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Bill Regulating 3D Printed Guns Announced In NYC

New submitter BioTitan writes "New York City may be the first state to crack down on 3D printed guns. Two pieces of legislation were introduced on June 13, one in the City Council that only allows licensed gunsmiths to print the guns, and another in the State Assembly that would make it illegal for anyone to print a gun. Cody Wilson, creator of the first 3D printed guns, and founder of Defense Distributed, told The Epoch Times, 'Such legislation is a deprivation of equal protection and works in clear ignorance of Title I and II of U.S. gun laws.'"

322 comments

  1. to be expected by Custard+Horse · · Score: 2

    They're just shooting from the tip..

    1. Re:to be expected by c0lo · · Score: 2

      WTF? to crack down on 3D printed guns? Is gun 3D printing so pervasive already?
      I'm yet to hear/see/read reports of self-injuries/deaths cause by exploding plastic guns, and the very existence of the Darwin awards shows that stupidity in not as rare in this world as one (still Bloomberg?) would like us to think.

      --
      Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
    2. Re:to be expected by PoliTech · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The biggest danger is that the 3D printed gun can anger the totalitarian regime in which you live, causing the regime to imprison or kill you.

    3. Re:to be expected by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The biggest danger is that the 3D printed gun can anger the totalitarian regime in which you live, causing the regime to imprison or kill you.

      Who's to say I'm still living in a totalitarian regime?

    4. Re:to be expected by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 0

      Is gun 3D printing so pervasive already?

      It'd be too late to stop it by then. Best to nip these things in the bud.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    5. Re:to be expected by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The biggest danger of 3D printed guns is that they can pass through metal detectors...

    6. Re:to be expected by nip1024 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If someone wants to murder someone else, they will not be deterred by the illegality of printing a gun or the other 20 or so laws they have to break before and after the murder.

    7. Re:to be expected by SirGarlon · · Score: 2

      Good thing we use millimeter wave scanners in airports now.

      --
      [Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
    8. Re:to be expected by X0563511 · · Score: 1

      Shooting from the tip? Even if you meant shooting from the hip, that makes no sense.

      --
      For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
    9. Re:to be expected by PoliTech · · Score: 1

      3D Print-head reference? That's how I interpreted the comment. Very erudite in fact.

    10. Re:to be expected by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just the tip?

    11. Re:to be expected by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thanks for your sarcasm

    12. Re:to be expected by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good thing they still need bullets.

      FTFY

    13. Re:to be expected by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The point is to make it more difficult for the murders to occur...
      Making anyone with a printer a "gunsmith" is just plain irresponsible.

    14. Re:to be expected by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Since when is New York CITY its own state? This is the problem with New York State, everyone thinks this way, especially the state government. Any laws passed in the last 5 years only benefit the city, not the actual state.

    15. Re:to be expected by just_a_monkey · · Score: 4, Funny

      Good thing that the terr'ists won't be able to print 3D guns now, then, thanks to this law.

      --
      How inappropriate to call this planet Earth, when clearly it is Ocean.
    16. Re: to be expected by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What are bullets made out of?

    17. Re:to be expected by rubycodez · · Score: 1

      you're funny. please post link to the metal-less ammo and metal-less firing pin

    18. Re:to be expected by BasilBrush · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Is there fundamentally any reason why these couldn't be made with some material other than a metal? I mean once upon a time armour was steel, but now Kevlar can be used. Planes were aluminium but now carbon fibre can be used. Jet engine turbines are ceramic, etc. I'm not suggesting any of these particular materials are the right ones for this case, and indeed it might be a composite. But it doesn't seem impossible to do away with the last bits of metal, if someone wanted to do that.

    19. Re:to be expected by lgw · · Score: 2

      A firing pin needs to be quite rigid in order to detonate the percussion cap that is the primary explosive in modern ammo. Realistically, ceramic would work fine for a zip gun that's only safe for (about) 1 shot in the first place.

      On the other hand, a flintlock or matchlock would need no such metal parts. Keep your power dry boys, and don't go off half-cocked.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    20. Re:to be expected by lgw · · Score: 4, Informative

      Making anyone with a printer a "gunsmith" is just plain irresponsible.

      You probably have a mistaken understanding of how difficult it is to make a gun at home with quite basic machining equipment. Here's a detailed photo-record from a guy who legally made an AK-47 from a shovel. Making an AR-15 (requires much more accurate tolerances) is a bit harder, but most cities have machine shops that regularly provide "maker spaces" (to use the geek term) for doing it right, to high precision.

      A 3D printer will make a crappy zip gun. Very primitive metalworking tools will make a working AK-47. A CnC milling machine will make a perfectly fine assault rifle: insert billet, run program. The part of the gun that is legally the gun is the lower receiver, which while difficult to invent is still just a piece of metal. An assault rifle "kit" will include a well-made piece of metal that, with a few holes drilled in the right places, becomes a lower receiver. The rest of the kit is legally irrelevant.

      3D printing a lower receiver is new and therefore scary to our rulers, but has little practical application. There's already a legal framework (IANAL, know your local laws) that allows you to buy an "almost" receiver, drill a few holes in the right places, and now you have what is legally a gun. You can't legally sell it - because now it's a gun - but you can legally make and own it (in many places, anyway).

      TLDR: the work needed to transform a piece of metal from not-legally-a-gun to legally-a-gun is "precisely drill a few holes". 3D printing is difficult and expensive by comparison.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    21. Re:to be expected by nigelo · · Score: 2

      > Making anyone with a printer a "gunsmith" is just plain irresponsible.

      Currently, anyone without a 3D printer can be a gunsmith, so what's your point?

      --
      *Still* negative function...
    22. Re:to be expected by jythie · · Score: 2

      I highly doubt our 'rulers' are all that scared. What they are, however, is opportunistic since random people who do not know much about fabricators (3D printers, CNCs, whatever) or the history of improvised guns;... those people are scared. Politicians are just capitalizing on it.

      People tend to forget that, as much as we would like to believe otherwise, our elected officials are neither evil nor stupid. They are, however, generally aware of what might help or hurt their chances of keeping their jobs, and paying their own mortgage comes first.

    23. Re:to be expected by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Probably better to crack down on it before every single person is doing it.

    24. Re:to be expected by Guspaz · · Score: 2

      There are synthetic materials that can probably do the trick. How about synthetic diamond? Firing pins are tiny, and well within the capabilities of synthetic industrial diamond production.

    25. Re:to be expected by spazdor · · Score: 1

      Why does this facile and 'truthy' sentiment get reliably upvoted whenever someone posts it? It's neither insightful nor particularly original, and what's worse, it's demonstrably false as a matter of empirical psychology.

      "Wants to murder someone" is not a simple, binary, on-or-off property of anyone's mental state, and the man-with-a-mission loading rounds into his gun with cool, icy determination which this argument brings to mind, does not characterize the vast majority of violent crime. In real life, people are subject to psychological influences from myriad sources, and people who are in a state of seriously wanting to kill someone, tend to be in an even more unstable, influenceable state of mind than normal. People's car-buying desisions are demonstrably affected by such minutiae as the physical layout of the showroom, and the order in which the salesperson decides to present them.

      What kind of alien to human psychology would you have to be, to imagine that the ready availability of tools to kill someone from far away, without any eye contact or physical proximity, wouldn't make murder psychologically easier to go through with?

      --
      DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!
    26. Re:to be expected by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Diamonds are, indeed, quite hard. However, they are not particularly *strong*. It might work for a shot or two, but it would quickly fail. Just like the ceramic firing pin idea mentioned earlier.

    27. Re:to be expected by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      wouldn't make murder psychologically easier to go through with?

      Not to mention practically easier, as well.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  2. Fear and Ignorance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    So it will be legal to build your own guns with metal machining tools, but if you do it with a 3D printer, it will be illegal. I'm sure all the people who want a gun but can't buy one are going to listen. This will just be one more charge after the fact, after someone commits another crime that is already illegal.

    1. Re:Fear and Ignorance by fractoid · · Score: 1, Insightful

      This is what I don't understand. Why do we need separate laws about 3D printed guns? Surely if you're not a licensed gunsmith you can't legally make a gun, whatever the particular tools you use to do it?

      --
      Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
    2. Re:Fear and Ignorance by gl4ss · · Score: 1, Insightful

      This is what I don't understand. Why do we need separate laws about 3D printed guns? Surely if you're not a licensed gunsmith you can't legally make a gun, whatever the particular tools you use to do it?

      that's how it is in most of the western world.
      however, usa is an exception and it's legal for anyone to make a gun(provided the gun isn't particularly advanced, but still). that's how there can be a place for this law, but it makes little sense in the overall context of new york being situated inside usa.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    3. Re:Fear and Ignorance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      This is what I don't understand. Why do we need separate laws about 3D printed guns? Surely if you're not a licensed gunsmith you can't legally make a gun, whatever the particular tools you use to do it?

      It is legal to make a firearm for personal use in the US. You don't have to be licensed.

    4. Re:Fear and Ignorance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But you can make one for your own use. This would stop that.

    5. Re:Fear and Ignorance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      9. May I lawfully make a firearm for my own personal use, provided it is not being made for
      resale?

      Firearms may be lawfully made by persons who do not hold a manufacturer’s license under the GCA
      provided they are not for sale or distribution and the maker is not prohibited from receiving or
      possessing firearms. However, a person is prohibited from assembling a non-sporting semiautomatic
      rifle or shotgun from 10 or more imported parts, as set forth in regulations in 27 C.F.R. 478.39. In
      addition, the making of an NFA firearm requires a tax payment and advance approval by ATF. An
      application to make a machinegun will not be approved unless documentation is submitted showing
      that the firearm is being made for the official use of a Federal, State, or local government agency (18
      U.S.C. 922(o),(r); 26 U.S.C. 5822; 27 C.F.R. 478.39, 479.62, and 479.105).

      Source: https://www.atf.gov/files/firearms/industry/0501-firearms-top-10-qas.pdf

    6. Re:Fear and Ignorance by geogob · · Score: 0

      By "for your own use", do you mean only shoot yourself with it?

      Actually I know very well what you mean and what is meant it the federal provisions, but it's a pretty perverse implementation of gun restriction law when you think about it for a second.

    7. Re:Fear and Ignorance by nschubach · · Score: 1

      Guns are not solely created and bought to shoot people specifically. For my own use can be anything from shooting cans to hunting for food or animal population control.

      --
      Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
    8. Re:Fear and Ignorance by tippe · · Score: 1

      Is this actually true, or is it that you need to be a licensed gunsmith to *sell* a gun (but making one for yourself is totally legal)?

      Honest question; I don't know anything about American gun laws...

    9. Re:Fear and Ignorance by drakaan · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I think "for your own use" means the same thing that it means in relation to the other two categories of things that the ATF cares about. You can have and make alcohol [beer...not liquor], tobacco [products], and firearms [as long as they're not fully automatic machine guns], it's when you start selling them that oversight gets intrusive.

      Gun restriction law is in-and-of-itself perverse (as are the other two categories above). Prohibition's success rate for gun manufacture is only high due to the barrier to learning the process. 3-D printing is getting so much attention because now people who are frightened of guns (instead of people) realize they could be produced without complete government oversight and accountability.

      I'm not especially worried about it because the people I'm likely to get shot by will have guns whether there is 3-D printing or not. Banning 3-D printing just means they're more likely to have a reliable gun.

      --
      "Murphy was an optimist" - O'Toole's commentary on Murphy's Law
    10. Re:Fear and Ignorance by IndustrialComplex · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Is this actually true, or is it that you need to be a licensed gunsmith to *sell* a gun (but making one for yourself is totally legal)?

      Honest question; I don't know anything about American gun laws...

      When trying to understand US laws, keep in mind that one of the founding principles of the US was that it was to be a collection of semi-sovereign states. As such, the states have great authority at shaping their own laws.

      So to answer your question... it depends on which state you are in when you want to sell a firearm. Pennsylvania, IIRC, doesn't have any particular restriction on personal sales of firearms (I'm sure there are some, but I remember it being pretty free). New York State does, but it also depends on the type of firearm.

      It can actually be a big problem for people because you can easily make a wrong turn in your car and what is perfectly legal and a non-issue in one state can be considered an extreme felony with mandatory multi-year minimum sentences.

      IE: The Benjamin Franklin Bridge in Philadelphia. It's so damned easy to accidentally cross over into New Jersey where the gun laws are more draconian. Of course, the laws in Philly are pretty severe too, but you could be legal in Philly, and accidentally cross into NJ.

      The Ben Franklin Bridge, for those that don't know, is very easy to accidentally cross as the roads leading to it are confusing and don't really have the standard 'Oh shoot, this road is taking me to the bridge let me quick take this exit' offramps. By the time you realize you are approaching the Ben Franklin Bridge, it's already too late and you are on your way to Camden, NJ.

      --
      Out of modpoints but really liked a post? 1BDkF6TtmmeZ3yqXbz9yhdYVqRYnwFoXDj
    11. Re:Fear and Ignorance by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 2

      In the USA, anyone can make a gun, perfectly legal gun. You can make them all you want, you just can't sell them. THAT takes a firearm license. But when everyone can make a gun, the idea of gun registration (for the purposes of selling them) becomes useless. Guess what, gun laws are going to change, and they are going to effectively repeal the 2nd Amendment, without the formality of doing so, because people are scared of things that make loud noises.

      The fact that more people died at the hands of hammers and clubs than rifles, proves it isn't about killing people. It is about killing people with things that make loud noises that scare people. Make people afraid, tell them only the Government can protect them, and the people become pawns in the struggle for power among the elite. Who can scare the people the most. "Republicans want to kill grandma and eat kittens" or "Brown People are invading from Mexico". It doesn't matter what it is.

      Everything is a parody when you start looking through things with clear eyes.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    12. Re:Fear and Ignorance by fractoid · · Score: 1

      The loud noises thing is so true. On my way to work way back in the day there was a corner that I could take either in 2nd or in 3rd. (This is relevant, I promise). If I took the corner in second, I'd be doing maybe 40-45km/h and making a lot of noise. People would stare disapprovingly and anyone walking across the road anywhere in the area would start running.

      If I took the corner in third, I'd make it round at about 50km/h with maybe a tiny bit of tyre noise but no loud revving. Even though I was going faster and would have potentially caused more damage to any pedestrians I hit, zero fucks were given because I wasn't making as loud a noise.

      --
      Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
    13. Re:Fear and Ignorance by blackraven14250 · · Score: 1

      At least when you get to Camden, there's many fewer cops than there used to be due to the layoffs.

    14. Re:Fear and Ignorance by fustakrakich · · Score: 2

      Because it's not about guns. They want to regulate 3D printers to minimize their effect on entrenched manufacturing industries. Making up scary stories about them will get the public to go along. The bill is saying that only licensed gun smiths should have one.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    15. Re:Fear and Ignorance by Entropius · · Score: 1

      I think "... with a 3D printer!" is going to become the new version of "... on the internet!" -- somehow it's Different (tm)!

    16. Re:Fear and Ignorance by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      Wow, a car analogy, I am impressed!!! ;) :-D

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    17. Re:Fear and Ignorance by PoliTech · · Score: 2

      In good company as well... ”The philosophy of gun control: Teenagers are roaring through town at 90MPH, where the speed limit is 25. Your solution is to lower the speed limit to 20.” ~Sam Cohen (inventor of the neutron bomb)

    18. Re:Fear and Ignorance by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      usa is an exception and it's legal for anyone to make a gun(provided the gun isn't particularly advanced, but still). that's how there can be a place for this law

      It still doesn't make sense for this particular law. It would make sense if they decided that they want to regulate manufacture of firearms in general, regardless of the means used.

    19. Re:Fear and Ignorance by IndustrialComplex · · Score: 1

      Looks as if I've been downmodded for something? I guess the civil engineer that designed the roads surrounding the Ben Franklin Bridge are upset that I don't care for the signage leading up to it...

      --
      Out of modpoints but really liked a post? 1BDkF6TtmmeZ3yqXbz9yhdYVqRYnwFoXDj
  3. SO very dumb by cod3r_ · · Score: 1

    They should wish that the only gun people could have is the 3d printed gun known as the liberator. 1 shot .380.... I believe that is what the government is ultimatley trying to whittle our gun rights down to. 1 shot useless calibers

    1. Re:SO very dumb by MrDoh! · · Score: 1

      Totally, they should be pushing for these useless hunks of plastic!

      --
      Waiting for an amusing sig.
    2. Re:SO very dumb by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So are you upset at the fact that joe blow can't spend 15 grand on a 3d printer and start handing out guns willy nilly to anyone with 10$? Because that's where this is headed. Firstly, the 3d printed guns aren't 100% 3d printed, you can't use plastic for all of it. Second, they work once or twice before they break down. Third, they have a high chance of exploding in your hand. Lastly, have you seen one? I'd be more scared of someone holding a lego gun. Actually, it kinda looks like it's made of lego.

      Right now, you have to follow a process to purchase a gun, sure you might hate it, but it's there, it's law. Allowing anyone with access to the design, meaning anyone with internet access, to print 3d guns, unregulated, is a nightmare waiting to happen.

      Don't take my word for it, wait for the first random robbery or murder to use a liberator, you and I both know it's coming, manufactured or not, to end all of this.

      Personally, I think if you have the right to purchase a gun, you have the right to make one.... for yourself. That's where it's impossible to regulate.

    3. Re:SO very dumb by g0bshiTe · · Score: 1

      Don't dismiss a .380 as a useless caliber. At close range it will penetrate, you may not have stopping power but then again nicking the femoral artery would take one how long to bleed out?

      As concealable as a .380 is you could get very close to your intended target.

      --
      I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
    4. Re:SO very dumb by cod3r_ · · Score: 1

      Wrong.. the liberator is 100% plastic.. That's why it's only good for 1 shot then it needs to cool. The ABS plastic can withstand like 200C before it starts to melt, but the barrel can get there pretty quick.. Also you only need to spend about 500$ for a 3d printer if you put it together. A plug and play you can get for 800 (solidoodle)... I would love it if robbers only used liberators.. Instead they will use easily obtainable 9mm, .40, or .45 cal taurus that they can get for 3-400 if that. With 10 round magazines.. Instead of the near useless .380 caliber 1 shot liberator lol

    5. Re:SO very dumb by jafiwam · · Score: 1

      Firstly, the 3d printed guns aren't 100% 3d printed, you can't use plastic for all of it. Second, they work once or twice before they break down. Third, they have a high chance of exploding in your hand. Lastly, have you seen one? I'd be more scared of someone holding a lego gun. Actually, it kinda looks like it's made of lego.

      Your information is old.

      Since the first guy published his "printed gun" improvements have been made. Interchangeable multi-shot barrels and plastic springs for magazines have both been done.

      Not reliable yet by any means, but things are progressing very fast.

      An innovative designer could make a receiver for a pipe-shotgun with quick change barrels and as long as the pipe was long enough it would be legal.

      The days of "control" over this stuff have slipped away.

    6. Re:SO very dumb by cod3r_ · · Score: 1

      Yeah i should reword to say as a 1shot gun it becomes useless. I do like the .380 for concealed weapons, but not as a primary defense caliber.

    7. Re:SO very dumb by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      Right now, you have to follow a process to purchase a gun, sure you might hate it, but it's there, it's law.

      The process under the standing (federal) law is "find a guy who has a gun to sell, give him cash, get the gun". You can skip all those pesky background checks, since they only apply to licensed firearm dealers.

  4. NRA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    While the NRA spends quite a bit and does a good job protecting gun rights, its important to remember that they are financed by large arms manufacturers. They probably wont lobby as hard for your ability to print your own guns.

    1. Re:NRA by camperdave · · Score: 1

      While the NRA spends quite a bit and does a good job protecting gun rights, its important to remember that they are financed by large arms manufacturers. They probably wont lobby as hard for your ability to print your own guns.

      Actually, that will be an interesting thing to watch. Which way will the NRA fall on this (and similar) issues.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    2. Re:NRA by gregulator · · Score: 4, Informative

      According to FactCheck.org, nearly half of the funding for the NRA comes from membership dues alone. Voluntary donations to the NRA, however, still account for a majority portion of the remaining funding.

      http://www.policymic.com/articles/23929/10-surprising-facts-about-the-nra-that-you-never-hear

    3. Re:NRA by MrDoh! · · Score: 1

      I think we can take a pretty good educated guess on this as it doesn't make THEM money... They'll be for the banning. And they'll put it down to them being reasonable and willing to compromise on things.

      --
      Waiting for an amusing sig.
    4. Re:NRA by SPQR_Julian · · Score: 4, Informative

      There really needs to be a "-1, factually incorrect" option.

      The NRA is completely on board with legal homemade guns, and membership dues and advertisements are the majority of their income.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Rifle_Association#Finances_and_organizational_structure

    5. Re:NRA by camperdave · · Score: 1

      I think we can take a pretty good educated guess on this as it doesn't make THEM money...

      Make them money? The NRA is a non-profit agency. They are not allowed to make money. The profit motive doesn't have a role here (at least with the NRA itself).

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    6. Re:NRA by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      It should be noted that some of those voluntary donations also come from members. Of all the political organizations I am a member of, NRA is by far the most likely to spam me with letters asking for moar money because otherwise "Obama will take away your guns!!!1!!".

    7. Re:NRA by newcastlejon · · Score: 1

      There really needs to be a "-1, factually incorrect" option.

      I just use -1 Overrated for that, especially if someone else has already given it a +1 Informative.

      --
      If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
  5. Re:It's incredible to me by DumbMarketingGuy · · Score: 0, Insightful

    Also typical that this gets auto moderated to -1

  6. Re:It's incredible to me by Qzukk · · Score: 5, Funny

    They will be laughing on the other sides of their faces when Obama's storm troopers round them up and ship them to a FEMA camp.

    Why should I worry? It's not like the government is tracking every website I visit and every person I talk to, how would they know if I've even downloaded this liberator gun, much less made one?

    (oh wait...)

    --
    If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
  7. Re:It's incredible to me by interkin3tic · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Speaking as a leftist of a stripe, we're not. Seriously. Don't get me wrong, I think you're insane for thinking a gun is going to give you any protection from anyone armed with more than a saturday night special, don't think the constitution says anything about you individually having the right to own a gun, and don't like you personally (for trolling), but I'm actually mad that Obama et al are wasting political capitol on gun control.

  8. Good grief by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Cody Wilson, creator of the first 3D printed guns, and founder of Defense Distributed, said in an email interview, “Such legislation is a deprivation of equal protection and works in clear ignorance of Title I and II of U.S. gun laws.” Wilson was referring to Title 1, the Gun Control Act of 1968, and Title 2, the National Firearms Act.

    OK, anyone who reads or watches the news would realize that politicians overreact because most of the electorate falls for grandstanding and over reaction. If a legislator proceeded with common sense, caution, and reasoning, he would never get elected. And this was bound to happen and rest assured, other states WILL follow suit. There is going to be a lot of money spent fighting this in the courts and there WILL eventually be a law against 3D printers. I have no doubt.

    Now we have Mr. Wilson. Mr Wilson goes and prints a 3D gun and blabs it all over the internet - yes, I'm well aware that there would have been someone else who would have done so; after all, we live i a society of attention whores and narcissists. But never the less, he was the first and he gets the blame.

    tl;dr: WTF did he expect?!

    Unless that was his game all along.

    1. Re:Good grief by Darth+Snowshoe · · Score: 1

      Yes, I think Mr. Wilson could have calculated the likely outcomes better than he apparently did. On the one hand, the environment around Newtown, the Boston bombings, an endless stream of kids-shooting-siblings on the news, etc etc creates a favorable moment in legislative (sp?) history for getting gun control enacted. Everyone on that side of the fence wants to see some, any, tangible results. On the other hand, the NRA really is funded largely by gun manufacturers - these guys have no manifest interest in seeing everyone printing guns at home, and surely don't want to give ground on what they consider to be the more substantive issues (background checks, national registry, large-capacity magazines, bans on certain types of weapons.) Who was always going to be the first one thrown off the island here?

  9. State? by sanosuke001 · · Score: 4, Funny

    "New York City may be the first state"? Thats like watching a game show where the contestant is asked for a country in Europe that is fancy and them saying London or Paris.

    --
    -SaNo
    1. Re:State? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Posted by timothy

      That explains it.

    2. Re:State? by FireFury03 · · Score: 2

      "New York City may be the first state"? Thats like watching a game show where the contestant is asked for a country in Europe that is fancy and them saying London or Paris.

      I did have an american ask me is Wales was a city in London a few years ago (and yes, he was dead serious...)

    3. Re:State? by Megane · · Score: 1

      Yes, given that Timothy is a Slashdot editor, and all Slashdot editors rarely bother to check submitters' words for sanity, that does explain it.

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
    4. Re:State? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Naively, one would think that part of an "editor's" job would be to EDIT...

    5. Re:State? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      NYC has always thought very highly of itself; a few expatriate NYC folks I know here in illinois consider the rest of NY state to be not much more than a pimple on NYC's butt. I use 'expatriate' deliberately; its almost like they're from another country, not really the U.S. the way they act and talk, but I acknowledge the very limited sample set.

      Interestingly a lot of Chicagoans think of the rest of illinois in similar fashion...

    6. Re:State? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course Timothy generally has his head up his ass, but if one were to take a reasonable and objective look at NY/NYC politics, they might conclude NYC really is a state unto its own. Contrast NYC to the rest of the US; aside from some superficial facades, you could get the impression it's another country altogether.

    7. Re:State? by oodaloop · · Score: 1

      Would you like to hear all the humour misunderstandings Europeans have regarding the United States, or are you only interested in stories that make Americans look dumb?

      --
      Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
    8. Re:State? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This just in: Bloomberg succeeds from New York, names NYC 51st state.

    9. Re:State? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, is it?! I've been dying to figure this one out!

    10. Re:State? by FireFury03 · · Score: 1

      Would you like to hear all the humour misunderstandings Europeans have regarding the United States, or are you only interested in stories that make Americans look dumb?

      I was relaying a personal experience... I suspect that its one of those cases where getting offended says more about the offendee than the offender...

  10. Re:It's incredible to me by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 3, Informative

    A large number of atheists are libertarian, not leftist. We leave all religions behind, including the religions of the left and right, which, like any good religion, foists groupthink for the purpose of seizure of power for the leaders.

    As with more normal religions, the best policy is to let people be free.

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  11. Printing Guns by FunkyLich · · Score: 2

    Well well. So there is this piece of legislation that will make it illegal to 3d-print a gun.

    So now I wonder, what is and whether it will be altered or 'revised', the definition of: Gun. One needs not a gun to harm someone else. Illegalising the 3d-printing of Guns as we now think of guns, will only add one more law to the ocean of Laws and will only marginally solve the problem it is setting out to solve.

  12. But... *COMPUTERS*! by pla · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I can legally manufacture my own firearms in the US. So can most of you. I can make them, own them, and use them.

    The only thing I can't legally do? Sell them.

    So I could legally manufacture a more-or-less perfect replica of the gun used in Newtown. But New York gets its knickers in a knot over someone printing out a single-shot low-pressure piece of crap?

    Dear politicians - We all know you couldn't think your way out of a paper bag. But can you at least prioritize the crap on which you waste our tax dollars?

    1. Re:But... *COMPUTERS*! by h4rr4r · · Score: 3, Informative

      Actually you can sell them once you no longer want them. You can't make them with the intent to sell, but you can use sale as a method to dispose of them when you are done with them.

    2. Re:But... *COMPUTERS*! by SirGarlon · · Score: 1

      I think it's for the people of New York City to decide how New York City wastes its tax dollars. I think Bloomberg is a pompous ass, but that's not really any of my business because I live in a different state.

      --
      [Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
    3. Re:But... *COMPUTERS*! by camperdave · · Score: 1

      This will be the interesting point... Will it be legal to sell/share the control files that you feed into a 3d printer to print a gun?

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    4. Re:But... *COMPUTERS*! by gregulator · · Score: 1

      This; at least under federal and most state/local laws.

      In some places (california, others), you could legally manufacturer a modern sporting rifle, but you couldn't sell it.

    5. Re:But... *COMPUTERS*! by pla · · Score: 1

      I think it's for the people of New York City to decide how New York City wastes its tax dollars.

      In general, sure. When it comes to doing things explicitly banned by the US constitution, not so much, because it means you and I, in other states, will have to pay to process this BS through the federal court system.

    6. Re:But... *COMPUTERS*! by IndustrialComplex · · Score: 4, Insightful

      But can you at least prioritize the crap on which you waste our tax dollars?

      Don't worry, they do. It's just that your choice of priority depends on your final goal.

      If your goal is a reduction in gun violence, you might prioritize efforts to reduce poverty, unemployment, and parents lacking time to be parents.

      If your goal is to ban firearms, you prioritize the efforts which are achievable in small bite-sized portions.

      --
      Out of modpoints but really liked a post? 1BDkF6TtmmeZ3yqXbz9yhdYVqRYnwFoXDj
    7. Re:But... *COMPUTERS*! by nbauman · · Score: 0

      I can legally manufacture my own firearms in the US. So can most of you. I can make them, own them, and use them.

      That may be the federal law. A city or state can legislate restrictions on the manufacture and ownership of firearms.

      You're not allowed to carry handguns in New York City without a permit. A lot of gun owners get arrested in New York City every year because they don't understand that.

      I feel sorry for them because they didn't understand the law and usually got arrested when they disclosed their guns, but if you're going to carry a weapon around with you that can kill people, deliberately or (more often) accidentally, it's your responsibility to know the law.

    8. Re:But... *COMPUTERS*! by Stuarticus · · Score: 1

      So I could legally manufacture a more-or-less perfect replica of the gun used in Newtown.

      I'm pretty sure you couldn't, certainly not without about ten years of practice and $100K worth of equipment. Of course after all that time and practice you'd probably be considerably wiser and realise that there's no point.

      --
      If you think someone isn't free to have a different definition of "freedom" you may be a tyrant.
    9. Re:But... *COMPUTERS*! by pla · · Score: 1

      If I hadn't already posted here, you'd get my mod points. +5 "completely gets it".

    10. Re:But... *COMPUTERS*! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The issue isn't that you need a permit, it's that you need another permit. Carrying anywhere in NY requires a permit, carrying in NYC requires a different permit that is impossible for most people to get. I personally think it's somewhat goofy to have a "NY concealed carry permit" that isn't actually valid in a fairly important section of the state. At least Illinois is committed enough to block off the whole state to prevent concealed carry in Chicago.

    11. Re:But... *COMPUTERS*! by pla · · Score: 2

      I'm pretty sure you couldn't, certainly not without about ten years of practice and $100K worth of equipment.

      An actual clone of a Bushmaster .223, you have a fair point. Not going to just pop out a frame and barrel, file down a working action, and call it good.

      A crude-but-functional high(er than .380)-caliber magazine fed semiautomatic pistol, though? Lookin' at machinery that costs less than current low-end 3d printers (an entry metal lathe will set you back around $600, and the rest you can rough out with a Dremel and finish by hand with a sub-$100 set of metal files).

      That said, yes, you would still need to invest a good amount of time to learn how to do it right. A few months to a year, perhaps (talking about the basics to produce something functional, not designing your own new-and-improved custom actions)? Sure. Ten years, though? By then you've already mastered the art, gotten bored, and started looking into changing careers.


      Also, FWIW, you can buy all the "hard" parts to make on a gun without it counting as a gun. Only the part stamped with the serial number (the frame or lower receiver in most cases) has any controls around the purchase, and that part amounts to nothing more than a passive hunk of metal with holes in the right places (YouTube has a video of a guy making a fully functional lower receiver for an AR-15 out of... A shovel. A few folds and a few holes, and bam, it goes "blam").

    12. Re:But... *COMPUTERS*! by ProfBooty · · Score: 1

      You could make an ak47 pretty easily. Just need some sheet metal for the reciever, a jig and a drill press.

      Making the barrel would be a bit more challenging if you don't have the right tools, but you really only need a machine shop to build pretty much any firearm.

      --
      Bring back the old version of slashdot.
    13. Re:But... *COMPUTERS*! by broken_chaos · · Score: 1

      Banning firearms is a worthwhile goal, too, just in a different way. If you're trying to reduce murders and crime rates in general, focusing on the root causes is smart. If you're trying to specifically reduce gunshot deaths and injuries, then banning firearms is the way to go.

      The majority of firearms deaths are suicides -- around 2/3rds. And these are suicides that, in many cases, just wouldn't happen without immediate access to a firearm -- most people who contemplate suicide don't actually follow through with it if it takes them more than a couple minutes to kill themselves (which, for example, finding and climbing a tall building would likely take at least ten minutes). I'd consider that a worthy reason to severely restrict firearms in itself.

    14. Re:But... *COMPUTERS*! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unfortunately they have an annoying tendancy to drag the rest of the State along with their loonacy.

      And no, they cannot 'waste their tax dollars' on schemes that violate the Constitutional Protections of New York residents, even though they seem hell-bent on trying.

    15. Re:But... *COMPUTERS*! by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      Does the constitution place any restriction on the ability of states (or the federal government, for that matter) to regulate the manufacture of guns? So long as they don't do it to an extent that buying one becomes impossible (thereby affecting the recognized & protected right to "keep and bear"), I think they're in the clear.

    16. Re:But... *COMPUTERS*! by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      You can make a 9mm SMG without a lathe, actually. It's surprising how many stock parts (tubes etc) can be appropriated to use in such a project.

      It's smoothbore, but for this kind of gun I don't think that matters much.

    17. Re:But... *COMPUTERS*! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So he can sell them after he uses the single shot to murder someone? Good to know!

    18. Re:But... *COMPUTERS*! by operagost · · Score: 1

      The supremacy clause prevents states from violating rights protected in the Constitution. In practice, they do it all the time anyway.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    19. Re:But... *COMPUTERS*! by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      The supremacy clause prevents states from violating rights protected in the Constitution.

      No, it doesn't do that. Only the constitutional rights "incorporated" under the 14th Amendment apply to the states, and that is not an automatic process.

      Although that is irrelevant in the context of my question. 2A protects your right to "keep and bear" arms, but not to manufacture them, so regulating manufacture is not unconstitutional. It can become unconstitutional when regulation is so strict that it strips people of the right to keep and bear in practice because there are no guns to be had, but requiring a license to manufacture does not in and of itself have that effect (unless they then proceed to deny those licenses to all applicants).

    20. Re:But... *COMPUTERS*! by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      If your goal is to ban firearms, you prioritize the efforts which are achievable in small bite-sized portions.

      Well NY already pulled that one, and successfully banned their police from using clips with a particular magazine size. Genius...

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    21. Re:But... *COMPUTERS*! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think Bloomberg is a pompous ass

      Actually, I think he is more of a self important prick , but the difference is subtle...

    22. Re:But... *COMPUTERS*! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, since the 2nd Amendment simply forbids infringement of the right to keep & bear arms, it is a power denied to *both* the federal government and the states. Thus it is left to the People.

      Note, it says nothing about "...Congress shall make no law...", it simply says, "...the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

    23. Re:But... *COMPUTERS*! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And if your goal is to get re-elected, you propose stupid laws which you think might improve your chances with a misinformed and sometimes hysterical electorate.

    24. Re:But... *COMPUTERS*! by jabuzz · · Score: 1

      I am European and pro gun control. However here is a fact, removing a suicide method (in this instance shooting yourself) has zero long term effect on suicide rates. You will get a short term reduction that, but in the long term they just find another method.

      There are a lot of studies on this. A classic one is the in the UK they limited the number of paracetamol's you can buy at once to 32. There was a short term reduction in the number of successful suicides. After a couple of years the suicide rate was right back to where it was before.

      Consequently restricting anything to reduce suicide rates is a pointless waste of time, and anyone advocating restricting guns to reduce suicide rates is a nutty as the gun nuts.

  13. New York City is not its own state (yet) by imadork · · Score: 4, Informative

    Please keep in mind that New York City is not it's own state. And the rest of the state is pretty steamed about the recent gun legislation that the Governor jammed through the state legislature. Some upstate sheriffs have even gone so far as to say they will not enforce that legislation, which is a pretty big step for law enforcement to come out and state in public. Gun rights are a twitchy subject here right now, I find it hard to think of any upstate politician who would support any restriction on 3d printing right now.

    1. Re:New York City is not its own state (yet) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I find it hard to think of any upstate politician who would support any restriction on 3d printing right now.

      FWIW, of the 17 co-sponsors of Bill A07671, only two: David DiPietro of Warsaw, NY, and Phil Steck of Schenectady, NY are outside of the greater NYC area.

    2. Re:New York City is not its own state (yet) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      FWIW, of the 17 co-sponsors of Bill A07671, only two: David DiPietro of Warsaw, NY, and Phil Steck of Schenectady, NY are outside of the greater NYC area.

      So what?

      "Roughly 64% of the state's population lives in the New York City metropolitan area"

    3. Re:New York City is not its own state (yet) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please also keep in mind that "it's" is a contraction, not the singular possessive you tried to use it as (you were aiming for "its", but missed). Mind the bricks in your glass house.

    4. Re:New York City is not its own state (yet) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The STATE police have also stated a refusal to enforce portions of these legislations. I believe the stance was "If you can go into walmart and buy a gun with more than 7 in a clip, how can we enforce a law banning these?"

    5. Re:New York City is not its own state (yet) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Roughly 64% of the state's population lives in the New York City metropolitan area"

      And you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

  14. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    Not sure that 'atieists' have to do with this issue, other than probably being someone who believes differently than you do on that particular issue and so who you believe probably doesn't agree with you on others too. But nice attempt at trolling.

  15. Weapon companies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They have kids to feed.... cant let their customers print their own guns...

  16. Re:It's incredible to me by camperdave · · Score: 0

    Owning gun != Self defense. You'd still be able to keep a chainsaw, or a suit of plate mail, or one of those annoying yip-yip-yip armpit dogs.

    --
    When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
  17. Re:It's incredible to me by Big+Hairy+Ian · · Score: 2

    Do everything over TOR and they'll never get y6796t7fcv gh. ck k.hgc g.khf

    --

    Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.

  18. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Do everything over TOR

    The problem is that if they're recording every connection between every computer, it's trivial to connect the path your packet took through tor and correlate it with an exit node, especially if you download something big enough to take multiple packets, especially if you don't restart the download several times to build new proxy chains.

  19. The whole reason 3D printed guns were invented, by pecosdave · · Score: 1

    was to circumvent crap like this. 2nd amendment protection, even when it's being attacked aggressively.

    --
    The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
  20. Stupid fuckers by AndyKron · · Score: 1

    OK, I'll print 100s of guns then. Fuck you New York Assholes!

    1. Re:Stupid fuckers by gtall · · Score: 1

      And if someone uses one and blows their hand off because of material failure, you will get sued for everything you would ever own.

  21. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's always funny to see someone suggest that libertarianism eschews religion. Particularly when they conflate political leanings with religious tendencies. Freedom is no less religious than any other political dimension. Pragmatism and many-voice democratism are the only irreligious politics.

  22. What is the difference between the two? by aglider · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I mean, to me a 3d printed gun is like any weapon you can build at home or in the garage.
    Is a weapon that doesn't follow the "normal" market chain.
    So they also should regulate, say, hand made knives, archery and even deadly traps.
    It looks to me just like a govt response to a buzzword. Just to let people know "we are watching over you".

    --
    Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
    1. Re:What is the difference between the two? by rubycodez · · Score: 1

      it is legal to make your own gun, nothing should be different. always been possible for a century to make a "plastic gun" by various means, injection molding and machining fiberglass reinforced plastic (better than this 3D printer crap, btw) for example. All would still require some metal firing pin and metal ammo

  23. Federal law... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... Already stipulates an average citizen can make a weapon for personal use. Read it yourself.
    Gun Control Act (GCA) of 1968, 18 U.S.C. Chapter 44

    1. Re:Federal law... by nbauman · · Score: 1

      That's federal law. State and city law can be more restrictive.

    2. Re:Federal law... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which is unconstitutional.

    3. Re:Federal law... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Doesn't matter.

    4. Re:Federal law... by rubycodez · · Score: 1

      yes it does matter, supreme court recently threw a bunch of state and city's gun laws into the crapper.

  24. Doesn't matter by MBGMorden · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The point of 3D printed guns is to be able to ignore such legislation if need be. In general, such laws could be anticipated, but are known to be mostly irrelevant.

    To put this into another perspective - its currently illegal to download pirated music and movies off the internet. Not proposed legislation, not "we're thinking about it" - it's already 100% against the law. How effective is that?

    Another example: its current illegal in nearly every state to possess, grow, or smoke marijuana - yet a significant chunk of the population ends up trying it at some point because when you get right down to it, the shit grows out of the fucking dirt.

    3D printed guns are much the same. They're there not just to make it easy to make a gun, but to make laws against it ineffective. The government and politicians can stamp their feet, pound their gavel, and pass whatever laws they way - but if We The People still want a gun, we'll have them - and there's nothing they can do about it.

    --
    "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    1. Re:Doesn't matter by Lumpy · · Score: 1

      Thing Is, I can make a metal handgun faster than anyone can 3d print one. and that is using common hand tools. No the barrel will not be rifled, but that does not matter if you are within a few yards of your target. IF you have advanced tools like a drill press with a XY table, you can actually machine parts to make a semi auto from blocks of metal.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    2. Re:Doesn't matter by MBGMorden · · Score: 1

      The average person is incapable of this though. You have to understand that most people are incapable of operating even the simplest construction tools. While a small percentage might be able to assemble something like a slam-fire shotgun, machining a working semi-auto out of blocks of metal is something only someone with at least a working knowledge as a machinist is going to be able to achieve.

      3D printing aims to reduce it down to clicking a button.

      Even comparing it to movie and music piracy - as simple as it is most people can't figure out how to rip a CD or a DVD. Even with all software and the exact tools you need being available for free (as compared to makeshift ones for machining, as most people don't happen to have a CNC Mill and lathe sitting in their garage), most people can't do it. That said, they can very easily download and use the other files other people make. That's what 3D printing is hoping to achieve. Download, click, print.

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    3. Re:Doesn't matter by Lumpy · · Score: 1

      "The average person is incapable of this though."

      It makes me sad that the average person went from someone that could do such basic things in the 1850's- mid 1900's to the drooling morons we have today that can barely figure out how to open a car door without bashing the car next to them.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  25. Obligatory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://www.snotr.com/video/675/A_blonde_and_a_3rd_grade_geography_question

  26. Re:It's incredible to me by RoboRay · · Score: 0, Troll

    You seem to be confused if you think atheists are depriving people of their rights. Religious people are the ones that try to make everyone else give up rights to comply with their delusions.

  27. Re:It's incredible to me by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "going to give you any protection from anyone armed with more than a saturday night special"

    Logical Fallacy. It gives you more protection than having NOTHING, except the broken promises of the government protecting you. And we are seeing exactly how much the government protects you, even as it invades every aspect of your life. But being a good leftist, you must not protest government intrusions into your everyday life, for that is exactly what you're asking for.

    Government regulation is government power, more regulation means government has more power. Don't complain when wake up and have no power to stop the government. That is the whole reason for the 2nd Amendment. Power corrupts and all that.

    "Trust us, we're from the Government"

    --
    Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
  28. One of which is reasonable by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I say it's perfectly reasonable to require a gunsmithing license to manufacture firearms. ANY firearm. It's the sort of thing that isn't really done as a hobby, and if it is, it's' the sort of hobby that wouldn't be heavily impacted by having to acquire some sort of license.

    1. Re:One of which is reasonable by spacepimp · · Score: 1

      Which problem does this license solve? We can bear arms. We cannot sell them without a license. You don't need a license to do what is not illegal.

  29. Re:It's incredible to me by g0bshiTe · · Score: 1

    I don't own a gun for protection, I own them because they are fun to shoot make really loud noises explosions in fact and put holes in things. What more could a growing boy ask for?

    For home defense I have a mental map of my house can find my way round in the dark and will use that and whatever blunt object is closest to me. If there's more than 1 intruder I wouldn't want to risk one getting away because he heard me shooting.

    I'm like that really rare watch dog, you won't know I'm there until you are fully in and I'm blocking your exit and by then it's too late.

    --
    I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
  30. Batshit Crazy by thewils · · Score: 1

    Don't forget - the batshit crazy folks have a right to print guns too...because...well they have a right to protect themselves just like the rest, don't they?

    --
    Once I was a four stone apology. Now I am two separate gorillas.
    1. Re:Batshit Crazy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't forget that all of your rights need to be restricted and controlled because of what some batshit crazy folks _might_ do.

      All your rights are belong to crazy f*ckers and if you don't like that then you approve of the mass murder of children!

  31. Re:It's incredible to me by gregulator · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think you're insane for thinking a gun is going to give you any protection from anyone armed with more than a saturday night special

    What are you talking about? Firearms are literally the best thing for defense from armed assailants.

    I don't think the constitution says anything about you individually having the right to own a gun,

    Then it is clear that you do not have a very good understanding of the Constitution.

  32. Re:It's incredible to me by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 3, Insightful

    As a Libertarian, I find Libertarians defy most stereotypes. I do say, the Libertarian version of Atheism is much better than the leftist Atheists. Leftist Atheists have replaced GOD with Government as the all powerful being, and that is pretty scary concept. Libertarian Atheists tend towards not giving a shit what others believe and want to be left alone.

    --
    Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
  33. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Why, it's just an another misinformed post by another retarded right-winger.

    Isn't there some pretty big rule in the bible about not killing, or have you justified that away in your world of irrationality?

  34. Do you tourism a favour... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm not in the states but when people use the terms "gun" and "twitchy" in the same sentence, I'm likely not to visit anytime soon.

    1. Re:Do you tourism a favour... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh noes! Fewer judgy disapproving tourists visiting. Whatever will we do??

  35. Please allow me to say... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Fuck NYC.
    Fuck Bloomberg.
    Fuck Cuomo.
    Fuck Schumer.
    Fuck Gillibrand.
    and Fuck Rangel and all the other crooked mf'ers who are holding the rest of New York State political hostage.

  36. Re:It's incredible to me by jafiwam · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Speaking as a leftist of a stripe, we're not. Seriously. Don't get me wrong, I think you're insane for thinking a gun is going to give you any protection from anyone armed with more than a saturday night special, don't think the constitution says anything about you individually having the right to own a gun, and don't like you personally (for trolling), but I'm actually mad that Obama et al are wasting political capitol on gun control.

    Just wait until the current president is voted out of office and the next republican is in office. You will be doubly-sorry this stuff was started then when it's used to chase down and out women who have had abortions, people that don't go to church, and all kinds of other sinners.

    Who's got guns won't matter when the feds decide to use information to destroy you. Gonna shoot back at a web page with your mom's three abortions listed on it? HA!

    Your disregard for portions of the Constitution will cause the downfall of all of the Constitution.

  37. Re:It's incredible to me by lxs · · Score: 3, Interesting

    How can you be certain that TOR isn't compromised? I admit that it's a paranoid view to have, but TOR is a very tempting target and lately the paranoid are being proved right on a daily basis.

  38. Re:It's incredible to me by magic+maverick+ · · Score: 1

    You do realize that one can be a good leftist and anti-government or pro-small-government, don't you?

    I'm anti-government, but I'm also anti-capitalism (a very clear sign that the person is likely to be a good leftist).

    --
    HELP MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HACKED BY AN ILLIBERAL ART STUDENT SET TO DESTROY THE INTERWEBZ!
  39. Oh, like this will work by kimvette · · Score: 1

    This will work.

    Why? Because the sort of person who would shoot school children or rob a convenience store will of course obey these laws.

    --
    The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
    1. Re:Oh, like this will work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I worry about all the other crazies who think that everyone needs to own a gun for some reason.

  40. NYC ran by morons... by Lumpy · · Score: 1

    Instead of dealing with the problem they just do the ban everything method. Perfect for the no IQ crowd like the leaders of NYC..

    Why don't they talk to large city leaders elsewhere about what works? They are simply doing what Chicago does, and Chicago is a complete failure.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  41. Re:It's incredible to me by Stuarticus · · Score: 1

    A good number of Libertarians think they can speak for everyone. You seem to be one of them. I would speculate more Atheists are humanist.

    --
    If you think someone isn't free to have a different definition of "freedom" you may be a tyrant.
  42. Re:It's incredible to me by cod3r_ · · Score: 3, Informative

    You scared of owning guns? It's not about being scared of the boogie man as you put it, it's being prepared for the worst. Guns are fun to shoot and being able to handle them and use them is a skill everyone should have. You might live under a rock, but peoples homes do get invaded daily. Thiefs don't go to the ghettos to rob people they go to suburban neighborhoods.. Is it likely to happen to you?? Statistically no, but if it does and you have no skills or tools to protect yourself you become a victim. This "it can't happen to me" mentality is how highschool kids live their lives. Eventually you grow up and realize it CAN happen to you.

  43. Re:It's incredible to me by logjon · · Score: 0

    And even if they were, it's not like they're doing it to see if you fit the ever-expanding definition of, say, a "terrorist" so they can drag you off indefinitely without due process to torture and eventually kill you.

    --
    The stories and info posted here are artistic works of fiction and falsehood.
    Only fools would take it as fact.
  44. Re:It's incredible to me by Stuarticus · · Score: 2, Insightful

    At first I thought this was a joke, it was a much better comment like that. What else is do you like better when it's the Libertarian version? I'm going to take a stab in the dark here and say everything?

    --
    If you think someone isn't free to have a different definition of "freedom" you may be a tyrant.
  45. New Project! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Okay, so we get everyone that has a 3d printer to print out one gun (or 5) and we will box them all up and donate them to the people of NYC.

  46. Re:It's incredible to me by Stuarticus · · Score: 1

    Gobshite indeed. Interestingly it is a British word. Which makes me wonder all the more. I don't know what kind of watch dog you are talking about, surely the whole point of a watch dog is you know that it's there and it makes a lot of noise to scare off intruders? Much like your post makes you sound. When you're all grown you can put away your childish things.

    --
    If you think someone isn't free to have a different definition of "freedom" you may be a tyrant.
  47. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Most of this post is totally true. BUT: if Americans didn't rise up against Bush Jr when he lied to the country and the world to start a war in Iraq, and the fifth estate failed almost totally to expose it, when would the second amendment's ultimate check on power ever get used? It's clearly anachronistic.

  48. Re:It's incredible to me by mjtaylor24601 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Logical Fallacy. It gives you more protection than having NOTHING, except the broken promises of the government protecting you.

    You know what else would give you some protection from a tyrannical overreaching government? Landmines, RPGs, and nuclear warheads. Yet there are regulations restricting access to all of those things, despite the fact that the 2nd amendment says very clearly that "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed" (I read nothing specifically about guns in there). So why is it OK to regulate nuclear warheads but not handguns?

    Don't complain when wake up and have no power to stop the government. That is the whole reason for the 2nd Amendment.

    Not for nothing, but I think at least part of the reason for the 2nd Amendment was so that, if necessary, you all could form a militia to keep the King of England from messing with your business.

    --
    I wish I were as sure of anything as some people are of everything
  49. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I love how this whole in-your-face speaking truth to power approach is a valid strategy in your mind. Denigrating countrymen as good leftists, or whatever, is totally going to wake the people up.

  50. the end game here is by RobertLTux · · Score: 1

    i can see the headline on Slashdot in 2018ish

    "First all 3d printed gun test fired 10k rounds"

    Yesterday Crunktech successfully fired the Liberator V6 with 10k rounds. This was made possible by use of the new Super Goop with microwave activated hardening..."

    but these PoliCritters need to understand the following

    "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

    --
    Any person using FTFY or editing my postings agrees to a US$50.00 charge
    1. Re:the end game here is by jabuzz · · Score: 1

      All the people citing the second amendment need to understand that it is an AMENDMENT, and as the 21st amendment laid bare, amendment's can be repealed.

    2. Re:the end game here is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fine, jabuzz, then bring it. Go through the steps, jump through the hoops and REPEAL IT. But until then the Second Amendment is the LAW, and what is being discussed here is a municipality trying to pass a law that is clearly repugnant to the Constitution, specifically the Second Amendment.

    3. Re:the end game here is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All the people citing the second amendment need to understand that it is an AMENDMENT, and as the 21st amendment laid bare, amendment's can be repealed.

      While that is true, it is also true that the 2nd amendment is CURRENT law. You want stricter gun laws? Go ahead, add another amendment that repeals the 2nd (good luck) - _then_ introduce stricter laws. Don't try to do end runs around the 2nd while it's still there...

    4. Re:the end game here is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then repeal the fucking amendment, stop trying to work around it.

    5. Re:the end game here is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then do so.....if you can.
      Have you looked into what is required to make/change/repeal an Amendment to the Constitution? It is not easy, and shouldn't be. Otherwise you'd have the kind of crap like Prop 8 in California. The Laws would change on a whim, based on the political climate of that month, and things would be pure anarchy.

      you may not like the Second Amendment.....you may not even believe in it or what it says. But the arguement used against those trying to ban gay marriage is equally valid to you.
      If you don't like guns, don't buy one.

      But DO NOT try to force your bigoted views on we LAW-ABIDING citizens.

    6. Re:the end game here is by fuzznutz · · Score: 2

      All the people citing that the 2nd Amendment can be repealed need to understand that the Constitution's purpose is to limit the powers of the government. The Bill of Rights was an afterthought to prevent misinterpretation by authoritative tyrants like yourself who believe rights have to be enumerated to be enjoyed. See 10th Amendment.

    7. Re:the end game here is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Go for it.

  51. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    don't think the constitution says anything about you individually having the right to own a gun

    A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

    http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/militia

    see definition 2.

    A militia is the constitutional sense is a voluntary force called up from the citizens who bring their own guns and resources (cloths food etc). Please go back and review the revolutionary war. Go see what they were pissed off about go see how they started fighting. There are 3 documents you should read. The constitution, the deceleration of independence, and the magna carta. They were rebelling against an autocratic system where they had no rights. The very rights people like you think we dont/shouldnt have. The first 10 of the bill of rights was put into place very carefully as to thwart the very injustices that the english crown was ruling its people with at the time. They are very well thought out. I am amazed at how easy they are to read. How easy it is to see the sorts of things they nipped in the bud by using these laws. Not that it matters our gov seems keen on ignoring huge swaths of it for our 'safety'. Which other rights are you willing to give up?

    I personally own 0 guns. I take owning one very seriously and am not sure if I want that responsibility. My wife has asked that we buy one. I am holding her off to see if it something she really wants (or if she is falling prey to hysteria). I personally think I do not need one where I live. However, I do not begrudge someone who feels they need one.

    Also maybe he is trolling. But look at it from his POV all he sees is his group screaming that 'obama wants to take yer guns', then he watches TV and sees sure enough they are proposing another law to do just that. He sees the 50/50 vote in the congress split down party lines on this issue. Perhaps he has a right to be mad about it?

  52. Re:It's incredible to me by Russ1642 · · Score: 0

    The GOP is a religious organization, whether they want to be or not. So their stance is that everyone else must therefore be atheists or terrist muslims since Evangelism is the only true religion to them.

  53. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So it's like the lottery and nobody ever wins that...oh, wait.

  54. Re:Wow, "crack down" by 91degrees · · Score: 1

    It's possible that 3D printers will get better.

  55. Re:It's incredible to me by Shirogitsune · · Score: 1

    And yet you post as AC, huh?

    It's less about being scared of the alleged 'boogie man' than it is about being realistic. Alot of things can happen when the average police response times between 5 and 10 minutes [http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cvus/previous/cvus107.pdf]. Assuming an AK-47 is makes for the best defense ever is absurd. A moderate caliber handgun (between 9mm and .45) is sufficient for protecting oneself between the 911 call and the police showing up.

    On the subject of being realistic, using an AK-47 for home defense is just dumb. A 7.62x39 bullet has way too much penetration potential! You run the risk of shooting through both interior walls, some exterior walls, and into neighboring structures.

  56. Re:It's incredible to me by RenderSeven · · Score: 2

    don't think the constitution says anything about you individually having the right to own a gun

    Many gun control proponents read the 2nd amendment that way, and on its surface its not hard to read it that way. But the Federalist Papers (Alexander Hamilton) go into more detail about what was intended; that both "regulated militias" and individual gun ownership rights are necessary as protection from government tyranny:

    It is observed that select corps may be formed, composed of the young and ardent, who may be rendered subservient to the views of arbitrary power....To oblige the great body of the yeomanry and of the other classes of the citizens to be under arms for the purpose of going through military exercises and evolutions, as often as might be necessary to acquire the degree of perfection which would entitle them to the character of a well-regulated militia, would be a real grievance to the people, and a serious public inconvenience and loss. To attempt a thing which would abridge the mass of labor and industry to so considerable an extent, would be unwise: and the experiment, if made, could not succeed, because it would not long be endured.

    To try to interpret the Constitution out of context without reviewing (basically) the supporting documentation does it a disservice. Indeed the Supreme Court has often invoked the Federalist Papers as evidence of original intent of both the Framers and Ratifiers.

    If nothing else "select corps may be formed, composed of the young and ardent, who may be rendered subservient to the views of arbitrary power." seems to describe the new left and the new right pretty well.

  57. Re:It's incredible to me by mapsjanhere · · Score: 2

    You're both trolling. The reason mass gun ownership is effective is not that the individual gun owner can fight of the swat team. It's that for every time the swat team goes out, 1000 others start worrying it might come to them. Once that happens, they start to realize it's not like the police lives in barricaded ghettos for cooperative defense, they're spread out in the community. Usually protected from harm by the sense of "they're here to protect us". When that "they are serving us" goes away, you suddenly have 1000 targets (plus families) spread out withing a town with 100,000 gun owners. How many of those are stable? Take the LA case, one crazy guy took out two cops and two family members before he was taken down by the combined effort of all police departments in a 100 mile area. How many of those cases would it take until cops stay home to protect themselves and their families?

    --
    I'm aging rapidly, I bought a new game and had no idea if my machine was good for it.
  58. Tempest in a Teapot by BoRegardless · · Score: 2

    No gunsmith or criminal in his right mind would want a 3D rapid prototype "printed" gun.

    Any sane criminal wants a real top notch machined steel gun that WORKS every time the trigger is pulled. And that criminal knows how to buy or steal one in an hour or two versus many days for a 3D RP gun (& I don't understand what they use for a barrel, unless they use laser sintered stainless steel or titanium for the barrel and then finish machine it or it will be truly worthless in aim and firepower.)

  59. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    where in the libertarian party agenda does religion play a role or cause tendencies of any sort?

    in ending the war on drugs?
    pro choice stance on abortion?
    removing government from deciding who can marry who?
    or in ending corporate welfare?

    where in the platform or in its representatives do you see anyone citing religion?

    libertarians are all different backgrounds, many may be religious, but there is nothing religious about the platform or its purpose. Its principles exist with or without religion.

  60. Re:It's incredible to me by LifesABeach · · Score: 1

    You have a valid point, but name calling is required?

  61. The definition of a fire arm by Cyfun · · Score: 1

    A firearm by definition requires some sort of explosion. We could solve a lot of these problems by moving on to alternative projectile weapon technologies such as the coil gun, more commonly, and incorrectly, called the rail gun.

    Then watch as the government tries to outlaw electricity.

    --
    In Soviet Russia, dot slashes YOU!
    1. Re:The definition of a fire arm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the coil gun, more commonly, and incorrectly, called the rail gun.

      There are both coil guns and rail guns. While they both use electricity, they operate very differently.

      Coil guns (launches the projectile by timed switching on and off a series of coils (forming the barrel), effectively dragging/pushing the projectile from coil to coil down the barrel

      Rail guns operate differently in that there are 2 conductive tracks, the rails. The projectile (or a sabot surrounding the actual projectile) is also conductive and as current passes from rail to rail, through the projectile, the projectile is accelerated due to the currents interaction with a magnetic field (like the rotor in a motor). The rails tend to get eroded due to the poor connection between projectile and rails (we want it to move after all) along with the BIG current required to get the wanted acceleration.

    2. Re:The definition of a fire arm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or as supercapacitor and battery technology advances, it becomes practical to make laser and charged particle weapons. We are currently at ship size antiaircraft lasers just using bog standard capacitors. imagine a quantum well battery hooked to a solid state laser diode, which has enough energy to cause a man's head to explode from a football field away.

      then they will try to ban batteries.

  62. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You know someone has no basis for their argument when they go to nukes. It's the Hitler of gun debate.

  63. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Previously, thinking the government was secretly recording all our call and network connection information was "a paranoid view to have." Not sure that's still true.

    Similarly, the view you put forth may be paranoid today, but it might be validated in the future.

  64. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Federalist papers? Jeez. Next you're going to be saying that since the majority of the rest of the bill of rights are clearly individual rights, the 2nd amendment is probably an individual right as well!

  65. Re:It's incredible to me by PoliTech · · Score: 1

    http://bit.ly/11i3Gvq It's seems pretty clearly on the side of defending one's self as well as defending the innocent. 1/10

  66. Home built guns are legal at a federal level by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I can legally go out and build ( with some restrictions ) a fully functional weapon in my garage this weekend, for personal use.. That its made mostly of plastic or steel or aluminum, or even wood is of no bearing, as long as it shows up on metal detectors.

    The people that dont care about the current restrictions won't care about this new law either. ( but then again, since when has laws ever applied to criminals, and only serve to restrict the 'honest' citizen )

  67. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed"
    Nothing about "guns", nothing about "owning"

  68. Re:It's incredible to me by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How is that? How does a "Left wing" enforce their social economic government structure without a strong powerful government behind it?

    You're probably not anti-capitalist, you're probably anti-corporatist, which is different, but looks remarkably similar. Do you believe a committee should tell you how much you should be paid, and how hard you should work and what job you should do? If you say no to each of those, you're a capitalist.

    --
    Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
  69. Re:It's incredible to me by jabuzz · · Score: 0

    And there was me thinking that the US constitution was not a static document. For starters the right to bear arms is covered by the second AMENDMENT. Heck the original document in article five lays out how the constitution can be amended.

    Then there is of course the 18th amendment, which was repealed by the 21st amendment. The US constitution has so far been amended 27 times, and on at least one occasion repealing a previous amendment.

    As such there is precedence for a new amendment that repeals in full or part the second amendment. Anyone in the USA who opposes any change to the second amendment but drinks alcohol is a morally bankrupt hypocrite not worth listening to, which I would imagine is most of them.

    It never ceases to surprise me just how ignorant US citizens are of there own constitution.

  70. Re:It's incredible to me by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I am not an Atheist. Libertarian Atheists don't care what I believe. And I don't care what Atheists believe. Leftwing Atheists would rather I not exist, as my belief somehow threatens them. They end up doing things like Jewish Purge of Soviet Union (killing Jews because they are religious), or persecution of the Falun Gong and Christians in China, if they had their way. Atheistic Socialistic States and those of faith don't mix.

    The state should be agnostic towards religion (or lack thereof). First Amendment Style.

    --
    Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
  71. Re:It's incredible to me by PoliTech · · Score: 2

    Historically, the "Liberator" hand gun that was distributed during WWII was deployed with exactly the strategy above in mind, a weapon valued for its psychological warfare effects as well as for its actual usage ... as a way to arm one's self with a better weapon, and more ammunition ... obtained from a defeated target of the resistance. I see much the same psychological effect on the totalitarians of today with the 3D printed gun. It's no accident that it too is named the "Liberator".

  72. Re:It's incredible to me by jabuzz · · Score: 1

    Not only there is nothing in the constitution that prevents the second amendment being repelled. See 18th and 21st amendments for examples.

  73. More people are killed by bullets by kawabago · · Score: 1

    than by guns, plastic or otherwise.

  74. Re:It's incredible to me by Teancum · · Score: 2

    The real point of the 2nd Amendment was two fold. First of all, it openly acknowledged that the real justification and authority of government is derived from the arms that government is able to field. If you start to defy that government, you rather quickly get a show of arms of some manner which reminds you who has the real authority. Allowing ordinary citizens to possess those arms sort of levels that playing field.

    The other is a more general theme that is pervasive throughout the U.S. Constitution, which is that political power should not be concentrated in the hands of just one person or even a small group of people. The more you can push decision making out to larger groups of people the better off everybody becomes and in general you have more liberty if not one single person or a small group can make decisions on your behalf. This goes to a limited presidency who can't even create laws himself, a Congress that in itself has very limited authority to act where most of the real decision making was supposed to be handled by a distributed group of decision makers known as state legislators.

    This gets into the role of the militia, where the military authority would be similarly distributed widely and not be concentrated in the hands of just a select few people. Generals weren't trusted, and it was presumed that every community would have their own "militia" made up of concerned citizens who would generally be protecting themselves against local threats or needs. Yes, if there was a need for mobilization on a national level those various militia groups could be organized or "regulated" on a federal level and pressed into national service, but that was presumed to be a rare event and something that generally required a formal declaration of war (a power given explicitly to congress and congress alone). A national army was permitted, but was generally intended to be quite small.

    As a matter of practice, the national army was kept small throughout most of American history... with only the events subsequent to World War II that the U.S. Army in "peacetime" was ever kept at more than about 50,000 soldiers. Every major war previously including World War II itself had the national army formed by requesting assistance from the states to "donate" their militias to help grow the national army with just a small cadre of permanent soldiers who formed the core of that national army.

    I seriously doubt that the misadventures subsequent to World War II would have happened had the national army been small. This includes the fiascos in places like the Balkans, Beirut (on multiple occasions), Vietnam, and Afghanistan (which might have been justified in terms of a formal declaration of war... but that would have at least brought some deliberation into the process). I seriously doubt that the U.S. Army would have ever been in Iraq if they had to depend on an army of about 30-50,000 soldiers as the whole of the U.S. Army.

    This diffuse authority where there would be literally thousands of individual militias was the primary check against an over zealous federal government. If individual rights were being trampled to death and there was a real danger of the federal government over reaching its authority, it would be the collective nature of those militias that could certainly cause real concern to the federal army.

    Mind you, I'm not even remotely arguing the individual possession of firearms here and I am suggesting that individual states can "regulate" how those militias are formed within their respective states. I personally think that states should license and charter individual militias subject to their state constitutions and be free to do that as much as they care without interference from the federal government. Those charters can be granted to groups of citizens that may not even be necessarily receiving tax dollars but instead can be completely voluntary groups operating on their own funds if necessary. Furthermore, I don't think that the "National Guard" should be the only milit

  75. I like it. by moeinvt · · Score: 1

    The more time these anti-gun nitwits spend trying to close the barn door after the horses have escaped, the less time they'll have for doing real damage.

  76. Re:It's incredible to me by PoliTech · · Score: 2

    Total non sequitur. They are talking about passing a local LAW ... not an AMENDMENT to the constitution. The controversy here is that the proposed LAW that the POLITICIAN is attempting to pass may VIOLATE said constitution, (sans your fantasy AMENDMENT that no one is actually proposing because it is generally considered political SUICIDE to do so). You have a lot of nerve calling anyone here "ignorant".

  77. stupid by slashmydots · · Score: 1

    Yeah and all those signs in Wisconsin that says concealed guns aren't allowed on the premises at random restaurants and shops and crap worked wonders to stop shootings and robberies. It was almost as effective as if they'd let level headed people carry concealed guns in just in case there was a robbery.
    Seriously, do they really think passing a law is going to stop anyone from doing this? At least most criminals don't know how to use Autocad, Maya, Milkshape, a 3D printer, or a computer, lol.

    1. Re:stupid by Entropius · · Score: 1

      Those signs are a different matter. We have them in Arizona, too.

      There was a state law, passed by the gun rights crowd, that said that you have a right to carry a gun anywhere, with a few exceptions. But private property owners still have the right to control over their property -- the owner of a shop can say that people with weapons aren't welcome in her shop. The gun rights crowd is also generally big on private property rights, so they're fine with this. This isn't the government telling you you can't bring a gun into the bar; it's the bar owner.

  78. Re:It's incredible to me by Stuarticus · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    I can see all the left wing atheists now, cowering, terrified of the devastating belief of Archangel Michael the rambling libertarian and his half composed thoughts.

    --
    If you think someone isn't free to have a different definition of "freedom" you may be a tyrant.
  79. Re:Wow, "crack down" by Entropius · · Score: 1

    I think a lot of the excitement around these things is sort of similar to the excitement when Linux was first announced: not "this thing is a big deal", but "this thing will lead to a big deal".

  80. Re:It's incredible to me by interkin3tic · · Score: 2

    Guns are a false hope in defending against any tyrannical government. If we are too incompetent to use the soap, ballot, or jury box to defend our liberty, what makes you think we're competent to use guns to defend it? Especially given that any gun you have, the government has much much bigger ones and a lot more of them.

    At any rate, where were the second amendment activists with the patriot act or prism? It seems to me that most gun activists define "tyranny" as "gun control," nothing more and nothing less. If a candidate were to say "I'm in favor of abolishing the patriot act, prism, ending the outrageous drug war and war on terror, and abolishing homeland security, and also limiting sales of any gun bigger than a handgun," the NRA would be calling for his blood. Meanwhile, we have wave after wave of politicians who chip away at every amendment but the second (and third I suppose), and you guys don't ever discuss at what point you'd take up arms.

  81. Re:It's incredible to me by RenderSeven · · Score: 1

    A very nice piece. Speaking of the National Guard, what was the legal basis for the Federal Government dispatching National Guard to Iraq? I thought the point was that National Guard was under command of the various state legislatures and/or governor.

    I like the idea of forming state militias but I'm pretty sure the practical result would be that it would be used to curtail gun rights unless you were a member of it. Although the Texas State Militia would likely scare the crap out of most small countries, and the Massachusetts State Militia (armed entirely with Nerf Guns) might be a comedic tour de force.

  82. OK by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So it would be ok for a 10 year old to print a gun and go shoot someone,,way to go idiots

    1. Re:OK by CanHasDIY · · Score: 1

      So it would be ok for a 10 year old to print a gun and go shoot someone,,way to go idiots

      Sorry, but I think you're in the wrong forum.

      Yahoo/Huffpo is down the hall, third door on the left.

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    2. Re:OK by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Stupid git!

  83. Re:It's incredible to me by danbert8 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I don't think the constitution says anything about you individually having the right to own a gun

    Ahh my favorite argument from people who don't understand this little clause:

    Amendment X: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

    If the Constitution doesn't say anything about it, that implies it's might right and the government cannot restrict it. However in practice I realize the government could give two shits about the Constitution.

    --
    Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
  84. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Moderated Troll because Fucking Idiot wasn't in the list.

  85. Re:It's incredible to me by GodInHell · · Score: 2

    Probably because you cannot spell and espouse a wing-nut conspiracy theory. Or maybe Slashdot is secretly an arm of the NSA. Could be either one honestly.

  86. Re:It's incredible to me by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

    I really don't see how TOR protects anyone. If NSA sets up a bunch of TOR nodes, then they can read the data that passes over the TOR network. If they are the first node you connect to, it could just pretend the data was sent between other nodes, when really they were just listening in on your messages while sending them straight to the receiver. Or it could just pass the message between "friendly" nodes to ensure that it could always read the messages, and know the route you took. Sure it protects the end web site from knowing your location, and it might stop a government from listening in on your connection, provided they aren't running any nodes themselves.

    --

    Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
  87. Re:It's incredible to me by danbert8 · · Score: 2

    I'm an Atheist Libertarian and I don't speak for anyone but myself. The only request I have of other people is that they stop taking my money and forcing my actions. I don't understand what's so wrong with that policy. When you say humanist, what you mean is forcing charity. I want to help people, but I don't want to be forced to help people that don't want help.

    --
    Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
  88. I can't PRINT it? by argStyopa · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Geez, if I can't print a shitty zip-gun, I guess I'll just have to take 5 mins to MAKE one out of some pipe, a rubber band, a tack, and if I'm feeling fancy, wood for a handle.

    Certainly none of these is available at the local hardware store!
    I feel safer already.

    Fucking morons.

    --
    -Styopa
    1. Re:I can't PRINT it? by kqc7011 · · Score: 1

      How about one made from a caulking gun? http://imgur.com/a/2PHdj

      --
      Passionately Indifferent
  89. Re:It's incredible to me by JesseMcDonald · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed"
    Nothing about "guns", nothing about "owning"

    "Arms" = guns, or more generally any weapon which would typically be carried by infantry. (Yes, this means the amendment is specifically referring to military weapons, not hunting weapons.)

    "keep" = own

    "bear" = carry in public

    The words may be a bit unfamiliar after a few hundred years, but the meaning is obvious to anyone who cares to undertake some honest research.

    --
    "The state is that great fiction by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else." - Bastiat
  90. Re:It's incredible to me by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

    Do you have a coherent thought or just rambling on because I don't follow your prescribed version of reality? And they are cowering, otherwise they wouldn't care what I believed (or didn't believe). I threaten them because I can make fun of them. And there is nothing funnier than evangelical Atheists.

    http://www.answersingenesis.org/assets/images/articles/2010/03/atheist-billboard.jpg

    Evangelical (adj) - marked by ardent or zealous enthusiasm for a cause.

    What other "non-beliefs" can we put billboards up for?

    "Don't Believe in Pink Unicorns? You're not alone"

    "Don't Believe in UFOs? You're not alone"

    "Don't Believe in Leprechauns? You're not alone"

    --
    Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
  91. Re:It's incredible to me by Bartles · · Score: 2

    I think you're insane if you think you can call the cops and have them respond in time to protect you and your family.

  92. Re:It's incredible to me by ravenshrike · · Score: 2

    If you're so fucking worried about children, ban pools and 5 gallon buckets. You'll save a fuckton more children that way. The only reason your lefty schizo buddy Loughner was able to get a gun was because the mental health system failed. Same with Lanza. Both of them were beyond the stage of paranoid schizo where they should have been forcible committed. Also, why is it that all the mass shooters lately have lefty tendencies?

  93. Re:It's incredible to me by Bartles · · Score: 1

    I'd like to see you bear a nuclear warhead, Duke.

  94. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "As such there is precedence for a new amendment that repeals in full or part the second amendment."

    No doubt. However it seems genius that I must point out to you that no such amendment has been ratified, so no one really understands what the fuck you are talking about.

    "Anyone in the USA who opposes any change to the second amendment but drinks alcohol is a morally bankrupt hypocrite not worth listening to, which I would imagine is most of them."

    Logic motherfucker, do you speak it?

  95. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As a matter of practice, the national army was kept small throughout most of American history... I seriously doubt that the misadventures subsequent to World War II would have happened had the national army been small.

    I seriously doubt your doubt

    It's not WW2 that grew the military. It was the Civil War.

    It really doesn't matter whether a soldier was a part of a "militia" or "national army". War changes people, and the Civil War changed a whole lot of people, and those people subsequently changed the direction of the republic.

  96. Re: It's incredible to me by jbo5112 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You're probably thinking of the rules against murder, which doesn't include all killing. For example, the Old Testament Law gave parents explicit permission to kill their perpetually disobedient children, and God often told them to kill all the women and children when they conquered a city. Jesus took the stance against murder even further by denouncing all hatred for others, and requiring his followers to love everyone.

  97. 3D printed guns is a real problem in NYC by Shompol · · Score: 1

    Murder and rape is rampart in NYC because 3D printed guns and dildos can pass a metal detector (already installed at every doorway in the city for your protection). Police is still armed with the outdated 2D technology, unable to pursue criminals past the detectors. This enlightened piece of legislation will target only the 3D outlaws who plan to use technology in nefarious ways, because no inlaws will want to print anything like that in the first place. All printer owners will be required to register their printers with NYPD and visit their case officer monthly.

    1. Re:3D printed guns is a real problem in NYC by rubycodez · · Score: 1

      my understanding is that most rapes are performed with an erectible organic device that can nevertheless have metal piercings or implants mandated to be metal detector alertable.

    2. Re:3D printed guns is a real problem in NYC by rubycodez · · Score: 1

      "penis registration is the first step to confiscation". outlaw gender specific birth certificates now!

    3. Re:3D printed guns is a real problem in NYC by HarrySmoot · · Score: 1

      Erectible organic device? Is that the shoulder thing that goes up?

  98. Re:It's incredible to me by GodInHell · · Score: 1

    You forgot the worship of money. There's a large group their form whom long numbers separated by columns is essentially identical to an angelic choir.

  99. Re:It's incredible to me by JesseMcDonald · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You're really pushing this point hard. Sure, the 2nd Amendment could be repealed, assuming anyone was willing to commit political suicide by proposing the repeal of anything in the Bill of Rights, and that three-quarters of the states were willing to ratify the change. That isn't going to happen any time soon.

    Anyone in the USA who opposes any change to the second amendment but drinks alcohol is a morally bankrupt hypocrite not worth listening to, which I would imagine is most of them.

    This is simply idiotic. Opposing any change to the 2nd Amendment does not equate to opposing the amendment process itself. The fact that the capacity exists to repeal the 2nd Amendment does not automatically make it a good idea. You're just looking for any excuse to tune out those who disagree with you by casting them as hypocrites.

    --
    "The state is that great fiction by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else." - Bastiat
  100. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh, STFU.

    The Patriot Act or Prism don't speak explicitly to gun control. So that's just a distraction you use because you're an idiot. Most thinking people believe the PA is past its prime and want to see it over.

    Second, in any conflict it will more likely be the Takers vs. the Makers more than Makers vs the Government. So all the Obamaphone owners will try to go all Hugo Chavez on the Makers and find themselves at a distinct disadvantage.

    Third, by and large, your average GI Joe, who you gun grabbers will be relying on to oppress the rest of us in the name of your twisted Utopian dream, are in fact Good Ol' Boys who'd sooner shoot you in the face before they became some kind of Storm Trooper.

  101. Re:It's incredible to me by GodInHell · · Score: 1

    ...damn you auto-correct..

  102. Re:It's incredible to me by Stuarticus · · Score: 0

    Frankly I doubt you have a good idea what fun is, let alone an ability to make it. I'd like to see a "Don't believe in Libertarians" one if that's OK please. Because I struggle to believe that anyone could be so short sighted as to think that it proposed anything that could benefit society.

    You seem to be somewhat evangelical yourself about both libertarianism, and religion (you linked "answersingenesis.com") so maybe you should stop with your crazy accusations and accept that most Atheists just wish the religious would shut up.

    --
    If you think someone isn't free to have a different definition of "freedom" you may be a tyrant.
  103. Re:It's incredible to me by CanHasDIY · · Score: 1

    A good number of people think they can speak for everyone.

    FTFY.

    --
    An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
  104. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How the heck can FEMA afford these camps that are supposed to imprison every single American if they don't even get funds to help a backwater town like West in Texas?

  105. Re:It's incredible to me by CanHasDIY · · Score: 1

    The GOP is a religious organization, whether they want to be or not. So their stance is that everyone else must therefore be atheists or terrist muslims since Evangelism is the only true religion to them.

    ... as well as

    The Democrats are a religious organization, whether they want to be or not. So their stance is that everyone else must therefore be Evangelicals or terrist muslims since State Worship is the only true religion to them.

    --
    An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
  106. Re:It's incredible to me by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 2

    Guns are a false hope in defending against any tyrannical government.

    Name one tyranny that allows for the people to be armed. Just one.

    And why are we arming Syrian Rebels if guns are a false hope against Tyranny?

    Do you realize that tyrannies form only when the people are disarmed. And do not forget, Hitler was elected to office, so I do not trust the Soap, or Ballot boxes for obvious reasons (GWB, BHO) . I don't trust the Jury box for the similar reasons. Guns are the last but necessary resort.

    --
    Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
  107. Re:It's incredible to me by Bartles · · Score: 3, Insightful

    In my experience, many atheists don't take the hands off approach. There is a pervasive attitude where people seem to read, "freedom of religion", as "freedom from religion".

  108. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "You do realize that one can be a good leftist and anti-government or pro-small-government, don't you?"

    Good grief the stupid around here is just stunningly bizarre.

    A leftist (in the western sense) is a statist, that is believes in socialism and that the power of the state or the collective outweighs the power of the individual. This *requires* big government and centralized authority, and cannot co-exist with small government with limited powers. It's fundamental.

    You cannot be anti-government and a statist (which you term a leftist).

    Oh and by the way, statism cannot co-exist with constitutionalism either, as we have seen the state ignore constitutional limits on power day after day.

    If that doesn't worry you then you pretty much cannot be helped. I guarantee you will wake up one day, but it will basically be too late.

  109. Re:It's incredible to me by someone1234 · · Score: 1

    No need to be compromised. Being on TOR automatically puts you on the suspicious list.

    --
    Patents Drive Free Software as Hurricanes Drive Construction Industry
  110. Gun Control History by Richy_T · · Score: 1

    It will either be too narrow to make a difference or too broad to make sense.

  111. Re:It's incredible to me by CanHasDIY · · Score: 1

    On the subject of being realistic, using an AK-47 for home defense is just dumb. A 7.62x39 bullet has way too much penetration potential! You run the risk of shooting through both interior walls, some exterior walls, and into neighboring structures.

    Indeed.

    However, I can attest from personal experience that Kalashnikov's are hella fun to take to the range!

    --
    An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
  112. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    "Not only there is nothing in the constitution that prevents the second amendment being repelled. See 18th and 21st amendments for examples."

    No there is nothing in the constitution preventing a repeal of the 2nd amendment. But it has not been repealed. So what the fuck then is your point?

    I would also point out to you that the first ten amendments are more than simple amendments. Try reading about this thing we call the Bill of Rights. You understand that the constitution would never have been agreed on and the country would never have existed had it not been for these specific ten amendments right?

    If you want to repeal the 2nd amendment then go right ahead. Until that is done, how about you just fuck off.

  113. Re:It's incredible to me by CanHasDIY · · Score: 1

    You seem to be confused if you think atheists are depriving people of their rights. Religious people are the ones that try to make everyone else give up rights to comply with their delusions.

    "Most generalizations are false, including this one." -- Samuel Clemens

    --
    An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
  114. What's next? make pvc rail guns illegal? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    you can create a lethal weapon (gun/rifle) with pvc tubing, metal plates, rare earth magnets...

    insert the metal plates at 3 inch intervals, loading a rare earth ball magnet on one side of each plate (same side all the way down)...

    once set, load another one at one end, and strike it to accelerate it to the metal plate - when it strikes the plate, the magnet on the other side is propelled to the next plate - accelerating each time until the final magnet launches out the end at lethal speed.

    Looks like a blow gun, and the ammo isn't cheap - but I bet you could hunt down zombies with it.

  115. Re:It's incredible to me by PraiseBob · · Score: 1
    Gun ownership is dangerous. Being scared of owning guns is similar to being scared of owning venomous snakes. Except keeping venomous snakes in your home is safer for you and your family than keeping guns in the home.

    Statistically gun owners have a much higher risk of suicide: http://archive.sph.harvard.edu/press-releases/2007-releases/press04102007.html

    "Removing all firearms from one's home is one of the most effective and straightforward steps that household decision-makers can take to reduce the risk of suicide,"

    Statistically gun owners face a much higher risk of homicide in the home: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199310073291506

    Rather than confer protection, guns kept in the home are associated with an increase in the risk of homicide by a family member or intimate acquaintance.

    Living in a home that contains guns increases the risk of homicide by more than 40%, according to the New England Journal of Medicine.

    Gun ownership increases the cost of home insurance. Insurance agencies are in the business of managing risk. If the benefits of gun ownership decreased your overall risk, then insurance rates would go down.

    This "it can't happen to me" mentality is how highschool kids live their lives. Eventually you grow up and realize it CAN happen to you.

    I couldn't agree more. Your belief that firearms make you safer is based purely on a "it cant happen to me" attitude. You are gambling against the odds, assuming that your outcomes will be better, without applying facts and real world statistics.

  116. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Name one tyranny that allows for the people to be armed. Just one.

    Name one rebellion/government that succeeded because of guns that didn't become just another tyranny itself. Just one. (if you answer "the US", I bet the NSA will be happy to hear it, they're probably listening in already)

    And why are we arming Syrian Rebels if guns are a false hope against Tyranny?

    Easy: because we want to establish a tyranny of our own that is friendly Western interests. If there wasn't so much flak over recent wars, we'd probably see US troops going in, and the pundits and sheeple will be cheering all the way that they're going to "bring democracy" to the region.

    Do you realize that tyrannies form only when the people are disarmed.

    They also form when people are armed. Giving everybody guns doesn't mean you can defend yourself against tyrannies. It just means you can fight for tyrannies (whichever brand you feel is the right one).

  117. jumping the gun? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    on the one hand, plastic printed guns are worthless and no one should take them seriously enough to legislate against them. might as well legislate against mimes for their potential to incite terror

    on the other hand, if we outlaw the toys of today, we might be in a better position when customized/personalized manufacturing reaches the ability where a novice can push a few buttons and create a weapon that isn't laughable

    are NYC legislators just being incredibly forward-thinking? unfortunately i think they imagine these execrable jokes could be a danger to persons other than their operators

    the same legislators are likely to be three steps behind when someone creates a script for a STEN gun that Junior can upload to Daddy's new MetaloFab 3000 to create functional automatic weapons for him and his murderous little friends. script kiddies with firepower. Hooah

  118. Re:It's incredible to me by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

    So, you equate government with tyranny. Interesting.

    The fact that a government tends towards tyranny is one of the reasons for the US Constitution being framed the way it was, including the 2nd Amendment. The fact that the government is not abiding by the law that defines it is no surprise. We the people must like tyrannies ;)

    --
    Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
  119. Re:It's incredible to me by newcastlejon · · Score: 1

    Also typical that this gets auto moderated to -1

    Probably because you use words like "leftists" and (I assume) "athiests" as perjorative terms. If only you'd worked in something about 'dem liberals you might have got a point for the full set.

    You did manage to shoehorn something about Obama in there, so at least there's that.

    --
    If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
  120. Re:It's incredible to me by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

    They end up doing things like Jewish Purge of Soviet Union (killing Jews because they are religious)

    There's so much wrong in this statement that I don't even know where to begin. For starters, the fact that most people affected by those purges (there was more than one) were atheists. Heck, most of the ones affected by Stalin's purge were staunchly communist!

  121. Re:It's incredible to me by Microlith · · Score: 1

    I see someone is making up enemies in their head.

  122. No by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't care what law they try an pass. They are already in violation of the 2nd Amendment, they violate the 4th amendment with their stop and frisk policy, and they have violated the 1st, 5th, 6th and 9th amendments multiple times.

    New York has been in violation of law so much, that I no longer consider them to be a valid government authority. They are now more like a little kid in a neighborhood that runs around saying he is the king, and everybody must give him candy. And we have had enough of that nonsense.

    Since New York thinks they can ignore the law, we will ignore everything they claim is law, and if they attempt to punish us, there will be a reckoning.

  123. Re:It's incredible to me by NeutronCowboy · · Score: 1

    You, and pretty much all the other gun nuts, have this fantasy that you'll be facing the intruders or attackers at the ready, hunkered down behind a bulletproof couch or car, dispensing justice with your True American gun of BadAssery.

    Here's how those things actually pan out: intruders quietly get into the house, either through an unlocked door, through an open window or through a broken window. By the time you realize what's going on, they are either pointing a gun at you, took what they came for or decided it wasn't worth it to rob an occupied house. And for every anecdote about a home owner chasing off dangerous criminals with guns, I'll give you a story about a home owner gunned down by intruders while they were looking for their gun. See for example the deaths of the district attorney in Texas.

    For muggings and robberies in the street, you're looking at even worse odds, because the attacker by definition pulls the gun on you before you do. Unless, of course, you walk with your gun drawn at all times, and then you're still open for someone to surprise you from behind. And finally, to be the hero in a mass shooting, you actually need to shoot the murderer. I'd like to see you identify the right guy from a crowd of 5-6 people all pointing guns in various directions.

    And for a real fun fact, I'll give you a neat robbery scenario. Friends of ours woke up one morning with all the carpets gone in their apartment (persian rugs can fetch nice sums). Turns out the criminals had actually broken into the apartment and gassed it with sleeping gas.

    In short, guns are an illusion of safety. Someone who wants to get you will get you, because they always have the benefit of surprise.

    And this entire business of stopping a dedicated army with rifles and guns is an even bigger illusion. Syria is nicely illustrating why.

    --
    Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
  124. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How long did it take from the time the oppression of King George started, to when we violently threw off the yoke of British rule?
    The point to take up arms is when all other methods fail. You don't willy-nilly go off shooting up anything government-related every time some politician pisses you off.
    you start with your soap box to convince other citizens of what you are seeing is wrong.
    you proceed to the ballot box, and vote out (if you can) those whom you see as violating your Rights.
    you use the jury box to nullify those Laws that violate your Rights.
    And ONLY AFTER all of these methods fail...then, and only then, do you contemplate using the ammo box.

    Right now, I see us at the stage of the ballot box. There have been numerous speeches from both sides of these issues, now we will see who gets voted out.

    "Guns are a false hope in defending against any tyrannical government....... Especially given that any gun you have, the government has much much bigger ones and a lot more of them."
    you see the Government as a single entity, that can bring to bear all of it's potential Might in one fell swoop.
    In reality, the Government is made up of millions of people like you and me. People with their own opinions, beliefs, dreams, desires, and their own view of what the world should be.
    If it should ever come to pass that the American populous, or even a significant percentage thereof, were to rise up against their Government, you would see an almost equal percent of the Government side with that populous, for the Government is us, and we are the Government. This would give us an equal footing, technology-wise, against "The Government", and a chance of throwing off the yoke of tyranny.

    It won't happen all at once. you'll see more and more instances of 'para-military groups' (as the Gov likes to call them) being formed, and forecefully disbanded by the Gov, until some flashpoint occurrs when the general population realizes that they are, in fact, being subject to a tyrannical force. the Country would split along idealistic lines, brother would fight brother, sons and daughters would fight their parents, and the whole Country would bleed.

  125. Re:It's incredible to me by Teancum · · Score: 1

    During the Indian Wars, the federal army was usually about 30,000 or so soldiers strong. They were mostly a frontier border guard during that time, even though as you pointed out it led to several misadventures which can be compared to the current "war on terrorism" that supposedly is taking place. It should also be pointed out that the "Indian Wars" took place within the claimed territory of the United States of America and not in other countries (with a few exceptions that wandered into Canada and Mexico... but still very close to the border.

    Perhaps the campaign by John Pershing prior to World War I when he was hunting down Pancho Vila could be compared to the current campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, but again it was mostly done within U.S. territory and occasional border crossings that could even be considered a territory dispute. That is quite a bit different than going across oceans and mountain ranges far from American territory.

    Yes, the U.S. Civil War was a major game changer in American history, and in some ways it was the death of the "Old Republic" that was in existence earlier. Still, after the Civil War the U.S. federal army was significantly reduced back to the small number that existed previously. The same thing happened with the Spanish-American War (since you mention it) where the army grew to a rather large size with state militias filling in the ranks and then the army was subsequently reduced to a very small size afterward on the federal level. It wasn't until after World War II and the rationalization that happened during the Cold War that kept the U.S. military, and especially the U.S. Army, at large staffing levels on essentially a permanent basis.

    It should also be pointed out the SpanAm War was formally declared by an act of Congress (it passed both houses... the Senate for the actual declaration and the House for appropriations to make it happen and pay for the war). It also received generally popular support among the American people prior to that war actually happening. My point is that in order to send such an army off to battle you need to get a whole bunch of people to agree to that war prior to the conflict instead of that being the decision of a small group like the Joint Chiefs of Staff or even just the President. Sure, you can get the country whipped into a war frenzy for doing something that may be stupid, but at least you got that popular support and a country committed to seeing the war through to a final conclusion. It is also something that would happen much less often rather than the current misadventures that seem to happen every five years or so on and off during the last half of the 20th Century and into the 21st Century.

    You also seem to have missed the point that soldiers are controlled by more than one person. Under the earlier "state militia" model, the President couldn't call up those soldiers except in declared war or other "national emergencies". That keeps them from being used except in extreme situations and forces the decision making process to commit those soldiers to be done by a large number of people and ultimately get the support of even state legislatures before it happens. That isn't going to be done on a whim or to further the political ambitions of a particular politician... as does currently happen. Sure, you get assholes like General George A. Custer who parade around and perform military actions for political purposes (and ultimately died because of that), Still, if Custer had tried to mess around in Texas and start killing off "white" towns.... he would have met the Texas militias and threats of secession all over again. He didn't have the authority nor did the President have the authority to try a stunt like that.

  126. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You can't, but you can be certain that it would be very costly for whoever has compromised it to expose their position. They could monitor indefinitely, but only crack down once. Will it be on you, a nobody printing a plastic gun?

  127. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You better cut it out, you're gonna cause a civil war between super-intelligent athiest otters and shit.

  128. First rule of Government by Karmashock · · Score: 1

    Never pass a law that won't be enforced or can't be enforced.

    You cannot stop people from printing 3d guns anymore then you can stop someone from writing "I like purple poodles" in any old notebook with a ballpoint pen. Precisely how are you going to even know it happened in the first place?

    So what does this law make illegal? Having an unlicensed weapon? Already illegal. Making your own gun? Already illegal.

    Its an action utterly without meaning or relevance. If they want to stop 3d guns they're either going to have to have to enact a police state or invent a time machine. Short of that... get used to it.

    --
    I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
    1. Re:First rule of Government by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Having an unlicensed weapon? Only illegal in certain jurisdictions.
      Making your own gun? LEGAL

      The Constitution says any powers not delegated to the federal government or prohibited to the states belongs to the states or people respectively.
      The 2nd Amendment prohibits infringement upon the right to keep & bear arms. It doesn't prohibit the federal government, it is a blanket prohibition. Therefore it is both *not* delegated to the federal government, *and* prohibited to the states. As a result, the right to keep & bear arms belongs to the People.

  129. Re:It's incredible to me by interkin3tic · · Score: 1

    Name one tyranny that allows for the people to be armed. Just one.

    The US government under the patriot act and PRISM.

    Anyway, you're dodging my point. Gun control and tyranny could be correlated, but they ARE NOT THE SAME THING. Yet nothing aside from gun control seems to provoke a response. I suspect that if we were to gradually suspend the constitution but not touch guns, most gun rights activists would let it stand.

  130. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The supreme court ruled the 2nd amendment is an individual right, applied to the individual.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia_v._Heller

  131. Re:It's incredible to me by interkin3tic · · Score: 1

    Well then thank you for commenting AC and undoing your moderation. You've really shown me who is a fucking idiot.

  132. Re:It's incredible to me by rubycodez · · Score: 2

    Rifles have been used quite effectively against U.S. troops operating in foreign countries, sometimes bring down helicopters too. The Supreme Court disagrees with your Constitutional interpretation, it is personal right.

    Obama is wasting capital on something even half his party supports, even his wife says *she* would want sufficient protection were she to live in rural area, and Bill Clinton warned him about that crowd. listen to Michael, Barack, she's more common sense than you

  133. Re:It's incredible to me by rubycodez · · Score: 2

    You have quite an imagination. over a million times a year good people use guns to discourage attacks, usually without a shot fired. The family dog alerts about intruders even before they get close enough to house to touch it. In store robberies, sometimes guns help and sometime they don't. But people have a right to have a chance to defend themselves. Usually the bad guy in mass shooting is quite easy to identify, read the recent news accounts.

    Funny you bring up placed where armed citizens are giving government a hard time. also, there are places where armed citizens are giving the full might of the US military a hard, bad time. hmmmm, something in your assumptions is off.

  134. Geograpphy skills are poor the world over by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    On the east coast I was once asked by a Brit for directions on how to get to Las Vegas. They wanted to see the strip before returning home in the morning. I told them to take the next left and drive for five days.

  135. So when do I get my suitcase nuke? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So when do I get my suitcase nuke?

    Designed to be carried and deployed by a single individual, a suitcase nuke is an "arm" by that definition.

    In order to fulfill the spirit of the 2nd Amendment and be able to oppose a tyrannical government I need weapons as close to the govt's capabilities as humanely possible within the scope of the second Amendment.

    Once the NRA starts agitating for individual ownership of suitcase nukes I will take their "no regulation of any kind" stance seriously.

    Otherwise they are admitting that regulation is perfectly reasonable (which it is) and so what an individual can own is subject to the will of the people, not some theoretical interpretation of a 200 year old statement.

  136. Re:It's incredible to me by Teancum · · Score: 1

    The role of the National Guard to be able to fight in Iraq came directly from the legislation of the "authorization of the use of force" declaration by Congress shortly after 9/11. Prior to that, the National Guard was supposedly prohibited on a constitutional basis and legal basis from serving in that capacity. This is also one of the reasons why National Guard units didn't serve in Vietnam, as it wasn't a formally declared war and the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution didn't give authorization to call up the state militias.

    I also have a problem with the organization of the National Guard.... so far as having guard units as the only form of state militias. They have "dual oaths" that they must take, where they are in reality under the direct chain of command of the U.S. President and not the respective state governors with the state governors only exercising authority in a sort of "dotted line" capacity that is mostly titular as a practical matter. Governors can order the National Guard to perform acts of service to the respective state.... but the biggest catch is that the state government must pay for the use of guard units if they are in state service. As a practical matter, most of the activities of guard units are paid for with federal funds, thus are mostly on duty as federal troops. To show an example of this, ask a guardsman how they treat the federal flag as opposed to the state flag.... of the state they are serving. By far they will show utmost respect and courtesy to the federal flag, but the state flag they will wad up and toss into a bin when they take it down and certainly not even close to the same level of respect. That speaks volumes about who really is in charge.

    That is not the organization that was envisioned under the 2nd Amendment when it was put forth. It was to allow citizens to form voluntary associations for common defense... both for protecting "borders" or the "frontier" as well as to keep ruffians at bay within their respective communities (including out of control federal agents). In earlier times all it would take for a group of citizens to form a militia was to get a couple dozen concerned citizens together (the exact number varied by respective state laws) and then they could petition the state legislature for a charter to become a recognized militia. Often they would even pay for their own uniforms and weapons, but would use rank structures and training methods as described by the federal government. Officers of those militias had to be commissioned by the state legislatures (with recommendations by the militia in question), but the federal government otherwise had no role at all.

    Speaking about the Massachusetts state militias, the 182nd Infantry Regiment traces its heritage back to the colonial militia nearly a century before the Revolutionary War. I'm sure they have weapons a bit better than Nerf guns, although it suffers from the other issues of National Guard units at the moment.

    Again, I'm not advocating that the National Guard be eliminated, but I think there is a role for state militia units which are outside of that structure and answer directly to the state governors and legislatures. My reading of the 2nd Amendment (and other amendments like the 10th) seems to suggest that the federal government couldn't even constitutionally stop such militias from forming and that gun control laws would definitely not apply on the federal level to stop what those militia units could be using. Heck, I'm not even sure that a federal law prohibiting a state militia from controlling nukes could be constitutional... even if I think that would be a stupid thing for a state militia to be messing with. At the very least, if gun rights are being taken away from ordinary citizens, these alterna

  137. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anyone in the USA who opposes any change to the second amendment but drinks alcohol is a morally bankrupt hypocrite not worth listening to, which I would imagine is most of them.

    Now, that's just a damned ignorant statement. You equate opposition to changing a specific amendment with opposition to changing any amendment.

  138. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You also seem to have missed the point that soldiers are controlled by more than one person.

    No, you missed my point that it's not a matter of being controlled or by whom. I'm saying it's the people themselves who have changed, and that led to decisions that while individually seem insignificant, slowly shifted the direction of policies and society as a whole.

    You spoke about how having more people decide and agree to declare war is better than letting the Joint Chiefs of Staff holding much/all decision making power. Well, one of the reason the JCS came to be is because of cases like Civil War and Spanish-American war, where they found that it was difficult to coordinate between the large and various forces without power given to a central authority. People used to think not having central control is good, but after experiencing some problems, the war changed them, and people started thinking maybe we can try a *little* centralization, beginning the road down to hell.

    Nobody controlled those individual soldiers from the militias to think that way. But enough of them came to that conclusion themselves. Those soldiers then became the businessmen, and politicians, the generals, and other people who voted to change the system.

    My point is that it is ultimately people themselves who have changed and therefore changed their society. A Republic, if you can keep it.

  139. Re:It's incredible to me by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

    Nope, there isn't any such rule. The Bible says "Thou shalt not murder" or "Thou shalt do no murder". It says nothing about killing. A homicide is always a killing, but it is not always a murder. There is plenty of room in the Bible for the concept we understand as "self defense".

    Thank you for playing - run along and play with the other children now!

    --
    "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
  140. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Fuck you right back you stupid cunt.

    If not for "gun-wankers", you wouldn't be able to post your brain dead rants.

    More kids die in drowning accidents every year than are killed by guns. I suppose you want to outlaw water.

    Stupid mother fucker.

  141. Re:It's incredible to me by lgw · · Score: 1

    Thank you. Out of mod points, but that's probably the most informative post we'll see under this story.

    --
    Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  142. Re:It's incredible to me by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

    Wait - wait - wait - I'm straining my gray matter here. Just give it time. Something buried deep in my subconscious - it's fighting to get out -

    http://www.onion-router.net/
    This website comprises the onion-router.net site formerly hosted at the Center for High Assurance Computer Systems of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. It primarily covers the work done at NRL during the first decade of onion routing and reflects the onion-router.net site roughly as it existed circa 2005. As a historical site it may contain dead external links and other signs of age.

    There you go - there's no way that the NSA might know about some back door in TOR. The Navy certainly wouldn't share any back doors with the NSA, would they?

    --
    "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
  143. Re:It's incredible to me by Runaway1956 · · Score: 2

    TOR is subject to a MIM attack - always has been, always will be. There may or may not be some back door, but if gubbermint is monitoring the internet backbone, then they ARE the MIM.

    --
    "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
  144. Re:It's incredible to me by danbert8 · · Score: 1

    I am being helped either voluntarily or by mutual exchange of goods or services. Also, someone helping me does not obligate me to help others. Forcing help using government guns to enforce is no different than slavery, albeit temporarily.

    --
    Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
  145. Re:It's incredible to me by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

    One might be moderately confused by the language contained in the constitution, and the bill of rights. But, if a moderately confused person were to go in search of the correspondence that passed between the authors and the signers of the constitution, and the bill of rights, the language contained therein would clear up any doubt. The people who authored those documents, as well as the signatories of those documents, clearly intended that all able bodied males between the ages of 18 and 49 be armed, with their own personal weapons. Those persons are your mystical "militia".

    --
    "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
  146. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They would have to have the first and last TOR node. The first TOR node only knows your IP address and the address of the second node in the chain, it does not have your unencrypted traffic nor does it know the IP address of whoever you're talking to. The final TOR node has your unencrypted traffic and the person you're talking to, but does not have your IP, only the IP of the second TOR node.

  147. Re:It's incredible to me by Teancum · · Score: 1

    On the contrary.... it is simply people who have ignored the traditions and constitution of America. Yes, there is a strong tendency toward centralization (not just in the military.... but in all aspects of government). There certainly are tyrants who want to ignore those governing documents and insist upon moving that decision making authority to as few people as possible and growing the Presidency to the point that a mere "executive order" can act as if it was legislation or even impact the lives of ordinary citizens.

    The 2nd Amendment was intended to be a check on that centralization tendency as ordinary citizens in mundane groups free of that central authority can and will act on behalf of its citizens to stop blatant abuses of a federal army upon the local communities. The federal army legitimately puts a check to make sure the local militia doesn't go sacking a neighboring town or state either, so it goes both ways.

    Perhaps I'm demanding that constitutional check be put back. The arguments about gun control seem to center on the role that lone nut jobs might be doing when they get turned loose in civilian populations as well as criminal elements who use guns to commit crimes that most people really do think deserve to be felonies (aka rape, murder, grand theft, and treason). All of the arguments if favor of gun control simply don't apply to local militias, and I think you would be very hard pressed to find a whole militia unit turned rogue with the exception of the U.S. Civil War. I'm also suggesting that the U.S. Constitution has not been changed... in spite of your claim to the contrary. Those soldiers who served in the Spanish-American War and the U.S. Civil War certainly did not "vote" to revoke the 2nd Amendment, even if the "system" did change to consider a more centralized authority.

    The Joint Chiefs of Staff are there to say what should be done once the decision to go to war has been made, not to make the decision to start a war. I'm even fine with that, as a country at war needs some sort of central authority and why the decision to go to war is one that a republic should be very careful and deliberative about. I just disagree that somebody like the President should send troops to a place like Syria without explicit authorization in the form of a declaration of war by Congress. State governors should also be reluctant to send their state militias into harm's way if "authorizations of the use of force" are vague and based upon weak premises. There certainly was enough opposition to the Iraq War (sometimes called "Gulf War II") that I doubt such a war declaration would have been successful and certainly several governors suggested they really wanted to stop their guard units from going to Iraq due to that popular sentiment against the war. That it didn't happen shows a break down in constitutional authority and ignoring the constitution altogether.

  148. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No, before "only the crazy paranoid thinks the government is monitoring and recording all our comunications".
    Now it is "only the crazy paranoid thinks the monitoring and recording of all our comunications by the government is a bad thing".
    Tomorrow "only the crazy paranoid thinks secret abductions without warrants is a bad thing".

  149. Re:It's incredible to me by femtobyte · · Score: 1

    Do you believe a committee should tell you how much you should be paid, and how hard you should work and what job you should do? If you say no to each of those, you're a capitalist.

    Funny, I'm anti-capitalist specifically because I don't like committees of rich folks deciding exactly those things for everyone who has to sell their labor to live. Under capitalism, you only have much meaningful freedom to determine your conditions of labor to the extent that you are already wealthy --- for everyone else, the choice is "work on the terms dictated by richer folks, or die impoverished and homeless." Many alternatives proposed for capitalism are developed and motivated specifically to break the monopoly of a tiny wealthy class controlling the "ownership of the means of production."

  150. Re:It's incredible to me by TheCarp · · Score: 2

    > Isn't there some pretty big rule in the bible about not killing, or have you justified that away in your
    > world of irrationality?

    As an atheist, I don't give two shits what is in the bible but, you seem to be conflating the immorality of killing a human being outside of self defence with ownership and production of tools which are, quite rarely used for such things.

    This would be kind of like confusing buying/making/owning a hammer with building a house. I own lots of hammers, never built a house though.

    That is, unless you are concerned about the senseless slaughter of paper targets; which even the bible doesn't seem to have any rules about their treatment.

    --
    "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
  151. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    On the contrary.... it is simply people who have ignored the traditions and constitution of America

    So you're saying you disagree with my point that the people have changed, because... the people have changed to ignore the traditions and constitution of America?

    Again, a Republic, if you can keep it. If the people decided to ignore the constitution, well then that's what will happen. It's not the constitution or the 2nd amendment that protects you. It's the people who have to protect themselves.

  152. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As an atheist, I don't give two shits what is in the bible but, you seem to be conflating the immorality of killing a human being outside of self defence with ownership and production of tools which are, quite rarely used for such things.

    I have no problem problem with people owning guns, but thinking that they need them for self-defense shows insecurity, weakness, fear and simple-mindedness.

    Obviously, he is just a troll calling out "leftists" and "athiests", so I'm pretty sure he fits all of those categories.

  153. Re: It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's right, I forgot. The bible explicitly allows for killing of any non-believers too! What a wonderful religion!

    My favorite is the part where you can sell your daughter into sexual slavery. Too bad the "leftist" government won't let me get away with that anymore!

  154. Re:It's incredible to me by kwbauer · · Score: 1

    It is about not murdering which is distinctly different than killing. For the cognitively challenged, blue is a color but a color is not blue.

  155. Re:It's incredible to me by kwbauer · · Score: 1

    "don't think the constitution says anything about you individually having the right to own a gun" Obviously your reading comprehension is terrible.

    Please explain how "the People", "keep and bear" and "not be infringed" says anything other than an individual having a right to own, carry and use.

    If "the People" in the Second Amendment means all of us together but no one individually, then none of us have an individual right to privacy, from our homes being searched, from self-incrimination, to legal representation, etc. There is no justification for "the People" to mean one thing in nine amendments and something entirely different in another.

  156. plastics by turkeydance · · Score: 1

    Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word. Benjamin: Yes, sir. Mr. McGuire: Are you listening? Benjamin: Yes, I am. Mr. McGuire: Plastics. Benjamin: Exactly how do you mean? Mr. McGuire: There's a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?

  157. Re:It's incredible to me by kwbauer · · Score: 1

    An examination of the context in which the words were written definitely informs the honest person that today's "guns" is yesterday's "arms". Only a commplete moron would even imagine that the founding fathers bothered explaining in the constitution how the government doesn't have the right to remove appendages from your body.

  158. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Done.

  159. Re:What's next? make pvc rail guns illegal? by Zimluura · · Score: 1

    That sounds awesome!! But i thought a mass driver with discrete magnetic stages was considered a coil-gun...and a rail-gun had two straight rails and a conductive launching armature or conductive projective.

  160. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because first they would have to compromise my compiler, which by the way is also open source. A level of paranoia which would only be necessary if they were targetting me specifically, in which case there would be plenty of other things to worry about.

  161. Re:It's incredible to me by cod3r_ · · Score: 1

    the hell are you blabbering about??? I own 3 homes and never have been asked if I own a gun by insurance companies.. Also the retarded stats you brought up are retarded. Saying i have a 40% chance to commit homicide is the most retarded argument I've ever heard of. Anyway my outcomes will be better by having a gun. I have one on me at all times. You can be afraid of yourself and not own a gun. I will just accept that there are bad people and keep mine to protect me.

  162. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It really sucks to get robbed, but chances are the thieves aren't there to murder you. They take your tv and jewels and they leave. For that you are slathering at the mouth to blow a hole in their head? Protection is cool, but at what level is taking another person's life ok? You'd murder a man in front of your kids because he's taking your Xbox?

  163. Re:It's incredible to me by PraiseBob · · Score: 1

    Anyway my outcomes will be better by having a gun.

    Statistically speaking, you are more likely to kill yourself in moment of depression, a family member in the heat of anger, or a family member in an accident, rather than a criminal seeking to do you harm.

    Fact: If you have a gun, everybody in your home is more likely than your non-gun-owning neighbors and their families to die in a gun-related accident, suicide or homicide.

    Citation: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9715182
    Citation: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/105/4/888.full
    Citation: http://ajl.sagepub.com/content/early/2011/02/01/1559827610396294

    Saying my argument is retarded is ignoring the clear and well establishing science. Rejecting the evidence with anger and namecalling does nothing to support your side that you will react with calm rationality in all situations, and never snap.

  164. Re:It's incredible to me by magic+maverick+ · · Score: 1

    Haha. No. I am anti-capitalist because I am against people owning property far beyond what they can use. I am also very much against corporations as well for that matter.
    I am anti-government, and anti-capitalist, because I'm an anarchist. I'm against anyone telling anyone what to do.

    You say:

    How is that? How does a "Left wing" enforce their social economic government structure without a strong powerful government behind it?

    How do capitalists hold on to all their property without a strong powerful government to stop the poor from taking it off them? Oh wait...
    Anarchists are opposed to enforcing any sort of government structure on anyone. That's the bloody point.

    You're probably not anti-capitalist, you're probably anti-corporatist, which is different, but looks remarkably similar. Do you believe a committee should tell you how much you should be paid, and how hard you should work and what job you should do? If you say no to each of those, you're a capitalist.

    No, I'm anti-capitalist. And I think I'd know better than you. And yet I still don't want a committee saying how hard I should work etc. (Which, as pointed out by a sibling, does sound like capitalism anyway.)

    I've nothing against a free market (which means, incidentally, that cost is the basic limit of price). I've also got nothing against communism. Which isn't what was practiced in the USSR, nor is it practiced currently in China, Cuba or North Korea; at best they claimed to be "moving towards communism". Communism of course being the class-less, state-less society where the means of production are held in common, and where all receive what they need.

    The thing is, as a socialist and a left-winger, I'm for workers owning their own labor, and deciding for themselves where, and when to work. I'm for workers receiving the full product of their labor. And in a final utopian future, workers will happily work as much (or as little) as they desire, and share the product of their labor (or trade) as they will.

    I know what I am, and any sort of pro-capitalist is not what I am.

    --
    HELP MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HACKED BY AN ILLIBERAL ART STUDENT SET TO DESTROY THE INTERWEBZ!
  165. CNC Milling works better. http://www.cncguns.com/ by couchslug · · Score: 1

    However, there is no practical way to crack down on that, and MANY classic battle rifles were first made on manual machine tools.

    http://www.cncguns.com/

    --
    "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
  166. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Yep. Even the *severely* anti-gun _Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence_ estimates that firearms are used defensively at least 100,000 times a year. Independent researchers looking at the Brady data, and the Brady definitions of gun use say that's understating the number by at least 400%, still leaving the Brady study as a statistical outlier. Estimates from other studies range from 1.5 - 2.5 *million* times per year.

  167. Re:It's incredible to me by tlambert · · Score: 1

    don't think the constitution says anything about you individually having the right to own a gun

    A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

    Having the right to own a gun does not require you to own one.
    Exercising that right and owning one does not require you to serve in a militia.

    Also, you are not using the definitions of "militia" and "regulated" from the 15 April 1755 version of Samuel Johnson's "A Dictionary of the English Language".

    If you want to be entirely accurate, it refers to able-bodied males of a certain age range who have received some training in group tactics utilizing arms. Owning the arms in the first place is a necessary, but not sufficient, precondition for joining a militia and receiving that training, just as age, maleness, and being able-bodied were each necessary, but not sufficient, preconditions. Finally, there was the precondition of training having been competed, before a militia could be considered to be "well regulated".

    Requiring someone to be a member of a militia before they are allowed to own arms is therefore putting the cart before the horse.

    You should also be aware that "arms" was intentionally used, as it was a broader term that would also encompass privately owned cannon mounted on trading vessels, and from exploding bombardment loads for those cannons, all the way down to hunting knives or pitchforks. The framers of the constitution were perfectly aware of what a "gun" was, and deliberately chose the broader term to include stronger weapons than guns. They effectively, by that choice, included all of the best military weapons available of their day.

  168. Re:It's incredible to me by jabuzz · · Score: 1

    The point is that as soon as anyone talks about gun control, which in effect means amending the constitution the gun lobby go mental and start shouting about their second amendment rights and how any gun control is an infringement of their constitutional rights and must be stopped at all costs. In this context exactly how would I go about getting the second amendment amended and/or repelled?

    Yes the first ten amendments are special as they came as a single package in the Bill of Rights. However there is nothing in the constitution that prevents them being repealed either. So why does the gun lobby scream blue murder about not messing with the constitution as soon as someone talks about gun control.

    Further the vast majority of these people who shout second amendment as soon as someone talks about gun control will also drink alcohol which makes them hypocrites of the first order.

    Of course I am in not a US citizen so I am in no position to get the second amendment repelled. On the other hand as a total outside with no stake I am able to look in and see the moral bankruptcy of the gun lobby for what it is.

    I would also add for good measure that the I view the pro gun control side as moral cowards for not tackling gun control for what it is; an amendment to the constitution.

    My personal view point is that the only purpose of owning a gun would be to increase ones safety. It is far from clear that owning a gun actually does that. It's game theory if only I have a gun then I am probably safer. If everyone has a gun then I am almost certainly less safe. The problem is if most people have a gun then I am probably also less safe as well, and getting from most people having a gun to most people not having a gun is the hard bit.

    I am fortunate to live in a country where only a small minority of people own guns, and my chances of being murdered are much lower than in the USA.

  169. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The point is that as soon as anyone talks about gun control, which in effect means amending the constitution the gun lobby go mental and start shouting about their second amendment rights and how any gun control is an infringement of their constitutional rights and must be stopped at all costs. In this context exactly how would I go about getting the second amendment amended and/or repelled?

    Because the constitution says no gun control unless you amend it, these guys are refusing to amend the constitution and trying to just end run around it because they know the American people won't stand for gun control if they do it the way the law of the constitution says they have to. Repeal the fucking second amendment and gun control won't be anti constitutional, go ahead and do it.

    Further the vast majority of these people who shout second amendment as soon as someone talks about gun control will also drink alcohol which makes them hypocrites of the first order.

    Where in the constitution does it say you cant drink alcohol? That amendment was repealed like how the gun control guys should be going about gun control instead of trying to lie and cheat their way to it.

    If everyone has a gun then I am almost certainly less safe. The problem is if most people have a gun then I am probably also less safe as well,

    And yet the statistics clearly show that as gun ownership has gone up violent crime has gone down.

  170. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I am fortunate to live in a country where only a small minority of people own guns, and my chances of being murdered are much lower than in the USA.

    Missed this bit. You are aware that since your country banned handguns that handgun crime has more than doubled right?

  171. REAL First Rule of Government by Zynder · · Score: 1

    Pass any law that won't be enforced or can't be enforced.

    You cannot stop people from getting high anymore than you can stop someone from writing "Don't tread on me" in any old notebook with a fine quill pen. Precisely how are you going to know it happened in the first place?

    So what does this law make illegal? Having untaxed weed? Already illegal. Growing your own weed? Already illegal.

    Its an action utterly without meaning or relevance. If they want to stop people getting high they're either going to have to enact a police state or invent a time machine. Short of that... get used to it

    If you think the government doesn't do shit just because then you haven't been paying attention. They pass whatever law they think will make them the biggest dollar amount. Now I do believe you were trying to state the ideal first rule of gov, but I hate to point out that the REAL first rule is exactly what I stated.

    1. Re:REAL First Rule of Government by Karmashock · · Score: 1

      Passing laws that cannot or will not be enforced undermines the authority of the government.

      If they tell me to do something. And I ignore them with impunity then they are weakened automatically.

      If the government only passes laws that can and will be enforced then government law takes on a totally different meaning. It means "this is what is going to happen and this is how our society works"... Period. If they don't do that then what does law mean? Not a great deal. You have to factor in the police and regulatory agencies to see if they're able to close the gap somehow. But since by definition the law can't be enforced they'll just spin their wheels and waste resources. Thus undermining their power as well.

      As to the whole weed argument. I agree. Look at the US prison system. Overloaded with people hauled in for smoking, selling, or growing pot. Why do we care? Do I need pot farmers in jail? Do I need pot dealers in jail? No. I don't need those people to be behind bars. Now... murderers? Rapists? Etc? Yeah... prison is a good idea. They pose a threat to the general public. And even say con artists have shown a willingness and ability to commit fraud or exploit people. But exactly how does selling contraband either pose a threat to the general public or exploit people? It does neither.

      So yes, I agree the government has been passing stupid laws for a long time. But I disagree that they are wise to do so. Every time they do this it makes them weaker.

      The war on drugs which you brought up here has weakened the US government. It has weakened its authority within our society... especially its moral authority. Laws and rules that might otherwise have been obeyed are entered into a growing list of rules that people "meh... obey" They might do it... they might not.

      --
      I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
  172. Re: It's incredible to me by Zynder · · Score: 1

    Dude that response does absolutley nothing to make your case look better. It actually furthers the idea that God is a fucking psychopathic asocial asshole who isn't worthy of any kind of worship or attention! Try again, young padawan.

  173. 2 there always are by Zynder · · Score: 1

    Am I the only one who read the last sentence in Emperor Palpatine's voice?

  174. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If I had a nickel for every time I encountered some idiot apologist using semantic arguments and definitions based upon current English from the king James bible, I'd have 215 cents.

  175. Re:It's incredible to me by Big+Hairy+Ian · · Score: 1

    Ahh I see you've had a sense of humour failure :)

    --

    Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.

  176. Re:It's incredible to me by jabuzz · · Score: 1

    Yes because the vast majority of people who oppose changing the second amendment (which is what gun control is in effect) arguments start with this is the constitution and any change to that is tantamount to treason, and stop trying to take away my god given constitutional rights. It may then move onto a rational argument on whether everyone carrying guns leads to a safer society and whether the second amendment makes practical sense in the context of 21st century America, but truth be told this is actually very rare.

    Consequently all those who feel that repealing the 18th amendment is fine but you cannot even talk about repealing or modifying the second are morally bankrupt. That is the majority of the gun lobby. Then again I suspect that most people with a stake in the argument are blinded to the truth of this. The shame is that while the founding fathers clearly had the foresight to see that the constitution as a static document that was unchanging through history would be monumentally dumb, a large proportion of the current population can't see that.

  177. Re:It's incredible to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When has anyone talked about repealing the second amendment? The gun control lobby advocates against doing an end run around the second amendment. If you think that the second amendment needs to be repealed then fucking repeal the second amendment. There's a procedure for that. The reason no one wants to repeal the second amendment is because they don't want to be living in a hellhole like the UK has become since handguns were banned where gun crime has more than doubled and people are being bludgeoned to death in the streets while the police just stand around watching brutal murders because they can't do anything.

  178. Re:It's incredible to me by AlphaWolf_HK · · Score: 1

    Actually it's pretty common for atheists (including myself) to vehemently support the second amendment. Ironically the deeply religious types I run into seem to have the most issue with them (e.g. jesus doesn't approve of violence.)

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  179. Re:It's incredible to me by AlphaWolf_HK · · Score: 1

    Just wait until the current president is voted out of office and the next republican is in office. You will be doubly-sorry this stuff was started then when it's used to chase down and out women who have had abortions, people that don't go to church, and all kinds of other sinners.

    I really don't see that being the case at all. Federal republicans talk about jesus about 33% more than the democrats, but they don't seem to ever force jesus on you. I've never felt in the slightest danger of being forced to go to church for example, which would bother me if it happened given I'm atheist and all.

    However the current administration is definitely the least transparent, openly hostile to opposing views (see IRS), and has the worst domestic spying program to date. Also uses drones as terror weapons, which I'm sort of mixed about (I love the thought of blowing up mullah's, but I'm not sure if terrorism is the answer to terrorism.)

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  180. Re:It's incredible to me by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

    " I am anti-capitalist because I am against people owning property far beyond what they can use"

    According to whom? Who Decides how much one person can use? A committee?

    No thank you.

    You end up with people like Al Gore with his HUGE mansion lecturing me on how green I am. People flying around in private jets telling me not to drive my car because it gets less than a certain mileage.

    No thank you.

    And be careful, the very thing you are advocating will have you lose everything you have, because I can assure you, the committee from some third world country will tell you, you have too much stuff, and don't need it all.

    No Thank you.

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    Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
  181. Re:It's incredible to me by magic+maverick+ · · Score: 1

    Anarchy means never having to say sorry.

    More to the point, we have enough production surplus right now to give everyone in the world a reasonable standard of living. However, if you want to claim six houses, then maybe you should split into six people. Because you can only live in one at a time.

    Yeah, fuck Al Gore and his private jet. But the only reason he's in the position he's in is because of capitalism.

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