The problem with incidents like these is that they're used as part of the campaign to ban guns and concealed carry permits. Even if this guy killed the kid in cold blood with no provocation, it doesn't mean that we need a fresh round of legislated bans, it just means that the guy is a murderer and deserves to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

It's quite clear that law-abiding citizens who carry guns remain law-abiding while armed. Criminals, however, have no qualms about carrying illegal weapons while plying their trade.

Quote: DaButt @ March 21 2012, 10:19 PM GMT

The problem with incidents like these is that-

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-we're in constant danger of someone linking to a report on here, leading to pages of arguments about guns.

Quote: Matthew Stott @ March 21 2012, 10:14 PM GMT

If the pair of you would just admit you have boner's for guns, we would all understand and we could move on.

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Innit though.

I think the phrase you were looking for is "have boners for the right to self-defence."

Yeah, that's why you read magazines about tasers and baseball bats...

Quote: zooo @ March 21 2012, 10:30 PM GMT

Yeah, that's why you read magazines about tasers and baseball bats...

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My current magazine subscriptions:

National Geographic
QST (amateur radio)
Brew Your Own (homebrewing)
Zymurgy (homebrewing)

Quote: DaButt @ March 21 2012, 10:29 PM GMT

I think the phrase you were looking for is "have boners for the right to self-defence."

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No, and we do have the right to defend ourselves too.

Quote: DaButt @ March 21 2012, 10:34 PM GMT

My current magazine subscriptions:

National Geographic
QST (amateur radio)
Brew Your Own (homebrewing)
Zymurgy (homebrewing)

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Sorry, that was totally misleading, I meant Renegade.

Quote: Matthew Stott @ March 21 2012, 10:14 PM GMT

If the pair of you would just admit you have boner's for guns, we would all understand and we could move on. Talk about those otters that looke like Sherlock or something.

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How purile, just a nuanced interest in community safety

I've always felt guns were a poor way of going about it.

I was thinking of opening a shop that sold dildos that doubled as weapons for self defence.

Raging Rampant Rabbits, or Killdo Bills

Quote: zooo @ March 21 2012, 10:40 PM GMT

Sorry, that was totally misleading, I meant Renegade.

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And once again the BCG womenfolk are talking about my penis. (I've included Stott as an honourary bird for the sake of this discussion and because he is one).

Regarding this US shooting incident, I can't help feeling that if the ethnic dynamic had been the other way round, there would be a completely different public and official reaction... not to mention that of the media and some posters here.

Quote: DaButt @ March 21 2012, 10:03 PM GMT

The last statistics I read said that there was a total of one murder committed in a year's time by the half-million-or-so Texans licensed to carry a concealed handgun.

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This one has got them rolling in the aisles in my Maths department.

Where does such b.s. come from?

Statistics schmatistics. I think Vic Reeves had it spot-on.

BTW I don't know about the US, but there is no law against trespass in the UK. All those signs that say "Trespassers will be prosecuted" are not worth the plywood they're painted on. There is a law, however, against "Criminal Trespass", which is a completely different kettle of Uzi 9-millimetres.

Quote: Stylee TingTing @ March 21 2012, 11:00 PM GMT

Regarding this US shooting incident, I can't help feeling that if the ethnic dynamic had been the other way round, there would be a completely different public and official reaction... not to mention that of the media and some posters here.

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Not in my case.

This one has got them rolling in the aisles in my Maths department.

Where does such b.s. come from?

Straight from the government of the state of Texas. Read it yourself: http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/administration/crime_records/chl/ConvictionRatesReport2009.pdf

Quote: Stylee TingTing @ March 21 2012, 11:00 PM GMT

Regarding this US shooting incident, I can't help feeling that if the ethnic dynamic had been the other way round, there would be a completely different public and official reaction... not to mention that of the media and some posters here.

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It is difficult for some people to look at a situation rationally and devoid of emotional context.

The liberal slant on this story has informed liberal minded people how to think and react, so they don't have to waste time forming an independent opinion.

The fact that most of the British comments are made by people who have never lived in America, don't understand the culture of crime there or the need for an armed citizenry based on geography and population, does not deter them from making sweeping and ignorant comments based upon their own personal fears and anxieties.

If the headline had been 'Trespasser shot dead' or 'Accidental Shooting of Florida Teen', it would have been largely ignored. The liberals don't want this man punished because he shot someone, they want him punished because he was legally carrying a gun and in their world, that is a complete anathema.

Quote: Stylee TingTing @ March 21 2012, 11:00 PM GMT

This one has got them rolling in the aisles in my Maths department.

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You hang with a swinging crowd, you kar-razy cat.

Looks like the French are blasting their way into the gunman's home. Hopefully he'll come out in a body bag and the cops will emerge unscathed.

Quote: DaButt @ March 21 2012, 11:13 PM GMT

Straight from the government of the state of Texas. Read it yourself: http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/administration/crime_records/chl/ConvictionRatesReport2009.pdf

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I had to fall for it. People who post links intended to give gravitas to their opinions, which most people take at face value and don't read. If you had anything of worth stats-wise, you'd cut and paste it.

I just read them and these published statistics are completely misleading.. and of course, they are produced and tailored by a body that openly supports licensed gun ownership. I half-expected to see Chuck Heston as one of the "researchers".

So..

1) Where are the unsolved Texan shooting crime stats? Nowhere.

2) Where are the murder/shootings' stats where the protagonists had licensed weapons, but which weren't used in the offences committed? Nowhere.

I could go on and on ripping this "evidence" to shreds.. and any half-decent mathematician/lawyer could do the same..

.. but can I be arsed? That's the thing with these internet discussions. You'll never get a sea change of opinion.