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[jough]

A much larger percentage of Canadians own guns than do Americans.  Canada is one gun-toting country, with a gun of some sort per every FOUR citizens!

[side_show]

Jough, I didn't refer to the amount of guns, but the attitude towards having them, and what they are used for.  That's what totally blows my mind.  I've heard similar stats in regard to Canadian gun ownership, (Bowling for Columbine claims we have approx 7 million guns for approx 30 m people) but when people use these stats they fail to acknowledge that these numbers refer mostly to hunting rifles, not weapons used for "protection."  Yes, out on the farm, almost every family has a gun, but this is something  used to get rid of foxes or shoot a deer for a tasty dinner.  On my SO's parents' farm they use a pellet gun to deal with predators and crop stealers instead of a gun, since they don't hunt.

AD, having spent a good deal of time working with tweens and teens, I know that a good 90 - 99% of them know exactly where their parents hide the booze, know exactly where the keys to the gun cabinet are, and have a pretty good run-down of where any contraband (Playboy, Joy of Sex, etc.) that their parents think they've supposedly hidden from them is.  I also know that they will bring these things in to class to show their friends.  Kids basically fetish-ise anything adult.  

And Paul, it's not just the badly parented kids who get into the dangerous situations, guns or otherwise.  The well parented kids and the badly parented kids don't exist in a vaccume, their paths constantly cross.  Curiosity wins out over everything else sometimes, or the desire to impress peers, etc.  If it's in the house the kids are venerable - trigger lock, bullet proof cabinet, "respect for the weapon," whatever.

Anyway, I know there's no point in speaking Canadian to you people, eh?  You totally don't get what I'm talking abooot, so I'll shut up now, okay?

[linnea]

I also do not advocate sleeping with a firearm, if only so that I won't "answer" my pistol and blow my head off when the phone on my nightstand rings. Darwin award!

I have to say that I think that people should be allowed to own guns; however, I also advocate a system that requires registration. In some states, for example, the gun company fires 2 test rounds and sends the spent casings to a government repository so that they can be referenced by forensic experts should the need arise. The system's not perfect, of course. I hear that you can do things to your firearm once you receive it that can throw the tests off.

There is a huge difference between keeping a couple of shell casings in a huge database, and oh -- say, fingerprinting all babies at birth like they wanted to do in Malaysia or something. Of course, criminals will always have guns. I think that it's important for law-abiding citizens to also have the right to bear arms.  And I also think it's important for people who might have difficulty keeping themselves safe (such as people who are suicidal) to be barred from buying a gun. I'm just saying.

Anyway, the stalker's bail hearing got pushed back AGAIN. What are his defense lawyers trying to do? I suspect that they're trying to finangle some sort of deal...I expect that I'll show up at the courthouse later today and find out that Mr. Creepy Asshole has called a bunch of people as character witnesses.

At any rate, I hope that I can stay calm and such if I have to get questioned by Mr. Asshole's rat-bastard lawyers.

[AlohaDawg]

AD, having spent a good deal of time working with tweens and teens, I know that a good 90 - 99% of them know exactly where their parents hide the booze, know exactly where the keys to the gun cabinet are, and have a pretty good run-down of where any contraband (Playboy, Joy of Sex, etc.) that their parents think they've supposedly hidden from them is.  I also know that they will bring these things in to class to show their friends.  Kids basically fetish-ise anything adult.  

All your statements are true. What I think, though, is that they in no way ameliorate the parent's responsibility for what happens if their kids get into any of this stuff; nor does it allow them to let the mechanical devices (locks, doors, cables, etc.) do the parenting. Counseling kids is important, but once they've been let down by their parents in terms of lack of skill, tools, support or experience in setting limits, appropriately policing behavior and instilling values, the counselor is in the position of responding to things that in most cases could and should have been prevented (and have negative psychological effects of their own that start snowballing) I think that in general we hold parents to low standards of parenting, give people too many easy fixes (ritalin and anti-depressants are over prescribed too kids) and worst of all, don't give parents opportunities to seek support and help if they need it in a non-judgmental environment.

Asherdan has it right on. It's so important to approach things like this practically. It instills respect for the gun in the kid and I'm sure he views his shooting time with dad as a privilege he could lose if he does something unsafe or stupid.

[Bozack]

I have no opinions whatsoever on guns.
Anyway, great news about That Rat Bastard. Keep us updated. I'm actually betting he'll get shived!

[CortJstr]

The episode of Bullshit on guns should be required viewing for all Americans. Quite frankly, pretty much that entire series should be.

[arkabee]

anyone watching the show "Brat Camp" on abc?  if you want to be filled with rage, watch that show.  the girl who lies all the time, her parents, oh my.

oh my.

i think the problem with problems like "gun control" (or however you want to phrase it), is that the problem is never with the folks having the discussion,

it's with the people who aren't, won't, will never.

regardless of how you are protecting/locking/storing your firearms, if you have some logical reasoning formulated for storing them in a way that meets specific goals you set, then i'm not going to bet on you, i'm going to bet on the person who didn't worry about it, who didn't/doesn't/will never care,  because those are winning odds.

inre: lawyers and etc, i got a "funny" email forwarded yesterday, some george carlin quotes.  and since the topic drifted to guns, i'm going to toss a hand grenade (but meant in a good way):
"The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments in a
Courthouse!  You cannot post "Thou Shalt Not Steal," "Thou Shalt Not
Commit Adultery" and "Thou Shall Not Lie" in a building full of  lawyers,
judges and politicians! It creates a hostile work environment!"

ha, ha.  i think we can all agree on that.

[AlohaDawg]

anyone watching the show "Brat Camp" on abc?  if you want to be filled with rage, watch that show.  the girl who lies all the time, her parents, oh my.

oh my.

i think the problem with problems like "gun control" (or however you want to phrase it), is that the problem is never with the folks having the discussion,

it's with the people who aren't, won't, will never.

regardless of how you are protecting/locking/storing your firearms, if you have some logical reasoning formulated for storing them in a way that meets specific goals you set, then i'm not going to bet on you, i'm going to bet on the person who didn't worry about it, who didn't/doesn't/will never care,  because those are winning odds.

inre: lawyers and etc, i got a "funny" email forwarded yesterday, some george carlin quotes.  and since the topic drifted to guns, i'm going to toss a hand grenade (but meant in a good way):
"The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments in a
Courthouse!  You cannot post "Thou Shalt Not Steal," "Thou Shalt Not
Commit Adultery" and "Thou Shall Not Lie" in a building full of  lawyers,
judges and politicians! It creates a hostile work environment!"

ha, ha.  i think we can all agree on that.

I've often wondered what would happen if you put up a plaque that said
"thou shalt not steal" and then referenced the statute and the statute language for the state or jurisidiction right under it. Would the arguement against the commandments being posted still stand? It would be an interesting experiment.

[linnea]

I have no opinions whatsoever on guns.
Anyway, great news about That Rat Bastard. Keep us updated. I'm actually betting he'll get shived!

Oooh! I had forgotten about shivs. Hmm...what do you think, a sharpened spoon maybe? How the hell do you make a shiv in prison?

I also would like to wager that he'd be a queen bee, and he might very well die in the manner that Blister said. http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=01262005

[AlohaDawg]

Classic prison shivs include:

Bedsprings
small pieces of metal from a shop or a work detail
Broken off and sharpened plastic (tooth brush is classic)
silverware from the mess hall
Shards of bone from your enemies

[wombat]

I wouldn't have pegged Asherdan and AlohaDawg as the board members most likely to know how to make a shiv in prison.  Shows what I know.

[AlohaDawg]

You can also escape if you have a tiny geologists hammer and a poster of Rita Hayworth.

[linnea]

You can also escape if you have a tiny geologists hammer and a poster of Rita Hayworth.

Oh man, extra points for Shawshank Redemption quotes.

Actually, it is funny that you mention the geologist's hammer since the stalker has a degree in geology. Scary fun fact of the day.  He always claimed to be a geologist, but a four-year degree does not a geologist make. IMHO, you would have to have a graduate degree before you could claim that kind of malarkey.

[CortJstr]

I've often wondered what would happen if you put up a plaque that said "thou shalt not steal" and then referenced the statute and the statute language for the state or jurisidiction right under it. Would the arguement against the commandments being posted still stand? It would be an interesting experiment.

I've often wondered what would happen if people started using bibles that were translated into to actual regular English instead of all this arbitrary "thou" and "begat" crap.

[V-Adore]

I've often wondered what would happen if you put up a plaque that said "thou shalt not steal" and then referenced the statute and the statute language for the state or jurisidiction right under it. Would the arguement against the commandments being posted still stand? It would be an interesting experiment.

I've often wondered what would happen if people started using bibles that were translated into to actual regular English instead of all this arbitrary "thou" and "begat" crap.

Uh, not to derail, but such editions exist. I bought and read for a class last semester a translation of Genesis that was done in modern English, with the only archaisms retained ones that enhanced meaning. It was very well-done and interesting reading throughout, even the weird bits about Abraham growing 70 meters tall and shit.