My editorial nearly got me "banned" from work

[MilsurpShooter]

I'd say keep documentation and the like just in case. Never hurts to be too prepared. The way this lady was acting and some of the things she said, I don't think she's going to stop there. All she needs to do would be let some of her "concerns" slip to a few parents that have the same mind set as she does. Those parents tend to congregate in groups and have the same outlook on certain issues. 4 or 5 angry parents coming to the main office with your name... Yeah I don't see that going over well. What you have here is someone who's probably going to want to make trouble. It's sad I know, but keep your head up and ears open for any trouble that she might try to cause.

 

[Deanimator]

The irony of this is almost too perfect. Do you recall the VT administrator's statement about a year prior to the incident that having firearms on campus was not consistent with helping students, etc, "feel safe"?

Feeling safe and being safe are two entirely different things.

How about this for a get rich quick scheme?

I'm going to start making the "thousand stitch belts" that Japanese soldiers used to wear during WWII. They were supposed to ward off bullets and bomb fragments. I'll also run off a few bullet deflecting "magic amulets" like the ones that American Indians wore in the 1800s.

I figure I can get rich selling them to stupid anti-gunners. They'll "feel safe"; I'll have enough money for that American Eagle Luger; and nobody who puts the things to the test will be able to sue me anyway...

 

[TonyB]

I recently wrote a letter to the ed. of our newspaper too.A local mayor was trying to make greater restrictions when trying to purchase a gun w/in the city limits(which actually has no gun shops).An opinion writer got it right however and said basically it would have no impact on crime or violence.My letter basicall agreed w/ the writer.2 days later the VT shooting happened.I was just leaving the house when my wife picked up call waiting.The guy said "is there someone named Tony there?"she says "yes I'll get him."He says"no that's OK,I just wanted to know if he felt the same way about guns after the VT shootings?And if he does,he's a DUMB WOP."Yeah another intellegent arguement from the left.
What makes me mad is that the guy went as far as looking up my number in the phone book,then won't even talk to me directly.My wife was even more po'ed than I.I tried to Called ID him,but it said "unknown #."He never called back.A-hole.

 

[PocketP11]

TonyB, what you could have done is responded back to him via a letter to the editor. You could have put in your letter what this person said to you, and then given a response. You know there were others with the same thoughts, and it would have been a marvelous opportunity to give an argument back to such people.

 

[akodo]

You know, I see best buy carries a little microrecorder, and not the old ones that were the size of a pack of cigarettes, but tiny, like an AAA battery. it is supposed to be for holding 100 hours of music, but also has a little recorder device for 'on the go exeutives' as well as a decent sized flash drive.

Get one of those, you don't even need to use it for recording, just pull it out and pretend it is running by stating the date and time, and then push the stop button. Then say 'well, if that is the case, this will come in handy,' and watch her/them turn white.

I used to carry one of the older larger ones that used the microtapes for recording college classes, and once used that when an RA (student advisor type in a dormitory) got on a power trip and was going off.

I don't know why that fakery works, maybe because deep down those people know they are being bullies, and don't want to get called on it, because really, if you believe what you are saying, and you are going to go tell a person of authority, why would you care if the other party was recording the whole thing.

 

[Young gun]

"this reminds of..."an off topic post"

When I was 8 years old I started going to a "sleep away" camp in Maine called Kieve. though the camp was very liberal, it did have a rifle range (all .22 rifles) where I learned to shoot. It was the most popular activity and always filled up first. My first or second year the counselor called Tex (I assume because he was from Texas) ran the range and would entertain us by taking out his lever action .22 and shoot cans down as fast as he could, even the camp cook showed once up with his twelve gauge. The cook would blow open these huge food service size cans of peaches, beans, or what not for the campers. (Sadly I seeing missed that.)

But I also remember parents weekend when nervous upper-middle class mothers would be taken by their sons to watch how good we had gotten at using firearms. One mother even refused to go to the range saying something a long the line of "No, no, please, No. i don't ever want to see you shoot a gun."

Every year some mothers could be over heard talking about they should get rid of the range. But every year it was still there. When a mother asked one of the counselors why bother having the range and teaching marksmanship, as she believed the risks out weighed the benefit, the counselor said "What we teach above all is gun safety. There may come a day when your son finds a gun on the street, finds one at someone else's house, or sees a friend with one. If that should ever happen your son has learned to not only treat it with caution but if need be, unload it and put the safety on, and get an adult , so that neither he or his friends can be hurt."

The mother still would not listen claiming her son is never and would never be around fire arms except at camp.

Anyway the point is that many mothers (not most) over react because all they know about firearms is what they hear on the news. And it becomes an emotional issue not one that is dictate by logic.

 

[230RN]

Doc2005 ...

Any time that one of the fool-antis even start to stir, I assure them that I would be glad to give up my RKBA the day after the Antis give up their Constitutional rights of free assembly and free speech. Then again, at that point, since they would no longer be able to contest my gun ownership, I would probably change my mind, keep my firearms, and what could they do about it?

Priceless !

buzz knox...

...they left a WSJ article detailing the 10 characteristics of a workplace shooter. I thanked them for it, then complained that I was only up to 7. I promised to work harder to get the last three.

Where's that article ? ! ? ! I want to know what my score is !

 

[alligator94]

I find it ironic at best, that we firearms owners, are afraid of non-gun owners taking away our firearms from us. Please let the full reality and accuracy of this parting comment sink-in. The firearms owners, are afraid of the non-gun owners taking away their firearms.

That is because we are "legal" gun owners. And they have the proven ability to legislate firearms away, either specifically (AWB) or possibly en masse.

 

[homeka45]

WA, Excellent letter. Keep up the good fight.

 

[walking arsenal]

I find it ironic at best, that we firearms owners, are afraid of non-gun owners taking away our firearms from us.

Not them, but the police and military that work for them maybe.

 

[Fulcrum of Evil]

(Ages from 0 through 17)

Number of Deaths 1,385

That's a rate per 100k, not a total. Last time I checked, the number of total gun murders was around 11-12k per year, with the majority being commited by gangmembers against other gangmembers. I would expect there to be significant overlap between that and your 0-17 age group, as I expect gangmembers to be dead or in jail by 18, with some managing to leave the gang.

Isn't the accidental death rate for kids somewhere around 100/year, or am I thinking of something else?

 

[Librarian]

That's a rate per 100k, not a total.

Nope - rate per 100K is 1.89. Those WISQARS folks know what they're doing when they report statistics.(CDC analysis is sometimes suspect.)

Isn't the accidental death rate for kids somewhere around 100/year, or am I thinking of something else?

Right; 105 (0.14 / 100K) accidental deaths via firearms for ages 0-17 in 2004. They're included in the 1,385 total.

The issue was keeping the data to what are legally children. People who can vote and enter into valid contracts are no longer children, even if they might not be particularly mature. CDC says there were 73,258,205 people in the 0-17 age range in 2004. The death rate by means of firearms gets pretty grim at 18, drops off at 34.

[FONT="Courier New"]
     age         deaths     population     rate/100k
       17           487       4,099,068    11.88
       18           660       4,122,868    16.01
       19           807       4,149,391    19.45
       20           783       4,084,046    19.17
       21           831       4,164,902    19.95
       22           821       4,209,940    19.50
       23           768       4,260,985    18.02
       24           843       4,253,516    19.82
       25           772       4,051,479    19.05
       26           704       3,934,075    17.89
       27           657       3,882,852    16.92
       28           594       3,786,322    15.69
       29           577       3,900,021    14.79
       30           532       3,792,038    14.03
       31           546       3,888,369    14.04
       32           556       4,078,623    13.63
       33           557       4,310,942    12.92
       34           526       4,397,248    11.96
       35           496       4,155,429    11.94
       36           443       4,082,063    10.85
       37           461       4,094,867    11.26
       38           470       4,213,411    11.15
       39           494       4,504,421    10.97
       40           530       4,576,779    11.58
[/FONT]

 

[plexreticle]

I feel sorry for her kids.

 

[MinnMooney]

Original quote from walking arsenal :

Then she told me that people like me didn't make her feel safe and that she wouldn't want her kids around people like me.

If an incident happened at your kids camp that was akin the Virginia Tech shooting, I'm curious who she would rather have in her kids' cabin trying to keep the gunman out - you, with your carry weapon or Mahatma Gandi, turning his other cheek???

 

[Danus ex]

Then she told me that people like me didn't make her feel safe and that she wouldn't want her kids around people like me.

"People like you", huh? That could be anyone: blacks, gays, jews, even ninjas. Pick your favorite and say you were discriminated against at work.

Heck, "people like you" could also mean non-bigots, and I can understand bigots hating non-bigots.

 

[asknight]

someone said earlier:

sheesh I work for the USPS and Read Shotgun News G&A and others all the time at work.

You shouldn't read my mail before I get it! I'll give you amnesty on the Shotgun News though!

 

[walking arsenal]

"People like you", huh? That could be anyone: blacks, gays, jews, even ninjas. Pick your favorite and say you were discriminated against at work.

Stop discrimination against ninjas, it's for the children.