Um, wow, ignorance is bliss. According to the FBI death database, 529,000 people died from tobacco use, 11,498 gun homicides were recorded the same year. The #1 homicide weapon is a baseball bat, do you hear anyone calling for a bat ban? Hell unintentional falls kill more than guns do. I do not mind background checks, evidently you think you know me better than I do. As far as training, I actually would have NO problem with that IF it was a free program, so that EVERYONE has the right of self defense, and not just people that have money. EVERYONE has the right to live, and to protect themselves and their family. You do that many ways throughout life, you have insurance, you wear seatbelts, etc. You don’t carry insurance because you KNOW you will be in a car wreck, or your house will burn down, you do it in case something bad happens. Hence, why I carry one form of my insurance with me. Like I said, I have no problem with someone wanting to hide and pray when someone bad is attacking them, honestly I would do the same, but at least be ready if it was to go further. I don’t know your classmates, but the people that I know that are like minded as I am, do not feel the way you are claiming your classmates do. There isn’t a single person I know that carries that hopes they get to pull the trigger, they hope and pray it never happens, but will be prepared if it does. See I don’t live in constant fear, I do pay attention to my surroundings and I do my best to never put myself in a situation where bad things could happen, but as we see all too often, that isn’t always enough, sometimes, in a nice neighborhood, in a nice theater, someone that went off the deep end decides to take lives. The best stat I can give you to look up is where the most gun control is, also happens to be the highest crime rates. Chicago, New York, DC, all have some of the strictest gun control and the highest murder rates, why? Because when you disarm the public, criminals will always have guns, and when they have NO opposition, they do what they want, when they want and there will be no one to stop them. How long is the average police response time? Btw, quoting Zimmerman case, is 1 instance, which isn’t even resolved as of yet, that doesn’t prove any case about carrying a weapon. I don’t know if he’s guilty, but I do know he made some mistakes that could have avoided the mess he’s in, but that still doesn’t make him a murderer, as of yet. Crime rates, murder rates are lower than they ever have been in our history, all the while gun ownership is at an all time high. The reason people like you that think there are more murders only have to do with our media and the instant news we have nowadays because of our internet, smart phones, etc. Everyone knows everything that happens within seconds of it happening, where 20 years ago, you would have rarely heard about Zimmerman. You have your opinion, I won’t change that, and you can insult me as much as you like, you really can’t upset me. Troll away on this site and others and live your life, as I will live mine. Have a nice day.

@Doug: I see your five incidents and raise you the tens of thousands who are killed or maimed every year by crazies who found it all too easy to get their hands on a gun. The issue here is not the smart ones but the crazies and your impassioned defense of their right to kill and maim is mind-boggling. I’ve lived in Florida and some gun carries live in such constant fear that they don’t even cry out “who’s there?” before starting to shoot. I gave up trying to look up my classmates after that happened to me.

I’d be delighted if the presentation of a certificate of competence from a recognised shooting club were to be made obligatory, along with background checks and obligatory insurance coverage. I somehow don’t think you’d go along with any of that. People as fully trained as you claim to be should not have any problem with that but seems you do and that’s why I use words like bluster and splutter.

You see, anyone (who is not a police officer) who carries a gun during peacetime is – IMO- revealing a deep-seated sense of insecurity not strength and manliness. And anybody who’s had to face down an angry dog knows that fear is contagious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDs-yGTdPFo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGOmtyTJ2f0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=226DUTiVfiI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Blq_a_lqDBs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-q2zHIovOE
here is a very quick search for news stories about how guns have STOPPED crime. Anti-gunners never want to hear about it, but they estimate that less than 1% of deterring crime with a gun every get reported because most of the time shots are never fired, the mere presence of a gun stops most smart criminals. That so-called criminal you are talking about that is READY TO FIRE on your before you could, you have been watching too many movies… most criminals are stupid, do NOT train and probably can’t hit the side of barn under pressure. Some of us participate in sporting events that test our skills, aim, shooting on the move, and under pressure. If you don’t like guns, or want to own them, good for you, I am not going to chastise you because this is a free country for us to do as we please, but do NOT tell me I am not allowed to protect myself and my family. I very much hope I never ever have to pull the trigger in a self defense situation, but if need be, to protect life, I would. As Bill said in this, do you want to be on the floor ducking, or would you prefer to have a gun, and at least have a fighting chance. I guess you would be ducking on the floor praying. Too bad an off duty officer wasn’t in that theater, maybe less people would have died.

Well bemused, keep that opinion, I won’t fault you for it, like you do for my right to carry. I wasn’t swaggering or boasting about my gun, I stated a fact that I carry, in what dictionary does the define boasting? I’m not trigger happy, I have been in a situation where my gun stopped a crime, no one was hurt, no one pulled a trigger, and I was not the aggressor, so your “fact” isn’t that at all. Problem is most deterrant situations go unreported as mine did. So, stats, and facts are scarce because of that. But there are MANY cases where there is not only fact, reports but also video of an armed citizen defusing, or even injuring the bad guy and stopping the crime. You may live in an area where you feel safe, and are ignorant to what actually happens, but I’m a realist, as I carry insurance of all kinds, I carry a gun for the same reason, NOT to start a fight, not to finish a fight, but to protect myself and my family should the need arise. Funny thing is people like you have to resort to calling people names, vs. just discussing the facts. You may think I’m stupid, but I know you are ignorant, one is an opinion, the other is a fact. Have a nice day

@Doug: Packing a gun pretty stupid IMO, because that other person you are so afraid of will be ready to shoot first, before you know he or she is even there. Visiting classmates during my last trip back home was a pretty harrowing experience because far too many of them are reputed to be trigger-happy. For the life of me, I can’t understand all this fear that causes people to swagger and boast about their guns. Childish (IMO).

The reason you NEVER hear of a situation where a gun averted vs. turned into a bad scene is they are RARELY reported, and the negative situations are. Our media makes sure that anything to do with a gun is reported and on and on. Look at the recent bow and arrow incident, less than 4 hours of news cycle and 2 people died and one committed suicide with a knife, but yet do we hear about banning knives? No. I won’t even go into the other silly comments by Bob. I carry to protect myself and my family, period. Dirty Harry never has entered into my thoughts.

Funny that. Brian of the fox and friends farce claimed that Bob Costas had pulled back from his original words because he admitted that the venue was probably not the best for doing justice to the topic (that’s the gist as I remember it).

Fact is that people do kill people but ALSO that fewer people would kill others if they had a bit more difficulty getting their hands on a gun. I’m fed up with the gun-lovers who refer to using pistols or assault weapons on coyotes or bears or wolves, even for hunting deer (!!). Requiring prospective gun buyers to undergo a background check is NOT an issue for most people with the mental balance to pass the check.

Background checks become a problem only for skeered people who know that they might not pass muster. They know themselves very well, indeed, and that reassuring weight in a holster helps them overcome feelings of inadequacy and F-E-A-R.

Rifles are for shooting game and varmints. Pistols and assault weapons are for shooting people and there’s no reasoning with anybody who lives in permanent F-E-A-R.

What gets my goat is that most people terrified of losing their pacifiers are so dellusional as to say that they live in the “Land of the brave (!) and the free”. Totally outta-touch.

I managed to gag myself through the Bile circus act last night.And I was thrilled to see Bob Costas make a total ass of Bile in a calm classy way,making great sense.Bile did his best to gain some leverage over the “Debate” but failed miserably.At the end of the segment Bile pompously suggested For Mr Costa to call him if he needed any help should he get in trouble.Bob Costas was almost able to go through the whole interview without being interrupted or overshouted,this must be because Bile knew he was on the losing end of this “Interview” .

As someone who admires Bob Costas but NEVER watches Fox News (because Newshounds does that for me), It was like watching Bobby Fischer play chess with..(searching for a metaphor)…me. Point is: O’Reilly got his ass kicked. The ill-mannered jerk kept interrupting and calling his “guest” by his last name. No class, just an ass. Thank you for posting the video even though it confirmed what I already know.

…I can not think of a single instance involving a professional athlete whereby that athlete having a gun averted or diminished a dangerous situation but I can give you a long list of tragedies that came about because guys were packing.

I have been saying this to people, especially gun nuts who defends possession of any kind of weapon a right that God gave us ’Mericans in the Constitution. Tell me how many times in a week we hear about someone being killed by a gun. Then tell me how many times in a week we hear about someone defending themself from harm with a gun. And if the only answer you can come up with is George Zimmerman, you aint winning an argument with me.

O’Loofah didn’t even try to challenge Costas tonite. He knew it was a losing proposition. Very surprised that O’Loofah let Costas go uninterrupted on his messsage that Ellen posted above. Very powerful and true and comes from a man who know the inside and outside of the sports world. And you are right Ellen, O’Falafel was more concerned that Costas called Xmas Xmas that anything else he had to say about ’Mericas gun culture.