Posted on 10/04/2017 7:59:24 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
How much lethal firepower should citizens be allowed to possess?
On October 1, there were 16,000 American soldiers serving in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. But it was Las Vegas that most resembled a war zone and represented the biggest danger to American lives that day. From the punched-out windows of his 32nd-floor suite at the Mandalay Bay hotel, Stephen Paddock rained down an appalling level of destruction on a country-music concert below. Using an enormous cache of guns, in less than 12 minutes he single-handedly massacred 58 people and injured 527 more. It was a deadlier day than American soldiers have ever suffered in Iraq or Afghanistan, and the worst mass shooting in modern US history.
This latest slaughter demands that the country grapple with gun-control issues beyond the debate over background checks. A more fundamental question is at hand: How much lethal firepower should citizens be allowed to possess?
There will be a fierce debate about where to draw the line, but no reasonable person can say the Vegas shooter wasnt well past it. Paddock had effectively assembled a small ordnance depot in his luxury hotel suite. He had at least 23 firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. A majority of those guns were military-style assault weapons; some were mounted on shooting platforms with scopes and tripods and outfitted with devices that made them fully automatic. Investigators later found 19 more guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition at his home.
The guy could have mounted a dozen on a frame and used electric door lock solonoids and a car battery through a fast flasher and relay, but i hate to even mention stuff like that in the thought that someone does it in the future.
Um. Nope.
We don’t take away rights from the entire population that did nothing wrong, simply because idiots exist.
We just need to deal with the idiots properly.
I’ve always wondered if it would even work given the thin casing and being a rim fire.
Thanks for posting that quote.
What was old is new again.
an electrified volley gun, but with separate mechanisms and full-auto. NASTY.
What good what that do, keep him from buying a 34th gun?
Are you old enough to remember that he was considered ultra-liberal back in the day? LOL
.22 cal gatling gun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4i9_kkg30o
Saw a feral pig remote operated gun, it was a quad shotgun affair, semi auto 12 gauge, used i think to run off of car door lock solonoids and a car battery, and was rigged to run remotely by cell phone.
Human imagination knows no bounds.
As for the number of guns, those who question numbers show their ignorance.
It takes one kind of gun to hunt squirrels, a another kind to shoot ground hogs, another for deer, another for bird hunting, another for goose, another for bear. Some guns are satisfactory for two of the species, but no gun is right for all. For instance, there is no way you would hunt hogs with the same gun you would hunt prairie dogs or antelope.
And if you like to go to Africa for really big game, most have a special gun for that.
And then there are the guns for concealed.
A very small easily concealed for formal clothes, another one for walking in the woods where dangerous animals live, another for work carry in bad areas where thugs work in teams or groups.... and still another if you want to hunt with a side arm.
And then there are some of us who have multiples of all of these just because we can never decide which gun we like the best We want a light rifle when walking up steep mountain grades, a short barrel if we re hunting hogs but we would take a heavier gun to shoot from a blind or a tree stand.
Now add to that a couple of hundred rounds at a minimum for each gun so as to get the sights adjusted and still have enough for a hunt and you soon acquire a thousand or so rounds.
I have friends that hunt all of the above, shoot all of the above guns and they are to be admired for they know how to live.
Like the one the Tsarnaev brothers were on?
No.
I always liked Phil Gramm's (sp?) response to the question as to how many guns he owned: "More than I need, and less than I want".
how many did he actually use?
That's a very slippery slope. You must never surrender to the mindset that some other person is better qualified to decide what you need and may possess. If you purchase a desired item with the fruits of your own labor and do no harm to others, there is no moral reason to surrender the ability to choose for yourself.
There are a multitude of reasons to have many types of guns. A .22LR is fine for a rabbit, but totally inadequate for an elephant or bison. A 460 Weatherby is fine for an elephant, but would spatter a rabbit. You choose the right tool for the task. Usually just one from a potentially large collection suitable for various purposes. A double barrel 16 gauge shotgun is just right for dove. A skeet shooter wants a 12 gauge semi-auto to engage two clay birds from the high and low house. Shooting steel silhouettes is done with long barrel pistol or revolver. A concealed carry pistol or revolver needs to be small. If you do all of those things, you might well have a large collection. Each suited to its purpose. The rest securely locked up away from children and thieves.
Historically private citizens often had firepower equal to and in some cases superior to the military. Pennsylvania rifles were superior in accuracy to the musket. River flat boats often had small swivel cannon to defend against river pirates. Private western trading posts likr Fort Brifger boasted wheeled cannon. Drovers on cattle drives with Colts and Winchesters outgunned Cavalry platoons. Even in the early 20th Century civilians owned Remingtom Model 8s or 81s, semi auto rifles. In the militia tradition personal weapons were not restricted and prior to the Civil War there were a multitude of private artillery companies, though it is doubtful their pieces were kept at home.
Better get your bump-stocks before they’re made illegal.
it should damn sure trigger him onto a pretty strict watchlist, no?
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