Last week was a sad week for the Americans

[ManDownUnder]

Virginia Tech Shootings
NASA shooting

and (I'm yet to see it hit the news) the Blue Angels are a man down after an accident 4:00pm ET Beaufort, South Carolina.

[SARGE]

Virginia Tech Shootings
NASA shooting

and (I'm yet to see it hit the news) the Blue Angels are a man down after an accident 4:00pm ET Beaufort, South Carolina.

Beaufort, South Carolina is where the old Marine Corps Recruit Depot is located ( Parris Island)

i have seen the Blue Angels many times .. they know the risks involved at flying on the bleeding edge of what the F18 is capable of, less than 1/2M from another F18 most of the time.

Sempre Fi

( and the NZ news is more focused on Thugby and Cricket than in anything newsworthy anyway.. no other nation in the world devoted 20 minutes to sport, 5 minutes to world headlines and 5 minutes to weather ..)

[ManDownUnder]

Beaufort, South Carolina is where the old Marine Corps Recruit Depot is located ( Parris Island)

i have seen the Blue Angels many times .. they know the risks involved at flying on the bleeding edge of what the F18 is capable of, less than 1/2M from another F18 most of the time.

I didn't bother trying to describe Fleet Day in San Fran when I saw them a couple of times. F'n A!

[SARGE]

I didn't bother trying to describe Fleet Day in San Fran when I saw them a couple of times. F'n A!

i never could remember Fleet Day ANYWHERE ...i do recall a Carrier Battle Group that i was attached to being asked to leave Napoli once.. ( or twice...)

[ManDownUnder]

I have to admit there was a certain irony in the Houston shootings - one dead and the woman hostage managed to escape. If it's anything like the women I know in H'town she's be damned cute, easy to underestimate and DEADLY to about 50 yards as soon as she got her shootin' hand in her purse.

[yod]

another 40-odd souls go west for the sake of the good ol gun-culture, poor buggers....i wonder if the ammo came from k-mart??

[xwhatsit]

Beaufort, South Carolina is where the old Marine Corps Recruit Depot is located ( Parris Island)

i have seen the Blue Angels many times .. they know the risks involved at flying on the bleeding edge of what the F18 is capable of, less than 1/2M from another F18 most of the time.

Sempre Fi

( and the NZ news is more focused on Thugby and Cricket than in anything newsworthy anyway.. no other nation in the world devoted 20 minutes to sport, 5 minutes to world headlines and 5 minutes to weather ..)

When I lived in Brisbane, they devoted 7 minutes to local news (`Brisbane cat gets stuck up tree! Fire brigade called!'), 3 minutes to national news, then 20 minutes to sport (but only Australian sport). You had to go to a complete other channel (SBS) to get any news at all about anywhere other than Australia, but 90% of the time it was running subtitled German police TV shows.

[yod]

When I lived in Brisbane, they devoted 7 minutes to local news (`Brisbane cat gets stuck up tree! Fire brigade called!'), 3 minutes to national news, then 20 minutes to sport (but only Australian sport). You had to go to a complete other channel (SBS) to get any news at all about anywhere other than Australia, but 90% of the time it was running subtitled German police TV shows.

yeah...i just got back from oz and sky news is the ticket these days....24 hour news with a bit o' sport thrown in here and there...correction...a crapload of farkin AFL thrown in and a general hint that other sports do, in fact, exist.

oops sorry...

[James Deuce]

I have to admit there was a certain irony in the Houston shootings - one dead and the woman hostage managed to escape. If it's anything like the women I know in H'town she's be damned cute, easy to underestimate and DEADLY to about 50 yards as soon as she got her shootin' hand in her purse.

She talked him down after he'd shot the other guy and convinced him to let her go. She'd been tied to a chair.

The other guy he shot was apparently responsible for them both getting a bad performance review.

The shooter was a classic shooter type profile.

60 years old. Lived with his Mom 'til she died. Lived by himself after she died. Loner. No friends. Didn't socialise. Work was his life. NASA is downsizing at the moment. Bad performance reviews mean potential job loss. Work was everything.

BLAMMO!

[SARGE]

another 40-odd souls go west for the sake of the good ol gun-culture, poor buggers....i wonder if the ammo came from k-mart??

but VT was a Gun-Free Zone .. just goes to show that gun control dont do shit .. in my old home town.. i could LITERALLY head down to the Pool Hall and pick up damn near anything i wanted .. meanwhile Joe Public waited 7 days to get HIS gun.. i could get a high capacity mag while Joe could only get a 10 round ..i didnt have to suffer through background checks or registration while Joe... you get the idea

Yes the US has a Gun Culture .. and if VT allowed Joe Public to tote a sidearm in his book bag .. the death told would have been a LOT lower ..


NZ has "strict" ( BWAHAHAHA) gun laws .. but people still get ahold of them.. and those who cant .. break Chinese Students in half and stuff them in a suitcase.. go on P tanties and hack their g/f's up with Samurai Swords .. beat retired Firemen and old lady teachers to death ..

My old home town has about as many people in it as NZ does .. yet NZ has a higher per capita violent crime rate than we did .. why?

[yod]

but VT was a Gun-Free Zone .. just goes to show that gun control dont do shit .. in my old home town.. i could LITERALLY head down to the Pool Hall and pick up damn near anything i wanted .. meanwhile Joe Public waited 7 days to get HIS gun.. i could get a high capacity mag while Joe could only get a 10 round ..i didnt have to suffer through background checks or registration while Joe... you get the idea

Yes the US has a Gun Culture .. and if VT allowed Joe Public to tote a sidearm in his book bag .. the death told would have been a LOT lower ..


NZ has "strict" ( BWAHAHAHA) gun laws .. but people still get ahold of them.. and those who cant .. break Chinese Students in half and stuff them in a suitcase.. go on P tanties and hack their g/f's up with Samurai Swords .. beat retired Firemen and old lady teachers to death ..

My old home town has about as many people in it as NZ does .. yet NZ has a higher per capita violent crime rate than we did .. why?

doesnt the US have a ridiculously high death by firearm rate tho?? like 10-12,000 a year? thats not even in the same universe as the rest of the world per capita wise.....the UK is like 70/yr and i think Oz is about 30, canada about 30-40/yr....NZ is probably about 3

dont quote me on those figures tho.....just seem to remember reading them somewhere....

[SARGE]

doesnt the US have a ridiculously high death by firearm rate tho?? like 10-12,000 a year? thats not even in the same universe as the rest of the world per capita wise.....the UK is like 70/yr and i think Oz is about 30, canada about 30-40/yr....NZ is probably about 3

dont quote me on those figures tho.....just seem to remember reading them somewhere....

if you will have a look at the trend in school shootings/ mass murders.. they are ALL perpetrated by wacko nut case weak minded people who got picked on at school / work etc ..and they have easy access to a firearm..

now dont get me wrong here .. i own quite a large collection of firearms back home .. some registered .. most not.. some full auto assault weapons too.. i AM in favor of a screening process to keep firearms out of the hands of the aforementioned nut cases BUT i am also a realist who knows that any crim who WANTS A gun can get one quite easily. if you will look at http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/ar...TICLE_ID=55288 you will se that mandating gun ownership actually DECREASES violent crime, whereas banning firearms to al but the police actually sees an INCREASE in said violent crime.


i grew up with a firearm.. i was taught from a VERY early age how to respect a firearm and i have taught my son also.

[yod]

if you will have a look at the trend in school shootings/ mass murders.. they are ALL perpetrated by wacko nut case weak minded people who got picked on at school / work etc ..and they have easy access to a firearm..

now dont get me wrong here .. i own quite a large collection of firearms back home .. some registered .. most not.. some full auto assault weapons too.. i AM in favor of a screening process to keep firearms out of the hands of the aforementioned nut cases BUT i am also a realist who knows that any crim who WANTS A gun can get one quite easily. if you will look at http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/ar...TICLE_ID=55288 you will se that mandating gun ownership actually DECREASES violent crime, whereas banning firearms to al but the police actually sees an INCREASE in said violent crime.


i grew up with a firearm.. i was taught from a VERY early age how to respect a firearm and i have taught my son also.

fair enough mate...i also was taught how to use and to respect firearms at a very young age....i think the problem is two fold....
1 - it's too easy to get 'em
2 - it's part of the culture that it's an option to use them ("my right" so to speak)

at the end of the day, if you dont have it, you cant use it....
but you're right, it's not as simple as saying "you're not allowed" - that would backfire horrendously in many places i would imagine

[SPman]

If you really want a pistol in NZ, they aren't THAT hard to get hold of - just depends on who you know.
They'll normally be a bit dodgy, though - like Sarge!

[Street Gerbil]

It appears that guns cause elevation in crime only when they are available only to a marginal (criminal) part of the population. Google "gun town usa". Read and weep.