[GoSlash27]

Forgive the ignorance if this has been asked before. I ran a search and came up dry.
I'm new here and I'm used to the rules over at TFL, where there are subjects that are so controversial that they may not be broached on that forum.

My question: Do those rules apply here?

[scout26]

If you look to the upper right hand corner you'll see "Forum Rules"

http://www.thehighroad.org/code-of-conduct.html

[Thin Black Line]

where there are subjects that are so controversial that they may not be broached on that forum.


You have to be careful about using quotes from past Second Amendment
advocating Presidents and applying them to current events in this country.

The following quote could get a thread locked depending on its political context
if it could at all be used to criticize someone doing something right now:

"The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else."

Theodore Roosevelt


Being bold by TR, Bold print by TBL, bold actions....now reserved for truck commercials on TV.

[DogBonz]

In mixed company its always best to aviod talking about religion... That and Blood lust. AKA "Just shoot em"

[RealGun]

If it is not about guns or likely of interest to gun owners in particular, it won't fly. L&P is definitely not a general politics forum, a place to ruminate about any of the latest news or issues that the media has decided we need to care about.

Another way to look at it is when gun ownership is irrelevant to the topic. Expect that discussion to get closed.

[ctdonath]

No non-gun-related topics. (There's a lot of leeway in what constitutes gun-related.)
No discussion of abortion. (Both sides are firmly convinced and adamant. More discussion won't help.)
No bloodlust. ("Kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out" mindset is unwelcome. Don't search for a reason to kill someone.)
Please search for prior threads before starting a new one. (I'd guess about 10% of current threads were already discussed on identical threads within the last month. Don't expect the same enthusiasm from experts that they gave on 25 other threads on the same subject.)
9mm vs. 45ACP, Glock vs. M1911, AR15 - good or bad, if you could only have 1/3/5/13 guns, and a few other topics have been done to death long ago. (New and amusing to you, gettin' old to the rest of us.)

Read more than you post.

[SolaScriptura139]

It would probably be nice if the mods posted a list of topics that they don't want people starting threads about. That might help prevent some of those topics from being started.

[Baba Louie]

Get informed on issues affecting the right to keep and bear arms and other civil rights. Coordinate activism, debate with allies and opponents. Discuss laws concerning firearm ownership, concealed carry and self-defenseKinda says it all, really. The grey area, if any, is in the ..."and other civil rights." portion of this forum's mission.

[RNB65]

There are basically two sets of rules in play at THR. The official rules posted in the FAQ. And the unwritten random and capricious rules enforced by certain moderators. You figure it out.

[hexidismal]

To the original poster I would have to say that to ask that question you must first be specific as to what topics you are questioning the controversial nature of. How can we give you a valid answer without knowing what you are referring to ?

[ReadyontheRight]

There are basically two sets of rules in play at THR. The official rules posted in the FAQ. And the unwritten random and capricious rules enforced by certain moderators. You figure it out.


Hence the term "The High Road". How refreshing that word choice really has meaning. :)

You cannot get around the fact that civility IS subjective. That's what makes THR so much better than the rest.

[Thin Black Line]

And the unwritten random and capricious rules enforced by certain moderators.

But just to be fair, if you make your case in a civil way and can back it up,
even those "certain mods" provide some slack.

[Glockfan.45]

Anything that will come off as cop bashing, anything that sounds like race, gender, or religion bashing are all surefire ways to get a thread closed.

9mm vs .45acp

AR-15 vs AK-47

Mossberg 500 vs Remington 870

Glock vs 1911 are all done to death and will make you no friends here. Threads along the lines of if you could only have one gun, or anything that has the term SHTF or involves alien invasions are a bad idea too.

[Art Eatman]

FWIW, my primary concern is courtesy and politeness. Along with this is my own jaundiced-eye view about the difference between discussion and argument. And I see little point for a thread to continue when two "historic antagonists" get into the umpteenth iteration of backing-and-forthing.

We're supposed to be able to persuade the mildly-anti-gun types and/or the fence-straddlers that we're really all grown up and we're mature adults. Even if we aren't, I'd be real happy if folks would try to fake it. That's part of the "Advance RKBA" thing.

And bad words don't impress me. I imagine I know as many of them as anybody who's ever posted at THR, and most likely in many more languages.

Art

"Sincerity, repetition and volume do not create truth." -- Me.

[GoSlash27]

Didn't want to start any heartburn, just wanted to know what the ground-rules were so I wouldn't inadvertently violate one.

hexidismal,
That was intentional. I figured that a Carlin-esque "the following list of words must never be said on national television..." would be in bad form and might get the thread locked before I got my answer.

I have read and understand the rules in the upper right corner. That's actually pretty generous in comparison to what I'm used to.

Thanks to all for your responses.
Best,
-John

[Justin]

Realize that while some topics aren't forbidden, they will most likely be closed if they don't have unique or insightful content:

1) Done to death. (What gun for SHTF, if you could only have X number of guns, etc.)

2) Done to death and only kind of gun-related (Favorite shootout movie, list gun-related songs, favorite gun in CounterStrike, what gun for Unicorn, etc.)

3) Done to death and amount to nothing more than interweb bellyaching (Wal*Mart sucks, NRA sucks, XYZ shooting forum sucks.)

[sm]

Art expresses my views.

Now when I was a pup and joined THR I agreed to Rules of Conduct

Dear sm,

This ain't Burger King.
Therefore you are not always going to get it your way.
Some topics we do not discuss.
We would appreciate civil, polite discussions within the scope of sub-forums as they were laid out.
If you can agree to this - hit the dot to fill in indicating "Yep" - if not, go to another forum or start your own forum
Staff.

<hit the little circle>
Yep.

[Justin]

One other comment to build on my previous post:

If you find that a thread of yours has been closed please don't take it personally!

Having a thread closed does not mean that we don't like you, are harassing you, or that you are in trouble. If a thread is closed because it is a violation of forum policy, you'll get a note from a mod about it.

But if a thread is closed simply because it's a topic that's been discussed to death, is off-topic but innocuous, or is something that's been posted previously, it does not mean you're in trouble.

[thirty-thirty]

This world we live in requires us to learn to read between the lines. Discussion of taboo topics here would make many think they have "guilt by association", or at least be stereotyped that way, which may be true.

So I go through life with this in mind:

"In a corrupt society, the truth can be found in what is forbidden to say"

[Justin]

Or it could just be the fact that discussions about whether or not one should buy ammunition at Wal*Mart got boring sometime around August 15, 2003.

But, hey, why let an explanation geared towards trying to keep forum discussions interesting and engaging explain the reason for why things are done the way they are when a conspiracy theory works just as well.

http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=29698&stc=1

[redneck2]

Some posters tend to forget that...

1) this is a firearms related forum and,

2) they want to make some of the forums (L&P) the sounding board for bashing anyone or anything they disagree with

I personally enjoy the civility provided here. If I want to see some 13 year olds (in either age or maturity) sling vulgarity at each other, there are plenty of other sites.

The other thing I really appreciate is that discussions typically get steered back on course before they're shut down. If you get shut down, it's only because you deserve it. Play nice, don't post anything you wouldn't say if your wife, mother, or minister were in the room, and you'll be fine IMO.