Thread: Whats your opinion on automatic weapons?

Originally Posted by EMC45

We are a nation built be rugged, dangerous men who didn't fancy the idea of a crown or to be called "subjects" any longer

You may have a president instead of a King, and a congress instead of a parliament, but when Presidents and their executive branches don't have to mind the constitution, the difference is more symbolic than anything.

Looking at actual practical things instead of the constitution (which the US President does not really care about) I can say that from a practica pov, you got a worse deal than we did. We don't have asset forfeiture. We don't have a TSA. We don't have a patriot act. We don't have 'no fly' lists...
And anything my government has on me, I can verify and have corrected.

At least we still have control over what our government does, and it does play by its own rules, even if it doesn't always likes it. Regardless of how things started right after the American revolution, currently you got the short end of the stick and your ony political choice is which is the party bending you over the barrel.

To be honest I prefer aimed single shots instead of automatic bursts.
It makes it easier to hit, and saves ammo.

i got in on this a little late. i am new to the forum and dont know many here yet. i did read through several of the first bunch of pages and saw a statement about some texans......i thought it was funny..im from texas. maybe i missed something in the 75 odd pages and nearly 1000 posts but.............

all that aside. the right to bear arms was not intended for hunting or sport it was intended to keep the populace armed against the government tyranny and oppression plain and simple. there is a system of checks and balances in this world. the united states checks and balances many other governments. the only thing at the moment that checks the u.s. government is the well armed and voting citizens of the united states.

for those who are not in the u.s. it can be hard to understand. i am a gun owner and i hope that i never never never have to have another mans blood on my hands but i will not stand by and just let someone take advantage of me in my own home.

all that being said....fully automatic weapons........need to have some regulation. my ak is semi auto and it still shoots fast!!!

Originally Posted by Bruno

You may have a president instead of a King, and a congress instead of a parliament, but when Presidents and their executive branches don't have to mind the constitution, the difference is more symbolic than anything.

Looking at actual practical things instead of the constitution (which the US President does not really care about) I can say that from a practica pov, you got a worse deal than we did. We don't have asset forfeiture. We don't have a TSA. We don't have a patriot act. We don't have 'no fly' lists...
And anything my government has on me, I can verify and have corrected.

At least we still have control over what our government does, and it does play by its own rules, even if it doesn't always likes it. Regardless of how things started right after the American revolution, currently you got the short end of the stick and your ony political choice is which is the party bending you over the barrel.

Man, I was with ya' there for a bit........then I looked at where you're from. Belgium??!! The very epicenter of lost soveriegnty and dissolved freedoms? Do you actually mean to try to convince those of us from the U.S. that you are better off? I'm not incensed, but incredulous.

Costabro

People in other countries may feel that they are better off than those living in the US for what ever reasons. If people are really unhappy where they live they immigrate to somewhere else. Not a matter of trying to convince anyone in the US that they are better off just as you believe you are better off. I like where I live and believe that in some areas I am better off here than in the US and in other areas not so much but not to anywhere near the point of making me want to immigrate to anywhere else. Nor do I have the inclination to try and convince the world that where I live is the best place for everyone to be.

Bob

Originally Posted by Costabro

Man, I was with ya' there for a bit........then I looked at where you're from. Belgium??!! The very epicenter of lost soveriegnty and dissolved freedoms? Do you actually mean to try to convince those of us from the U.S. that you are better off? I'm not incensed, but incredulous.

So.. which of my freedoms were dissolved, and what sovereignty did I lose?
Belgium is still Belgium, which is a federal state.
We have a constitution that is followed by our government, even when they don't like it.

We don't have the various other things I mentioned (which the US does have), which are decidely anti-freedom.
Let's not focus on what your constitution supposedly means, but on what actually happens in the US.
Which freedoms do you have in practice that I supposedly don't?

Btw, I am not trying to convince anyone that Belgium is better than the US.
It is just that if someone mentions that the US scores so much better in terms of 'freedom', I feel they are focussing on how it 'should be in theory' and not on how it 'is in reality'. the US 'paper freedom' may look much better than mine, but in reality it doesn't work out that way. Or US police departments would not be budgetting asset forfeiture in advance in order to maintain a yearly budget. And you could not be put on lists without recourse. And you could not be held in legal limbo as soon as someone breathes the words 'terrorist'

Originally Posted by Bruno

You may have a president instead of a King, and a congress instead of a parliament, but when Presidents and their executive branches don't have to mind the constitution, the difference is more symbolic than anything.

Looking at actual practical things instead of the constitution (which the US President does not really care about) I can say that from a practica pov, you got a worse deal than we did. We don't have asset forfeiture. We don't have a TSA. We don't have a patriot act. We don't have 'no fly' lists...
And anything my government has on me, I can verify and have corrected.

At least we still have control over what our government does, and it does play by its own rules, even if it doesn't always likes it. Regardless of how things started right after the American revolution, currently you got the short end of the stick and your ony political choice is which is the party bending you over the barrel.

I like the US, but I've lived and worked in many countries, and I do not have a "USA No. 1" mentality. Your statements, however, are somewhat untrue.

1. Whether the President "cares" about the constitution is immaterial, he still has to act according to the rules and guidelines it imposes. That's why we have congress, senate, and a supreme court in place as a system of checks and balances that, granted, may be imperfect, but works just as well as anything in Europe.

2. You may not be aware, but seizure and forfeiture of assets upon suspicion of crime or terrorism is completely permissible in the EU: The U.N. Convention against Corruption 2003- UNCAC) and European Union Directives (e.g., 2001/97/EC) allow the seizure and confiscation of the assets and "unexplained wealth" of criminals and suspects globally, even if their alleged or proven crime does not constitute an offense where they own property or have bank accounts. More details here: Global Politician - Asset Confiscation and Asset Forfeiture

3. Same as in the US, you have very strict airport security, and in Belgium, your local and federal police forces, some of them carrying rifles, patrol airports, harbors and train stations, same as ours. They check identity papers and conduct personal and luggage searches on the spot. I would say that especially in Belgium and France, a lot of those guys are more obviously and openly racist and aggressive than in the US.

4. You don't have a Patriot Act because it's a US domestic law, certain provisions of which, however, especially in regard to money laundering, are being fully supported by various governments and financial institutions worldwide, including your own. EU countries have also tightened their own anti-terrorism laws over the last years. Google CECPT for details.

5. The EU has "expressed concern" about no-fly lists, and I do believe the EU countries are more serious in theory about how personal data is collected and safeguarded - in practice, I would not want to rely on those good intentions.

6. As far as control over what your government does... I guess we've seen that theory in action in Greece, Spain and the UK just over the past year. We'll see how things develop in the near future ;-)


By the way, there's a large Belgian ex-pat community on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, around Tamarindo/Flamingo. I met and drank with quite a few of those guys over the years, and they will go on and on how f'ed up things are in Belgium. They were especially unhappy with the influx of North African immigrants, saying it was becoming like "Little Morocco" over there, and blaming a weak government. Guess not everyone's quite as content as you over there...

HamburgO

I have to agree with what you have said about things being more or less the same in most western industrialized nations regardless if they have a monarchy or not. I do think it gets on peoples nerves to hear the same old "we are more free than you because we have no/got rid of the Monarch" drivel in this day and age. I don't think anybody can lay claim to being the "best" either nor is there a need to. If you are happy with the society in which you live then it is the best for you but likely not for others living in a similar, not identical, society else where. If you are very unhappy with your society you become an expat which proves nothing other than you were feed up enough to leave.

Bob

Btw as for royalty: you may have done away with the titles, but you still have families which (through cronyism and nepotism rather than bloodlines) have hereditary power. The Bush family is a good example of that.

Originally Posted by Otto

To be honest I prefer aimed single shots instead of automatic bursts.
It makes it easier to hit, and saves ammo.

Auto is more for suppressive fire in actual gun battles. Aimed singles or short bursts are for when you're trying to hit something.