http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/BlogtownPDX/archives/2012/12/20/new-poll-americans-overwhelmingly-support-stricter-gun-laws Comments On: New Poll: Americans Overwhelmingly Support Stricter Gun Laws by Goldy en-us Copyright 2013 Portland Mercury. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, Portland Mercury readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact Portland Mercury. webmaster@portlandmercury.com (Portland Mercury Webmaster) Sun, 26 May 2013 00:00:01 -0700 Sun, 26 May 2013 01:30:00 -0700 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss December 24, 2012

Minn. (AP) – Northland gun dealers are reporting a spike in military-style gun sales.

Pat Kukull, owner of Superior Shooters Supply, says they are out of semi-automatic rifles due to people “panic buying.” Some buyers are afraid of possible changes the federal government could make to gun laws.

She says other guns are selling fast as well and she’s never seen anything like it in her 35 years in business.

Glen’s Army Navy Store in Grand Rapids ran out of the semi-automatic rifles by Thursday morning and operators aren’t sure when more will arrive.

Scott Van Valkenburg is owner of Fisherman’s Corner in Pike Lake outside Duluth.

He says the semi-automatic rifles are usually about 5 percent of his thriving gun business but last week sales were nearly half of his gun sales.


http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/12/24/p…
Posted by Single Bullet]]> Mon, 24 Dec 2012 16:43:15 -0800 Portland Mercury
Your comment about militias versus real Army is just completely ignorant to military history. Militias, especially the "well regulated" type, are extremely effective in defensive situations. It only takes about 12 weeks of training for a civilian to be converted into a US Army soldier.

FYI - law abiding civilians (i.e. you) can already purchase "RPGs, tanks, fighter jets, SAMs, etc." you just have to file the right paperwork and pay some fees. In fact, I could sell you a nuclear warhead for $250 million dollars. The thing about the free market, and these complex weapons, is the cost prohibitions. If you want any piece of weaponry, you can buy it, but you likely won't be able to afford the ammo, maintenance, or perhaps the weapon it's self.

To make up for these short falls in a Militia (like, how many people in Portland would want to buy a tank?), the state has to provide certain equipment. Look up Switzerland's model, they, for example, have annual government-sponsored shootings where the government provides all the ammo. The National Guard already has storehouses of equipment.
Posted by fidelity_axiom]]> Sun, 23 Dec 2012 15:51:15 -0800 Portland Mercury Posted by Single Bullet]]> Sat, 22 Dec 2012 14:25:08 -0800 Portland Mercury
dude, they haven't added fluoride to shit yet. look it up, man -- all they did was vote on it.

funny that you should bring up placebos, though: your whole belief system and world view is thanks to the placebo effect of you thinking you actually have a functioning brain.
Posted by human in training]]> Fri, 21 Dec 2012 14:42:27 -0800 Portland Mercury
http://www.ritualabusefree.org/Freemasonry…
Posted by Single Bullet]]> Fri, 21 Dec 2012 14:40:20 -0800 Portland Mercury Posted by Single Bullet]]> Fri, 21 Dec 2012 14:14:35 -0800 Portland Mercury Posted by Single Bullet]]> Fri, 21 Dec 2012 14:00:59 -0800 Portland Mercury
You have no way of knowing that Meli's actions caused the shooter to kill himself.

And sorry, but the examples in the Ann Coulter post you referenced don't tell the entire story. Many of those so-called civilians were off-duty cops, ex-Marines, security personnel. Try this instead...
http://m.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/…

This whole notion that armed civilians keep us safe doesn't line up with the 32,000 gun deaths a year that say otherwise.
Posted by dimag05]]> Fri, 21 Dec 2012 14:00:01 -0800 Portland Mercury Posted by Single Bullet]]> Fri, 21 Dec 2012 13:43:15 -0800 Portland Mercury
If so, then that citizen army is gonna get its collective ass kicked by any REAL army, which is going to be equipped with far more sophisticated weaponry than anything the public can legally buy and own.

So obviously, the solution is for everyone to up the ante. Let's allow the public to purchase RPGs, tanks, fighter jets, SAMs, etc. Because clearly, that's what the intent of the 2nd amendment is.

Meanwhile, we'll just keep getting schools, malls, theaters and other public places shot up because everyone has a right to own an AR-15 and live out their Rambo fantasies.
Posted by dimag05]]> Fri, 21 Dec 2012 13:32:15 -0800 Portland Mercury
That's why we have the weapons and the skill to use them.
Posted by Jarhead]]> Fri, 21 Dec 2012 13:06:43 -0800 Portland Mercury
The Second Militia Act of 1792 required every citizen to purchase a military grade weapon (complete with bayonet mount), so the concept that our American ancestors did not want Americans civilians to own weapons on par with the standing army is laughable. If that was not their intent, the amendment would not specifically read “militia.”

@Aestro – We already have a system like Switzerland, though more conflated, every American male between the ages of 17 to 45 is a member of the Militia (USC 10:311), with some exceptions. One such exception is under religious/moral grounds that you think killing is wrong. However, under the US Constitution, you are still bound to the Militia, just within a non-combatant status, and anyone under the prescribed conditions is a part of the “Unorganized militia.” Before 1903, our Militia system was nearly identical to Switzerland, in the sense that if you enlisted in the military, you kept your weapon afterwards and stored it at home.

Also, the Swiss have a standing army, and all Males are required to join (though, according to Wikipedia, 20% opt out).

I don’t think any of these recent shootings could have been avoided with “proper” storage (by this I assume you mean a safe). If I was damned determined to get into your safe, I’d cut your toes off one by one until you gave me the code. Criminals have done the exact same thing in home invasions. Criminals and psychopaths will never have a problem acquiring weapons.
Posted by fidelity_axiom]]> Fri, 21 Dec 2012 10:29:20 -0800 Portland Mercury Posted by dimag05]]> Fri, 21 Dec 2012 09:19:59 -0800 Portland Mercury
I agree though that responsibility is a critical issue. How many of these incidents could have been prevented if guns had simply been properly stored?
Posted by Aestro]]> Thu, 20 Dec 2012 22:51:05 -0800 Portland Mercury
Back in March DHS awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to this company:
http://www.atk.com/news-releases/atk-secur…

Then DHS, who does not fight wars with foreign nations, promptly ordered the maximum of 450 million rounds over five years, almost exclusively Jacketed Hollow Point bullets, which are banned by the Geneva convention and can only be used domestically:
http://www.businessinsider.com/us-immigrat…

In late summer the National Weather Service ordered about 46,000 rounds of .40 S&W Jacketed Hollow Point bullets to be delivered to four locations – offices in Florida, New Jersey, Maine and Massachusetts.
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-nationa…


The Social Security Administration put in an order for 174,000 rounds of .357 Sig Jacketed Hollow Point bullets, for locations in Baltimore, L.A., Detroit, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Denver, Philly, Pittsburgh and Seattle ...... What?
http://www.businessinsider.com/why-does-th…

DHS to buy a further 750 million rounds of ammo:
http://rt.com/usa/news/dhs-ammo-rounds-sec…

Things that make you go hmmmm....
Posted by Spindles]]> Thu, 20 Dec 2012 19:59:20 -0800 Portland Mercury Posted by chicostix]]> Thu, 20 Dec 2012 19:53:31 -0800 Portland Mercury Posted by The Showstopper]]> Thu, 20 Dec 2012 19:43:54 -0800 Portland Mercury Posted by The Showstopper]]> Thu, 20 Dec 2012 19:42:33 -0800 Portland Mercury
I'm also not buying into the "gun-free" zone argument. Maybe they were targeted because they are gun-free, but more than likely they were targeted because they are crowded locations where people normally aren't worried they're going to get shot.

Finally, yes, mental health is an issue. No one thinks added gun control is the sole solution to the problem of violence in this country. Hell, no one REALLY thinks that it's a problem that can be solved in its entirety. But it can be reduced.
Posted by Aestro]]> Thu, 20 Dec 2012 18:34:59 -0800 Portland Mercury
Also, does anyone remember what happened with the government fast & furious scandal? Our own government smuggled weapons to Mexico. Weapons are BANNED in Mexico but the cartel's can still get their hands on them. Most people who would use a gun to harm someone is more than likely not going to go out of their way to follow the rule of law to safely purchase a gun. Maybe they would follow the rules but as a society we should really ask ourselves besides access to guns, what is causing these people to go off the deep end? I personally am sad that there are so many arms in our society. However, I can see that there are much deeper issues (mental health, unjust incarceration system, wars, and violence in the media) stemming from the recent uprising of gun violence.
Posted by postmoderngirl]]> Thu, 20 Dec 2012 16:27:29 -0800 Portland Mercury Posted by Spaceman]]> Thu, 20 Dec 2012 16:00:56 -0800 Portland Mercury Posted by Single Bullet]]> Thu, 20 Dec 2012 15:45:03 -0800 Portland Mercury
Guns were banned in all these places. Mass killers may be crazy, but they’re not stupid.

If the deterrent effect of concealed-carry laws seems surprising to you, that’s because the media hide stories of armed citizens stopping mass shooters. At the Portland shooting, for example, no explanation was given for the amazing fact that the assailant managed to kill only two people in the mall during the busy Christmas season.

It turns out, concealed-carry-holder Nick Meli hadn’t noticed that the mall was a gun-free zone. He pointed his (otherwise legal) gun at the shooter as he paused to reload, and the next shot was the attempted mass murderer killing himself. (Meli aimed, but didn’t shoot, because there were bystanders behind the shooter.)


http://www.wnd.com/2012/12/we-know-how-to-…
Posted by Single Bullet]]> Thu, 20 Dec 2012 15:38:39 -0800 Portland Mercury Posted by Single Bullet]]> Thu, 20 Dec 2012 15:34:45 -0800 Portland Mercury
Though, "well-regulated", within the context of the 2A, is synonymous with "proficient", as the founders were discussing “well-regulated” within militaristic terms.
Posted by fidelity_axiom]]> Thu, 20 Dec 2012 15:30:47 -0800 Portland Mercury