CHILD OF GUN ENTHUSIAST MAKES NEW FRIENDS AT INTENSIVE CARE UNIT

Richmond, VA—In a heartfelt gesture of admiration, local nurses and assistants at St. Michael’s Hospital for Children delivered a get well package for six year-old Timmy Brewster that uplifted his spirits and sent shudders of excitement through his phantom leg.

“We gave him a basket full of toys, games and puzzles to help keep his mind occupied during this difficult time, “Head Nurse Joan Percy quoted. “He’s been quite brave throughout this whole ordeal.”

Timmy’s father, Jerome Brewster of Richmond, is a well-renowned pro-gun activist and community organizer for a local chapter of the National Rifle Association. While hard at work petitioning locals to lift restrictive gun laws, Timmy found his way into an unsecured closet full of firearms. In a hilarious and completely unexpected turn of events, the young boy managed to completely blow off approximately three-fourths of his left leg.

Jerome Brewster declined to comment, and only made machine gun noises over the phone when we tried to speak to him, but little Timmy was able to say this while temporarily conscious in the Intensive Care Unit at St. Michael’s Hospital.

“I really, really want my leg back. I can’t play with just one.”

WTF??!
:huh:

Can't think of a better example to show why everyone should not be allowed to have guns. Possibly other than the 1000's of people who die in fights because
the other guy was half-drunk, a cocky fucker and happened to have a gun strapped to his hip at the time.

Then people shouldn't have cars either.

I can't think of a better example of someone overreacting to an obvious Onion-type story....

IF, as the story implies, this guy WAS a gun rights advocate... he violated EVERY FUCKIN principle of gun safety.....

NO LOCKS?

AMMO IN GUN???

um..... call me a doubter....

Then people shouldn't have cars either. [/b][/quote]
Dont forget those Damn KITCHEN KNIVES either!

#1 weapon in violent acts....

Unlike guns, kitchen knives and cars has an every day use. For those people that do require guns in their every day life (such as those who hunt) a restricted weapons license would do perfectly fine, and wouldn't require gun licenses, but rifle licenses instead.

There are surely idiots who do that type of thing, and granted they're probably not many, but they are too many.

:rolleyes: classic :rolleyes:

Michael Moore is listening.

Peaches, you sound like you're a pro-gun person notwithstanding stories like this one.
I wonder if you'd still be pro-gun if that was your little boy?


(typo edit)

It wouldn't be my little boy. I never had a loaded gun in the house AND he was taught how to shoot and gun safety when he was little - just as my brother and I were. :)

In fact, my brother and I were discussing this the other day - my grandfather ALWAYS had a loaded gun in his nightstand and one in his glove compartment. We never even DREAMED of opening either, let alone opening them and picking up the gun. :unsure:

Um... are Sykk and I the only people who think this is from The Onion?

"Hilarious?" Gotta be the Onion...

haha... it was a quick test to tell who is from GFY and who isn't

Im sure everyone has a username there, but actually being a 'regular' there? Keeping up with GFY is a fulltime job :blink:

Idiot

It wouldn't be my little boy. I never had a loaded gun in the house AND he was taught how to shoot and gun safety when he was little - just as my brother and I were. :)

In fact, my brother and I were discussing this the other day - my grandfather ALWAYS had a loaded gun in his nightstand and one in his glove compartment. We never even DREAMED of opening either, let alone opening them and picking up the gun. :unsure: [/b][/quote]
Obviously safety is paramount.

But the fact remains that if the gun isn't there in the first place, the accident isn't going to happen.

The fact remains that there are many more dangerous things to children in and out of your house than a gun. B)

Have you gotten rid of the stairs in your house? Do you put your son in a car? Do you have knives? Cleaning fluids? Do you give him a sponge bath instead of risking drowning in a tub? Have you padded all your sidewalks and streets? Does he wear a helmut whenever he goes outside?

OR.......are you careful and alert with these dangers knowing they're there like responsible gun owners are? :okthumb:

The whole anti-gun arguement is academic.

If the theory worked at all, illicit drugs would not exist on the streets today.

You cannot stuff the genie back into the bottle... Live with it!

wig, your friendly neighbours north of the border do not have to live with it.
We as a society as a whole, have collectively decided not to, and we don't.

The zealous gun ownership attitudes of many in the US boggles my mind.

I went at it differently, instead of getting a gun, I got a pellet gun that has trouble breaking a sheet of paper folded in 4 ;)

but I can still do my DeNiro in the mirror...


"You talking to me??"

wig, your friendly neighbours north of the border do not have to live with it.
We as a society as a whole, have collectively decided not to, and we don't.

The zealous gun ownership attitudes of many in the US boggles my mind. [/b][/quote]
Chris,

I don't care what Canada does. I do not live there. ;-)

Can you debate my point?

Peaches, while I agree that there are more dangerous things in a household than guns, most of those other items in the household serve some other purpose than to put holes in people.

Stoves are dangerous (hot), paint is dangerous (chemical), and on and on... but each one of those has a valid purpose for being in your home. A gun has little or no purpose day to day in your home, except for protection from other people with guns because everyone has one.

Beyond that, most "gun enthusiasts" have more than one gun, which is even more useless and dangerous.

As for the protection theory, aren't you suppose to store the gun and the bullets seperate? Doesn't that make it sort of useless for protection (someone breask in, you ask them to wait while you go downstairs to put the bullets in your gun?)

Sorry, the kids got what the parent SHOULD have got... and I hope that parent suffers greatly emotionally and legally for having a firearm in the house.

Alex

Chris,

Here on the West Coast there is a plethora of illegal handguns.

They are everywhere.

I also know that if one went to the UK , within 6 hours one could be "strapped" if one looked hard enough.

I'm torn between this issue.

When i lived in Florida I had guns.

Here I don't feel the need to.

Hey, it boggles the mind of some of us who live here, too.

I didn't get as far as "only made machine gun noises over the phone" before I realized it was a hoax. The phrase "sent shudders of excitement through his phantom leg" was all it took.

That being said ... it doesn't suprise me that some people with an anti-gun attitude might have been fooled. As has been proven often, narrow minded bigots are quick to leap at something that looks plausible based on their own ignorance.

:snipe: :bwave:

:woo: :cdance:

:kapow: :bjump:

Nice play on words, but I do not think self protection by gun requires the other person to have one.

guns represent value in something and hold there value better than most things you buy that are "purpose" items. To use the term "useless' is misleading at best.

In Georgia and Texas (where I have held CCL), you do not have to maintain them separate. I have a loaded 45 in my truck that stays there. There is also a loaded 38 in my console. We keep a loaded 9mm in the bed stand. The rest of my guns are in my safe.

btw, we never lock ou vehicles or the doors to our house unless we am leaving town. When I am gone, my wife locks the doors and feels safe with her gun in the bed stand, loaded.


I thought this story was a joke? Nice thought, though.

Guns don't have a purpose? Tell that to the people who have shot intruders (armed AND unarmed intruders, BTW). Tell that to me when I shot a water moccasin outside my front door. Tell that to Wig who fed his family with deer meat. :)

You can live w/o a stove (mine rarely gets used :)). You can live w/o knives. You can live without having paint and cleaning chemicals in the house. Just like you can live w/o a gun. B)

I live in a country where if I want to own something and it doesn't infringe on others, I can own it. :)

Hey, it boggles the mind of some of us who live here, too.

I didn't get as far as "only made machine gun noises over the phone" before I realized it was a hoax. The phrase "sent shudders of excitement through his phantom leg" was all it took.

That being said ... it doesn't suprise me that some people with an anti-gun attitude might have been fooled. As has been proven often, narrow minded bigots are quick to leap at something that looks plausible based on their own ignorance. [/b][/quote]
PD, I'm not anti-gun per se. I am more anti "own a gun cuz I can".
Correct me if I'm wrong, but in my 38+ years, it is only in the US where this attitude exists. (oh great, now I'll be labelled anti American)...

*shrug*.. whatever.

wig, when you state your point, maybe we can debate it.

Right on.

Or because "everyone else is allowed to have one".

In Canada we have less guns, and we have less gun-related problems.

I think the direct correlation is at least arguably true.


We also have a lot less fear, which I think is a good and healthy thing :)

Peaches, uses of long guns by a hunter, someone living in the country side, etc, is something that is forseeable as a "tool". A handgun in a house in Jacksonville, Florida is NOT a "tool" use - it is protection from the other people with guns.

Because everyone is allowed to have guns, you all have guns. Because you all have guns that serve no other worldly purpose except to scare away other people with guns, it is an endless loop. Mutually Assured Destruction on a smaller, one on one scale.

Just as that was an insane part of the history of the cold war, MAD on a personal level is not more logical.

You bought it. You get to live with it.

Alex

You know Nick, I can see both sides of the arguement, but I have to side with gun ownership.

I don't feel the need to have and carry a hand gun, but I choose to. I don't feel it is a risk (for me or anyone else) and I am certainly not scared because I think someone else has one. LOL

In fact, most every person that lives in my town has guns and I am sure a good bit carry them in their vehicle like I do. I rarely ever carry concealed, although I am licensed.

What sucks is that people like me who grew up around guns, but not around gun violence or epidemic gun accidents (does that exist?) are threatened by extremists that would ban every firearm if they got their way.

And, to add insult to injury, the most vociferous group on this topic here are not US citizens. :blink:

Alex, there are lots of reasons a person in Jacksonville FL owns a handgun, personal protection being just one of them. Most sensible people don't question the right to do that.

Change handgun to fully auto AK-47, and you have an entirely different discussion.

It does always seem to be that way, doesn't it? :P

Translation - No, I cannot even fathom your point. I do not live in America but just simply want them gone for your best interest.

At least it becomes a rational debate at that point.


note: fully auto is illegal already as is semi auto assault weapons in some areas.

It does always seem to be that way, doesn't it? :P [/b][/quote]
The oh so tolerant liberals. :P

sadly, they closed down the ak47 range they had here......I tell ya, if I got a couple of you canucks out there shooting ak47's at old car bodies, you'd be thinking 'fuck me, I gotta get me one of these" ;-)

I think a lot of it is how you are rasied. I was raised around guns. Canadains, by and large, were not. Sure, there are some who own guns just because they can. Why are they wrong and some holier than though Canadian is right? If Canada's gun ownership laws were the same as ours, there would be just as many Canadians packing heat as Americans (on a percentage basis) just because they could.

There are already gun laws on the books and many times the existing laws aren't even properly enforced. We need better enforcement of existing laws instead of new laws and bannings. Why should I have to give up my right to own a gun because some dickhead shoots up a school, drunkenly shoots someone or keeps a gun out where children might get ahold of it?

Also, remember, that most guns used in crimes were obtained illegally in the first place. So banning guns would only take them out of the hands of law abiding citizens and keep them in the hands of criminals who would ignore any bannings or new laws anyways.

Translation - No, I cannot even fathom your point. I do not live in America but just simply want them gone for your best interest.[/b][/quote]
You don't know where I stand on the issue. All you read was that I am anti-gun and therefore you've drawn your conclusions. You wanna learn how to translate something, I suggest a Berlitz course. But I will shed some light, since you practically insist.

Yes I am Canadian. I am very happy to live in a society that wasn't brought up around massive amounts of guns for "self-protection". My children will be safe from gun accidents because there won't be any around. Is it an epidemic? That isn't for me to say. But put enough guns in the hands of people who should not have them (ie. the majority of them) and accidents will happen and lives will needlessly be ended.

I am not normally so judgemental, however where handguns are concerned, I do have a strong opinion. Like I previously posted, it isn't handgun ownership that bothers me, but the fact that people buy them in copious quantities because they can. It is absurd.

The oh so tolerant liberals. :P [/b][/quote]
hey now...I'm lefty leaning and I'm also a member of the NRA ;-)

What about people who buy copious amounts of alcohol because they can?
maybe if they banned alcohol, there would be less drunken shooting rampages......

wig,

The one thing I do know is crooks will always be able to get hold of guns.


When I lived in Florida I too had a CC permit and a number of handguns and a Winchester , and a AK (not fully auto though) :)

I handled them and treated them responsibly and even began educating my at the time young children about them.So as not to fear them but respect them as a potentiallydangerous "tool".

However as my kids grew up I weighed the risk of owning them against the risk of an inquisitive 10 yr old little shit rumaging my shit. ;-)

( We can all teach kids about guns yadda yadda yadda ,but I know full well at some point if you have a gun in your house your son is gonna try and get to it to show off to his friends or whatever - I did. :) )

It is part of the tradition of many households in the United states to have guns , and I would suggest that the number of accidental deaths by handgun is relatively minor in relation to the number in cirulation.

I think there is a healthy balance and frankly as a Canadian , what business of mine is it that Americans have guns....

Except , here in BC , pot has been decrimilased (virtually) which caused a major furor in the US in fear of more weed being exported accross the border.

Canada could make the same point regarding handguns.

I think Canada has gone to an extreme and actualy wish rifles were EASIER to get here in Canada.

I too however would love to hear arguments why a civilian needs to possess a fully auto AK LOL

In summary....not really my business. I have no problem with Canadians owning registered guns , let alone Americans.

I chose not to own a handgun , however I would own a rifle if there weren't so many hoops to jump through here to own one.

Dr. G,

I think you are right. The USA is, for lack of a better word, different. Our culture is different and our attitudes are different. Our society has evolved differently than other countries.

Yet despite all the perceived problems, we have grown to be the most powerful economic and military force the world has ever seen. Coincidence?

Perhaps the bad things are simply a by-product of some of the greater things this country has been able to do.

Dr. G,

I think you are right. The USA is, for lack of a better word, different. Our culture is different and our attitudes are different. Our society has evolved differently than other countries.

Yet despite all the perceived problems, we have grown to be the most powerful economic and military force the world has ever seen. Coincidence?

Perhaps the bad things are simply a by-product of some of the greater things this country has been able to do. [/b][/quote]
Ok....

I agree with your post actually.

But the one caveat I'd throw in is

The US empire I feel may be one of the shortest lived...Look out for those fucking Chinese ;-)))))

Nick,

In respect your opinion, actions and choice. Who knows, I too may make similar adjustments as my son gets older.

As you probably know, we have many laws concerning guns and the vast majority of them are reasonable laws that 99.9% of gun owners abide by.

It is already illegal to possess a fully automatic weapon (AK or whatever). I offer no arguement as to why joe sixpack should have one.

And you are right, there has to be balance which is what we have IMO.

Ok....

I agree with your post actually.

But the one caveat I'd throw in is

The US empire I feel may be one of the shortest lived...Look out for those fucking Chinese ;-))))) [/b][/quote]
No doubt about it!!

Trust me, I am not out shaking the pom pons rooting for America the empire. I did not vote for GWB when I was living in Texas in 2000. I am the disenfranchised middle. LOL

I fully expect that we will fall from power and not just to the Chinese but also Europe.

hey now...I'm lefty leaning and I'm also a member of the NRA ;-) [/b][/quote]
I was joking. :D

It's ok wig, even though I respect your rights and opinions, you don't need to recip.
Being a world superpower, you can pick and choose. :D

You don't know where I stand on the issue. All you read was that I am anti-gun and therefore you've drawn your conclusions. You wanna learn how to translate something, I suggest a Berlitz course. But I will shed some light, since you practically insist.

Yes I am Canadian. I am very happy to live in a society that wasn't brought up around massive amounts of guns for "self-protection". My children will be safe from gun accidents because there won't be any around. Is it an epidemic? That isn't for me to say. But put enough guns in the hands of people who should not have them (ie. the majority of them) and accidents will happen and lives will needlessly be ended.

I am not normally so judgemental, however where handguns are concerned, I do have a strong opinion. Like I previously posted, it isn't handgun ownership that bothers me, but the fact that people buy them in copious quantities because they can. It is absurd. [/b][/quote]
Touchy, touchy.


Okay, so you are for gun ownership, just not the guy who has a collection?

And how is the copious amounts causing more deaths and accidents?

It's simple a pet peeve of yours and you are driven by emotion.

I respect your choice and you should respect others.