I say yes, you say no, OR People are Strange

I have just been reading this thread and have a few comments. I find it surprising that the discussion has been centered on politics, rhetoric etc. Is anyone discussing the possibility that the Arizona shootings were not politically motivated but may have been done by a crazy that was able to purchase and carry a loaded semi-automatic gun.

I realize that the right to bear arms is in the constitution but I have to wonder if the founding fathers would have worded it in such a broad sense if they had the foresight to see how it would be used today. Maybe it was just originally meant for a rifle/shotgun to protect yourself and your property, shoot an animal but I doubt it was intended for people to be able to carry loaded semi automatic weapons that are capable of killing a multitude of people in seconds without even having to stop and reload. Is it truly neccessary to have this type of gun in your arsenal because you have the right to bear arms? Is it neccessary to have this type of weapon to protect yourself?

Did you know that you can carry your concealed weapons (no permit required to conceal) into the State Capital, govt buildings, restaurants, bars (as long as you're not drinking). I guess that means you can be the designated driver with a semi-automatic weapon that you can use to protect your drunken companions.

It's also permitted on school grounds currently if the person is picking up or dropping off a child as long as the weapon is unloaded and the gun owner remains in the vehicle. .

In January 2010, Gov. Jan Brewer signed a bill which repealed an Arizona state law that required gun owners to have permits to carry concealed weapons.

There's a newer proposal [in Arizona] that would allow teachers and students to carry [weapons] into classrooms. I would hate to be sending my kids to college knowing that teachers and fellow students are armed and possibly dangerous! It seems crazy to me that this is being proposed as a viable solution to the Virginia Tech incident. Can't the politicians think of a better solution to protect teachers and students? Can't the colleges/universities improve security without having to resort a fully loaded faculty and student body?

Is this what was meant by the right to bear arms?

I wonder how police/law enforcement feel about all those weapons when they are trying to serve and protect.

Personally I would prefer not to sit in a restaurant with other diners that are fully loaded...Nothing like having burnt toast or a shitty waitress to piss someone off before they've had their first coffee of the day. Even law abiding citizens have done stupid things in the heat of the moment.

How do you feel about students and teachers being armed?

We had fist fights and scuffles in school...now they have shootings and stabbings.

Oh you Canadians, look at you trying to be all rational about guns. We need our weapons down here! You never know when the unwashed hordes from the north will come pouring over the border in an effort to covert us all to civil conversation and Tim Horton's coffee. Without semi-automatic weapons we cannot defend our Starbucks! Freedom of coffee choice must be defended in a free society!

(The above is totally tongue-in-cheek and a feeble attempt at humor. In case anyone wonders.) 

Holy crap. A new question to ask on college tours, "how many of your professors teach class armed?"

In N.C. one can carry a concealed weapon WITH a permit.  One has to go through what Sherri was referring to.  And one certainly needs to be trained.

I don't really care to debate this so I'll stay out of it except to say this.  Did you see the interview with on young man, I believe 24 yo, who helped keep Loughner down.  He was in the store buying cigs.  He heard rapid gun fire and ran out of the store.  People were saying..shooter, get down.  He didn't get down.  He made it over to the shooter that was, at that time, taken down by the first gentleman.  This young man WAS CARRYING A WEAPON.  Guess what.  He would have shot him if necessary, but instead held the shooter down.  He said he didn't want to cause more casualties and, of course, the shooter was already down.  He used good judgement. 

There is absolutely no stats or facts that responsible men and women who lawfully carry a gun shoots people for the fun of it.  You will never keep guns from criminals. 

I love our country and our freedoms.  I hope they will not ge taken away because of this event.  I believe Rep. Giffords was in favor of citizen ownership of guns.   

Perhaps part of the easy access to guns in Arizona is because they are needed for protection.  I have family members who moved there from NYC, and were quite surprised when they realized that having rattlesnakes was going to be a regular occurence in their backyard. 

Those cold-blooded poisonous snakes are not as big a problem up north because of the cold weather, so maybe that is part of the reason why Canada doesn't need the population to be armed. 

Re:  "As for the lowly turnip (what we generally call rutabaga and the Brits call Swedes ...)"--

Oh, no.  Only people of certain ethnic or regional origins (I am trying to be careful there) would mistake a turnip for a rutabaga.  They are not even the same vegetable, taxonomically.

The "turnip" is Brassica rapa.  They are sometimes called "white turnips" because the bottom half of the root is, in fact, white -- as is the flesh when you slice it.  The top of the root where it is exposed to sunlight is generally purple. Turnips are a cool-weather crop that we grow in the late fall, winter, and early spring here in the southern U.S.  They also grow in the northern latitudes of North American and Europe.

The rutabaga, OTOH, is Brassica napobrassica.  Okay, they are both in the same genus, along with a lot of other domesticated vegetables.  And, it's true that rutabagas are sometimes called "yellow turnips" or "Swedish turnips".  But they aren't the same.  Rutabagas are generally grown in the far northern latitudes, at temperatures from 50 to 65 F.  The bottom of the rutabaga root is yellow, as is the flesh when it's sliced or cubed (hence the nickname "yellow turnip").

Rutabagas are often waxed after harvest, and can be stored all winter if kept cool.  We can even buy them like that here in AL, in the dead of winter... like right now.

One more thing:  I used to dislike sweet potatoes when I was a child.  I grew up in a Northern state, and the only way anyone in my family ever fixed sweet potatoes was "candied".  You buy 'em in a can, already peeled and cooked; put 'em in a baking dish, drizzled with sweet syrupy stuff and marshmallows, and bake 'em for awhile.  Yuk.

Then I discovered the other wondrous ways sweet potatoes can be served:  straight-up baked, like Irish potatoes (but better if dressed up with some butter and cinnamon); sliced thin and baked or fried like potato chips; sliced into strips and fried as French fries; or, best of all, as sweet potato casserole. Yum!

I am in a Mark Twain mood:   "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.  Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."

And, this, which is often attributed to Twain but is most likely an adaptation of a proverb quoted by the Baptist preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon in a sermon he gave in 1855:  "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes."

A good day to all!

otter

My oldest DD is an attorney and I would like her to carry a gun.  Many times she comes home late a night.  Her parking lot is pretty bare.  A couple of years ago there was a man in the parking lot who was hiding under her car.  She heard some noises and alerted the police.  Now, don't forget, no one else was in the office.  Also, her garage is detached from her house.  Even though it's only a few feet from her back porch, I worry.  She's single.  She lives in a great neighborhood, but that doesn't make one bit of difference.  When she gets out of her car she usually has her arms full.  I worry that someone could be "watching."

My youngest DD and her DH have moved to Chicago.  I worry about her riding the train back and forth to her job.  Yep, I'm a bit paranoid!

Patmom wrote: "Those cold-blooded poisonous snakes are not as big a problem up north because of the cold weather, so maybe that is part of the reason why Canada doesn't need the population to be armed. "

That's a joke, right?

My son and his girlfriend live in two different areas of Toronto.  Although they are careful, they will walk around or use the transit any time of the day or night.  Of course there are a couple of areas that you would not do that, but they are small and obviously not 'visitor' friendly.  

I am literally talking about snakes whose movements are limited in cold weather.  Yes they exist in more northern regions with long periods of cold weather,  but they tend to be in more remote areas, not come into populated areas on any regular basis, and their movements are slowed by the cold for several months of the year.

In warmer climates, like Arizona, the snake population is larger, is more active year round, and our human population tends to encroach on their habitat much more freqently.  If you are close enough to kill a poisonous snake without a gun, you are close enough to get bit.

When I lived out west, I would just wait for the snakes to move on.  We have lots of black snakes here, and while they scare me to pieces, I just encourage them to return to the woods and fields.

When I was living in Utah alone far from town, I kept my shotgun and handgun loaded at all times.  We had a big problem with moutain lions in my area.  When we would go 4-wheeling or exploring the back country, I also carried a loaded handgun with me. 

Living back in civilization now, there is no need for me to be armed all the time.

I can't imagine what it must be like for teachers to carry concealed weapons to class.

Bren

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/12/homeless-america_n_808339.html

Middle class Americans are now the new homeless.

"After the worst economic downturn since the Depression, formerly middle-class people like Cooke have found themselves reduced to poverty. With jobs scarce, and with government safety nets shrinking, one misfortune -- a layoff, an injury, a mortgage default -- can transform a person's life beyond recognition. No longer a condition reserved for the margins of society, for drug addicts and the mentally ill, homelessness has infiltrated the heart of America."

Blue .. I'm laughing out loud.  Loved Archie's ideas on arming all the passengers on a plane.  Pass them out on the way onto the airplane .. and the collect them when you deplane!

Bren

Blue .. how'd it go today?????