From my OP:

You'll notice that the two things aren't even in the same paragraph!

Methinks you simply wish to detract and criticize because you disagree politically/ideologically, but are struggling to find a valid reason to do so based on what I posted without appearing politically/ideologically biased and/or closed-minded.

Strat

I never said George Soros was a Socialist.

George Soros funds things that push socialist-style agendas. He does this as one of many things done by him and others (not necessarily in a coordinated manner, but as fellow-travelers whose causes all would benefit from social/economic chaos) with the overall goal of weakening the social stability and unity in the US, and contribute to the ultimate collapse of the US Dollar and the US national economy. This would make it something like the 5th currency he has intentionally and heavily contributed to the collapse of, and profited nicely from as well at the same time.

George Soros believes in George Soros. What he does is for his benefit. The people and causes he funds are useful idiots and ideologues blinded by their narrow views and hatred. They are tools to him, nothing more.

Strat

They've probably also got a secret lair on the moon where they plan to use a [finger-quotes] "LASER" to blackmail the worlds' governments for one BILLION dollars! [pinky to corner of mouth]

Holy crap, dude! Do you actually believe all that, and that the other faction of the One Party is blameless for anything bad that's happened!? Talk bout some truly epic partisan blinders! Please alert people if you ever take those massive things off, moving those things will shift the Earths' center of gravity!

Strat

From TFS:

Why is it that the uber-rich on the Left are never mentioned? Most of the richest people in the US Congress are Democrats. Why don't we hear more about George Soros, who collapses national currencies for fun & profit, and the leftist/progressive institutions he funds like Tides Foundation and others who then in turn fund numerous other PACs and other groups? How about Bloomberg? Or if you want to get to the real money in political contributions, look at public & private sector unions.

What is it with rich socialists that they hate the rich so much? Or do they just hate the idea of anyone *else* becoming rich? They seem to view other people increasing their wealth as decreasing how much richer they are, and consider the resulting decrease in wealth disparity the same as having been robbed.

Strat

Let me take the last first.

From http://www.thetruthaboutguns.c...

The problem with claiming that zero mass shootings have been stopped by armed civilians is just that: they were stopped. Thereâ(TM)s no weeks-long media feeding frenzy when a mass shooting doesnâ(TM)t happen. But I can definitely present some examples in just the past couple of years where a good guy with a gun stopped a bad guy with a gun.

Clackamas Town Center: An armed individual, obviously attempting to commit a mass shooting, was confronted by a person with a concealed carry license. After seeing a gun being drawn on him, the shooter immediately deviated from his course and killed himself in an adjacent hallway.

Arapahoe High School: A student armed with a shotgun and multiple incendiary devices, shot one person in the face and was attempting to kill more people when an armed school resource officer confronted him. The attacker then killed himself.

Those are just the two most high profile cases in recent history â" a news story that doesnâ(TM)t happen is hard to find, so we never seem to hear about those. Even when they happen, the actual chain of events are still often hard to prove.

It boils down to this: the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. Police officer, concealed carry holder, school resource officerâ¦it doesnâ(TM)t matter. Any armed opposition is effective.

Read the news out of France lately? The attackers had fully automatic weapons and a rocket launcher. Personal firearm selling, buying, ownership, and possession are all extremely heavily restricted and regulated in France. Have you seen the Colt Model 1911 semiautomatic pistols that are being produced by 3D printing these days? Heck, I can fabricate a STEN submachine gun with the common metal shop tools I have access to in a day or two. I have the complete plans and templates. As far as that goes, it's probably easier to just steal a shotgun and/or pistol from a parked police cruiser (might even get an AR or M4 from the trunk).

Heck, gangs in Brazil make their own guns, and so did Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto and elsewhere in WW2.

Lies, damned lies, and statistics. Other nations don't count & categorize data points the same way the US does. Violent crime in the US is at an all time low and has been trending steadily downward for 40 years.

So basically, your entire post is factually wrong and smells like emotionally/ideologically-driven propaganda.

Strat

I recommend the 1960s TV comedy series by that name ("It's About Time").

Oooo! Oooo!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Strat

Not so fast there, A.C.

ITAR is an export control treaty.

As long as nobody tries to export one (or detailed plans for making one) ITAR does not apply.

Strat

Wait, what?

Where did I say that? Nice strawman there. Took him down with dispatch, too. Bravo. Too bad I didn't say anything remotely like that.

Everybody is constrained by social conventions (like a common set of morals) and laws (except criminals both inside and outside government of course) or else a stable society and nation are not possible.

Do you believe that somehow the government *not* infringing on 2nd Amendment rights will cause a sudden collapse into insanity & chaos and/or cause a widespread abandonment of social conventions and rampant lawlessness?

Are you aware that gun violence and violent crime overall in the US has been on a steady decline over the past 4 decades despite record numbers of gun ownership (largely thanks to the current administration in Washingtons' anti-gun policies and attitudes)?

Strat

Those two things are neither unrelated nor coincidental.

Oops.

At this point, yes.

There are far too many other avenues other than violence that are still open at this point. Violence should be the very last resort.

However, it's very healthy for there to be a credible deterrent in the hands of a free general populace to dissuade ever-present political ambition and greed from infringing upon individual rights and liberty.

It's not necessary that civilians be capable of winning an all-out military conflict. A credible ability for civilians to inflict damages unacceptable to the government/politicians in all but the most serious situations and in which they have a majority of the population backing the government is a pretty good compromise.

History is littered with many examples that demonstrate over and over what almost always has happened when a population or groups/ethnicities/races/etc have been disarmed by their government. One need look no further than the laws enacted in the US South in the early/mid 1900s to prevent blacks from buying/owning/possessing firearms or ammunition at a time when the KKK and other violent racist groups were launching numerous violent and lethal terrorist attacks targeting blacks. Those two things are neither unrelated nor unintentional.

Strat

And you left out the part where those smart bombs would be falling on *both* sides, or do you believe the military would not fracture?

The people in the US military are for the most part good and decent people, the sons and daughters of those same people the government would seek to suppress/pacify, heck, many in the US military *are* those resisters. Combined with the "rifle behind every blade of grass and darkened window", and with their C&C/logistics dependent on these same people, and located mostly smack in the middle of what would become hostile-occupied territory, I would not be so quick as to call it a done deal.

Much more likely, it would be a very bloody and costly episode in history, regardless of who "triumphed", as it would almost certainly be a Pyhrric victory if an all-out civil war/rebellion were to occur in the US.

Strat

Yeah, like those Colonial traitors Washington, Jefferson, Madison, et al.

You might want to read up on what those people had to say about firearms and regular citizens vs domestic government.

Sorry, but I'll give their opinions far more weight than yours.

Strat

That's why most places require successful completion of a firearm safety & training course. The same stupid people are police. Should we take away the cops' guns?

Personally, I'd rather read headlines like "Stupid Man Shoots Himself Cleaning Loaded Gun" than headlines like "Armed Insane Man Kills 50 School Children In Gun-Free School Zone Before Armed Responders Can Arrive To Stop Him".

I'd like to see a widespread comprehensive firearms handling/safety training course implemented as a mandatory part of basic elementary-level education and a requirement for grade promotion and/or graduation.

Strat

A weapon? Really? Please cite the laws/regulations which classify it as a weapon.

A Gatling gun? No, probably not. A BOFORS 40mm auto-cannon? Sure! Perfectly legal with the proper forms.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

If the feces ever truly hits the oscillating rotary air circulation device, any police left that did not take their families and escape to the boonies somewhere would be overwhelmed and decimated in the first few days.

All the infrastructure that makes an effective modern police force possible is run and/or supplied with matériel by the very people and their families the police would be attacking. Does the government have facilities to house, feed, and supply all the necessities of life for every cop and his family, or do you think under such circumstances that they would be safe living among the people they're attacking?

How many cops would simply no longer report for duty if the SHTF? What happens when their food, fuel, & ammo runs out, when the necessary infrastructure to resupply them no longer exists? If the struggle lasts more than a small handful of days, defeat for the government is assured, as the supplies and infrastructure to support/supply the remains of the government would no longer exist.

I'm sure that Russia or China would be happy to help the US government by nuking major population centers at their request. WMDs would be the only way the US government could win a true widespread domestic rebellion. Of course, it would be an almost textbook Pyhrric victory. They'd have very little left to rule over, and that's assuming Russia or China doesn't decide to step in and take over.

Strat

So I guess it's OK for me to set up and run a Stingray-type device on private property near FBI/DoJ/DHS/TLA buildings and facilities and/or their individual personnels' home residences then, right?

Be careful what you wish for FBI/DoJ, you just may get it.

Strat