Mass Shooting at Connecticut Elementary School

[MrsSpringsteen]

Who is that guy? I was channel surfing last night, heard him speak one sentence, got scared and changed the channel.

Don't know how many guns he owns, but just one is a frightening thought.

[BVS]

Originally Posted by MrsSpringsteen

Who is that guy? I was channel surfing last night, heard him speak one sentence, got scared and changed the channel.

Don't know how many guns he owns, but just one is a frightening thought.

He's a hero to conspiracy nuts. He started infowars.com, he was one of the first to start the 9/11 was a government operation. He's even included Bono in one of his conspiracies. Overall classy guy.

[Irvine511]

i had never heard of this person before this morning. he's in no way representative of anything or anyone in the US other than conspiracy theorists.

i have no idea why Piers Morgan (who no one likes) even had him on other than for sideshow purposes, though i guess there was some petition that no one cares about?

[Pearl]

Originally Posted by Irvine511

i had never heard of this person before this morning. he's in no way representative of anything or anyone in the US other than conspiracy theorists.

i have no idea why Piers Morgan (who no one likes) even had him on other than for sideshow purposes, though i guess there was some petition that no one cares about?

Apparently, this wacko is the one who started the petition.

That petition is beyond ridiculous. What about the First Amendment?

Some people in this country scare me.

[bono_212]

What petition?

Edit: Never mind, I remembered.

[Pearl]

He continued that he'd been confronted by someone with "violence in the eyes" who he suspected was an undercover police officer, and that he'd seen undercover officers throughout his stay in New York.
"I think we're being cased," his videographer added. Jones then said that he might be murdered in an undercover operation.
"The way this'll work is, 'oh, see here they were protesting gun grabs and some crack dealers shot them,'" he said. "These people clearly work for Bloomberg ... it was just super-creepy ... If something happens to us, we're killed by crackheads, it was the NYPD or the mafia they hired, period," Jones said. "...This city runs white slaves, that's sex slaves, out of here all day, narcotics, you name it. This is mafia central."

Alex Jones On Piers Morgan Rant: Cops Were Following Me, I Might Be 'Killed By Crackheads' (VIDEO)

[Pearl]

Apparently, Alex Jones wasn't necessarily making up shit:

Fact Check Debate: Alex Jones Vs. Piers Morgan | The Boston Liberal

But one thing the pro-gun crowd needs to know is that many don't want to ban all guns, they just want to ban the more dangerous ones like assault rifles.

[BVS]

Originally Posted by Pearl

Apparently, Alex Jones wasn't necessarily making up shit:

Of course he doesn't make up the factoids. Those people don't last, he like so many other, memorizes the pieces that work in their favor otherwise they lose their audience. It's the context they twist and lie about. We're living in a world where context is almost void.

[PhilsFan]

I have never heard of him, but there is a five story tall train track near my hometown that has had Infowars.com graffitied on it for years.

[Moonlit_Angel]

I've heard the name before-seen talk about him and his conspiracies floating around the internet and stuff. But I've never heard him speak and now I'm kind of curious to see this interview.

And speaking of conspiracies, this sort of thing was mentioned a ways back in the thread, but hey, it's rearing its head again!

Prof: Newtown didn't happen: Blames Obama for 'hoax' - Boston News | Examiner.com

This is a professor stating this. I cannot even begin to imagine the level of delusion one must be operating at to come up with these ideas.

Also:

Prof. Tracy claims that Newtown didn't happen the way it "did" but thousands of people witnessed the aftermath. Could the government pull off something so huge?

I hate that that's how the article ends. Any journalist worth their salt would/should point out how batshit absurd such an idea is, not engage it as something valid. But if they did, they'd be accused of "liberal bias" or something .

[Axver]

In a conversation at work today about people falling for anything, I made a joke that certain recent events were hoaxes, including this shooting. One of my co-workers piped up that not only had she seen actual conspiracy theories on the topic such as the one peddled by James Tracy, but that a friend of hers actually believes the shootings simply never happened and all the "relatives" on TV are actors.

I was utterly flabbergasted.

Then I resolved that the USA itself is a hoax. After all, you couldn't get fifty separate states to all federate, now could you? Could you? Any honest person knows that sort of thing just doesn't happen. It doesn't stand to reason.

[Pearl]

Originally Posted by Moonlit_Angel

I hate that that's how the article ends. Any journalist worth their salt would/should point out how batshit absurd such an idea is, not engage it as something valid. But if they did, they'd be accused of "liberal bias" or something .

Examiner.com is not a legitimate news outlet. It's "reporters" are citizen journalists - meaning the average Joe could contact Examiner, ask to report on whatever and is given their own beat. They usually have little or no journalism experience and no one is editing or keeping an eye on their work. So, articles from Examiner should not be taken seriously at all.

I'm saying this to you specifically, Moonlit but to anyone who thinks Examiner is worth using as a source.

[MrsSpringsteen]

What makes it even worse is that he works for a public university and is collecting a taxpayer funded paycheck. Probably a pretty nice one.

[Moonlit_Angel]

Originally Posted by Pearl

Examiner.com is not a legitimate news outlet. It's "reporters" are citizen journalists - meaning the average Joe could contact Examiner, ask to report on whatever and is given their own beat. They usually have little or no journalism experience and no one is editing or keeping an eye on their work. So, articles from Examiner should not be taken seriously at all.

I'm saying this to you specifically, Moonlit but to anyone who thinks Examiner is worth using as a source.

Ah, I see. I was wondering about that-I'd heard of that site before, but wasn't sure how professional a site it was.

Even so, that still doesn't speak well of the current journalistic climate, that we're willing to let just anyone report on anything for the hell of it. And even your average citizen should know better than to pose such a question and give creedence to inane conspiracy theories. But I realize I'm speaking in idealistic terms again here, so...

On another note, it may have done a number on his sore throat, but still, this rant on Jon Stewart's show last night was awesome:
Scapegoat Hunter - Gun Control - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - 01/08/13 - Video Clip | Comedy Central

That "1776" guy towards the end is TOTALLY the sort of guy who should be allowed to have a gun! Fucking psycho.

[the iron horse]

Originally Posted by Pearl

Apparently, Alex Jones wasn't necessarily making up shit:

Fact Check Debate: Alex Jones Vs. Piers Morgan | The Boston Liberal

But one thing the pro-gun crowd needs to know is that many don't want to ban all guns, they just want to ban the more dangerous ones like assault rifles.

As a supporter of the Second Ammendment, Alex Jones did not represent
my view in a positive manner. Although he did state some facts, I'm afraid his
actions during the interview did not help promote a better understanding of the of the Second Ammendment.

Remember, the first Ammendment protects free speech, a free press, and
freedom of religion.

If you remove the gun related murders committed by gangs and the drug
cartels in the U.S. the statistics are even with European countries. (check
the current FBI crime statistics)

The murder rate in the U.S. has been going down for over a decade.

I wish the conversation was focused more on family, instilling values in our children, a repect for life, mental health awareness.etc

The term "assault weapon" is a loaded and highly misleading term.
There are many semi-automatic hunting rifles with a wooden stock and
a steel barrel that can fire at the same rate (and in many cases with a higher
caliber round) as these so called "assault rifles."

These military style rifles have been targeted because they look
scary.

[BVS]

Originally Posted by the iron horse

If you remove the gun related murders committed by gangs and the drug
cartels in the U.S. the statistics are even with European countries. (check
the current FBI crime statistics)

I'd like to see these statistics, and I'd like to see how exactly those stats are defined.

Originally Posted by the iron horse

The term "assault weapon" is a loaded and highly misleading term.
There are many semi-automatic hunting rifles with a wooden stock and
a steel barrel that can fire at the same rate (and in many cases with a higher
caliber round) as these so called "assault rifles."

These military style rifles have been targeted because they look
scary.

You've stated this in almost every gun thread we've had, I've challenged you point by point everytime, and guess what? You've never been able to respond.

This is a lie. It's not about aesthetics; increasing the amount of rounds, the range, and ability to conceal does make a rifle more dangerous. Period. You should take a look at the definitions someday.

[Salome]

Originally Posted by the iron horse

If you remove the gun related murders committed by gangs and the drug
cartels in the U.S. the statistics are even with European countries. (check
the current FBI crime statistics)

Perhaps if you don't also remove gun related murders in the criminal world in Europe.
Even then I have my doubts whether this is correct.

[Popmartijn]

Originally Posted by the iron horse

If you remove the gun related murders committed by gangs and the drug
cartels in the U.S. the statistics are even with European countries. (check
the current FBI crime statistics)

No, they are not. And why do you want to remove those murders out of the equation? Just to make them look better?

Have a look at this page: 58 Murders a Year by Firearms in Britain, 8,775 in US
(The page itself has references to the FBI and (UK) government sites from which the information is coming from)

Number of Murders, United States, 2010: 12,996

Number of Murders by Firearms, US, 2010: 8,775

Number of Murders, Britain, 2011*: 638
(Since Britain's population is 1/5 that of US, this is equivalent to 3,095 US murders)

Number of Murders by firearms, Britain, 2011*: 58
(equivalent to 290 US murders)

Somehow, I don't think that 8,500 murders with firearms in the US were all gangs & drugs related.

[BVS]

Originally Posted by Popmartijn

And why do you want to remove those murders out of the equation? Just to make them look better?

They're mostly black and brown people, I guess they don't count? That's like evolution or something.

[BoMac]

Biden's gun control event was interrupted by a report of another school shooting. At least two dead in California.

It's been a month. We were due for another one.