In The News Today...

Quote: Beethoven

+1

A courageous guy risks his life and ends up dying trying to do a good deed, yet someone actually has the audacity to ridicule the guy and blame it all on guns. This is exactly the type of mentality that will end up destroying our society. (And it has already started)

If he didn't have the gun, he's be sitting at home right now. Because we don't have conceal-carry laws in Canada, if that was me in that Walmart in Niagara Falls and that happened, I'd be sitting at home right now, too. The gun gave him the courage to do what some would call a heroic deed, all in vain.

Society on this side of the border is just fine, thank you.

Quote: boymimbo

The gun gave him the courage to do what some would call a heroic deed, all in vain.

Thousands of cops have "died in vain" with their guns drawn trying to save others.

...and your response to them is, "Well, they'd all be sitting at home if their guns didn't give them the courage to confront the bad guys!"

Seriously?????

Quote: AZDuffman

Way, way more than started. It "started" about 1963-1965. We are 50 years into the decline. Don Draper in 1960 would not recognize what we have sadly become.

I meant about guns. There have always been anti-gun zealots, but their cries have reached a fevered pitch in recent years. The thing that really worries me though is the fact that we have so many LIV's in this country, and the anti-gun zealots seem them as being ripe for the picking. (Unfortunately, LIV's have proven that they are immune to common sense)

This is fun. If the cops died because they were sitting across the street at a Pizza hut and the WTC came crashing down on them while they were eating lunch, then the cops were not heroes because of 9/11.

When I read more about the way Wilcox made a conscious decision to attempt to stop the shooters however, through eyewitness accounts, my mind changes however. He was at the checkout, saw the gunmen pass by, told a clerk that he was going to try to stop them, made a plan, didn't realize that the shooter had an accomplice, and died. That set of planned actions to thwart a crime in progress, makes him a hero.

Satisfied?

Quote: Beethoven

Thousands of cops have "died in vain" with their guns drawn trying to save others.

...and your response to them is, "Well, they'd all be sitting at home if their guns didn't give them the courage to confront the bad guys!"

Seriously?????

That's their job. The one we pay them to do, the one that they are trained to do. They are the one group of people in our society who are authorized to use lethal force in order to stop a crime in progress. Note: in Canada, any gun shooting by a cop is investigated fully by an independent group who ensures that the use of lethal force was the right act. There are a few cases in Canada where lethal force by the police officer was not warranted and the police officer is punished (sometimes severally) for their actions.

Nice try.

Quote: boymimbo

If the cops died because they were sitting across the street at a Pizza hut and the WTC came crashing down on them while they were eating lunch, then the cops were not heroes because of 9/11.

That's not the question I asked you. Nice tangent though. lol...

Quote: boymimbo

When I read more about the way Wilcox made a conscious decision to attempt to stop the shooters however, through eyewitness accounts, my mind changes however. He was at the checkout, saw the gunmen pass by, told a clerk that he was going to try to stop them, made a plan, didn't realize that the shooter had an accomplice, and died. That set of planned actions to thwart a crime in progress, makes him a hero.

So you finally admit that you shot from the hip when you criticized him without knowing all the facts about the situation (pun intended)? The rest of us knew the backstory because we actually read the article before commenting on it. Anyway, good for you.

Quote: boymimbo

That's their job. The one we pay them to do, the one that they are trained to do.

They're not heroes because "that's what they're paid to do"? *facepalm*

Quote: Beethoven

I meant about guns. There have always been anti-gun zealots, but their cries have reached a fevered pitch in recent years. The thing that really worries me though is the fact that we have so many LIV's in this country, and the anti-gun zealots seem them as being ripe for the picking. (Unfortunately, LIV's have proven that they are immune to common sense)

Yes, but it all started about the same time. The reality is if you remove suicides (as they are not gun violence) from the mix you decrease the "gun violence" by about 2/3. of that 1/3 I would be willing to bet about half is in the top 5-10 metro areas. And in those areas is will be concentrated in just the worst sections.

But to those in Canada we are like what they watch on "Deadwood" or some other western, with people shooting each other on every corner because one called the other a nasty cur.

Quote: Beethoven

That's not the question I asked you. Nice tangent though. lol...

Cops who were trying to save lives in 9/11 are heroes, even if they were corrupt bribe-accepting SOBs before 9/11.

So you finally admit that you shot from the hip when you criticized him without knowing all the facts about the situation? (The rest of us knew the story because we actually read the article) Good for you.

Quote: boymimbo

That's why we leave the job of protecting society to the police, and not to the untrained public at large.

Everyone wants to be the next George Zimmerman.

The police were in an agitated state responding to cops shot. I think it likely they would have fired at someone with a gun at that point and he'd probably be dead anyway. The police have shot and killed off-duty officers in similar situations because they don't know who they are and they are often just reacting.

Quote: boymimbo

That's why we leave the job of protecting society to the police

That's funny. Earlier in your post, you say that some cops are "bribe accepting SOBs", but you then state that we should entrust the same "bribe accepting SOBs" with protecting us. lol...