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Buy a car, get a free gun
BillieTheBot
Posts: 8,721 Bot
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7416120.stm
Apparently it is just a sign of how 'free' the country is.
I really hope I'm wrong but the morals, priorities and sense of right and wrong are so fucked up in that country it can only be a question of time before it implodes and self-destructs.
Apparently it is just a sign of how 'free' the country is.
Owner Mark Muller said: "We're just damn glad to live in a free country where you can have a gun if you want to."
I really hope I'm wrong but the morals, priorities and sense of right and wrong are so fucked up in that country it can only be a question of time before it implodes and self-destructs.
Beep boop. I'm a bot.
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But here in good old UK ...everything is banned and your ok with that.
Seriously though, this poses interesting questions IMO. For starters, if the car dealer in question had chosen to hand out hardcore porn DVDs instead you can just see the uproar it would have caused. The fact that devices that are specifically designed to seriously harm/kill a human being are so revered in the US is astonishing.
Another question that comes to mind is the concept of 'freedom'. In many States having homosexual sex is illegal. In most if not all of them, under 21s are not allowed to buy alcohol. Yet many Americans will see themselves as 'freer' than Europeans because they can legally own guns. What kind of priorities do some of these people have???
No longer the case.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodomy_law#United_States
Like what? Smoking indoors? Oh hang on, didn't we use New York as a guinea pig for that idea? Buying alcohol? Oh again, America has far stricter laws than the UK. Selling a sex toy? Yep, you guessed it, still illegal in Alabama. Drugs? Again, America puts us all to shame in infringing people's freedoms, including people that don't even live there and have no intention of going (you might want to ask the American airforce what they're doing in Colombia - I doubt you'll get an answer). Dealing with crime? Oops, America imprisons more of its own population than any other developed country. But at least members of its own population get a fair trial first. But keep the right to bear arms, because then at least the population can repeat slogans about how free their country is.
Incidentally, I don't think that giving guns to a population automatically turns it into a murderous mob. I think when you allow the most violent developed population on earth to carry guns, then it is inevitable that you get a lot of shootings. I don't know whether taking them away makes any difference tbh, but it's interesting that even the most enthusiastic pro-gun person doesn't seem to support the idea of a private citizen owning any offensive weapon they can afford. I don't see many campaigns for the likes of Bill Gates to buy a few tanks and fighter jets, but by their definition, that's an infringement on his freedoms (not that I imagine Bill Gates would want a private army - he can probably shut down the entire US military at the push of a button
It really is a weird concept of freedom in my view... specially in a country where, as I'm with Stupid points out above, they endure more restrictions on more personal freedom issues than us Europeans.
Not really. The UK smoking ban was based much more on Ireland's - in being a total ban. In NYC - cigar bars and hookah lounges are exempt for example. With the exception of bits of California which have enacted their own ridiculous bylaws (banning smoking on beaches, in parks, outside areas, etc) the UK/Ireland probably have the strictest smoking ban in the world... it goes way beyond what there is in the rest of Europe and most of the US.
Illinois repealed it's sodomy laws before the UK did. Massaschusetts has civil marriage for gay couples (which the UK doesn't).
Well of course. Prostitution is legal in (I think) Nevada. And in the proper way too, not in the technical sense that it is in the UK. The reason for pointing out the various laws (and laws that are enforced) was merely to counter the suggestion that America is free merely because you can buy a gun.
Yes their government does a whole host of nasty things but have you seen how many people dont vote?
Yes their gun control and general criminal justice system clearly doesnt work, but that's their curse as well as their choice.
Virtually every American I have met has been thoughtful, kind and noticably more friendly than most Brits. In a country of 260 million there will always be stories like this, dont judge them all by the nutters.
You're not looking at it from the point of view of an American. The hardcore pornography comparison cannot be sustained because it isn't sanctioned by their own history, whereas the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution reads:
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.
They're drawing a crude but pretty fair comparison between an army that is necessary to defend the country, and its citizens' right to defend themselves also. "We can play with weapons; so can you - sound good?" The Constitution isn't child's play, the processes by which an article can be repealed are purposely complex and very difficult so that the "freedoms" enshrined in it cannot be changed by a capricious President - it's designed to resist the tyrannical influence of megalomaniacs.
It's a divided country. If you grow up with people around you saying how afraid you should be of others, and nailing into your mind the constitutionally sanctioned idea that it is your right to bear arms against the hostile world, is that really a moral failure? If you say "We're taking your guns," you're in for a nightmare. In the current climate it could not be achieved. "You're telling me there's a few million Muslim terrorists in the world and you want to take my right to bear arms?" But it's not just those people; it's also seen as a historical (and metaphorical) statement of freedom - that they have guns, and it doesn't mean they'll all kill each other; in that respect it's about trust between the government and its citizens.
Excellent point, well presented. But I'd argue there aren't even necessarily any 'nutters' in this story. This Mark Muller guy is a cynical businessman, trying to flog his cars by offering free weapons, and his voice is the only voice, other than the reporter's, in the article. It is not a story.
There was a recent case (the name of which currently escapes me) where a man was prosecuted and sentenced to jail time for possessing an automatic machine gun without licence, registration and, of course, tax paid. The man concerned had actually built it from scratch by himself and intended to keep it for personal use only. The Supreme Court overturned the conviction on the grounds that he was protected by his 2nd Amendment rights.
(The 2nd Amendment was expressly enacted by the authors as a protection against Government infringement of individual rights).
If one enters the world of commerce, any such rights are contracted away, as one is now acting in a corporate capacity, and that field is regulated as Government sees fit.
Well said that man. :thumb:
I'd choose a Yank over most Europeans any day :yes:
Thanks.
On an individual basis I'd agree with you, Americans are generally really nice. Its just the government and the political process there, along with long standing social problems which means the country has deep problems and massive inequality.
No one on this board has ever said anything so nice! I only ever read how we are *all* a bunch of retard gun toting violent uneducated self obsessed bible thumping morons on here and most things only ever happen "only in america" and it is often very offensive the stuff that is spouted off about "everybody" here. I'm not good with words and I can't think of the right ones to use but that was very intelligent, thought out and just downright nice and means alot.
I'm sure people have writen things far nicer and more intelligent than the ramblings of my posts, but thanks anyway.
As to the general anti-american feeling both here and in the UK generally, it can be quite common. I think its largely because its socially acceptable and because Brits havent travelled much in the US.
I havent said that I prefer Americans to Brits, personally I dont, I think the UK sense of humour is more in line with mine and I think the general cynical mind set here is more healthy too.
There is a very big difference in the 'society' in the two countries. It has nothing to do with the type of gun, it has to do with the social interactions.
You're right, and it actually makes the whole issue of gun control a bit of a false sticking plaster on societies problems. America wouldnt suddenly reduce its murder rate if guns were illegal, at least not by much.
normal checks ? yea like all those other "normal" gun holders that out of the blue walk into a school kill 30 students and then themselves cause their too chicken to be taken alive this is just irresponsable and being done purely for comercial gain. People are not responsable enough anymore to carry guns.
So if you were given a gun you'd kill someone? Would I?
I wouldn't but then most people consider me "not normal" the idea of a free gun just to get the car sold is irresponsable, any anyone buying a car because they get the gun is probably not responsable either:-" oph hey I ust want a gun and if i get a car they give me one" hec you want a gun go and buy one proporley... its a gun for goodness sake not a free bottle of wine