swt61

Happy Birthday Steve!

Capital work on the Capitole Sir!

Sounds like a lot of fun!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday guys!

Happy Birthday Ken!

To get the most creative gifts, you should reverse that order.

From a guy who knows a little bit about playing with a nice instrument all evening, congrat CJ.

Exactly!

Gun loving liberal? You my friend are as rare as the homosexual republican.

This!

Happy Birthday!

^ Sad, but true.

Also to verify, it wasn't this Mercury?

Had mine several years with no cable issues.

A heavy tax on guns and ammo should cover it. JUST KIDDING! Lighten up.

In fact there are a lot of things we can do to start. Problem is they will piss off as many people or more, than are angered by the thought of any gun legislation. Deny it, call it ridiculous, whatever, but it is my full belief (as well as many others) that violence in video games and movies most certainly has a desensitizing effect. Both parents at work and kids monitoring themselves is another contributing factor. Rampant "medicate the problem" ideologies, as well as basic things like quality of food and water all contribute to the problem. Mental illness is not all luck of the draw. We as a society are generating cases in many ways.

A car accident is exactly that...an accident. A mass killing is intentional. I do agree that acting during an emotional state can be a bad decision. All I'm asking is that we don't just put this aside once the fervor dies down. Anyone near my own age knows how drastically these acts have risen during our lifetime.

IMO if we turn our heads from 20 small children being slaughtered at school because "sometimes bad things happen", then we've committed a grave crime ourselves. I know that mental illness is the root here. However that could become as big of a concern for personal freedoms as gun control. #1) Getting a good grasps on who is and who isn't mentally ill is a monumental challenge. #2) I can easily see factions of our government using mental illness laws to determine who they believe is a threat to their own agendas, and then completely contorting those laws in their own favor. It's a problem with no easy solutions, and no solution that is going to be acceptable by all. However we have to purists, because learning to live with these events is something my conscience will not allow, and I hope many more feel the same.

DON'T !!! There is zero reason for you to feel the least bit guilty. Enjoy your free day!

Ric you have just expressed my feelings so much better, and more eloquently than I ever could have. A thoughtful, concise and thought provoking post. BTW, I'm also from a big hunting family. Guns were a part of life in my upbringing. Both of my Brother's received their first gun once they turned 12. I refused to shoot the Winchester 3030 he gave me when I turned 12. That was more about not wanting to be forced to be somebody I wasn't, than it was about guns.

I loved that movie!

I feel better. I really thought you had some agenda with me. I understand this is a serious issue for you. I really don't have strong gun control leanings, I'm just really confused, frustrated and deeply saddened whenever kids are hurt. This goes way beyond that. I still believe we need to discuss this issue though, even if we can't reach an understanding at this time.

Dusty, I have never considered you to be homophobic or bigoted in any way. I've known you now for several years, and it would be impossible for me to think anything like that. I completely understood your use of the gay marriage scenario. What hurt me was solely this sentence... That seemed very much directed at me personally, given the context of the post, and now your acknowledgement of such. The use of the word "sicken" in its context seems to me more than generally argumentative, and very personal. Firstly I'm still not sure you really understand my values, as up to this point you seem to want to place me fully on one side of the issue. I am not fully on either side, and I think my posts reflect that. I don't know what I've done to offend you, but it seems to me that I have. I'm truly sorry if I have, as that was never my intent. Again I'm confused. I've looked back at all of my posts in this thread, and I don't see the words "allowed to". In any case it's no longer important to me. I'm a big boy, I'll get over it.

Happy Birthday Guys!