15 year old brings pellet gun to school, gets shot dead by two cops - thoughts?

[El Barto]

Ironically,  a much more civilized era.  Not only was the prospect of people shooting each other up smaller,  but there was an atmosphere in such areas that you would never, ever fuck with another man's belongings;  guns in particular.  I can't even leave my stereo in the car when I run into the store, nowadays.   It's difficult for me to wrap my head around,  despite the fact that I lived through it,  an era where people left guns in their trucks all the time. 

[kári]

... wait you guys are serious?

Yes.  Guns used to be something that people used primarily to hunt deer or rabbits with.  In parts of the country where it's common, your vehicle has a rifle rack, mostly for convenience but maybe to show off a bit.  If you're old enough and that's the vehicle you drive to school, you do.  No biggie.

Maybe it's hard to imagine a time when guns weren't commonly used by school kids to kill each other, but it's actually a relatively recent development.

I wasn't comparing it to a different time, I was just comparing it to... Everything I've ever known. I have never even seen a gun or a rifle that was not in a museum or something. Let alone held one. Let alone pretty much everyone having one and just leaving them in their cars. That is so weird. 

[Orbert]

What country are you from?  In the U.S., it's pretty much our way of life.  Not saying it's a good thing, but it is what it is.

[chknptpie]

You must not have visited 'merica.

[kári]

I'm from Belgium. And no, I've never been to the USA. I knew that guns were a lot more common there but I didn't know it was that much of a difference... I thought it was more for like when you're a store owner or something... They don't have guns here either. No one has. Only the police sometimes walk around with a revolver but definitely not all the time.

What exactly changes about the way you live when you carry a gun/rifle around in your car?

[Ryzee]

What country are you from?  In the U.S., it's pretty much our way of life.  Not saying it's a good thing, but it is what it is.

Just wanted to chime in to point out that it's not "our" way of life everywhere in the U.S.   Just certain parts of the country.  Primarily the middle and southern parts.  I'm one of them there coastal liberal elitist hippie wussy douchebags, so to me the idea of everyone running around with guns like it's no big thing is *almost* as strange and alien as it is to kari.  I say almost cuz I am 'merican after all.

[Implode]

Same here. I'm aware that can be the norm in places like Texas, but where I'm from people didn't carry around guns in their cars that often.

[El Barto]

Definitely a regional thing.  Some states don't allow people to carry guns in public at all.  Some states are open carry,  so you'll occasionally see people walking around like Wyatt Earp.  Plenty of others,  Texas for example,  are concealed carry states,  so if you want to carry one you have to keep it out of view (allowing others to see it is a big no-no).  People actually carrying are really the exception, though.  For the most part it's people keeping them under the counter of their store,  or in the drawer of their nightstand. 

Long guns are a different thing altogether.  They're predominantly used for hunting,  so the rules are different.  You're expected to keep those in plain sight.  Walking around with a shotgun under your jacket suggests that you're fixing to rob somebody.  Driving around with one in the window of your truck suggests that you're off to kill Daffy. 

Point is, if you come to America,  you likely won't even see any guns anywhere.  Out in the boonies,  or occasionally in some of the open carry states.

[kári]

I see. Anyway, if I was walking around and someone drove by me with a shotgun in plain sight in the car I'd go WTF was that a gun?

[Chino]

A lot of people in the states just like to shoot guns, plain and simple. My buddy has three hand guns and 2 rifles, none of which he's ever pointed towards an animal. He has good sized property, and occasionally we'll get together and just shoot anything that will be entertaining to see destroyed. We buy hundreds of blank CD, set them up down range, and just empty clip after clip. I don't even need to shoot real guns to be satisfied. As I said earlier, I have several high powered pellet pistols that are equally fun, and even just coloring shit with paintball guns is fun.

In many of the neighboring cities surrounding my old town, there are some pretty shitty neighborhoods. I know over a dozen people with illegal firearms, just for the sake of protection. All but maybe 2 of them have actually fired the weapon. One of them, whom I am good friends with, put the clip in the day he got it and has since never disengaged the safety.

[Orbert]

When I said it's our way of life, I didn't mean that everybody has guns on them all the time.  I meant that we're not really shocked by it anymore, because there are parts of the country where it is common, and the news has stuff all the time about armed robberies and people being shot (especially in the big cities).

I think I've fallen into something of a trap as well.  I moved to the Chicago area in the 90's, and it is far more common for there to be at least one shooting or armed robbery in the news, every day, than to not have any.  I forget that it's not like that everywhere else.

[Sigz]

I don't think I've ever seen someone have a gun in public besides a cop. I'm definitely with Ryzee/Kari on this one.

[chknptpie]

I live in Arizona, I see guns all the time.

[Ryzee]

I don't think I've ever seen someone have a gun in public besides a cop. I'm definitely with Ryzee/Kari on this one.

I live in Arizona, I see guns all the time.

See- it's regional.  Sigz I recall you saying one time that you go to UCSB.  I live in Long Beach.  We're So-Cal peeps.  I can honestly say that the only guns I've ever seen in person fire paint balls.  And when chknptpie points out that living in AZ she sees guns all the time, I don't doubt that for a minute.

To make a more on-topic point though I will say that even though I am not a part of U.S. gun culture I do recognize that the cops in this situation had little to no other choice and I don't fault them for a second.  Terrible, terrible situation though anyway you look at it.

[hefdaddy42]

I was taught to shoot a gun (and shoot it well) before I was taught long division.

[El Barto]

I was taught to shoot a gun (and shoot it well) before I was taught long division.

Same here.  Also recall a field trip to a gun range in 7th grade for practical shooting experience.  I guess the woods & waters class was probably a casualty of Collumbine. 

[hefdaddy42]

I was taught to shoot a gun (and shoot it well) before I was taught long division.

Same here.  Also recall a field trip to a gun range in 7th grade for practical shooting experience.  I guess the woods & waters class was probably a casualty of Collumbine.

When I was a freshman in high school, part of our required Health & PE class was a section on Hunter Safety.

[7StringedBeast]

Shooting guns is awesome.   That is all.

[emindead]

I'm from Belgium. And no, I've never been to the USA. I knew that guns were a lot more common there but I didn't know it was that much of a difference... I thought it was more for like when you're a store owner or something... They don't have guns here either. No one has. Only the police sometimes walk around with a revolver but definitely not all the time.

What exactly changes about the way you live when you carry a gun/rifle around in your car?

I used to have your same reaction. Then I began reading about the US, their second ammendment (?) and then it started to make sense. At first it's really weird, then you'll just understand their logic. Though Collumbine did happen, blaming it on the gun laws in the US is wrong.