Moderation be damned, apparently

[mousme]

Why oh why do I get into arguments with pro-gun people? WHY?

I am not anti-gun. I am pro-reasonable legislation. I think guns are useful tools for hunting and fun toys for target practice. They are also (regrettably) tools for professionals like soldiers and law enforcement officers.

Whenever I try to point out that guns are not a basic human right (I'm sorry, but they're not!), I am suddenly the Antichrist.

At least this time they're being polite about it. The last time I practically got accused of being anti-all civil rights.

*sigh*

I should know better. Apparently being shrill is the only way to be in this debate, no matter what side you're on. Heaven forfend anyone should take a middle-of-the-road approach.

Fuck this.

Also, this is NOT an invitation for a gun debate in my LJ. If anyone so much as fucking breathes in the direction of a debate (pro- or anti-), I will lock down the comments faster than you can say Bob's-your-uncle. Got it?

Comments

[fearsclave.livejournal.com]

*hug*

[tx-cronopio.livejournal.com]

No debate here, just a heartfelt sigh of understanding. There are TWO framed copies of the US 2nd amendment here at Casa Dysfunctiona. Oddly, no other amendments seem to rate ;)

[delta-november.livejournal.com]

You are not alone. I have stopped commenting on those threads because I don't think that it is constructive. There may be a large silent contingent that supports you.

The fight is part of the human condition

[montecristo.livejournal.com]

I'll respect your desires. I won't get into it with you, but I will say that this is a fundamental fight — there IS no middle ground, if you have any opinion at all on the topic. Logically, there cannot be a middle ground. It is a battle that has raged since before humans came down out of the trees and it will almost certainly continue after the present generations are gone. Sometimes it gets hot and sometimes it cools down, sometimes one side dominates and other times the other side is ahead. What it will not do is go away.

[bodhifox.livejournal.com]

I love you. Really.

:)

[tcaptain.livejournal.com]

I never contribute to those threads (one way or another) because these days I rarely find intelligent discourse. People are shrill and ...passionate would be the polite and diplomatic way to put it and no one is interested in exploring an issue anymore.

Throw in the inevitable troll, the signal to noise ratio just gets really bad.

These guys were SO right and it makes me sad.

[heartofawarrior.livejournal.com]

If it makes you feel any better, there's probably still a price on my head where some former classmates are concerned. In US history class my junior year of high school, I made the mistake of saying I agreed, in part, with the South when we started discussing the Civil War. I didn't say I agreed with slavery, but I said I agreed with secession, to a point. Oh boy. My classmates were all over me in an instant, calling me racist, accusing me of being pro-slavery, and the occasional "white supremacist/Nazi" accusation. I countered by saying that Robert E. Lee had a choice whether to serve with the North or the South, and he chose to serve the South, even though he didn't agree with slavery. Nobody understood it, which makes me wonder how the hell they passed the class.

(Ironically, gun legislation is one of the areas where the concept of states rights has backfired in current times...)

*hands over tea*

[luvenditti.livejournal.com]

snickers and sympathy .... driver's licenses I tell you!

[diggerlicious.livejournal.com]

I've learned from personal experience in the court room that being "shrill" does, sadly, get the attention. Not the quality of the argument or the articulation of the speaker, but decibels are accepted often to cover any degree of rubbish! What does that say for our qualities of public speaking that a complete hissy fit is worthy of something. But sometimes necessary. Sigh.