Beto O'Rourke: "Hell yes, we're going to take your" assault weapon

[BehindBlueI's]

Yet they (LEO) still work for those agencies and do what's required of them to keep their jobs.

Intentional incompetence is a thing. You are much more likely to get in trouble for doing police work then you are not doing police work. Somebody runs and you catch them? They might resist and that creates liability. They get away? Ah well, we'll get them next time. Missed something in a search? Oh well, happens to the best of us. Brass gets pissy and you need to make more "contacts"? Lots of warnings for expired plates for elderly folks. I'm definitely not saying this should be your standard, but when the brass is looking for someone to make an example of or things are sketchy with the leadership, if you haven't mastered the art of intentional incompetence and plausible deniability you need to catch up to the post-Ferguson world.

Frankly, no cop puts equal effort into enforcing all laws. I believe this is part of checks and balances, just as much as a jury is.

[StraitR]

This is not just Beto or Biden. Listen to the public cheering and screaming with approval. This is the core belief and agenda of the whole Democratic party. Remember that.

I'm not sold on this because I think much of what you see on TV is stacked or skewed for the purpose generating revenue. So while I see it on TV, and know it's prevalent on MSM outlets and social media, it's not been my experience in day to day life.

Born and raised in Kentucky, I've gone on to live in Ohio, Washington (6 years), California (3 years), Georgia, and now Florida. I've traveled across and around this country by auto a great deal, visiting 42 states at least once. I've been to more major cities for work than I can count, many of which are considered very liberal. If every person I met in life held the same political views as I do, every election cycle would be a landslide. But, that's not the case, so I know I'm mingling with people of different political views. Yet, I've not once got into a crazy political debate with somebody, and that's likely because I'm a pretty normal dude living with and coming in contact with pretty normal people.

My guess would be a lot of "normal" Democrats are holding their nose and punching their party card right now, much like many of us did for Trump. I'm still holding my nose, because politics in this country stinks worse than ever.

IMO, only people overly zealous about politics and their party line, meaning relatively hardcore to one side or the other, would likely care enough to attend national political events. As such, I'm guessing most people cheering in that crowd would qualify as a zealot of the Democratic party. I think MSM seek out zealots because the "average" citizen, be that Democrat or Republican, are likely too grounded and "normal". Outrage and controversy are what sell, so that's what we're shown.

Of course, this is just my opinion based on my own experience.

[ldunnmobile]

Agree with this 1000x ^^^

These candidates are after clicks views and likes with extreme rhetoric. Don’t feed the trolls.

[mtnbkr]

There is a defiant streak in many Americans. I guess it was born out of our rebellion over 200 years ago and deeply etched into the American psyche. It is even apparent in our military where enlisted have far more leeway (and responsibility) and most other armies.

I have known many Brits who in all other ways are in line with American conservative ideology until guns are brought up and then it is as if I'm talking with the craziest leftist from the bowels of San Francisco. I just read an article in a british paper about AK manufacturing in Bulgaria and it was truly apparent that the Brits view such guns as imbued with some sort of unnatural killing magic powers instead of a gun based on 100 year old technology that just happens to have a few tweaks to make it optimal for modern land warfare.

I think many on the Left in the country fail to realize this rebellious streak, they look at how "happily" the Brits and Aussies turned in their guns and fail to realize that we are not (yet) that same people.

My fear now however is that the cat is out of the bag and the idea of confiscation is on the table in a way it has never been before.

I work for a British company and travel over there frequently. I've never hid my gun nuttery (I've even recruited into the company fellow gun nuts or converted some to said nuttery). It's a thing now when coworkers we work closely with come over from the UK to go shooting. Some are enthusiastic from the get go, others are a bit reluctant but ultimately warm up to the idea (if only as a recreational pursuit while here). Needless to say, there is often discussion on *why* Americans are so gun-happy. As you said above, we have a defiant streak (I describe it as a healthy dose of "fuck you, you're not the boss of me"). Also, you have to factor in the fact that until the 1900s, most of America was essentially wilderness and having a gun was key to survival against wild animals, criminals, and the sort. This is significantly different than England where the entire island has been "civilized" for the better part of 400 years. There were still people alive in the US when I was a kid or teen who lived in or previously lived in areas where you couldn't count on "civilization" protecting you. Read Elmer Keith's Bio, Hell, I Was There! for examples of being in a more lawless United States. That is recent enough to have an impact on people's outlook.

Combine that with our national memory of kicking out our "betters" and generally being populated by Type A risk takers (you had to be to move to the wilderness and start over) and you can see where our national obsession with guns comes from.

That said, I can't figure out why the Aussies weren't similarly wired other than they didn't have the element of rebellion in their history.

Chris

[cheby]

I'm not sold on this because I think much of what you see on TV is stacked or skewed for the purpose generating revenue. So while I see it on TV, and know it's prevalent on MSM outlets and social media, it's not been my experience in day to day life.

Born and raised in Kentucky, I've gone on to live in Ohio, Washington (6 years), California (3 years), Georgia, and now Florida. I've traveled across and around this country by auto a great deal, visiting 42 states at least once. I've been to more major cities for work than I can count, many of which are considered very liberal. If every person I met in life held the same political views as I do, every election cycle would be a landslide. But, that's not the case, so I know I'm mingling with people of different political views. Yet, I've not once got into a crazy political debate with somebody, and that's likely because I'm a pretty normal dude living with and coming in contact with pretty normal people.

My guess would be a lot of "normal" Democrats are holding their nose and punching their party card right now, much like many of us did for Trump. I'm still holding my nose, because politics in this country stinks worse than ever.

IMO, only people overly zealous about politics and their party line, meaning relatively hardcore to one side or the other, would likely care enough to attend national political events. As such, I'm guessing most people cheering in that crowd would qualify as a zealot of the Democratic party. I think MSM seek out zealots because the "average" citizen, be that Democrat or Republican, are likely too grounded and "normal". Outrage and controversy are what sell, so that's what we're shown.

Of course, this is just my opinion based on my own experience.

In my follow up post I provided a link to the Washington post article about the survey that shows that 74% of the Democrats support the buyback. This is the majority I was referring to.

[NEPAKevin]

It’s almost like he got shitfaced, plowed his car into his electability, and tried to flee the scene while spewing “Woke” nonsense.

OTOH, Ted Kennedy actually did get shitfaced and plow his car into what should have been a career ending vehicular homicide from which he fled the scene. But, aside from not winning the presidency, he still had a long, successful political career.

[Kyle Reese]

Unless they're talking about purchasing weapons from owners who got them from the CMP, I dislike the term "buyback". Call it what it is- confiscation.

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

[Borderland]

OTOH, Ted Kennedy actually did get shitfaced and plow his car into what should have been a career ending vehicular homicide from which he fled the scene. But, aside from not winning the presidency, he still had a long, successful political career.

He also tried to cover it up but that was a stretch.

[StraitR]

In my follow up post I provided a link to the Washington post article about the survey that shows that 74% of the Democrats support the buyback. This is the majority I was referring to.

1) Again, WaPo is a MSM outlet in the business of making money by selling news. I think the days of credible, reliable, and unbiased news from MSM are over. This applies to FOX as well. I can't remember where I saw it, but shortly after the Texas and Dayton shooters, there was a poll that showed >70% of Republicans supported new gun legislation. Not sure who these people are polling, but again, I find it hard to believe at best.

2) If I learned anything at all in statistics classes and during my work as a Six Sigma green belt (thank goodness that's over), it's that you can easily manipulate data to show anything you want it to show.

I'm not trying to argue with you about what we see on TV and MSM, I'm simply pointing out that it's contrary to my personal experience, both past and present.

[Bergeron]

Regarding that “75% of Democrats supporting confiscation”, I think that you’ll find that in any political group, the base will tend to adopt the general views of leadership. I think it’s much less that the majority of Democrats are eager for confiscation as it is that they are eager for a Presidential victory, and thus open to the views advanced by the various candidates. The candidates are generally favoring confiscation, so the base is therefore favoring the practice.

I think that while the conversation about guns sometimes seems to be between the pros and the antis, I think it’s actually (or best) directed at the fence sitters. I think that the most important demographic to win over are actual liberals, and I think it’s a very possible thing, as long as it’s not attempted through attitudes of hostility or superiority, which can be unfortunately regular.

There’s nothing intrinsically liberal about being anti-gun, and there’s nothing intrinsically prohibitive about being liberal and pro-gun. Self-defense is a human right, and the right to acquire weapons is a part of the right to live freely. I have liberal friends, and I’ve made liberal acquaintances. These people are at least curious to hear pro-gun arguments divorced from the conservative/liberal framework, and several literally light up at being able to be openly interested in guns while retaining their liberal politics.

I had hoped that RFO might be open to both gun rights and climate policies inclusive of oil & gas, but it was not to be.