School system in CA buys Assault Rifles

[iiibbb]

I don't know what they're worried about. California has very strict gun control.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/24/16677346-school-brings-in-high-powered-assault-weapons?lite

[MichiganVote]

1. Why oh why do Americans always want a war somewhere.

[Eleanors38]

2. Damn. Even Texas doesn't do that.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

3. I'm sure it was...

...the Senator's influence.

[HooptieWagon]

4. Your title is wrong.

The headline in the article says the school system bought assault weapons. A semi-automatic rifle is not an assault rifle, since it is not capable of automatic fire. It can be called an assault weapon, as the article did, since that term has no real meaning.
The article is interesting however. I question the need for arming school LEOs with semiautomatic rifles, since their 9mm service handguns would be plenty effective in a school setting against an armed intruder, who more than likely is untrained.

[iiibbb]

5. more scary that way

in DU words also don't matter

[HooptieWagon]

6. Fear tactics/language are used when facts don't support the arguement.

Its a propaganda technique taken from the conservative handbook. Disappointing that many DUers are employing it.

[Ashgrey77]

7. It is basically SOP now.

But it's ok as long as what you are fighting is "evil", or so most of them say. I totally agree with your thought. It's ok if they do it, but not ok if someone else does it, definitely sounds like a play from the right wing handbook.

[DonP]

8. I learned all about that in Meta

All the "well informed" gun control supporters keep referring to them as Assault Rifles, so that's what they must be. Otherwise you're just using "NRA talking points" and you want more dead children.

Just like nobody is trying to take anyone's guns, ... well ... except for the people that keep demanding confiscation and/or forced buy backs of "assault weapons" and "large capacity magazines", which for some odd reason is not considered confiscation.

Funny how here in Chicago can have 20 children killed in Englewood, Chatham or the Pilsen neighborhoods in a single month and nobody in Washington or on DU seems to get this upset about what we can do to stop those murders?

[HooptieWagon]

9. They don't care about children deaths or gun-related deaths.

Thats merely a vehicle to attack their real target...all gun-owners.
The nearest example are the homophobes who use pedophilia to attack gays. Of course, 99% of gays aren't pedophiles, and its really two separate issues. But homophobes stir up the gay hate by associating the two. Just as the anti-gun zealots stir up gun hatred by associating ordinary gun-owners with the mentally ill people who committ mass murder. Its the same warped thinking and propaganda technique. I'm surprised that it is permitted on DU.

[DemDealer]

11. It is also that attitude which precludes trust on both sides of the aisle.

I get along very well with my conservative friends. They're indifferent to gay rights, want less money spent by government, and consider the welfare system plagued with abuse and in horrible need of an overhaul. All rather reasonable positions. We can talk about gun control too, because we know and trust each other.

Candidly, many of them have voiced that while they COULD be in favor of certain things - particularly universal background checks and handgun registration, they don't dare voice support for those things. And that is because they don't trust our higher ups not to abuse those restrictions if they ever allowed them. They see any and all reasonable argument for those things as the bait for a trap laid by our more vocal confiscationists. Which sadly, is also a reasonable position considering the way they themselves are publicly regarded by many Democrats. They will talk to me, but when they start talking about "Civil War II" over gun rights, its people like Hoyt and graham who take the verbal flak. Despite being hardcore single-issue "Gun Republicans" they don't have any hate for moderate Dems in the slightest.

Until we silence the voices of extremism in our own party, we've got no right to chastise the extremism in theirs, IMO. Someday if we can talk TO each other and not just ABOUT each other, we can probably make some wonderful things happen.

[jimmy the one]

12. If only we'd listened to demdealers conservative friends

dem dealer: I get along very well with my conservative friends. They're indifferent to gay rights, want less money spent by government, and consider the welfare system plagued with abuse and in horrible need of an overhaul. All rather reasonable positions.

Did you mean the welfare system, accd'g to repubs, essentially needs dismantlement?
The south gives a 'shoulder shrug' to gay rights?
You sure do portray the rightwing in a favorable light, there, dem dealer, I've rarely heard them portrayed such as you do, in leftie circles. I guess we're getting valuable insight here, so provide weekly updates on your talks, pls?

We can talk about gun control too, because we know and trust each other.

Ah bless; are these monthly, weekly, or nightly tete' a tete's?

Candidly, many of them [demdealer's conservative friends} have voiced that while they COULD be in favor of certain things - particularly universal background checks and handgun registration, they don't dare voice support for those things. And that is because they don't trust our higher ups not to abuse those restrictions if they ever allowed them. They see any and all reasonable argument for those things as the bait for a trap laid by our more vocal confiscationists. Which sadly, is also a reasonable position considering the way they {dem confiscationists} themselves are publicly regarded by many Democrats.
They will talk to me, but when they start talking about "Civil War II" over gun rights, its people like Hoyt and graham who take the verbal flak. Despite being hardcore single-issue "Gun Republicans" they don't have any hate for moderate Dems in the slightest.

You mean, dem dealer, it's been US all along???!!!! WE, the democrat party base, have been on the WRONG side of these issues??? What kind of misconceptions have we developed all these years, based on our own biased dictatorial elected leaders?
What should we do demdealer, what should we do?

Oh ---- : Until we silence the voices of extremism in our own party, we've got no right to chastise the extremism in theirs, IMO. Someday if we can talk TO each other and not just ABOUT each other, we can probably make some wonderful things happen.

You're right, it's been republican outreach, thru senate filibuster threats, which has silenced us to our own extremism (am I right so far dd?).
It's been mitch mcconnell saying his main goal for 4 yrs was to defeat obama, which made us mute to democrat counterpunches. If only we'd gone along with mitch, those wonderful things you speak of, would be happening now.
It was our awful opposition to progun policy & the nra in the gwbush years that caused this mess to begin with, right dd? listening to our extremist democrat leaders proposing such awful guncontrol measures of, well, for ONE, the the, mummblemumble BILL to mummble mumble.

--- I havent' seen such a cleverly designed poststart in a long while dem dealer, where the rightwing is portrayed in such a positive endearing manner & the democrat party simultaneously portrayed as the reason for all the disfunction.
Keep posting DD, you make for interesting reading. If I don't see you anymore after a while, have a nice days.

(PS: GD the pusher)

[iiibbb]

13. Talk about deflection

He talks about compromise about guns of individuals....

... you go to about all the other ways the Republican party are assholes.


You are part of the problem Jimmy the One. You sniffle sane discussion by going straight for the jugular instead of keying in on where common ground exists. As an example to your lost credibility, I only skimmed your post.

Imagine if I thought we had enough in common to talk about it.

[DemDealer]

14. Harsh arrogance is hardly a democratic value

I just refuse to give in to this asshole attitude that everyone other than us is some kind of "untermench." I live in the heartland, in an area that is very conservative. Conservatives are not stupid, not evil, not uncaring, and not violent. I live around and work with them every day. What they are also "not", is willing to listen to us, because people like the above poster spend more time mocking them then trying to work with them.

When these bizarre supervillain caricatures of them get promenaded out in the place of having a rational discussion on affecting meaningful change, I just shake my head. Its just as bad when conservatives do it, and I have the same reaction. But I seem to see a strange concentration of that type of negative attitude here. If not for being a gunowning progressive and having an interest in this group, I don't think I would post on DU much.

[holdencaufield]

10. The really upsetting thing here is ...

... knowing the California School System the way I do ... that they paid WAY TOO MUCH for the firearms they bought.

I can't abide poor consumerism!