[grampster]

Well, I've been watching and reading all that has been going on regarding "following the rules". I have to agree that this is a firearm's oriented site, it is private property and can be run or not at the will of the owner. But somehow, to me, it has become something else altogether. When TFL closed I had been lurking and posting a bit for a few months. I was really disappointed and tried to seek out other sites, but was not much impressed. Then came THR and it was like old home week and things kind of just continued. Old faces and new ones, old guys changing names, but the spirit of TFL seemed to continue.

The thing is it remained a place for heated, but polite debate. One was free to agree or disagree or just spout off a bit, maybe even tell a joke or lay out some irony or other such things that men and women of passion tend to do. The tie that bound us together was our love of freedom and the blessings that freedom bestowed upon us, at a high cost I might add, from the legions who had laid down their lives and good health to see to that freedom. We like guns and all the accouterments, camaraderie, and endless other occupations of time that the shooting sports bring to us, to say nothing of the guarantees to life and limb as well. We are passionate people and those passions are sometimes worn on our sleeves. But we are people of towering good will for the most part, despite these passions. Do we allow those of ill-will and bigotry, shallow thinking and hatred drive this forum of discussion into the ground? I hope not!

But still among us come the wolves in sheep's clothing who always live at the fringes of our "flock". Are we to give up the good times and camaraderie, the bickering and arguing, the learning and good will we have for one another because of those wolves? Do we let them win by disrupting this forum of exchange of ideas in the spirit of good will and the like that we have had for the last year and a half? The owners and moderators are agonizing over how do we continue the good will when some among us use the so-called freedom of speech in an irresponsible way. Their frustration is shown by retracting into a shell of narrow parameters.

I am sick and tired of the low and coarse among us setting the stage for how we can interact with each other, especially when it has been such a good thing. How many times have we read, over and over, how so many have come here and been surprised at the level of discussion and self moderation.

I support Oleg and Derek and the Mods to the point I would ask them to continue to give us our head and when any of us see the beginnings of coarse, uncalled for statements, to bring up short the miscreants ourselves by warning the party ourselves, perhaps, and stopping the thread ourselves. I am not sure how, really, we can do this. But I for one will miss the hours wiled away, sippin' on an adult beverage, reading and learning, laughing and crying, praying and supporting, arguing and agreeing and all the other wonderful stuff we have had at our keyboards, even if it does wander a bit, from time to time, off topic. Remember Blackhawk and CR Sam and Labgrade and Travis McGhee, and Preacherman, and all the rest of you who know who you are. We have too much good here to give it up for a couple of bigoted 8-balls.

I'm just sick about what has happened the last few days and I'm sorry to have bored you with my maunderings, but it was bottled up and I'm not going to keep it inside anymore.

:( grampster

[P95Carry]

It's good to blow smoke Gramps' .... better than holdin it in. I am to a large extent on your page ... but have found that almost any BBS does at times get into dark waters .... it just ''seems to happen''.We have too much good here to give it up for a couple of bigoted 8-balls. I'll drink to that Sir!:)

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I forgot to say ... IMHO .. it ain't the posts per se that make us come back over and over .. it is in fact the people ... and we have some great people ..... just my 0.02.

[RealGun]

I think it may work itself out with some judicous moderating, but what I see now is pouncing on a thread with the slightest opening for those who have negative energy they need to apply, typically with ugly remarks.

I think I might be more harsh in moderating until the mood becomes much less ugly. Specifically, ugly comments about public officials, the President and candidates in particular, without actually discussing issues is not "the high road". Openly attacking or discrediting w4rma is not "the high road" either, although some posters become an itch everyone would like to scratch.

[fjolnirsson]

Grampster,
With you all the way. I've laid off posting the last few days. Not sure if I'm staying or going. I was inclined to stick around, even with the renewed restrictions at L&P. Behavior on the part of several moderators has made me leery. Moderators who had remained courteous even in the midst of calls for genocide have suddenly begun publicly dressing down and mocking members on forum. That is not the high road.
If things improve, I'll be back. If not, I'll find other places to be. In the meantime, I watch and wait.
Hopefully those same moderators will do a self check, and realize what moderator means.
Just because a thread is off topic and needs closing, merely because a member voices disagreement with Oleg or a mod, that is not a reason to abandon civility, no matter how rude the post in question may be.
Much like a LEO, a moderator is not there to voice his or her opinion, merely to keep the peace.

[Correia]

Gentlemen, trust me, we hear you guys.

Grampster, the self policing nature of the THR membership is one of the things that makes this a good community.

I apologize for any rudeness given by me personally as a Mod, as being mean or rude was not our intent. Mods are human too, and sometimes we get angry. It happens. We try to be professional as best we can, but you have to understand that we have put a lot of work into this place to make it a good board. At some point, even the best of people can get angry when they see people who should know better disrespect their work.

As Grampster said, we have a community built on our love of firearms. Remember that about 95% of the board is not changed at all by Oleg's policy to restructure L&P. Politics about the RKBA are still just fine, and coordinating activism should be our greatest strength. Instead of being a strength and building block for the board, L&P was turning into a liability. So now we are trying to focus on the RKBA like when we started.