Curious about Leuck's comment in another thread, I did a Google on the subject and found the following two items:
"On October 12, 1984, model-actor Jon-Erik Hexum playfully put a blank-loaded pistol to his head on the set of the TV spy show "Cover Up." The concussion forced fragments of his skull into his brain, and he died six days later."
"More notably, on March 31, 1993, Brandon Lee, son of 70's martial arts star Bruce Lee, was killed during the filming of "The Crow." Lee's death was a bit more complicated. Unbeknownst to the propmaster, the stunt gun that killed Lee had misfired during a previous scene, lodging a slug in the barrel. The gun was reloaded with blanks and fired at Lee. The blank charge was enough to deliver the waiting slug. Lee died 13 hours later."
Yes, my comments were in regards to the first situation.
The second I hadn't heard about. But the prop man should have checked the gun each and every time he picked it up, including ensuring the barrel was free of obstructions. Had he done so, he would have seen the blockage before he passed it over to the actor.
I know hindsight is always 20 / 20, but clearing and checking a firearm EVERY time it is picked up or changes hands is basic to every firearms course I have ever heard of....
Which I always found interesting since the wadding and powder charge obviously exit the barrel of the gun when fired. Of course nowadays many shooting exhibition and acting teams do demos at the start of most shows demonstrating the short range destructive powers of blanc cartridges by destroying aluminum cans etc.
It's been spoken of for years of late, but why is it that years ago, (30 -50 ) there was never any problem with firearms. Most every rural and suburban household had a firearm of one sort or another. If the family wasn't into shooting sports, or hunting, the device just sort of stayed in the closet and no one, even the kids, touched it. My whole family (based upstate NY and Canada) were hunters and firearm owners. The kids were taken hunting, allowed to shoot small bore at very early ages (.22 and 410)both boys and girls, (if they wanted to) and there was never a problem with threats, anyone being killed, intentionally or accidently. Hunting season was a happy, friendly, getting family together time. Women cooking and preparing meals for the returning hunters ..... Venison, rabbit, squirrel, even black bear. Cousins seeing one another again. Looking back, it seems like a Norman Rockwell painting. Firearms were always all around us, and especially during those times. There was NEVER any problem or incident involving a firearm.
What's the problem now? Is it just more publicized? Is it just a political football, to be used to gain votes? Nowdays there are less people exposed to firearms thus they're easy prey to the bad press of the media and politicians? I don't know, but to my way of thinking, considering what history has shown us, a multitude of times in the past, even if you don't personally own a firearm or want too ...... it's a given that when free men loose their right to bear arms ..... , they've taken the first step towards loosing their freedom.
Keeping it within the contents of the ratio of firearms to the number of people ..... When you consider the number of firearms in the hands of the (U.S.) public, and compare that to the number of "incidents", it's almost ridiculous to think that there is a "gun problem". As always, however, sensationalism is the mainstay of the media, and you never hear about the lives saved, crimes stopped and bad guys captured or exterminated, by armed people. Happens EVERYDAY, dozens of times. When's the last time anyone here has heard of a good thing that's happened because someone had a firearm. There've been so many incidents that have occured that if there had only been ONE person there with a firearm, some madman could have been stopped in his tracks before massacring dozens of people. Yet, everytime one of these incidents occurs, the politicos insist that keeping firearms from law abiding citizens will stop this in the future. After that you can simply sit there and wait for the authorities to show up and protect you. Not the dead people of course. Just the survivors. And the media NEVER EVER says otherwise. What is the non aware person to think in the face of this overpowering agenda of the liberal mindset? That we can all sit down in a meadow, with flowers on our heads and sing Gombyah, and all the bad stuff will simply go away ..... while the "government" takes care of you.
Yeah, sure. Seems to me, that's happened before, somewhere in history, with never any good consequences for the common citizen.
Step by step, the way is being prepared to confiscate firearms. Registration of firearms is always the first step. How else will they know where they are, when the time comes? For those of you who are young and want to keep your firearms long term, I'd suggest that you make provisions now, to do so. Day by day, inch by inch, you are loosing your ability to bear arms. Eventually, a ruling by the Supreme Court will likely declare that the Second Amendment doesn't apply to the individual. Then , those who didn't stand up for their rights now, will understand why we, of this generation, were so adamant in our fight to support the right to bear arms. Along with the individuals right to be free, HAS to go the right to individually protect that freedom, and ones life and property and all their other inalienable rights.
Otherwise, it's all simply a sham. Without the right to protect yourself, your rights and anything that you have, is fair game to anyone who wants to take it.... by either an individual, a gang or a government.
Hmmm, After that, I feel like standing up and singing the Nationl Anthem! Where'd I put my American flag?
If anyone thinks the government will take care of them, look at New Orleans. I'm not against the government (although sometimes it's good to not get all the government you pay for) but they are pretty much powerless to protect their citizens against looting, carjackings, rapes and robbery even in the best of times, let alone when there is a national disaster. Makes sense to be self-sufficient to some degree, including the ability to protect yourself against the unsavory elements of out society.
Well, personally I think it's just another case of Reactionism. I haven't seen any Proactive form of any legislation in my lifetime. Imagine if our (US) Constitution was written today. The only thing Free in this country, is stupidity. Rides right beside "peace of mind". Many people dream they live in peace...because they have no mind.
Shit Bob, it's going to take three years and 1.7 billion tax dollars just to perform an inquiry on who's fault it was, and an outline in legislation to recommend it from not happening again.
Sit down the Mayor, the Governor, President Bush, the FEMA director, and the Homeland Security Director at a round table...place a single bullet in the chamber, place the gun in the middle of the table, spin it, and let the process begin. Now while we might, as taxpayers have to flip the bill for funeral costs....33 cents and a casket vs. 1.7 billion wasted tax dollars. Hmmm.
There are a lot of reasons you didn't hear about gun accidents and murders fifty years ago. One, a lot more guns around now. Two, more densely populated areas means a lot more bystander victims. Three, less publicity back then of a lot of things. Four, per your example, people who kept guns around taught their kids.
As far as why you don't hear all the cases whereby people use guns to stop crimes, it's because it rarely happens. Period. Versus all the times kids find guns improperly stored (I just heard of a study that said that one in three households with a gun have it loaded and NOT locked away) and shoot their friends. This happens several times a year in NYC alone. So you can stop using phrases like "Liberal media" for the lack of information. Here in NYC we have Fox News, Fox Cable News and the NY Post, and I don't recall seeing any stories recently of gun owners stopping crimes. Unless you count the police as gun owners, and they too are sometimes shot with their own guns.
So-- while you may not want people to take away your gun, or your car for that matter, wouldn't you agree that some sort of mandatory gun safety course, and doing all we can do to keep guns out of the hands of people who aren't responsible (and their kids, too) is a good idea?
You can take the idea that registration = confiscation and lock it away in your gun case.
If they want to take your guns away they will take your guns away, registration or not. Sure, a list makes it easier, but that's a different issue.
Here in the U.S. we can barely ban cop-killer bullets, can barely pass laws requiring background searches, so it's unlikely that anyone will take any gun away from any law-abiding citizen (not granting carry permits is a different issue).
Good post sir ! I agree with most of what you have said. Safety must be paramount in any approach to gun control. It amazes me how casual a lot of gun owners are - even up here in Canada with fiercely strict controls. But I must take issue with your assertion that registration doesn't lead to confiscation. Perhaps not in a wholesale way, but speaking from experience, I can assure you registration does indeed lead to confiscation.
Up here in Canada, we have a three class category for firearms - non restricted, restricted and prohibited. As the laws changed recently, a great many of my handguns have been moved into the category of "prohibited" from "restricted". This was done in a totally arbitrary way by government agencies BECAUSE THEY COULD. Certain calibres (such as .32 and .25) are now prohibited; handguns with barrel lengths less than 4 inches are also prohibited. And certain makes and models are simply prohibited because they either don't have a valid sporting use, or some bureaucrat somewhere decided he didn't like them after watching one too many action movies.
Once registered, a firearm is owned by it's registered owner at the whim of the government. It was only through sheer good luck that I had these handguns registered before 1988 (which allowed me a "grandfather" clause out), or I would have been forced to hand them in to the government for destruction. As it is, I can NEVER sell them to anyone; they must be destroyed when I die. And God forbid I ever am involved in any way with any kind of violent act; they will be instantly seized.
A lot is made of the horrors of registration. Some assertions are bogus, but it can and does lead to confiscation in many instances - make no mistake !
R.H.Campbell Home Security Metal Products Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
You mistakenly forget the will of people NOT to be forced to do what is against their strong beliefs. The American belief in the Second Amendment is widely held and rigorously defended. Unless US citizens let down their guard, it will NEVER happen in the US. I wish I could say the same for Canada, but we have no such protection.
What our government has created is a huge "grey market" for the transfer of firearms between otherwise honest citizens. No one wants to bother with this huge inept bureaucracy, so guns are sold just as before between private citizens, only "under the counter" so to speak. And all of these firearms are ones that have not been registered and likely never will be. And they probably represent about 75% of all the guns in Canada. So now that gun owner who happens to come upon a stray handgun, and who would have previously either turned it in, or registered it as required, will simply tuck it away in a drawer someplace. And why wouldn't he ? He's already facing prosecution for not registering his duck gun, so he might just as well do the same for this new handgun. And the erosion of faith in the law continues unabated......
Half the provinces in Canada have refused to obey this Federal law and do not enforce it provincially at all. It's considered a joke in most rural provinces. It's only a matter of time (and the right government) before this costly boondoggle dies of it's own weight (it took 15 years for it to die in New Zealand).
Governments can do whatever they want, but you are VERY wrong if you think that people will willingly give up their personal private property simply because someone deems them suddenly illegal.
Don't worry. They'll happily pry it loose from your cold, dead hand (or whatever that stupid slogan is). Anyone who thinks his ..357 and his 9mm will stand up to our military if they ever decide to take over is a blithering idiot!
Thankfully there is no chance of that. In the US, servicemembers do not swear loyalty to any one man be it military or civilian. Only to the Constitution.
In the event a Coup was tried, the members of that unit would simply refuse (and legally so) to follow orders.
It wasn't the stance of some NRA members, it was the stance of the founding fathers, I imagine they felt much the same way given that the US was pretty much just a bunch of farmers going up against massive old Great Britain
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