless you let them win.

Nothing is as simple as it seems in the beginning,
As hopeless as it seems in the middle,
Or as finished as it seems in the end.

Post #179,277

by pwhysall

10/14/04 12:52:43 PM

Let's search your property and find out!

After all, it's for the CHEELDRUN.

Post #179,281

by imric

10/14/04 1:24:19 PM

ROFLMAO!

Imric's Tips for Living

Paranoia Is a Survival Trait
Pessimists are never disappointed - but sometimes, if they are very lucky, they can be pleasantly surprised...
Even though everyone is out to get you, it doesn't matter unless you let them win.

Nothing is as simple as it seems in the beginning,
As hopeless as it seems in the middle,
Or as finished as it seems in the end.

Post #179,283

by bepatient

10/14/04 1:30:14 PM

*sputter* coffee through nose

Now >that< was funny.

If you push something hard enough, it will fall over. _{Fudd's First Law of Opposition}

[link|mailto:bepatient@aol.com|BePatient]

Post #179,276

by Nightowl

10/14/04 12:52:37 PM

10/14/04 1:04:37 PM

I didn't say it was access

I did agree that access to more dangerous weapons was available, but I didn't make that the reason for the problem.

Of course the problem is how the kids are raised, that's why I suggested having the evaluation and including the parents and getting them involved with their child and the process so that they can become his/her outlet to verbally vent his/her frustration and talk about all these things, rather than acting them out by causing physical harm to himself/herself or others.

Nightowl >8#

Edit: changed his to his/her and himself to himself/herself

"It's not where a person stands in time of comfort and security, but rather where they stand in times of strife and controversy that determine true friends."
(Quote sent to me by a true friend, author unknown).

Edited by Nightowl Oct. 14, 2004, 01:04:37 PM EDT

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Post #179,279

by Nightowl

10/14/04 1:00:18 PM

It probably had to do with location

Where you lived 20-30 years ago, etc. None of the kids I knew and played with as a child had a gun. I didn't have a gun, nor would I. Only one high-schooler that I attended school with ever showed me a gun, and it was a black-powder rifle that he put together from a kit, a replica from the Civil War. I even went to the range with him and shot that one.

My ex-fiance had a gun because he was trying to become a police officer. He went to training but was unable to ever get the hang of shooting. I was there with him, and they asked me to try for fun, and I actually shot his own gun with better precision than he did. But I never owned one.

I think it depended on where you lived. For example people in the country might be more likely to have guns. People in the heart of dangerous areas of the city might be more likely to have guns.

Owning a gun or having a gun tends to be bred out of the fear of one's surroundings, or the desire to engage in hunting or something similar. Fearful surroundings cause people to want to have means to protect themselves, hence more gun owners.

But it still isn't the reason for the problem. Granted, parents don't always lock their guns up properly, (my Ex-fiance had a gun box, with a lock plus a trigger lock on his gun), but that doesn't stop a determined kid from finding a weapon. The problem starts at home, when kids feel they have no one to talk to or no one to express their issues to. Sometimes the writing of the plans or the telling of the plans is as similar a cry for help as the suicide note.

We need to listen to those cries for help, because they can avert much larger disasters.

Brenda

Post #179,293

by deSitter

10/14/04 2:01:38 PM

Re: Bull. Access? No difference.

A friend used to go down to the dump to "plonk rats" with .22 rifles and handguns. He and his teenage buddies would stop in the local store to buy beer, armed to the teeth - pull out their handguns and slap'em down on the counter, fumbling for pocket change. No problem, man.

-drl

Post #179,337

by mmoffitt

10/14/04 5:22:26 PM

Hmmm. Sounds like we need more of these.

bcnu,
Mikem

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