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US GUN OWNERSHIP NOW AT 100%

Phillip Adams:

A truly remarkable phenomenon is how few presidents get assassinated, even in the US where a majority of the population is totally nuts and everyone is packing heat.

(Via Alan R. M. Jones )

Posted by Tim B. on 10/12/2005 at 12:20 AM
  1. It’s strange that Adams doesn’t mention Switzerland, where every adult male has an assault-rifle at home…

    Posted by Tasman on 2005 10 12 at 01:26 AM • permalink

  2. Proof if we really needed it, that it is time to put him in a quiet home somewhere with a computer not connected and a nurse to come occasionally with the medication.

    It’s sad, not funny.

    Posted by allan on 2005 10 12 at 01:27 AM • permalink

  3. Does it sort of sound as if he were wistfully looking for some one to do in the prez? Does he travel to the US at all? I hope not.

    Posted by Mike H. on 2005 10 12 at 01:38 AM • permalink

  4. Adams shouldn’t be calling anyone nuts, ‘tis the pot calling the kettle black…....

    Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2005 10 12 at 01:39 AM • permalink

  5. As a British columnist “joked” last year after the election, where is Lee Harvey Oswald when you need him?  Right, Phil?

    Posted by kcom on 2005 10 12 at 01:39 AM • permalink

  6. even in the US where a majority of the population is totally nuts

    To quote Nicky to a similar fool a few weeks back: “Racist fuck”.

    —Nora

    Posted by The Thin Man Returns on 2005 10 12 at 01:41 AM • permalink

  7. Has he checked the latest violent crime figures for industrialized nations?

    Posted by Dave S. on 2005 10 12 at 01:43 AM • permalink

  8. What’s really remarkable is that he can’t draw an obvious conclusion from his own statement.

    Posted by Dave S. on 2005 10 12 at 01:44 AM • permalink

  9. Here’s a linky-doo, with the standard caveat that studies can be misleading. But it’s a hell of a lot better than just shooting your mouth off:

    Crime rates

    Posted by Dave S. on 2005 10 12 at 01:48 AM • permalink

  10. I remember Phillip Adams in 1996:
    “The reason these guys like guns is that their penises are too small to satisfy their wives.”

    Posted by ChrisPer on 2005 10 12 at 02:46 AM • permalink

  11. Funny how Phil doesn’t pick on that other standard slur of America-bashers: the high incidence of obesity.  Can’t imagine why.

    Dave S., you’re right about his logic, or lack of it, but is that crime rate study for real?  Have 30 percent of Aussies really experienced violent crime?

    Posted by cuckoo on 2005 10 12 at 02:47 AM • permalink

  12. Given that a fair percentage of the people Phil reviles as Australia’s redneck trash are probably also gun owners, I think he’s been fairly lucky himself, bullet-wise.

    Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2005 10 12 at 02:49 AM • permalink

  13. #10 Has Phil even seen his penis in the last few decades, without the aid of a hand mirror?

    Posted by cuckoo on 2005 10 12 at 02:49 AM • permalink

  14. Proud owner of a Sig Sauer P228 !!!

    ( Previous standard issue of the I.D.F and the N.Y.P.D!! (Coincidence?) Lead-Tritium radioactive glow-in-the-dark sights!! )

    *And* I own “Two! Two! Two!” original magazines which hold 13 rounds apiece, now illegal to purchase in the state of Californiastan…

    Pity I don’t own any bullets right now, but it’s the thought that counts.

    Met Former President Clinton once.  Refrained from shooting him—indeed, decided to rise above partisanship and thanked him for his “service”.  (Most non-committally positive thing I could think of.)

    Posted by zeppenwolf on 2005 10 12 at 02:50 AM • permalink

  15. “now illegal to purchase in the state of Californiastan…”

    PS: Anything over TEN rounds is considered just *too* dangerous… So guns designed with larger mags come with magazines blocked off to only accept ten rounds.  Oy.

    Posted by zeppenwolf on 2005 10 12 at 02:53 AM • permalink

  16. #11 Not violent crime - victims of crime eg Having your car nicked having your home burglarised having your pocket picked as well as being mugged or murdered.

    I’ve seen study after sutdy by the Australian Institute of Criminology which supports the stuff mentioned in the World Net Daily report.

    Additionally, England, where no one owns a gun legally at all now (they were all conficated after Dunblane) is now overflowing with Uzis and drive-by shootings.

    The interesting thing about Dunblane is it has just been revealed (the records had been sealed by the coroner) that the perpetrator was not unlike our own Martin Bryant whose Port Arthur massacre in 1996 prompted Australia’s gun clamp down. The Dunblane perpetrator was also widely known to be a loonie for a long time before he went beresk but nothing was done to confiscate his guns before the event.

    —Nick

    Posted by The Thin Man Returns on 2005 10 12 at 03:07 AM • permalink

  17. After a hiatus of some 20 years of not owning a firearm, I am now the proud (and licensed owner) of a brand new 7.62 mm Bolt Action Rifle.  Frankly I was surprised how simple it was to get a high powered license here in Western Australia, since back in the early eighties it was near on impossible.  Thank you Mr. Howard and the national firearms safety code.

    Posted by deadparrot on 2005 10 12 at 03:23 AM • permalink

  18. And I fully intend, with the help of the US government, to become the proud owner of the classic M-1 Garand when I get back to the states (thank you, OCMP).

    Of course, a rifle like that needs a companion, and what would be better than the proper pistol, the Holy Model of 1911?

    Posted by Mr. Blue on 2005 10 12 at 03:38 AM • permalink

  19. mmmmm! high powered, bolt action!

    Posted by blogstrop on 2005 10 12 at 03:49 AM • permalink

  20. Mr. Blue—both are fine weapons!  Do enjoy them. 

    Hit the INTERNET for spare parts and accessories for the M1 (especially the clips—those are getting spendy).

    Also, while owning an original 1911 would be cool beyond words, there are improved versions of the original M1911A1 .45 ACP on the market.  Most retain all of the original features, but are newer.  A lot of the surplus .45s are old.  Once, whilst in the National Guard, I actually held a .45 that had a 4 digit serial number.  That was in 1987 or so, a few years before the M9 was phased into service.

    Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2005 10 12 at 03:58 AM • permalink

  21. True the M-1 is a very fine weapon, acurate, dependable and reliable.  It is indeed a classic, but give me a L1-A1 SLR with a 20 rd mag anyday.  As familiar as an old friend.  A match stick under the trigger sear and you got yourself one big bad arsed automatic rifle.

    To think, in 1990 the Australian Government withdrew the SLR from service, and offered them to members of the ADF to own privately from as little as $150.00 a pop.  Mags, cleaning kits, slings the lot.

    Posted by deadparrot on 2005 10 12 at 04:17 AM • permalink

  22. Phatso likes to give the odd one under the belt, so to speak

    Posted by rog2 on 2005 10 12 at 04:25 AM • permalink

  23. Re: Adams.

    Wow, amazing how these nutcases like projecting their own problems upon others and get all confused when people don’t act like they’re supposed to.

    Posted by Patrick Chester on 2005 10 12 at 04:25 AM • permalink

  24. Bren Gun.

    Bren Gun!!

    Bren Gun!!!

    Sigh!!!!!!!

    Posted by Russell on 2005 10 12 at 04:44 AM • permalink

  25. Comments at The Briefing Room don’t seem to be working(?) but check out Alan’s superb demolition of the Olive Rancher’s latest rant.

    Posted by C.L. on 2005 10 12 at 05:32 AM • permalink

  26. Whilst we’re talking firearms, I had the pleasure of using an M-16 on Cadet Annual Camp near the Singleton army base. It was pretty F%##‘in awesome for a 13 year old in 1979. Exciting as it was, I’ve not had the urge to play with guns since.

    Posted by der FRED on 2005 10 12 at 05:52 AM • permalink

  27. Pardon my ignorance, but is someone paying him to write such things?

    Posted by Rittenhouse on 2005 10 12 at 06:27 AM • permalink

  28. L1A1s starting at $150, in 1990??!?!?!  Color me jealous.

    Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2005 10 12 at 06:38 AM • permalink

  29. Its just Adams, not one to take too seriously.

    Someone tried to tell me that 100% of Americans where Chirstian, and when I questioned them, they reverted to “okay, maybe its like 98%.”

    Posted by JamesP on 2005 10 12 at 07:40 AM • permalink

  30. even in the US where a majority of the population is totally nuts and everyone is packing heat.

    Excuse me, Mr. Adams, but here in the US the Left is a minority and everyone else is packing heat (for self-protection)....

    Posted by Challeron on 2005 10 12 at 07:40 AM • permalink

  31. Some character in the U.S. agrees with Phatty.Rather than packing a gun when he held up a freight train (today) he brandished his very own bow and arrow at the driver.
    Aforementioned driver bolted after turning off the fuel and the cops shot Tonto in the arm-disarming him…...

    Posted by crash on 2005 10 12 at 08:13 AM • permalink

  32. If you’re ever in Vietnam, be sure to visit the Cu Chi tunnels outside of Saigon. They’ve got a shooting range where you can fire off an AK-47, Uzi, M-16, M-60 etc. for US$1 per round.

    I fired off 30 rounds from an AK-47. Bit disappointed. Expected it to feel like the old SLR, given its similar calibre. However, lighter round and slower muzzle velocity led to it feeling more like firing an M-16. Not surprising, given that the AK-47 is the preferred weapon of thousands of African child soldiers.

    Overall, good clean fun.

    Posted by Young and Free on 2005 10 12 at 08:32 AM • permalink

  33. So they limit the number of rounds per clip, but not the mass of projectiles.  That means you just use a larger caliber pistol—say .45—that holds fewer rounds in the clip.  The math works for me.

    Posted by Mitch on 2005 10 12 at 08:37 AM • permalink

  34. My father handed down to me a variety of guns over the years, including a Ruger Super Blackhawk, a WWII vintage, Mauser bolt action rifle, and an L.C. Smith double-barrel 12 gauge shotgun. I have not only never shot at a President, I have never even had the desire to do so (I don’t know that I’d mind making Phil Adams dance a jig, though). And with respect to Adams’ comment in 1996 - the old saw about guns being phallic symbols - two can play at that game: the reason left-wing protestors like to carry around long poles with slogans at the top is because they don’t have what it takes to “present arms” when the little woman calls for a little close-order drill.

    Posted by paco on 2005 10 12 at 09:21 AM • permalink

  35. It must hurt to debunk himself like that.

    Posted by Aaron - Freewill on 2005 10 12 at 10:07 AM • permalink

  36. I’m an american, totally nuts and packin’ heat. I’ve killed a bunch of clay pigeons in my day.  I recently killed Bambi’s mother with my truck! Didn’t have time to get the carbine off the gun rack in the pickup before she hit me. Fired both the M-1 and the 1911 when I was in the USMC. No ear protection is those days, probably why I’m half deaf today.

    Posted by Abu Qa'Qa on 2005 10 12 at 10:15 AM • permalink

  37. I envy you Australians. They took Bozo the Clown off the air here in the US, but you still have Phil Adams. It’s just not fair, I tell you, just not fair.

    Posted by Rob C. on 2005 10 12 at 10:34 AM • permalink

  38. I love the feel of that cold blue Sig at my side.

    Posted by swassociates on 2005 10 12 at 10:44 AM • permalink

  39. While a big supporter of the second amendment, I do not own a firearm, and have not fired one in something like 15 years

    Posted by Room 237 on 2005 10 12 at 10:55 AM • permalink

  40. One hundred per cent? I am there.

    I believe Ann Coulter once said that if everybody had a gun, everybody would have a fighting chance. Personally, I can’t fault it.

    Posted by lmbrjk on 2005 10 12 at 11:03 AM • permalink

  41. That’s OK, Room 237, your heart is in the right place.  And not every one is perfect…...  ;-P

    Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2005 10 12 at 11:04 AM • permalink

  42. He should come to one of our gun shows, where there are more firearms than people, stacks of ammunition, and in the midst of it all, the most polite and respectful individuals he’ll ever meet.

    Posted by Rittenhouse on 2005 10 12 at 11:09 AM • permalink

  43. >He should come to one of our gun shows, where there are more firearms than people, stacks of ammunition, and in the midst of it all, the most polite and respectful individuals he’ll ever meet.

    You know the old line—the people of the Old American West were consider among the most polite on the planet, mostly because everyone had a gun.

    Posted by Room 237 on 2005 10 12 at 11:18 AM • permalink

  44. A truly remarkable phenomenon is how few presidents get assassinated, even in the US where a majority of the population is totally nuts and everyone is packing heat.

    Who is Phillip Adams? And does he realize he sounds like an Aussie version of an America Firster or a Know-Nothing? Does this self-proclaimed expert on America know about the America Firsters and the Know-Nothings? So many questions, so little curiosity for answers…

    Posted by tongueboy on 2005 10 12 at 11:32 AM • permalink

  45. My son and I once saw a TV show where they mentioned that in the Middle East you can acquire an AK47 for two chickens.  I know where I can get chickens.  But how do I transport them to the ME?

    Man I want one badly.

    Posted by wronwright on 2005 10 12 at 12:12 PM • permalink

  46. While a big supporter of the second amendment, I do not own a firearm, and have not fired one in something like 15 years

    That’s the mark of a model citizen of a republic - supporting the rights of others when it is of no personal benefit to himself.

    Posted by Dave S. on 2005 10 12 at 12:29 PM • permalink

  47. #9 links to stupid headline:

    Britain, Australia top U.S.
    in violent crime
    Rates Down Under increase despite strict gun-control measures


    In a related story, U.S. unemployment levels are decreasing “despite” tax cuts.

    Posted by Stoop Davy Dave on 2005 10 12 at 12:36 PM • permalink

  48. Dave S., you’re right about his logic, or lack of it, but is that crime rate study for real?  Have 30 percent of Aussies really experienced violent crime?

    Well, that’s what it says, though it does seem rather high. That’s the problem with studies like this - what are they measuring? They’ve had “road rage” studies in the States that defined honking your horn as road rage. Gun control groups trot out “children killed by guns” stats that include 19-year-old drug dealers.

    Now, if this study uses the same goofy parameters for all nations, the important thing is that the relative rankings remain the same. Of course, the murder rate is probably still higher in the US (I don’t think that link mentions it), and getting shot is far worse than getting punched in the grill at a bar, but Phil’s ilk ignores several factors when trooting out their “murderous Americans” crap:

    1) The rate has been declining for about ten years and is now at a 30-year low.

    2) 50% of the murders are committed by 12% of the population.

    3) America is a HUGE country with four distinct foundational cultures which persist to this day (see David Hackett Fischer’s brilliant “Albion’s Seed”, essential reading to understand America.) Two of those cultures are violent, one (backcountry settlers from the Scotch/Irish border) particularly so. Violence patterns in America follow the settlement patterns of these cultures. Here in the Maine/New Hampshire/Vermont area where the vast majority of the population is descended from the East Anglia immigrants, murder is rare. If you split up the States into England-sized cultural segments and compare each of those to England, it’s a much more fair comparison.

    Posted by Dave S. on 2005 10 12 at 12:48 PM • permalink

  49. In a related story, U.S. unemployment levels are decreasing “despite” tax cuts.

    And the classic Fox Butterfield/New York Times special, “Prison Population Grows Despite Decrease in Crime Rate”

    Posted by Dave S. on 2005 10 12 at 12:50 PM • permalink

  50. #43, Room 237:  “You know the old line—the people of the Old American West were consider among the most polite on the planet, mostly because everyone had a gun.”

    Robert Heinlein, Beyond This Horizon

    “An armed society is a polite society.”

    Posted by Bruce Lagasse on 2005 10 12 at 01:26 PM • permalink

  51. They told everyone in the country to hand in their guns.  Only the law abiding did so, leaving the remaining criminals more powerful!

    Who’d have thought that would happen?

    Posted by Rob Read on 2005 10 12 at 01:27 PM • permalink

  52. P. Adams.  In the words of the great natural philosopher B. Bunny – “Whadda maroon!”

    I went and read his column all the way through, which is usually difficult but…anyway, he is just blathering, isn’t he?

    However, it was worth it because the source of his apparent dementia becomes clear – he dictates this crap while driving!  I’ve tried dictating into a small recorder while driving but gave it up because it just doesn’t work well.

    But “why” you may ask?  When I was working for a large commercial diving company in the North Sea oil fields, I was told that 35% of a diver’s attention/focus/whatever underwater is focused on the gear that’s keeping him alive, leaving him only 65% to attend to the job.  This was an explanation for why every action had to be planned to be as simple as possible, color coded, labeled, etc.  In my experience, this was all true, even for the smartest and cleverest of divers.

    Perhaps this is why Phil’s bologna seems half-baked, not thought out or otherwise the product of an erratic mind.  It is difficult to work logically through the points of a political argument while trying to avoid being crushed by that 18 wheeler you cut off while ranting about small-penised American gun nuts.  It is also very difficult to search for supporting, you know, FACTS!  Granted he could do that when he got to the office but why mess up a point that sounded so good in the car?

    Anyway, the other salient point of Phil’s diatribe is that he apparently feels very superior to those who actually work for a living such as firemen (who must play with their ladders or they become arsonists).  Yet he’s so fat he’d croak out if he ever had to pull a hose other than his own.  As my Brooklyn granny would have said, “What a schlemiel (or schmuck, or schlong)”.  She did pretty good Yiddish slang for an old Norski babe.  (Is that an ad hominem attack?  Just curious.)

    BTW, though I am an ex-SF weapons specialist and have/had over two decades in the US Army/Army Reserve, I do not now own a gun.  Don’t need it.  Not bad for a descendent, father’s side, of one of Dave S’s particularly violent “backcountry settlers from the Scotch/Irish border.”  Actually we were “cleared” from Scotland by the Pommie overlords.  Needed that room for sheep, ya know.  Don’t get me started now.

    However, I believe that you should be able to own a gun if you want it.  The 2nd Amendment (US Constitution) was written with an eye toward “the people” being able to defend themselves from any government – foreign or domestic.  Besides if I need one, I know exactly where I can get one (or many) and ammo.  OK, back to work.

    Posted by Winger on 2005 10 12 at 01:36 PM • permalink

  53. Ninety-nine per cent of life on Earth is doomed by global warming, yet I’m 100 per cent sure John Howard won’t sign the Kyoto Treaty next week either – or the week after that.

    Riinng riingg (receptionist) Mr. Adams.. New Zealand on line 3.

    Paranormal predictions are so unrealisable that the presidential prophet failed to warn Nancy that Ron’s assassin was on approach

    Riiiiiinnng (receptionist) Mr. Adams.. Eleanor Roosevelt and Hillary Clinton on conference line 7.

    Posted by 13times on 2005 10 12 at 02:34 PM • permalink

  54. “An armed society is a polite society.”

    Kennesaw Georgia requires every house to have a loaded firearm available inside. The crime rate has plummeted.

    Gun Ownership - It’s The Law

    Here is a graph from an old Economist article.

    UK and Australia Crime Stats

    Posted by swassociates on 2005 10 12 at 02:45 PM • permalink

  55. Here is a graph from an old Economist article.

    UK and Australia Crime Stats

    Thanks for that graph.  Japan, with the toughest gun control laws in the world, has the lowest crime rates.

    Posted by PJ on 2005 10 12 at 03:09 PM • permalink

  56. BTW, though I am an ex-SF weapons specialist and have/had over two decades in the US Army/Army Reserve, I do not now own a gun.  Don’t need it.  Not bad for a descendent, father’s side, of one of Dave S’s particularly violent “backcountry settlers from the Scotch/Irish border.”

    I wasn’t trying to insult, just stating facts. The corollary of it is, these folks (as in your case) also make up the backbone of our armed forces. They’re our warriors. So, if asked if I would like to reduce the murder rate a bit by kicking them out of the country, I’d say “Hell, no.”

    Posted by Dave S. on 2005 10 12 at 03:15 PM • permalink

  57. A corollary to Godwin’s Law is that your point is rendered meaningless when you relate it to your subject’s penis size.

    Posted by Dave S. on 2005 10 12 at 03:17 PM • permalink

  58. Japan, with the toughest gun control laws in the world, has the lowest crime rates.

    I suspect Switzerland, with its machine-gun-in-every-home, rates nearly as low.

    Posted by Dave S. on 2005 10 12 at 03:19 PM • permalink

  59. I know houses around here don’t sell anymore unless the owners have installed an ammunition bunker in the back yard.  [/rolls eyes]

    I love it when people whose only knowledge of America comes through TV programs and movies try to tell Americans what they’re really like.

    Posted by RebeccaH on 2005 10 12 at 03:27 PM • permalink

  60. He also made a statement in the same column re 9/11. It was along the lines of “although 3,000 people died on 9/11 the vast majority of Americans were not hurt in any way”. I think he was trying to say that overall the murder of 3,000 innocents was really not such a big deal.
    I generally don’t read his stuff - usually a quick scan of the rubbish is enough to turn me off - but this column was particularly appalling. It was familiar territory about basically how things aren’t always what they seem.
    And yes 13times I noticed he has been barking up climate change lately. I think he may believe it is the next boat people issue for LW arseholes.

    Posted by Harold on 2005 10 12 at 03:55 PM • permalink

  61. (backcountry settlers from the Scotch/Irish border)

    From the what?  Wouldn’t that be, like, the Irish Sea?

    the classic Fox Butterfield/New York Times special, “Prison Population Grows Despite Decrease in Crime Rate”

    That was the one I was tryna remember when I gave up and pulled the tax thing out of my buttocks.

    Posted by Stoop Davy Dave on 2005 10 12 at 04:35 PM • permalink

  62. I live in New York, where the only way you can get a handgun is illegally. Unless you’re our anti-gun politicians, who qualify for carry permits automatically, I believe.

    Chuck Schumer has my gun, looks like.

    Posted by Monroe Doctrine on 2005 10 12 at 05:07 PM • permalink

  63. Or you’re Rosie O’Donnell. Or, to be more precise, you’re Rosie O’Donnell’s bodyguard. Whatever happened to Rotund Rosie, anyway?

    Posted by tongueboy on 2005 10 12 at 05:25 PM • permalink

  64. ...in the US where a majority of the population is totally nuts and everyone is packing heat.

    But it’s a dry heat. Helps to roast the nuts to perfection, y’know…

    Posted by mojo on 2005 10 12 at 06:09 PM • permalink

  65. U.S. Rep. Charles Schumer NBC Nightly News 11/30/93

    “We’re here to tell the NRA their nightmare is true!.” “We’re going to hammer guns on the
    anvil of relentless legislative strategy! We’re going to beat guns into submission!”


    William Jefferson Clinton, USA Today, March 11, 1993.

    “We can’t be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans.”


    Don’t forget what a jackass Freeh was, despite his new book which attempts to rewrite his tenure at the FBI.

      Louis Freeh Director of the FBI, 1993

    “The American people must be willing to give up a degree of personal privacy in exchange for safety and security.”

    Posted by 13times on 2005 10 12 at 07:00 PM • permalink

  66. Perhaps Japan has a police FORCE rather than a police SERVICE which causes the baddies to stay polite or join the Yakuza.
    They don’t need guns anyway they specialize in unarmed combat.

    Posted by crash on 2005 10 12 at 07:32 PM • permalink

  67. Call me old-fashioned, all I own right now is a 3rd Model Dragoon .44 percussion piece. 

    Livens things up on an indoor range, gotta tell ya.

    Posted by richard mcenroe on 2005 10 12 at 07:55 PM • permalink

  68. Japan, with the toughest gun control laws in the world, has the lowest crime rates.

    At the same time, their suicide rates are high enough to match, and sometimes exceed, U.S. homicide+suicide rates.

    Other than perhaps being a bit more polite, it doesn’t look like a huge win, to me.

    Posted by steveH on 2005 10 12 at 07:59 PM • permalink

  69. Adams doesn’t seem to be thinking straight.

    He says “a majority of the population is totally nuts…”, which I would guess he means “Republicans”.
    “...and everyone is packing heat.” Again, he must talking about Republicans, because no self-respecting Demoleftocrat would own a evil firearm, right?

    So, the question is…why would Republicans want to assassinate their own President?

    Posted by rinardman on 2005 10 12 at 07:59 PM • permalink

  70. Amazingly enough, L1A1s are illegal here in the great state and criminal enterprise of the peoples republic of New Joisey.

    They did let me buy a Yugo SKS with functional grenade launcher and integral bayonet…go figure. 

    And yes, everyone has guns…even in this deep blue state. 

    That could possibly be the reason that there ain’t no blood in the streets, ya think?  It’s getting too safe around here.  We’re running out of dirtbags to shoot.

    Posted by trainer on 2005 10 12 at 08:20 PM • permalink

  71. #52 As an Aussie I’ll give you the tip: Don’t look for reason in the rantings of P. Adams. That phat phuck couldn’t hold a logical thought with both hands. Also, given his history of hypocrisy (he’s a Ferrari driving socialist who made a fortune selling advertising) I would bet London to a brick that he is a gun owner himself.

    Posted by larrikin on 2005 10 12 at 08:20 PM • permalink

  72. SteveH—Don’t you believe it.  A LOT of crime in Japan goes unreported, especially crime against women and immigrants such as Korean workers…

    Posted by richard mcenroe on 2005 10 12 at 08:31 PM • permalink

  73. Well the wronwrights are part of the Scots/Irish crowd that immigrated to the colonies rather than putting up with the bullying around of the Pommie overlords.  We didn’t put up with that crap in the mother country and we don’t put up with it here.  (reads Clark County letter, clicks assault rifle, inserts more Skoal)

    Once we get our numbers up a little more, we’re going back and take our lochs and vales.  Ok, we’ll limit that only to the Guardian readers.

    Posted by wronwright on 2005 10 12 at 08:45 PM • permalink

  74. Would someone please tell me what one has to do to contravene the vilifications laws in this country???
    This guy’s a serial offender if you ask me, but since he’s only vilifying white, Christian folk, then, I guess it’s okay…right???
    Here’s some bad, and by bad I mean inconvenient, news for you Phil…in Brazil last year, there were 40,000 gun related deaths in that country!
    But I guess those victims don’t count, do they? Like I said…inconvenient!
    I’m beginning to wish I had a gun!

    Posted by Brian on 2005 10 12 at 09:21 PM • permalink

  75. Louis Freeh Director of the FBI, 1993 “The American people must be willing to give up a degree of personal privacy in exchange for safety and security.”

    Hilarious! Wasn’t it Ben Franklin who said, “Those who would give up liberty for security deserve neither”?

    Posted by Dave S. on 2005 10 12 at 09:35 PM • permalink

  76. Call me old-fashioned

    OK, you’re old-fashioned.

    all I own right now is a 3rd Model Dragoon .44 percussion piece.

    Livens things up on an indoor range, gotta tell ya

    Yeah, I’ll bet you’re real popular.

    I’ve got a .36 Colt Navy. Does that make my dick smaller than yours, or does that make yours smaller than mine because you’re overcompensating? I forget how that works.

    Posted by Dave S. on 2005 10 12 at 09:38 PM • permalink

  77. Is Phil advocating/inciting murder with this latest nonsense of his???

    Posted by Brian on 2005 10 12 at 09:41 PM • permalink

  78. Hillbilly, born and bred.  Own weapons but don’t possess them (I have ‘title’ but they are not even in the same state with me).  I can get access if I decide they should be around.  A Winchester Defender 12 Ga pump with room for 8 rounds of double-ought buck, a Charter Arms Bulldog .44 (Son of Sam’s weapon of choice, but a nice hideaway piece loading 5 fat rounds), M-1 Garand (less than 100 bucks in the late ‘60s), Model 1911-type .45, coupla other Winchester rifles, double-barrel .410, Browning Model 11 Semi-auto 12 Ga (serial number under 1000—Dad’s piece), and a replica cap-and-ball .36 revolver.  I figure it’s enough if I really need them.

    “Japan, with the toughest gun control laws in the world, has the lowest crime rates.”

    Aside from the above comments, especially about unreported crime, Japan is about 96% ethnically pure, and they oppress the living hell out of their major minorities (Koreans descended from captives dragged in around 1910 and Ainu).  Part of the US violence rate is ethnic diversity and we don’t crack down on minorities or non-conformists nearly as hard as the Japanese.

    Posted by JorgXMcKie on 2005 10 12 at 09:42 PM • permalink

  79. #70 - those Yugos are some kind of sweet, ain’t they?

    Posted by Dave S. on 2005 10 12 at 09:45 PM • permalink

  80. Dave S #48, you said, “2) 50% of the murders are committed by 12% of the population.”

    Are you saying 12% of the population are involved in half of all the murders?  Wow, that’s a problem. By the 12% of the population do you mean black people? 

    You were quick to denigrate my Scottish heritage as being inherently violent but leave the whole ‘black’ issue unsaid. 

    Does racism only apply when you are talking about black people and is that why you don’t mention them - or is the 12% a reference to another demographic?

    Posted by Ralph Wiggum on 2005 10 12 at 10:01 PM • permalink

  81. A friend of mine once visited Japan as a researcher in criminology, and was given a tour of a Japanese jail. He said conditions there were really tough, and they were MUCH less “pleasant” places to be than jails in, for example, Australia. People over there really didn’t want to end up there, and recidivism rates were also very low. I suspect this at least partly explains low crime rates in Japan relative to other countries.

    Posted by BS on 2005 10 12 at 10:07 PM • permalink

  82. “The reason these guys like guns is that their penises are too small to satisfy their wives.”

    I’ve never had a complaint from my wee wifey, whose reason for owning a gun herself is presumably to compensate for not having a penis at all. At least we assume that the man who once kicked in the door of her apartment was motivated by her being female. Once she capped off a couple of rounds of .32 S&W in his direction he didn’t stick around to explain what he’d come for.

    Posted by triticale on 2005 10 12 at 11:22 PM • permalink

  83. #74 Brian, if you are in Brackistan, all you need to do is write a complaint to HREOC. They are duty bound to process it.

    It would probably get thrown out, but I’m sure if you sent a copy of your letter to Today Tonight or A Current Affair you’d get a rise out of someone. :)

    Posted by Nilknarf Arbed on 2005 10 12 at 11:45 PM • permalink

  84. You were quick to denigrate my Scottish heritage

    No I wasn’t. Complain to Fischer or grow some skin.

    Posted by Dave S. on 2005 10 12 at 11:45 PM • permalink

  85. How about this - I’m Italian. Italians are overrepresented in organized crime. Feel better?

    Posted by Dave S. on 2005 10 12 at 11:46 PM • permalink

  86. Japan, home of those nice friendly Yakuza, who we know don’t use guns or commit violence. They’re just misunderstood legitimate businessmen.

    Brian, last time Phil got done over for being anti-American he wrote a column about hom much he loved Americans. He seemed very fond of dead Americans (JFK, FDR, Abraham Lincoln, Ben Franklin etc. etc. etc.) but he had a lot of trouble naming live Americans that he liked. Make of that what you will.

    Posted by jpaulg on 2005 10 13 at 12:10 AM • permalink

  87. Actually I couldn’t care less what you write about people on the Scottish/Irish border wherever that is - my post was more a question.  You mention that there are four distinct groups of people in the US and that two are violent.  You only name one of these groups - the mysterious ‘Scotch/Irish’ border people - but don’t name the other.

    Is this other group the same group that make up the 12% of the population mentioned, the same 12% that commit 50% of the murders, and if so are you talking about black people?

    What really intrigues me is that if in fact it is black people you are talking about you skirt around saying so on two occasions.

    I was wondering if you were avoiding mentioning black people, that’s all.

    Posted by Ralph Wiggum on 2005 10 13 at 12:18 AM • permalink

  88. When last home on leave I bought another Glock 21 (.45 ACP).  I loaded the magazines to ten rounds each and maybe a week later, while idly examining them, I noticed more than ten holes on their backs… thirteen round magazines!

    Woo.  And hoo.

    So just in case somebody decided to resucitate the “assault weapons” ban I went right out and bought a few more.  And I gotta tell you, when carrying those extra three rounds per magazine, I feel like a total badass!  Phil is right to be concerned - those three extra bullets is what pushed me right over the edge, from mostly to totally nuts.

    Posted by Steve Skubinna on 2005 10 13 at 12:56 AM • permalink

  89. Great, this is turning into Kim Duthe Gun Guy’s website.

    Not that that is a bad thing…

    Posted by Mr. Blue on 2005 10 13 at 03:23 AM • permalink

  90. Japan, with the toughest gun control laws in the world, has the lowest crime rates.

    If you ignore the fact that it probably had the world’s highest war crime rates.

    Posted by Susan Norton on 2005 10 13 at 04:15 AM • permalink

  91. That happens now and then, Mr. Blue.  Usually, some anti-gun person complains on how guys buy guns to make up for their size of their penis. 

    In this case, though, that’s what started the thread…....

    Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2005 10 13 at 04:41 AM • permalink

  92. While Richard is right - lots of crime does go unreported in Japan - it is still one of the safer countries crime-wise.  It’s actually a very useful country - while liberals can point to the tight gun controls and use it as evidence for no correlation between low crime and lax gun control - we righties can point to the fact that Japan has capital punishment. Always nice to bring that out when lefties say capital punishment is not a deterrent.

    Posted by Francis H on 2005 10 13 at 05:18 AM • permalink

  93. Uh, Mr. Wiggum? As the only person mentioning “black people” is you, I suggest that you are the one with problems re race, not Dave. He didn’t mention what part of the 12% of the population that commits murder (hint: “12% of the population” means 12% of the entire population) is black, but I am guessing that it’s a percentage of the 12%, not the entire 12%. I hope I didn’t use too many difficult-to-grasp number concepts; I am assuming here is that you’re mathematically ignorant, not an asshole trolling the blog.

    Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2005 10 13 at 08:57 AM • permalink

  94. Also Japan is a country with a homogenous culture, unlike the US (the Japanese simply agree on a lot more things, such as standards of behavior, than Americans do) and it’s also a small country bound on all sides by water, unlike the US. That makes it much easier to control.

    Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2005 10 13 at 09:00 AM • permalink

  95. If you ignore the fact that it probably had the world’s highest war crime rates.

    Please provide statistics for Japanese war crimes in 2002, 2003 and 2004?

    Also Japan is a country with a homogenous culture, unlike the US (the Japanese simply agree on a lot more things, such as standards of behavior, than Americans do) and it’s also a small country bound on all sides by water, unlike the US.

    Great Britain has a reasonably homogenous culture and is also a small country bound[ed] by water, but still is high in those rankings.  I think the Japanese crime rate is low because their police aren’t constrained by PC bullshit and their conviction rates in court run in the high-90’s%.  If you commit a crime in Japan, you will probably be caught, and if caught, almost certainly be convicted.  I don’t think Japanese criminal justice methods would ever be acceptable in their entirety in the English speaking world, but we may have to move some way in that direction if we want to reduce crime to their levels.

    Posted by PJ on 2005 10 13 at 09:40 AM • permalink

  96. Great Britain has a reasonably homogenous culture

    Maybe when compared to Israel or Sudan, I suppose… You’re talking about people who can go from happy neighbors to murderous, opposing riot mobs based on the results of soccer games, bear in mind. Heh.

    Seriously though, at least in my home state of Illinois 3/4 of all murders are gang and drug related, that is, criminals killing criminals in “slum” neighborhoods. I’m not sure it’s got so much to do with homogenous culture as it does the absence of law and order once a community “gives up”.

    Consider that when Giuliani ordered all the homeless people of New York City secretly killed, er, I mean, cleaned up the streets, the PC-liberal-huggy types screamed bloody murder, but the Big Apple’s crime rate rapidly fell to levels comparable to small midwestern American cities.

    Posted by Aaron - Freewill on 2005 10 13 at 09:48 AM • permalink

  97. Snap! Bob Carr likes a long list of dead Americans too.

    Posted by crash on 2005 10 13 at 10:54 AM • permalink

  98. Dave S.  #56
    (I tried to post a reply last night but when I hit “Submit”, it vanished into the electronic ether.  I must have hit the wrong button.  Oh, well.)

    No offense taken.  As a descendant of Scots-Irish hillbillies and Scandinavian sea-raiders, I agree.  The environment those people lived in would turn Tibetan lamas into trouble makers.

    The gist of my previous response (I should save those things) was that I don’t believe gun laws alone effect crime rates all that much.  I went into an over-wordy, OK – rant on cultural effects, environment, etc.  Other posters have iterated this since so no need for me to re-iterate.

    What I don’t understand is why some get so worked up about people having guns.  They don’t care if people own cars and stupid drivers must kill more innocents a year than legal gun owners.

    Larrikin #71
    Thanks for confirming what I thought might be the truth.  I’ve been reading his stuff via this blog since early 2003 and he’s always come off as a self-important twat, the kind with more money than brains, one of those “do as I say, not as I do” pukes.  We have a whole family of them here.  The ones that aren’t in trouble with the police are in the Senate, driving young girls off bridges.  Plus Phil seems to be very concerned about penis size.  How, uhm, odd.  I believe this says more about him than anyone else.


    PJ #95
    “Great Britain has a reasonably homogenous culture…”

    I’ve lived in the UK (Norfolk and Aberdeen) and I wouldn’t say it has a homogenous culture.  Asian/African immigrants and native Brits tend to segregate themselves from each other.  They don’t assimilate like we expect here in the US.  The fire is out on their melting pot.  Just look at the subway bombers.

    Posted by Winger on 2005 10 13 at 11:39 AM • permalink

  99. #69

    So, the question is…why would Republicans want to assassinate their own President?


    Well there’s the farm bill, the federalization of education bill, the pills for oldsters bill, the blank check for Louisiana bill, the highways paved with bacon bill, the Croneyette Miers appointment, the ...

    Posted by Stoop Davy Dave on 2005 10 13 at 01:40 PM • permalink

  100. Are you saying 12% of the population are involved in half of all the murders?  Wow, that’s a problem. By the 12% of the population do you mean black people?

    Actually, the most-violent groups in the U.S. have been for several decades young urban black and hispanic males. And they have been not just a little more violent, but upwards of 10 times or more worse.

    It’s a cutural thing; look into the long-running discussion of “honor cultures” and violent behavior.

    Does racism only apply when you are talking about black people and is that why you don’t mention them - or is the 12% a reference to another demographic?

    Hard to see how it could be “racism” when it simply describes verifiable behavior patterns.

    Posted by steveH on 2005 10 13 at 03:56 PM • permalink

  101. #85; it’s clearly nepotism, completely unfair to newcomers.

    Posted by steveH on 2005 10 13 at 03:58 PM • permalink

  102. Thanks Andrea, you are as charming as usual, but am I the only person mentioning black people? 

    You see I think Dave S is talking about black people when he talks about 12% of the US population.  I base this assumption on the fact that black people make up about 12% of the population.  I am left to make an assumption because he never actually reveals who the 12% of the population are despite highlighting the disturbing fact that those responsible for 50% of US homicides are drawn from their ranks.

    He also talks about “four distinct foundational cultures” and then mentions that, “Two of those cultures are violent, one (backcountry settlers from the Scotch/Irish border) particularly so.”

    Because he has named one of these violent cultures as Scotch/Irish – I am wondering why he didn’t name the other.  Following logically I guess he is talking about black people.

    As SteveH #100 put it so well, “Actually, the most-violent groups in the U.S. have been for several decades young urban black and hispanic males. And they have been not just a little more violent, but upwards of 10 times or more worse…hard to see how it could be “racism” when it simply describes verifiable behavior patterns”

    My reason for questioning the original post was to try and understand why Dave S just didn’t say that black people are responsible for a hugely disproportionate amount of murders in the US.  The illustrious Bulletin magazine which Tim writes for had a two page article (A town Called Malice by Paul TOOHEY) mentioning this exact problem.  You want to talk about disproportionate – Aboriginals in the Northern Territory are responsible for 100% of the murders so far this year.  If a problem needs to be fixed it first needs to be acknowledged – not skirted around for fear of being branded a racist.

    The only reason I mentioned racism is not to label anyone – rather it’s for the opposite reason.  I think people like Paul TOOHEY should be able to highlight a legitimate problem and report on it without any labels being bandied about. 

    Dave S – I agree with the point you were obviously trying to make – what I am questioning is your self censorship.  You were happy to name Scottish and Irish people as violent without providing any evidence – and in the same post provide statistical evidence as to the violence of 12% of the population without saying who they were.  Why name one and not the other?

    Andrea – Thanks for asking but I’m not mathematically ignorant.  Your assumption on that is as incorrect as me being a troll.  I hope I haven’t used too many difficult-to-grasp concepts.

    Posted by Ralph Wiggum on 2005 10 13 at 06:09 PM • permalink

  103. You’re talking about people who can go from happy neighbors to murderous, opposing riot mobs based on the results of soccer games, bear in mind.

    But enough about the Scots…

    Posted by richard mcenroe on 2005 10 13 at 08:18 PM • permalink

  104. #79 Dave S…

    I can’t think of another $150 buck intermediate round rifle that’s better.  It has become the truck gun of choice out in the Southwest (our Southwest).  Less than $100 bucks for 1000 rounds of Russian surplus.

    Contests shooting tennis balls from the grenade launcher, bump firing full automatic, and cheap to customize…serious fun.

    Mine started out like this: 
    http://68.80.208.149:81/blogfiles/cosmoyugo.jpg
    And ended up like this: 
    http://mywebpages.comcast.net/bjbarron/blogfiles/KIF_0194a.jpg

    I also have a Mak, 1911, Luger, Walther, Colt .357, Smith .38, a couple of .22 pistols and rifles, and a reloadable claymore.  Collected over 40 years even here in the heart of liberal America…and I still shoot twice a week.

    Posted by trainer on 2005 10 13 at 08:37 PM • permalink

  105. A couple of neo-hippie friends of mine just got back from a vacation in Bali.

    Talk about being mugged by reality…There is nothing like the whetstone of reality to sharpen ones critical thinking.

    Now the husband is asking my advise on how to traverse the legal hurdles of owning a gun here, as well as what weapon to start out with.

    I turned him away from the sexy scare-stick (M-4) he was lusting after and onto a decent .22 rifle he could afford to shoot regularly ‘till he got good enough to graduate to surviving a shit hit the fan moment.

    I suspect his democrat voting days are numbered.

    Posted by monkeyfan on 2005 10 15 at 01:58 AM • permalink

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