Why the 2nd Amendment matters in the US.

[MarinePMI]

A 17 year old EMT, volunteers to stand with others who are protecting a gas station from rioters and looters.  He goes around asking people from each side of the conflict, if anyone needs medical attention.  Then, when trying to return to his group at the gas station, rioters refuse to let him pass, and begin to chase him, leading to the events described in this video. (warning: graphic)  Don't believe what your media may be saying about this, it was a justified response under our laws.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdMTghlrFiw&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR3OXfUTFy-bVMYirHeFxivvoJHt_yqvc9e7sazh7ZLjweSvZnYfVH4qxu0&bpctr=1598543035

To add to the irony, hours before all this he is interviewed by a reporter, and clearly states he's not there to protect the gas station, only to render aid for those that may need it, and that he is carrying a rifle for personal protection in case things get out of hand.

This is why the 2nd Amendment matters in the US; the right to protect and defend yourself and your property.

And now the reports say the protests last night were much more peaceful.  You think?  Of course they were, because they knew regular, everyday folks are tired of this crap, and are not going to stand by while people who have been bused in, burn their town to the ground. Protests tend to remain peaceful if they know they'll likely get shot if they start looting and burning stuff.

At any rate, kudos to the 17 year old kid, for keeping his wits about him...

[Popsbengo]

I wasn't there, I'm guessing you weren't there either so what we are presented with is always open to bias and interpretation.

The idea of an armed 17 year old kid, acting on his own,  thinking he had some 'right' or 'duty' to 'protect' is just crazy from here.  He may have had genuine reasons that made sense to him,  poor kid was out of his depth, armed and primed to go off.

Thankfully we don't have your Country's gun laws and, with some exceptions, we don't have police shooting people at the rate you guys have to contend with.

[MarinePMI]

Ummm...I enlisted into the Marines, two months after I turned 17 (graduated from high school early).  Age isn't the issue, it's training and upbringing that determine behavior under stress.

 

As to police shootings, if you want to be free, then it comes with responsibilities and consequences.  It's actually much more rare than Sky News and BBC would have you believe...

[Popsbengo]

8 minutes ago, MarinePMI said:

Ummm...I enlisted into the Marines, two months after I turned 17 (graduated from high school early).  Age isn't the issue, it's training and upbringing that determine behavior under stress.

 

As to police shootings, if you want to be free, then it comes with responsibilities and consequences.  It's actually much more rare than Sky News and BBC would have you believe...

I beat you, enlisted at 17 and 20 days!  Not the Marines, REMF technician...

Ah, that old 'freedom' cry from the USA - not actually sure what 'freedom' is myself - too many contradictions, responsibilities, duties and obligations for any ordinary Joe leading an ordinary life.   I'm pretty sure living in a cardboard box under a highway bridge would be a different perspective on freedom, either here or in the USA.  I suspect the reality is not much different in any democratic country, maybe some details and social values vary.

What Sky/BBC et-al present should always be filtered by critical thought.  As the late, great Lou Reed said "don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you see".  Sound advice.

[MarinePMI]

I have had several UK friends experience what "freedom" feels like.  It's actually quite fun to watch as they witness it, and the enormity of what that means in everyday life.

The US is less cordial than the UK; no argument there, but there's a reason so many want to immigrate here.  Perhaps that also explains the survey they did years ago in the UK, that roughly 50% surveyed said they would leave the UK if they had the wherewithal to do so...mostly to the US or Spain, IIRC.

[terryh]

Interesting you've posted this

I've just seen how the BBC has reported this compared to what is freely available re. information, images etc.

I knew folks threw round BBC bias but in reading the BBC's accounting of this event sort of disappoints me (ever the optimist that Auntie Beeb would be part good) and actually a little bit angry' at the selective reporting.

You then see the Go fund me for the young guy being shut down, it all feels wrong.

As someone pointed out, the Chinese do not bother watching the news as they know/worked out its all political rubbish/propaganda - is this now the case with western MSM?

T

[MarinePMI]

Yes, it's happening here as well.  Some news reporters are saying the 17 yr old was part of a "White militia", which is now morphing into "he was part of a white supremacist militia".  They are deliberately distorting things to fit a narrative.

 

The irony in all this, is that the videos online, demonstrating what was clearly self defense, were captured by protesters themselves.

Never mind that the first guy killed was a pedophile, and that the guy who got shot in the arm was prohibited from owning a firearm (which is what got him shot) because of a past criminal history.  So, the two guys with rap sheets are not discussed, except as "victims", and the kid who was trying to help people, and was then subsequently attacked, is treated like a criminal.  Orwellian....

[phoenix]

If he's only there "to render aid" why does he need to carry an AR?

 

Cheers

 

Bruce

[MarinePMI]

12 minutes ago, phoenix said:

If he's only there "to render aid" why does he need to carry an AR?

 

Cheers

 

Bruce

Ummm...as stated, he had it for self protection (did you not read the thread completely?).

[phoenix]

I think that simply highlights the difference in mindset between the majority of people in the UK and USA

In the Great Britain, "self protection" is not regarded as a good reason for possessing a firearm.

And the difficulty in obtaining firearms is the main reason we have far fewer deaths and injuries due to firearms.

Frankly, your police and many of your citizens are  just trigger happy

 

Cheers

 

Bruce

[Popsbengo]

3 hours ago, terryh said:

Interesting you've posted this

I've just seen how the BBC has reported this compared to what is freely available re. information, images etc.

I knew folks threw round BBC bias but in reading the BBC's accounting of this event sort of disappoints me (ever the optimist that Auntie Beeb would be part good) and actually a little bit angry' at the selective reporting.

You then see the Go fund me for the young guy being shut down, it all feels wrong.

As someone pointed out, the Chinese do not bother watching the news as they know/worked out its all political rubbish/propaganda - is this now the case with western MSM?

T

Really?  Get some perspective.

2 hours ago, MarinePMI said:

Ummm...as stated, he had it for self protection (did you not read the thread completely?).

bullshine mate.  He was a riled up kid, influenced by right-wing reactionaries,  the 2nd Amendment put a gun in his hand and now there are people dead who didn't deserve to die and he's likely to be incarcerated for the rest of his young life.

"Guns don't kill people, they are just a tool" - no, stupid violent,  angry men with access to guns do.

[Reecy]

Missing the point here, the young lad went along to do some good for whoever needed it (anyone)that's the principle of medical professionals

He was responsible to himself and for himself and he was prepared to excersize his rights-to whatever level that was required, up to and including the use of deadly force-hence in the circumstances, he went armed., the use of an AR15 is irrelevant it could just as easily been any other weapon that he intended to have available for his own self defence

Self defence is everyone's individual and basic right, wherever in the world you are , when faced with the extreme that is involved, he had all the rights to do what he did-do it to them before they do it to you, that's what happened

I can tell you from my own experience that when faced with an attack on your person, you have no idea how far the other people will go but the evidence later helps you with that, when you recognise the severity of the threat you go from 0 to 100mph pretty damn fast or you will succumb to the intentions of the other people-which in this case were clearly harmful without limit

This young man did the the right thing

Here in the the UK, the law does allow us to defend ourselves but we are not freely able to use the effective tools to do so, which is stupid, those government services that are in place to defend the public cannot be there to do it-so when the chips are down it depends on you and only you to survive an attack, you had better be prepared to go the whole way or you'll be a statistic 

As far as the accuracy of the media reporting goes, at this point I cannot see how on this earth, anyone could ever rely on what the media decide to provide-accuracy and balanced reporting-not a chance

i still think the young man did the right thing

[Popsbengo]

I'm sure the lad will get a fair hearing at trial.  Maybe the truth will come out in time.

Go on, say that's a load of horse shine, it's all a conspiracy, corruption everywhere.......

I'll pass on any further right-wing clap trap thanks,  I think I've stumbled down the rabbit hole...

[gazzarM1]

I would just like to add that contrary to the opinion of some on here our gun laws in the uk are not well balanced and in the interest of keeping the public safe..heavily restricting the lawful user and doing precious little to stem the flow of illegal guns into the hands of criminals....in short they suck.

[terryh]

5 hours ago, Popsbengo said:

I'm sure the lad will get a fair hearing at trial.  Maybe the truth will come out in time.

Go on, say that's a load of horse shine, it's all a conspiracy, corruption everywhere.......

I'll pass on any further right-wing clap trap thanks,  I think I've stumbled down the rabbit hole...

PbG

yes it should all come out in the wash.

As to your comment ‘get some perspective’- I tried to, seeing the Beebs report I initially thought ‘gosh whats’s going on?’ dug round and nothing matched up, hence my comment

T

ps re. ‘ corruption everywhere’ you appear to be from and engineering background - explain the decision to buy/ build the French/ Chinese rector at Hinckley - was it due to Flamanville’s success?  😉

[Re-Pete]

What would you guys have the authorities do in order to keep firearms out of criminal hands?

How's about a little constructive criticism?

Pete

[Webley]

You may all find this video interesting. It contains video of the shootings so viewer discretion is advised and i hope posting a link here does not break any site rules. There is no gore, it is all mobile video at distance and quite blurry and pixelated as it is dark. However 3 people are shot, two die.

Donut operator does break downs on shootings in the states. He is quite independent IMHO and states his sources, it is not a right or left wing show. He is an excop that now runs a skateboard shop. In other videos he is happy to point out when cops have shot someone they should not have.

Matt

[baldie]

Not gonna comment on the young lad. However, is anyone surprised at what is happening ?

Law abiding homeowners and business owners are not going to stand back and watch looters, and criminals destroy their property and livelihoods, and neither should they.

When it escalates from a punch up to armed criminals,  and that's what they are, doing the looting, people who are armed will fight back.

Only when the rioters start to realise this, will it stop.

Brace yourselves for the bank holiday chaos here, with extinction rebellion trying to block roads, and stop people going on holiday this weekend.

I really hope the riot truncheons and tear gas are going to be deployed. 

Anarchy needs stamping on, very quickly, and very hard.

We haven't spent the last 4 months locked down, to watch a few hundred crusties spread the virus, and stop law abiding people going about their business.

[terryh]

Dave

Don’t  think the (woke) police will do anything, nice bit of overtime ( cynical head on 🤔😂)

‘Tis a shame when a minority mess it up for others. 

Makes you wonder what the true motives are - insuring  identity politics rules? ( sorry, that’s BLM) Who knows?

hope you all have a good weekend?

T

[Kalahari]

I didn't see anything like this level of angst when the Met shot an unarmed man numerous times on the London underground! Perhaps Brazillian Lives don't Matter?

David.

[ezmobile]

2 hours ago, baldie said:

Not gonna comment on the young lad. However, is anyone surprised at what is happening ?

Law abiding homeowners and business owners are not going to stand back and watch looters, and criminals destroy their property and livelihoods, and neither should they.

When it escalates from a punch up to armed criminals,  and that's what they are, doing the looting, people who are armed will fight back.

Only when the rioters start to realise this, will it stop.

Brace yourselves for the bank holiday chaos here, with extinction rebellion trying to block roads, and stop people going on holiday this weekend.

I really hope the riot truncheons and tear gas are going to be deployed. 

Anarchy needs stamping on, very quickly, and very hard.

We haven't spent the last 4 months locked down, to watch a few hundred crusties spread the virus, and stop law abiding people going about their business.

Well said mate.