The Political Gun Thread

[Sparky]

The propaganda effect. I said it yesterday, it's a steady diet of paranoia and fear and encouraging them to see other citizens, other human beings as threats.

Americas are collectively very ill.

As much as love my American friends here, yeah, I can’t disagree. In a seemingly rapid period of time, it’s become a very foreign country to me. Even for all the non-crazy people, it can’t be healthy be surrounded by such lunacy, being bombarded by their psychosis as played out on screens and in the streets.

It's really just awful. Especially in red states.

I think its spread like a web through the whole country. We moved to a quiet little coastal town and we've got em around here too. They like to say it with stickers; FJB, Trump, Molan Labe, I Love Guns!, and my favorite Don't Tread on Me (No Step on Snek!). It's a collective fear that isn't based on any sort of reality. It's nice around here! Shit, half these guys have boats and $70k trucks to haul them. There is very little to be upset about. The only thing I really worry about are these fucking people. They all seem to have a bloodlust.

We live in a blue state, but in a red county & city, it's truly saddening to me. I'm sick and tired of the MAGA's politicizing our countries flag as well as our forefathers "Don't Tread On Me" flag and what it was intended to stand for.

Understanding that nobody wants to admit they were wrong or conned, I can only hope that enough truth comes out of the Dominion / Fox lawsuit that they can get their heads out of their asses and break away from the cult.

[Dr. Medulla]

Fucking unbelievable. Why is the first instinct for these people to grab a gun? Jist like rhe cops.

The propaganda effect. I said it yesterday, it's a steady diet of paranoia and fear and encouraging them to see other citizens, other human beings as threats.

Americas are collectively very ill.

As much as love my American friends here, yeah, I can’t disagree. In a seemingly rapid period of time, it’s become a very foreign country to me. Even for all the non-crazy people, it can’t be healthy be surrounded by such lunacy, being bombarded by their psychosis as played out on screens and in the streets.

You're not wrong. I live in a small suburb of Milwaukee. It feels like a small town. I grew up here, moved away for a few years after college, but came back to raise my kids. The political polarization of just the past couple years has been extreme. Our school board elections, which had been very friendly and positive for decades, have become absolute cesspools. People now appear okay being openly awful to their neighbors. It's no longer "I value your opinion" it's "you're wrong" and it just wears you down after awhile. You stop caring and you just retreat to focus on your own life, which only increase the alienation that is already being felt.

That's the thing that is so scary. It's less politics, where disagreement is the norm, than, well, religion(?), where disagreement bleeds over into all other areas. It's not "we disagree on this but we can still respect each other's positions" to "we disagree and you are evil and a traitor." I've always been able to get along with conservatives, but now it doesn't feel like there's sufficient common ground on anything.

[JennyB]

The propaganda effect. I said it yesterday, it's a steady diet of paranoia and fear and encouraging them to see other citizens, other human beings as threats.

Americas are collectively very ill.

As much as love my American friends here, yeah, I can’t disagree. In a seemingly rapid period of time, it’s become a very foreign country to me. Even for all the non-crazy people, it can’t be healthy be surrounded by such lunacy, being bombarded by their psychosis as played out on screens and in the streets.

It's really just awful. Especially in red states.

It's not much better in a purple state. In Wisconsin, we have bastions of commonsense around our cities: Milwaukee, Madison, and a few other areas, but the vast majority feels increasingly awful. I'm sure I'm oversimplifying things, but it feels like the election of Trump "normalized" lunacy. It's like it removed the safety device that was holding back the psychos. It was shaky before he got elected, but it all came crashing down with him and now it's okay to express anything, no matter how stupid or bigoted or wrong it is.

Yep. We are blue in STL and KC, but deep, deep red pretty much everywhere else. The lunacy is astounding.

[Dr. Medulla]

Americas are collectively very ill.

As much as love my American friends here, yeah, I can’t disagree. In a seemingly rapid period of time, it’s become a very foreign country to me. Even for all the non-crazy people, it can’t be healthy be surrounded by such lunacy, being bombarded by their psychosis as played out on screens and in the streets.

It's really just awful. Especially in red states.

It's not much better in a purple state. In Wisconsin, we have bastions of commonsense around our cities: Milwaukee, Madison, and a few other areas, but the vast majority feels increasingly awful. I'm sure I'm oversimplifying things, but it feels like the election of Trump "normalized" lunacy. It's like it removed the safety device that was holding back the psychos. It was shaky before he got elected, but it all came crashing down with him and now it's okay to express anything, no matter how stupid or bigoted or wrong it is.

Yep. We are blue in STL and KC, but deep, deep red pretty much everywhere else. The lunacy is astounding.

Same thing in Canada, mostly. The division is expressed as spectrum politics, but it's mostly a geographical/demographical divide of urban vs. rural, and rooted in cosmopolitanism vs. monoculture. The latter loathe that huge groups of people previously marginalized are not better able to participate in public discussions and have real input and that they are markets pursued by businesses. Which has necessarily meant less influence and attention for those traditional white, male, Christian groups. Boo hoo, the world is more complex and diverse than you want it to be.

[revbob]

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/04/20/us/t ... index.html

[Dr. Medulla]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/north-car ... -1.6817157

[revbob]

[Dr. Medulla]

Exactly as the Founders meant the 2nd Amendment to be interpreted.

[Sparky]

Yeah, responsible gun ownership right there.

[gkbill]

Hello,

https://archive.ph/4Gntz

I don't totally object to guns (where I grew up, a lot of kids were absent from school the opening of hunting season) but handguns and AR's (street sweepers) have no purpose beneficial to humans. If you disagree, please post your thoughts/rationale.

[JennyB]

Hello,

https://archive.ph/4Gntz

I don't totally object to guns (where I grew up, a lot of kids were absent from school the opening of hunting season) but handguns and AR's (street sweepers) have no purpose beneficial to humans. If you disagree, please post your thoughts/rationale.

I agree with this post.

[WestwayKid]

Hello,

https://archive.ph/4Gntz

I don't totally object to guns (where I grew up, a lot of kids were absent from school the opening of hunting season) but handguns and AR's (street sweepers) have no purpose beneficial to humans. If you disagree, please post your thoughts/rationale.

I agree with this post.

I also agree. While I'm not a hunter myself, I grew up in a family of hunters. I don't object to the idea of guns, but yes - nobody needs an automatic rifle like an AR.

[Dr. Medulla]

In some respects, it's like smoking pot. Fine, if that's what you like and it serves a positive purpose, but turning it into a *culture*, something that is celebrated and fetishized and shapes people's identities, yeah, you've crossed a line into a really dumb and disturbing zone. Christmas cards with your guns, needing to own multiple guns, going out in public visibly (and multiply) armed—you're an anti-social weirdo who deserves shunning. If you can't imagine life without being armed, you're a sad, addicted creature.

[WestwayKid]

In some respects, it's like smoking pot. Fine, if that's what you like and it serves a positive purpose, but turning it into a *culture*, something that is celebrated and fetishized and shapes people's identities, yeah, you've crossed a line into a really dumb and disturbing zone. Christmas cards with your guns, needing to own multiple guns, going out in public visibly (and multiply) armed—you're an anti-social weirdo who deserves shunning. If you can't imagine life without being armed, you're a sad, addicted creature.

Yes, exactly. It's the turning it into a culture that disturbs me the most. My grandfather had several rifles, but they were tools used for hunting. They were stored in the basement like shovels for most of the year. I also know people who just like going target shooting (and to be completely transparent, I've also enjoyed that now and then) and when they're not shooting, their guns stay locked up and out of sight. It's a hobby, not a fetish. This idea that you need to thump your chest and force your guns on the world is disturbing and yes, dumb.

[Mimi]

Hello,

https://archive.ph/4Gntz

I don't totally object to guns (where I grew up, a lot of kids were absent from school the opening of hunting season) but handguns and AR's (street sweepers) have no purpose beneficial to humans. If you disagree, please post your thoughts/rationale.

Same as you. First day of deer hunting season eventually became a day off with schools in the area. I shot guns (rifles), had them sitting around the house (no ammo in them, though) and learned to respect them very early on. I've shot automatic rifles and outside of the military, no one should own one.