I read the news today oh boy! Page 397

Quote: DaButt @ June 21 2011, 12:32 PM BST

Columbine was a high school so students couldn't lawfully be armed but if teachers had been allowed to be armed a lot of lives may have been saved that day.

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DaButt, I can see your logic and it's a fair point, but it's skewed also in that even had the teachers been armed, who's to say they would have got to their weapons on time? too many factors come into play in a pressured situation like that...it was never going to be a fair fight no matter how hard the teachers tried.
The big problem is the crazy guy with the gun, in someones elses hands that gun would not have done any killing...so having guns easily available in the first place is what worries me, while the average Joe in your country may have a legally allowed gun under the bed for protection , so too there is the angry homicidal bugger with his legally acquired weapon. Do people have to pass any assessments before they are allowed to own a gun?

Quote: DaButt @ June 21 2011, 12:51 AM BST

I've been to the UK 3 times. A guy tried to pick a fight with me at a pub in Reading, a Welsh guy did the same at a pub in London, my daughter was groped by a man on the street in London and some chavs in Cheltenham gave me the old "What the f**k are you lookin' at?" treatment at midnight.

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That does seem incredibly unlucky. Your daughter completely aside, are you sure you weren't projecting some kind of confrontational manner while over here?

I hope his daughter kicked the bloke in the nuts. "By accident".

I don't think your outfit helped much

Quote: zooo @ June 21 2011, 1:38 PM BST

That does seem incredibly unlucky. Your daughter completely aside, are you sure you weren't projecting some kind of confrontational manner while over here?

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Yeah, no offence Randy, but I think the average person gets aggressive confrontation in the UK a he'll of a lot less than you seem to. Maybe it's you?

Quote: Shandonbelle @ June 21 2011, 1:29 PM BST

DaButt, I can see your logic and it's a fair point, but it's skewed also in that even had the teachers been armed, who's to say they would have got to their weapons on time?

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They would have them concealed on their body at all times. The law requires that the gun remains hidden and not in a place where an unauthorized person could reach it, so keeping it in a desk drawer is out.

Do people have to pass any assessments before they are allowed to own a gun?

Absolutely. A thorough FBI background check is performed and convicted felons and people with documented mental problems are not allowed to legally purchase firearms.

A license to carry a concealed weapon adds some additional requirements: the licensee must be at least 21, attends 9 hours of classroom training in the legalities of carrying a weapon and peaceful conflict resolution, etc., in addition to showing proficiency at a shooting range.

Everything you ever wanted to know about the laws and requirements is here: http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/administration/crime_records/chl/chlsindex.htm

How do the insane defend themselves against the sane?

Who cares? They're nuts.

Bigot

Quote: sootyj @ June 21 2011, 3:48 PM BST

How do the insane defend themselves against the sane?

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With invisible light sabres.

Quote: zooo @ June 21 2011, 1:38 PM BST

That does seem incredibly unlucky. Your daughter completely aside, are you sure you weren't projecting some kind of confrontational manner while over here?

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The circumstances;

1) I was at a pub near the Reading station when I had the audacity to purchase a pint for my friend and myself using a 20 pound note. "So you're f**king rich, eh? Blahblahblah" until his friends convinced him to leave me alone. He was itching for a fight and I was itching for a beer.

2) My teenage daughter was groped by 2 men as we were walking down Edgware Road. It appeared to be a mostly Muslim area and I think their culture is a little creepy with regard to women. I told them to f**k off and made sure to take a different route in the future.

3) Some Welsh guy in a London pub decided that he wanted to fight me for no apparent reason other than his own drunkenness. I was unaware of his rising temper until my London friends warned me that he was ready to fight. I guess my crime was being American because I never said a word to the man and was just having a few pints with my friend.

Quote: sootyj @ June 21 2011, 3:52 PM BST

Bigot

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Ignoring the wink then are we? Okay.

Quote: DaButt @ June 21 2011, 4:01 PM BST

The circumstances;

1) I was at a pub near the Reading station when I had the audacity to purchase a pint for my friend and myself using a 20 pound note. "So you're f**king rich, eh? Blahblahblah" until his friends convinced him to leave me alone. He was itching for a fight and I was itching for a beer.

2) My teenage daughter was groped by 2 men as we were walking down Edgware Road. It appeared to be a mostly Muslim area and I think their culture is a little creepy with regard to women. I told them to f**k off and made sure to take a different route in the future.

3) Some Welsh guy in a London pub decided that he wanted to fight me for no apparent reason other than his own drunkenness. I was unaware of his rising temper until my London friends warned me that he was ready to fight. I guess my crime was being American because I never said a word to the man and was just having a few pints with my friend.

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Sounds like you were unlucky then!

Also thought of you as a winker Zooo

But seriously far more mentally ill and learning disabled people are bullied or killed by the "neuro typical"

Quote: DaButt @ June 21 2011, 3:41 PM BST

They would have them concealed on their body at all times.

people with documented mental problems are not allowed to legally purchase firearms.

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That's risky surely? Doesn't stop them being physically overpowered and disarmed, having the gun taken from them...

'Documented mental problems' could be anything from a spell in a clinic during a period of severe depression to being diagnosed psychotic and all other levels of mental health problems along the way...it's all documented, yet most pose no threat to anyone but are denied what the rest of the 'non documented' population are allowed. I work in mental health so am playing devils advocate but it's food for thought all the same.

The lucky phyiscally disabled get their own shooters.