Sensible Gun Safety

[cradleandshoot]

The 5.56 round was designed specifically to kill people. I'll say it again, the 5.56 caliber of weapons is poor choice for home security and self defense.

Your two sentences seem to be at odds with each other.


Why are AR-15 Rifles Ideal for Home Defense?

5.56 and .223 For Home Defense: Is it Right for You?
Ballistically, the right 5.56mm and .223 Rem. cartridges offer superior performance without fear of overpenetration, regardless of where you live.

The Best 5.56 Round for Home Defense and CQB: Diving into the Research

Why An AR-15 For Home Defense Is The Best Choice

The AR-15 Rifle For Home Defense? Absolutely!

Not at all at odds. I'll try and splain it for you. The maximum effective range of a 5.56 bullet is over 300 meters. That is a greater distance than most of us can see with any certainty. It is a poor choice for this reason. If you plink off 6 rounds at say 10 yards and you miss. Those bullets can travel way far down range than you can see. That is what makes it a poor choice for home defense. My personal choice today is a single shot 410 gauge shotgun. The shells are double aught shot with less lethal plastic pellets. This is for close in personal defense. These are pretty much totally ineffective at over 50 ft. I hope that clears up any confusion you have. If that zombie apocalypse ever becomes reality then all of us will wish we had an AR-15.
The fact that there are AR-15 owners that think the caliber is right for them, that is their personal preference. I would never fire a rifle at any target I didn't have a clear line of sight on up to the maximum effective range of that bullet.

The smaller caliber is more effective if you can’t shoot straight?

?????? Okay you lost me there. A 5.56 round is in reality caliber wise a glorified 22 round. Its lethality comes from its incredibly high velocity when it leaves the barrel and how it is designed to tumble when it hits a target. The added advantage of a 5.56 round for the average dog face is you can carry as many bandoliers as your body will allow. There is seldom the opportunity for ammo resupply when your in the middle of a firefight.

[Typical Lax Dad]

The 5.56 round was designed specifically to kill people. I'll say it again, the 5.56 caliber of weapons is poor choice for home security and self defense.

Your two sentences seem to be at odds with each other.


Why are AR-15 Rifles Ideal for Home Defense?

5.56 and .223 For Home Defense: Is it Right for You?
Ballistically, the right 5.56mm and .223 Rem. cartridges offer superior performance without fear of overpenetration, regardless of where you live.

The Best 5.56 Round for Home Defense and CQB: Diving into the Research

Why An AR-15 For Home Defense Is The Best Choice

The AR-15 Rifle For Home Defense? Absolutely!

Not at all at odds. I'll try and splain it for you. The maximum effective range of a 5.56 bullet is over 300 meters. That is a greater distance than most of us can see with any certainty. It is a poor choice for this reason. If you plink off 6 rounds at say 10 yards and you miss. Those bullets can travel way far down range than you can see. That is what makes it a poor choice for home defense. My personal choice today is a single shot 410 gauge shotgun. The shells are double aught shot with less lethal plastic pellets. This is for close in personal defense. These are pretty much totally ineffective at over 50 ft. I hope that clears up any confusion you have. If that zombie apocalypse ever becomes reality then all of us will wish we had an AR-15.
The fact that there are AR-15 owners that think the caliber is right for them, that is their personal preference. I would never fire a rifle at any target I didn't have a clear line of sight on up to the maximum effective range of that bullet.

The smaller caliber is more effective if you can’t shoot straight?

?????? Okay you lost me there. A 5.56 round is in reality caliber wise a glorified 22 round. Its lethality comes from its incredibly high velocity when it leaves the barrel and how it is designed to tumble when it hits a target. The added advantage of a 5.56 round for the average dog face is you can carry as many bandoliers as your body will allow. There is seldom the opportunity for ammo resupply when your in the middle of a firefight.

Does the .223 and the 5.56 have the same effective range? I don’t know that’s why I am asking.

[NattyBohChamps04]

The 5.56 round was designed specifically to kill people. I'll say it again, the 5.56 caliber of weapons is poor choice for home security and self defense.

Your two sentences seem to be at odds with each other.
I'm

Why are AR-15 Rifles Ideal for Home Defense?

5.56 and .223 For Home Defense: Is it Right for You?
Ballistically, the right 5.56mm and .223 Rem. cartridges offer superior performance without fear of overpenetration, regardless of where you live.

The Best 5.56 Round for Home Defense and CQB: Diving into the Research

Why An AR-15 For Home Defense Is The Best Choice

The AR-15 Rifle For Home Defense? Absolutely!

Not at all at odds. I'll try and splain it for you. The maximum effective range of a 5.56 bullet is over 300 meters. That is a greater distance than most of us can see with any certainty. It is a poor choice for this reason. If you plink off 6 rounds at say 10 yards and you miss. Those bullets can travel way far down range than you can see. That is what makes it a poor choice for home defense. My personal choice today is a single shot 410 gauge shotgun. The shells are double aught shot with less lethal plastic pellets. This is for close in personal defense. These are pretty much totally ineffective at over 50 ft. I hope that clears up any confusion you have. If that zombie apocalypse ever becomes reality then all of us will wish we had an AR-15.
The fact that there are AR-15 owners that think the caliber is right for them, that is their personal preference. I would never fire a rifle at any target I didn't have a clear line of sight on up to the maximum effective range of that bullet.
If your target shooting with an AR-15 type weapon you should be shooting on a dedicated range with a properly constructed earthen berm.

So you didn't read any of the articles huh?

Maximum effective range depends on what kind of ammo you're shooting, and what the bullet goes through if it doesn't hit your target. There are a LOT of different 5.56 loadouts, not just the M855 or M193 you were practicing with in the Army. And those are actually still effective at over 500 meters.

They literally make 5.56/2.23 ammo for urban environments where you need to worry about penetration. A 9mm FMJ pistol round penetrates way more than those. Which is shown in one of the links above.

[cradleandshoot]

The 5.56 round was designed specifically to kill people. I'll say it again, the 5.56 caliber of weapons is poor choice for home security and self defense.

Your two sentences seem to be at odds with each other.
I'm

Why are AR-15 Rifles Ideal for Home Defense?

5.56 and .223 For Home Defense: Is it Right for You?
Ballistically, the right 5.56mm and .223 Rem. cartridges offer superior performance without fear of overpenetration, regardless of where you live.

The Best 5.56 Round for Home Defense and CQB: Diving into the Research

Why An AR-15 For Home Defense Is The Best Choice

The AR-15 Rifle For Home Defense? Absolutely!

Not at all at odds. I'll try and splain it for you. The maximum effective range of a 5.56 bullet is over 300 meters. That is a greater distance than most of us can see with any certainty. It is a poor choice for this reason. If you plink off 6 rounds at say 10 yards and you miss. Those bullets can travel way far down range than you can see. That is what makes it a poor choice for home defense. My personal choice today is a single shot 410 gauge shotgun. The shells are double aught shot with less lethal plastic pellets. This is for close in personal defense. These are pretty much totally ineffective at over 50 ft. I hope that clears up any confusion you have. If that zombie apocalypse ever becomes reality then all of us will wish we had an AR-15.
The fact that there are AR-15 owners that think the caliber is right for them, that is their personal preference. I would never fire a rifle at any target I didn't have a clear line of sight on up to the maximum effective range of that bullet.
If your target shooting with an AR-15 type weapon you should be shooting on a dedicated range with a properly constructed earthen berm.

So you didn't read any of the articles huh?

Maximum effective range depends on what kind of ammo you're shooting, and what the bullet goes through if it doesn't hit your target. There are a LOT of different 5.56 loadouts, not just the M855 or M193 you were practicing with in the Army. And those are actually still effective at over 500 meters.

They literally make 5.56/2.23 ammo for urban environments where you need to worry about penetration. A 9mm FMJ pistol round penetrates way more than those. Which is shown in one of the links above.

I was referring to maximum effective range. I have no doubt that a standard NATO 5.56 bullet is lethal beyond 300 meters. We learned to shoot using iron sights. There is no way in hell we would have engaged targets at 300 meters. Nailing those silhouette targets at 300 meters is alot of fun for any trainee. We carried enormous amounts of ammo on us and wasting it with maximum range shots was just a waste of ammo. There is merit to that saying don't shoot until you see the whites of their eyes. I did one night load a full 30 round magazine with tracers. It was quite a display in the dark. Looked like a bright red solid laser beam going down range. It was worth the ass chewing I received.

[Typical Lax Dad]

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/05/us/flori ... index.html

Can’t believe this guy was in jail.

[Farfromgeneva]

The 5.56 round was designed specifically to kill people. I'll say it again, the 5.56 caliber of weapons is poor choice for home security and self defense.

Your two sentences seem to be at odds with each other.


Why are AR-15 Rifles Ideal for Home Defense?

5.56 and .223 For Home Defense: Is it Right for You?
Ballistically, the right 5.56mm and .223 Rem. cartridges offer superior performance without fear of overpenetration, regardless of where you live.

The Best 5.56 Round for Home Defense and CQB: Diving into the Research

Why An AR-15 For Home Defense Is The Best Choice

The AR-15 Rifle For Home Defense? Absolutely!

Not at all at odds. I'll try and splain it for you. The maximum effective range of a 5.56 bullet is over 300 meters. That is a greater distance than most of us can see with any certainty. It is a poor choice for this reason. If you plink off 6 rounds at say 10 yards and you miss. Those bullets can travel way far down range than you can see. That is what makes it a poor choice for home defense. My personal choice today is a single shot 410 gauge shotgun. The shells are double aught shot with less lethal plastic pellets. This is for close in personal defense. These are pretty much totally ineffective at over 50 ft. I hope that clears up any confusion you have. If that zombie apocalypse ever becomes reality then all of us will wish we had an AR-15.
The fact that there are AR-15 owners that think the caliber is right for them, that is their personal preference. I would never fire a rifle at any target I didn't have a clear line of sight on up to the maximum effective range of that bullet.

The smaller caliber is more effective if you can’t shoot straight?

?????? Okay you lost me there. A 5.56 round is in reality caliber wise a glorified 22 round. Its lethality comes from its incredibly high velocity when it leaves the barrel and how it is designed to tumble when it hits a target. The added advantage of a 5.56 round for the average dog face is you can carry as many bandoliers as your body will allow. There is seldom the opportunity for ammo resupply when your in the middle of a firefight.

Does the .223 and the 5.56 have the same effective range? I don’t know that’s why I am asking.

Don’t you understand this is how most situations shake out?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Fire

[cradleandshoot]

The 5.56 round was designed specifically to kill people. I'll say it again, the 5.56 caliber of weapons is poor choice for home security and self defense.

Your two sentences seem to be at odds with each other.


Why are AR-15 Rifles Ideal for Home Defense?

5.56 and .223 For Home Defense: Is it Right for You?
Ballistically, the right 5.56mm and .223 Rem. cartridges offer superior performance without fear of overpenetration, regardless of where you live.

The Best 5.56 Round for Home Defense and CQB: Diving into the Research

Why An AR-15 For Home Defense Is The Best Choice

The AR-15 Rifle For Home Defense? Absolutely!

Not at all at odds. I'll try and splain it for you. The maximum effective range of a 5.56 bullet is over 300 meters. That is a greater distance than most of us can see with any certainty. It is a poor choice for this reason. If you plink off 6 rounds at say 10 yards and you miss. Those bullets can travel way far down range than you can see. That is what makes it a poor choice for home defense. My personal choice today is a single shot 410 gauge shotgun. The shells are double aught shot with less lethal plastic pellets. This is for close in personal defense. These are pretty much totally ineffective at over 50 ft. I hope that clears up any confusion you have. If that zombie apocalypse ever becomes reality then all of us will wish we had an AR-15.
The fact that there are AR-15 owners that think the caliber is right for them, that is their personal preference. I would never fire a rifle at any target I didn't have a clear line of sight on up to the maximum effective range of that bullet.

The smaller caliber is more effective if you can’t shoot straight?

?????? Okay you lost me there. A 5.56 round is in reality caliber wise a glorified 22 round. Its lethality comes from its incredibly high velocity when it leaves the barrel and how it is designed to tumble when it hits a target. The added advantage of a 5.56 round for the average dog face is you can carry as many bandoliers as your body will allow. There is seldom the opportunity for ammo resupply when your in the middle of a firefight.

Does the .223 and the 5.56 have the same effective range? I don’t know that’s why I am asking.

Don’t you understand this is how most situations shake out?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Fire

I have absolutely no idea what your link is referring to or what your point is.

[cradleandshoot]

The 5.56 round was designed specifically to kill people. I'll say it again, the 5.56 caliber of weapons is poor choice for home security and self defense.

Your two sentences seem to be at odds with each other.
I'm

Why are AR-15 Rifles Ideal for Home Defense?

5.56 and .223 For Home Defense: Is it Right for You?
Ballistically, the right 5.56mm and .223 Rem. cartridges offer superior performance without fear of overpenetration, regardless of where you live.

The Best 5.56 Round for Home Defense and CQB: Diving into the Research

Why An AR-15 For Home Defense Is The Best Choice

The AR-15 Rifle For Home Defense? Absolutely!

Not at all at odds. I'll try and splain it for you. The maximum effective range of a 5.56 bullet is over 300 meters. That is a greater distance than most of us can see with any certainty. It is a poor choice for this reason. If you plink off 6 rounds at say 10 yards and you miss. Those bullets can travel way far down range than you can see. That is what makes it a poor choice for home defense. My personal choice today is a single shot 410 gauge shotgun. The shells are double aught shot with less lethal plastic pellets. This is for close in personal defense. These are pretty much totally ineffective at over 50 ft. I hope that clears up any confusion you have. If that zombie apocalypse ever becomes reality then all of us will wish we had an AR-15.
The fact that there are AR-15 owners that think the caliber is right for them, that is their personal preference. I would never fire a rifle at any target I didn't have a clear line of sight on up to the maximum effective range of that bullet.
If your target shooting with an AR-15 type weapon you should be shooting on a dedicated range with a properly constructed earthen berm.

So you didn't read any of the articles huh?

Maximum effective range depends on what kind of ammo you're shooting, and what the bullet goes through if it doesn't hit your target. There are a LOT of different 5.56 loadouts, not just the M855 or M193 you were practicing with in the Army. And those are actually still effective at over 500 meters.

They literally make 5.56/2.23 ammo for urban environments where you need to worry about penetration. A 9mm FMJ pistol round penetrates way more than those. Which is shown in one of the links above.

FTR 223 and 5.56 are the same round. NATO designates it as 5.56 Ball. I still have a couple of old bandoliers down in my bag of old army gear in the basement that is what the stenciling says. I have no knowledge of 5.56 ammo being designed for urban combat. In theory, and some special ops unit may have a use for it, it would be a round with a reduced amount of cordite in it to limit the penetration ability in close quarters urban warfare. It wouldn't be practical for the average dog face. You might be engaging targets in an open field one moment and fighting house to house the next. We were only issued one type of ammo for our M16s that was the standard 5.56 NATO round still used today. That was 40 years ago so I could very well be out of the loop what dogfaces are being issued today.

[PizzaSnake]

Absurd. Our society is sick.

“Three students told NBC News they were giving a presentation when they learned of an active shooter and had to be evacuated. They said they were in a building with many windows, with one student saying her first thought was, “Get down, make sure you’re safe, make sure everyone else is safe.”

[Typical Lax Dad]

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/12/06/us/u ... index.html

They can move to another country of they don’t like it…

[ggait]

.

[ggait]

No big deal.

Shooter was only shooting college kids. So not like kindergarteners (although that’s no big deal either).

And while the shooter probably used an ar 15, the shooter could have used a ruger mini ranch rifle. Which is the same thing. Except that the slaughterers never choose that gun.

Such complete forking bs. Fork all the 2A bubba a holes who don’t give a shirt. So long as it is someone else’s school, grocery store, shopping mall or kids in front of the gun.

[Typical Lax Dad]

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/06/us/unive ... index.html

[PizzaSnake]

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/06/us/unive ... index.html

Four dead in ... Las Vegas?



First link was "age-restricted." Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha...... gasp, snort, sob, howl.

How the fcuk can YouBoob be enforcing that when this shite happens almost daily.

We are lost.

[NattyBohChamps04]

FTR 223 and 5.56 are the same round. NATO designates it as 5.56 Ball. I still have a couple of old bandoliers down in my bag of old army gear in the basement that is what the stenciling says. I have no knowledge of 5.56 ammo being designed for urban combat. In theory, and some special ops unit may have a use for it, it would be a round with a reduced amount of cordite in it to limit the penetration ability in close quarters urban warfare. It wouldn't be practical for the average dog face. You might be engaging targets in an open field one moment and fighting house to house the next. We were only issued one type of ammo for our M16s that was the standard 5.56 NATO round still used today. That was 40 years ago so I could very well be out of the loop what dogfaces are being issued today.

DEAR GOD PLEASE DON'T SHOOT 5.56 IN A .223 LISTED GUN.

They're not the same round. .223 Remington specification is a lower max pressure than a 5.56. So .223 guns aren't necessarily designed to be able to handle the pressure of a 5.56 round. Especially over time.

Feel free to shoot .223 in a 5.56 gun any ol' day of the week.

Urban 5.56 ammo is mostly for police and home-defense use. You're correct that it uses less powder (and a specific bullet design) so it doesn't go as fast or keep penetrating as much once it hits something. Military has a little less concern for collateral damage for a variety of reasons. But if you have a specific home defense weapon. That you keep in your home. For defense. And not engaging people in an open field. Then it makes sense to use the appropriate ammo. Of which 5.56 can be a great option.

Hornady makes like 16 different versions of .223 andd 5.56, and that's just one ammo manufacturer. Military generally uses the best option for the mission, but they're not perfect as we both know.

https://www.hornadyle.com/rifle-ammunition/#!/

[Typical Lax Dad]

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/07/us/texas ... index.html

They all should have been packing.

[NattyBohChamps04]

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/07/us/texas ... index.html

They all should have been packing.

It's Texas, some of them may have been...

Great that a mentally ill person with a history of assault and domestic violence can get a gun easy peasy.

[PizzaSnake]

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/07/us/texas ... index.html

They all should have been packing.

It's Texas, some of them may have been...

Great that a mentally ill person with a history of assault and domestic violence can get a gun easy peasy.

And that when the deputies had showed up to arrest him for cutting off the tracking device they left after he barricaded himself in his room.

So, let me see, not use force when needed, but tase and shoot motorists? Seems balanced and carefully considered.

[cradleandshoot]

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/07/us/texas ... index.html

They all should have been packing.

It's Texas, some of them may have been...

Great that a mentally ill person with a history of assault and domestic violence can get a gun easy peasy.

And that when the deputies had showed up to arrest him for cutting off the tracking device they left after he barricaded himself in his room.

So, let me see, not use force when needed, but tase and shoot motorists? Seems balanced and carefully considered.

WOW!!!! Did you actually just say " force was needed"? That expression almost never comes out of the mouth of a progressive.What kinda force you talking about?? Would that include anything up to and including lethal force??

[WaffleTwineFaceoff]

Good afternoon, gentlemen. You've been busy little beavers all over this politics tab, haven’t you? Whatever little Blue or little Red pills you are taking, they are obviously working. Remember, though, for an election lasting more than four years, please seek immediate medical attention!

Lots going on lately in the world of guns in America. Two recent high profile events (Texas & Las Vegas) have once again jump started a familiar ride. Predictable charged and passionate Pavlovian responses are currently playing out for the umpteenth time in our weaponized media, executive branch, legislative branch, lobbying industrial complex, and the public arenas dominated by social media. How does this ride play out? A criminal acts abhorrently. The key, always waiting patiently in the ignition, gets turned and the engine revs to life. We shift into first gear, and tear off the starting line “leading with emotional road rage”. Calls for immediate bans of a,b,c and x,y,z blare from the radio. Anyone who doesn’t agree to full civilian disarmament is accused of enabling and rejoicing when innocent lives are lost. Shifting into second gear we enter the “reason phase”, where tortured facts, guilt-shaming, and lobbying organizations are working overtime 24/7 to create “policy based evidence making” studies which prove they and thus their intended corrective actions/solutions are the only right which exists. Our leaders spout these “facts” from their soapboxes. The mainstream media circulates their quotes as facts. Validation by omission or commission occurs. Meanwhile, in ivy covered towers across the land, our esteemed academic minds with lots of letters after their names jump in to post how the 2A is intended to be a living, breathing, editable, and open to interpretation "non-right right". Politicians weaponize this intellectual delusion matrix in new ways into new bills, hoping that one will, finally, be the 20,001st law which gets right what the 20,000 existing federal, state and local gun laws couldn’t get right. The press prints, and more validation by omission or commission occurs. Now that we’re really rolling along, we floor the accelerator and upshift into the bully, badger, bash, name calling phase of this exhilarating ride - lead by the “grassroots seeming organizations” (funded by billionaire elitists), many populated by box Chardonnay swigging Moms Against Gun Anything (MAGAs - sorry, I couldn't resist ) singing along to their chosen cause’s Karaoke station at the top of their lungs. Eventually they run out of fuel (I can’t remember if they’re in a gas or electric vehicle), roll to a stop, call a tow truck, and eagerly await the next event just as the hangover subsides.

I know, you're wondering where we get to the point where I STFU and stop pointing fingers. My first post on this thread pointed out both my passion and frustration regarding how nearly every single mass public shooting event follows a predictable pattern which keeps us stuck, while the glaring missed opportunities to offramp these perpetrators before a single shot is fired goes unmentioned and ignored. A playbook of effective “We Should Do This” strategies, compiled by experts utilizing facts and data, IS available. It is what our politicians SHOULD be talking about at their press conferences, instead of brandishing pictures of scary black rifles and making threats to disarm the law abiding citizenry. I'm really ranty today. No more boxed afternoon Chardonnay, dammit!

Onward to Texas and Las Vegas. First off, sorry to disappoint, no AR-15’s were utilized in either event. Just plain old inanimate handguns with regular capacity magazines, which are utilized in the vast majority of gun homicides in general, as well as the mass public shooting event subset.

Cliffs Notes in Texas: Mentally ill. Dishonorable Discharge. Prescribed meds. Off meds the week before the event. Multiple police visits to home. Warrants not followed through upon - including a law enforcement visit to his parents home where he was barricaded in the bathroom. Police left, telling father to call them when he was out. Father never did. Domestic violence against family. Family had him arrested. OUT ON BAIL. And in a twist which came out just in the last few days, it has been learned that he was only out on bail because of his bail being supported and paid for by the Texas Organizing Project, a George Soros and Son super pac funded organization. The DA in that jurisdiction…well, you can connect the dots. “George Soros bailed this guy out for $400, Alex”. Once out on bail, the perpetrator cuts off his ankle monitor. Gains illegal possession of a pistol. Kill parents first. Kills four more during his moving spree rampage. Injures two law enforcement officers along the way. And is now back where he was before he was bailed out by Soros: behind bars. The only difference, there’s six dead bodies in his rear view mirror. The offramp playbook would have worked splendidly on this guy, but it sat gathering dust, while the band played on. Who should we blame?

Cliffs Notes in Vegas: 67 year old professor (last 17 years at UNC’s East Carolina) who on his personal website has a “Great minds of the Twentieth Century” section. George Soros is one of his selections (along with Tesla and Einstein). But I’m cherry picking. Lots of conspiracy theory stuff, obsessions left and right, love of Joni Mitchell, Frank Sinatra, and Dean Martin, deep deciphering of the “true meaning” of the movie “Inception”, obsession with globalist domination by likes of the Rothschilds and Bilderberg Group, and a whole bunch of other deep rabbit hole musings. Lots of great reviews from his students, including this one: “Dr. Polito teaches students about things that happen in the real world that we will be able to apply in our careers.” Let’s hope not! We’ll have to wait to learn more about this guy, but he certainly doesn’t appear to be a pencil d*cked incel MAGA compensating redneck Red state end of world prepper living in a defunct ICBM silo decorated with AR-15s. His chosen location to commit his criminal gun violence: A Gun Free Zone. And one which he had a grudge against: UNLV had recently turned down his job application.

Which brings me to today’s first “Quick Aside” (readers of my first post here will recall I used a bunch). Today we start with gun suicides counted as “gun violence”. Predictably, yesterday Biden’s bandwagon “do something” press conference in the aftermath of Texas and Vegas lumped suicides into padded “gun violence” numbers. Utilizing Texas and Vegas to further the "let's go after the law abiding gun owner's" pretty much sums up the dysfunction of America’s current gun violence discourse. Am I not seeing things clearly? Stop, don't answer that! America has lower suicide rates than heavily gun restricted "first world peer" nations including France, Switzerland, Hungary, Japan, Belgium, South Korea, Austria, Poland, India, and Finland, among others. Should these nations (and thus America) count “rope violence” and “plastic bag violence” for hanging/suffocation/asphyxiation deaths? “Pill violence” and “Poison violence” suicides? “Gravity violence” suicides for bridge and building jumpers? “Knife and razor blade violence” suicides? Hmmm. Back in America, per the CDC, women use suffocation and pills/poison in 66% of suicides. For men, 43% of suicides are via suffocation and poison. Suicide is not a crime in America. When politicians and lobbying groups single out suicide by gun and lump it into the “Gun Violence” tally they are being patently disingenuous and guilty of more policy based evidence making. How can we have serious discussions regarding serious issues in search of serious solutions when this is what our leadership is knowingly doing? For shame.

Please note, anyone thinking I am being callous regarding the epidemic of suicide in this country, please save your breath as such an accusation would be well off the mark. It is a sad and devastating public health crisis, and I doubt anyone here has not been affected directly or indirectly via family, friends, co-workers, classmates. Intervention, educational, and physical mitigation strategies exist which focus on the potential gun utilization segment of those wishing to commit suicide, which is of course important as guns are very good at making a suicide attempt lethal. Access/storage strategies and equipment, and programs facilitating the temporarily turning in of guns at qualified locations for safe keeping are proven effective. A valid fear preventing wider implementation of “self directed red flag relinquishment” is the possibility of punitive “if you’ve enacted this strategy you are a disqualified owner/purchaser moving forward” outcomes. Will policy makers guarantee those who do this good thing won't be punished? On a granular Mass Public Shooting level, the high incidence of suicide “telegraphing” as a present factor in the majority of Mass Public Shootings (iirc in K-12 and college shootings this exceeds 90%), coupled with other “early warning signs”, has been proven very effective in the off ramping interventions of high risk “future mass public killers”.

Quick (repeat) aside: How about a bipartisan bill to waive HIPPA rights of any living or dead mass public shooter (or better yet any murderer utilizing any weapon, but baby steps). You ever read a Black Box warning on the stuff big Pharma is introducing into the populace’s brain chemistry at an accelerated and alarming rate? “May cause hallucinations, violent and/or suicidal ideation, and homicidal thoughts”. Golly, I hope the benefits are worth the risks! A detailed study of the brain chemistry and utilization of pharmaceutical drugs by Mass Public Shooters would be an important and productive addition to the research canon seeking to stop these events, no? I’m sure Pfizer and Modena and the psychiatric professionals prescribing these pills in ever increasing numbers and our political leaders would support and welcome this research in the interest of public health, right?

Final quick aside of the day: You just gotta love the 12/5 Report dropped by the Johns Michael Bloomberg Hopkins Public Health Lobbying School regarding the threat to Democracy of armed insurrectionists. Gotta hand it to the authors, they are doing an excellent job of crafting new vectors aimed at mass disarmament through a novel fear mongering narrative. According to the report, which heavily references J6 and firearms together (thus tacitly suggesting they were bedfellows that day) we need to “Do More Something”. Two years ago NPR breathlessly reported on the weaponry brought to J6: “A review of the federal charges against the alleged rioters shows that they came armed with a variety of weapons: stun guns, pepper spray, baseball bats and flagpoles wielded as clubs”. OMG! Run. Wait…no firearms? The report goes on to advise the following urgent policy approaches, including: Prohibit open and concealed carry. Increased enactment of ERPOs (our old friend the “needs a complete overhaul” Red Flag Laws). And, finally, the empowerment of local governments to repeal, or restrict, or create new laws based on…wait for it…their…feelings and desires and whims? At least that’s what I can extrapolate from the language. My goodness, these urgent and innovative policies that are needed stat to thwart a grave new threat to our Democracy seem so…familiar. Face palm. Predictably, on social media the past few days EveryBloomtown, Moms Against Guns Anything, and a bunch of hive thinking parrots roosting in similar organizations latched onto this scary sounding new threat to our weak Federal Government's military might - and thus our very way life! - by being…passionate, loud and emotional. Off in the distance, the Second amendment (a two fisted drinker) wearily shook its head and handed the First and Fourth amendment’s one of its beers, saying “I’ll be back in a bit”.

Be well.