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16  The Pirate Ship / ARR! / Re: OFFICIAL THANK YOU THREAD on: 2009 June 04, 08:29:08
But the law was, if my memory serves, passed in the 80s, when I was in high school or maybe even early college.  So anywhere from 80 to 86 or so.

Yep - the study I read was from 83.  Maybe I didn't write clearly enough - crime in the Western World universally went down from a height in the 1970s no matter what gun laws there were.  For example, crime plummeted in the 90s, but imprisonment skyrocketed.
17  The Pirate Ship / ARR! / Re: Your Ugliest Paysite Creation Find: Round Two. on: 2009 June 02, 16:03:12
WTH is going on with the girl on the left?!

She's pewpin'.  Cheesy
18  The Pirate Ship / ARR! / Re: NEVAR FORGET! BLUESOUP HAS FAILED US DAY 2009 COMING SOON! on: 2009 June 02, 09:03:27
I don't know who I feel more sorry for; do I feel sorry for Pes cause he's got a granny stalking him and declaring her love or do I feel sorry for a granny who has the hots for Pes and needs some meds stat.

She's age appropriate at least, yeah?  And Pescado is his own kind of crazy - so it's a love match. Cheesy

Ooooh, look out Cal.  I think you got some competition Cheesy

She wins - I'm happy. Tongue
19  The Pirate Ship / ARR! / Re: TSR: In Ur Accounts, Deletin Ur Stuffs! on: 2009 June 01, 20:52:36
Cheesy Love that!

Other than that, trusting that Thomass & Co. would do ANYTHING that's not in their own self-interest (which usually runs opposite of the what's in the best interest of the rest of the sims community) just doesn't seem wise.

I would have to agree with this statement. I know that coconut is only offering past incidents as a reason to be cautious, but TSR hasn't changed their tactics in a while, and so I think caution is wise here.  Of course, if people choose to throw caution to the wind, and then find out later they chose wrongly, they may not be able to take it all back. 
20  The Pirate Ship / ARR! / Re: TSR: In Ur Accounts, Deletin Ur Stuffs! on: 2009 June 01, 16:11:12
Crap - I hate double posting.  But I want to be sure peeps read this:

http://tsr.mustbedestroyed.org/?p=791 - coconut telling you about the TSR tool.  Smiley
21  The Pirate Ship / ARR! / Re: NEVAR FORGET! BLUESOUP HAS FAILED US DAY 2009 COMING SOON! on: 2009 June 01, 16:01:33
I have to go with him because secretly I am in love with him.   Kiss     Cheesy

This bit - not true - you just declared it to the world.  But if you love Pescado, you're obviously nuts - so go with it. Cheesy
22  The Pirate Ship / ARR! / Re: OFFICIAL THANK YOU THREAD on: 2009 May 30, 03:17:10
They do happen. Albeit, very, very rarely.  Most shootings are linked to bikie gangs however, and they procure their weapons via the black market.

Yes - when you wrote that I googled it, and found a couple of incidents.  But certainly it's not the phenomenon here that it is in the US.

I'm actually less concerned about guns and gun control issues than I am about the need for personal protection. I can understand wanting to protect ones home and family. What I'm curious about is the need to carry weapons. Is it fear or prudence?

Fear and moral panic.  People have a propensity to believe that crime is becoming worse - you can find diatribes in Ancient Greek literature about youths in gangs with green capes and the waiting collapse of society, and the same rant about morals in the 1800s concerning children and the moral character of the younger generation.  People are all too ready to believe that they will be attacked, and while being in a low socio-economic area makes one more prone to either being a victim or a witness to a violent crime, the reality is that guns make people feel like they are doing something.  One could argue that the confidence it gives them is enough, since they won't actually use it.

But it still stands that crime in my town is -very- low, and its only been since the gun law was put into place.

I've heard about that law in that town - and crime is very low.  However, there was a study about that town in a sociological research journal, and it was found that most people *had* guns already, the decrease of the crime rates from the 70's generally (which was western world wide) and the rates fluctuate anyway.  And that there was no decrease attributed from the actual ordinance, but that crime rates were generally low and stayed consistently low.
23  The Pirate Ship / ARR! / Re: OFFICIAL THANK YOU THREAD on: 2009 May 29, 08:33:04
It was kept "combat ready" under the bed.

See now, this is what I mean - it can't both be "combat ready" and held according to the law. So you can't be a responsible, law abiding gun owner and use it for the purpose it's bought for.

The sound of the gun being cocked, or pumped would be enough to scare off anyone. It's a very distinct sound that everyone recognizes, especially criminals.

You can actually buy that - just the cocking mechanism - so that you can do the "chik-chik" sound which will put the shits up someone without actually having a gun. Cheesy

I guess I'm saying that everyone can agree that there are some people that shouldn't have guns, but if you outlaw guns entirely, then only the outlaws will have guns. It's a difficult balance.

Controlling them this way means that there are so many fewer shootings.  A petty criminal or casual criminal can't obtain a gun on a whim - so there are less shootings all round. I don't think I've ever heard of a driveby shooting here.

ok, I'll shut-up now. Cheesy

You don't have to apologise for being forthright and opinionated. 
24  The Pirate Ship / ARR! / Re: OFFICIAL THANK YOU THREAD on: 2009 May 29, 05:49:47
And the best deterrent to violence I could think of is pepper spray - someone sprayed some in a huge store and even clear across the store it was killing me - can't imagine how bad having it sprayed in my face would be.  And you couldn't actually kill someone to my knowledge, with it

Some people have a bad reaction, and you can sustain serious burns if someone is overzealous.  I don't have an issue with anything that causes pain - tasers etc. but stops short of being able to kill decisively. I just don't think that an ordinary citizen should be given the ability to administer the death penalty.

While I really don't WANT to kill someone...they should have stayed out of my house. It's mine!

This is part of the problem for me - the opinion that a DVD player is worth more than a person.  Not everyone breaks into a house to hurt the occupants. And considering that almost every single person who argues that they're great with guns, and very responsible, then what exactly is the use of having a weapon, locked up, separated from the ammunition in your house?  I can't forsee people waiting for you to find your keys in the middle of the night and then assemble it.  So really, in a pinch, you won't have your gun.

It seems that most of you are saying that some form of protection is required. Is violent crime that prevalent? I'm not making light of the issue, I'm just shocked at what I'm hearing.

The reality is that no form of protection is required - it's part of the mindset of justification for why guns are good.  Plenty of USians live in relative peace with no need to actually ever use a gun, and certainly no one has blazed in here with their anecdote of how they shot various home invaders. Indeed, having a gun as part of the equation makes it *more* likely that you'll be hurt.

Don't kid yourself into thinking that a gun is going to protect you against criminals, it only makes them worse.

I agree wholeheartedly.  Guns denote the power relationship. In robbery situations, if your assailant has a gun and you cooperate, he's less likely to hurt you than he is if he has a knife - because the assailant has the power.

If violent crimes are a function of poverty then we could be in for a rough ride with the economy going the way it has. I still can't fathom how that's a cultural aspect though.

All property crimes are a function of poverty - not all violent crimes.  Culturally, there are some differences - more gun crimes in the US because of the gun control policy in the US, while the UK has high volumes of knife crimes. 
25  The Pirate Ship / ARR! / Re: TSR: In Ur Accounts, Deletin Ur Stuffs! on: 2009 May 28, 21:08:55
Referring to here - she likes Snarky's basement just fine. Tongue
26  The Pirate Ship / ARR! / Re: TSR: In Ur Accounts, Deletin Ur Stuffs! on: 2009 May 28, 16:01:43
In mando's own words:

I've developed a severe allergy to that place. Something involving hives, hallucinations and uncontrollable bouts of punching. Let them know that my knuckles have only just healed up, and my doctor recommended I not go back.

 Cheesy
27  The Pirate Ship / ARR! / Re: OFFICIAL THANK YOU THREAD on: 2009 May 28, 15:49:30
But I think that the mild legislation that has been suggested (regulation on automatic weapons) is more than reasonable. Because, really, an AK-47 is just a little too too when it comes to Gran protecting herself.

That would certainly make things a lot better.  But the gun culture is still too ingrained in USians to let them acknowledge that 9 bullets a second might be a tad excessive for self defence.  Until the mindset is changed that guns are a solution to violence, there's no hope whatsoever that things will change.

If they didn't have guns to commit crimes with, they'd find something else, from lead pipes to goddamn boomarangs. The actual guns do NOT commit the crimes, the PEOPLE wielding them do.

Until I hear of a case with a five year accidentally beating himself to death with a lead pipe, or 10 people being killed via driveby boomerang attack, I will and do assume that guns are in a completely different league.

Gun laws make it a damn site harder for them to arm themselves with a gun, and many of them have to resort to carrying a knife, which is much easier to deal with.  If you want a gun to protect yourself, remember this, a gun can only make a bad situation worse, so think very carefully before getting it out.

Ha - true.  Knife control is the biggest new issue in criminology - as a result of the difficulty of getting hold of a gun.  And statistics show that if you have a gun to defend yourself, you are heaps more likely to be shot - either by the criminal because he feels he has no control, or by yourself.

I'd never own a gun.  Not because I couldn't learn to use it, I could.  But because I know there are times when I've lost control. 

I don't see them as necessary - I've known many people who've lived their entire lives without guns.  Pffft - there are USians who live without guns, and they seem to live just fine.

Changing mindsets is important, yes. You need to start early on, by teaching your kids to kill starting from birth. Your first and immediate reaction to physical attack should be to kill the attacker.

I agree with you on this - although I would argue that they should incapacitate, or at least remove the threat - not kill.
28  The Pirate Ship / ARR! / Re: OFFICIAL THANK YOU THREAD on: 2009 May 27, 15:32:12
Ah Pescado, you can smell the debate about gun control a mile away, and what a surprise you're pro-gun.  Of course, psychos like you are why guns should be controlled. Cheesy You are the convincing reason as to why projectile weapons should be controlled as strictly as possible, and not given to paranoid bullshit artists.

As it happens, calalily, I share your opinions about guns. But even getting legislation that makes people wait a week before buying a semi-automatic, or registering their weapons, passed, is incredibly hard in the U.S., and often political suicide.

Oh definitely.  I think it's so ingrained in the culture there it's impossible to remove it.  We had the Port Arthur massacre, and the majority of people here were happy to agree to gun control (although I understand a lot of farmers buried their guns in lengths of PVC pipe - just the place for quick accessibility in case of attack).  In the US, no matter how many people die, the idea of giving up guns? Never on the agenda - and I doubt it ever will be.
29  The Pirate Ship / ARR! / Re: OFFICIAL THANK YOU THREAD on: 2009 May 27, 00:37:04
Which is why you teach people how to use a gun & promote gun safety.

That doesn't happen. Like you say, there's always idiots with guns - better not to promote them as the solution to all problems. They create a lot more problems than they fix.

The problem with the word no, is that not all rapists listem to the word no.  The problem with using a gun is the odds that the rapist has a gun too, and will likely use it before the victim does.  Better to learn some form of martial arts. Work out a little. 

Of course rapists don't listen to the word No, but some sort of activity is better than nothing.  A rapist isn't likely to have a gun though - more likely to have a knife or a cord, or nothing at all.  Most rapists don't want to kill the victim - they want to terrify and cow them, so they don't tend to use guns.  On the practical side, you can't give someone a quiet little gunshot wound to make them behave, and part of it is making the victim comply through strength and the threat of violence.

Apart from changing mindsets, I don't think there is any surefire way to stop a rape. 

I'll support what has been mentioned before, rape or assault is rarely a phenomenon committed by strangers. It's more often than not people who you know and think you can trust.

Rare in comparison with other rapes - not rare in itself though.

But, in a situation like that, it's pretty black and white.  The guy wasn't known, he broke into apartments, he raped women.  It's not like that can be misunderstood. 

That doesn't always guarantee a conviction, believe it or not.  That is the most likely scenario that will lead to conviction, but still the character of the victim is used at trial - whether she said No, whether she's had some boyfriend visit her in the middle of the night and have sex with her, whether she was lubricated. And you can bet your arse that if it were a rape trial with more victims, he would have fought harder.

Meanwhile, because women are supposed to be the strong ones, and society often attaches a shame to a woman who "gives in" women are reluctant to turn in a date rapist because they're deep down afraid that they gave him a wrong signal or did something wrong that led to this.  But if in a clear cut case of "guy not invited, coming into your place late at night and forcing sex at knife point" and women are still afraid of the humiliation they might have to face if they told, imagine how it must feel to someone to step forward and have people think, "Sure, it was rape *snort* the bitch was asking for it!"

Most people in the CJS wouldn't be willing to go through a rape trial - and many wouldn't want to put their kids in to testify for a child sexual abuse because of the way victims get treated at trial.  Even though here we've removed the ability for defense lawyers to use the victim's history, they bypass that by questioning the victim extensively about that at the summary trial (indictment in the US) so that the victim is primed for the actual trial and fucks their testimony because they get nervous and agitated. 
30  The Pirate Ship / ARR! / Re: TSR: In Ur Accounts, Deletin Ur Stuffs! on: 2009 May 26, 03:54:49
hey where IS mando? havent seen her around

Insanely busy, and not into Sims so much any more.  Happy and healthy though.  Smiley
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