Anthony Bourdain with the Goods.

[TSA]

Some of you Lefty pussies should take note.



"As much as I’d like to wax effusively about the delights of the Frito pie, a shamefully delightful flavor bomb that pleases in equal measure to its feeling in the hand like a steaming dog turd, I suspect what people are going to talk about when they see our New Mexico episode is the sight of me; socialist sympathizer, leftie, liberal New Yorker, gleefully hammering away with an AR-15, an instrument of mayhem and loathing that also has the distinction of being America’s favorite weapon.

I like guns.

I like shooting them. I like holding their sleek, heavy, deadly weight in my hands. I like shooting at targets: cans, paper cut-outs, and—even though I’m not a hunter—the occasional animal. Though I do not own a gun—I would, if I lived in a rural area like, say…Montana—consider owning one. Whatever my feelings about gun regulation—and my worries, as a father, about what kind of world my daughter will have to live in, I think I should have as many guns as I like. Even Ted Nugent should have guns. He likes them a lot. They make him happy—and as offensive as I may find a lot of what comes out of his mouth, I’m pretty sure, based on first hand experience, that he’s a responsible gun owner.

You, however, I’m not so sure about. And my next door neighbor. I’m not so sure about him either. I’d like to know a bit more about him before he takes possession of an M-16 and a whole lot of extra clips. If we accept the proposition that that a gun is simply a tool—with potentially lethal properties—it follows that it’s not too different than a vehicle. And I would like to know a LOT more about you before I’m comfortable putting you behind the wheel of a sixteen wheeler. I’d like to know if you’re a maniacal drunk or crackhead before allowing you to barrel down that highway with three tons of trailer swinging behind you. If you favor an aluminum foil hat as headgear, I would have concerns about entrusting you with so much power to harm so many in so little time. That’s a reasonable thing for a society to ponder on, I think.

The upcoming New Mexico show is not about guns. Though there are, as in much of America between the coasts, many guns there. This show is about the American cowboy ideal, about the romantic promise of the American West, about individuality, the freedom to be weird. New Mexico, where Spanish, Mexican, Pueblo, Navajo and European cultures mix and have mixed—at times painfully, lately more easily. New Mexico, where everyone from artists, hippies, cowboys, poets, misfits, refugees, and tourists, of every political stripe have interpreted the promise of its gorgeous, wide open spaces and the freedom that that offers in their own, very different ways. New Mexico is an enchanted land, where people are largely free to create their own world.

Americans are traditionally, by nature, suspicious—and even hostile—to government. Whether we admit it or not, we were, most of us, suckled on the idea that a “man” should solve his own problems—that there are simple answers to complex questions—and that if all else fails, taking the situation into one’s own hands—violently—is somehow “cleansing” and heroic. Whether playing cowboys and Indians as a child, or watching films—those are our heroes, our icons: the lone gunman, the outlaw, the gangster, the ordinary man pushed too far. That’s a uniquely American pathology. And even the ex-flower children who’ve escaped the cities of the East to put Indian feathers in their hair, turquoise around their neck—and a battered pair of cowboy boots are, on some level, buying in to that ethos of a mythical West.

In New York, where I live, the appearance of a gun—anywhere—is a cause for immediate and extreme alarm. Yet, in much of America, I have come to find, it’s perfectly normal. I’ve walked many times into bars in Missouri, Nevada, Texas, where absolutely everyone is packing. I’ve sat down many times to dinner in perfectly nice family homes where—at end of dinner—Mom swings open the gun locker and invites us all to step into the back yard and pot some beer cans. That may not be Piers Morgan’s idea of normal. It may not be yours. But that’s a facet of American life that’s unlikely to change.

I may be a New York lefty—with all the experiences, prejudices and attitudes that one would expect to come along with that, but I do NOT believe that we will reduce gun violence—or reach any kind of consensus—by shrieking at each other. Gun owners—the vast majority of them I have met—are NOT idiots. They are NOT psychos. They are not even necessarily Republican (New Mexico, by the way, is a Blue State). They are not hicks, right wing “nuts” or necessarily violent by nature. And if “we” have any hope of ever changing anything in this country in the cause of reason—and the safety of our children—we should stop talking about a significant part of our population as if they were lesser, stupider or crazier than we are. The batshit absolutist Wayne LaPierre may not represent the vast majority of gun owners in this land—but if pushed—if the conversation veers towards talk of taking away people’s guns—many gun owners will shade towards him—and away from us.

Gun culture goes DEEP in this country. Deep. A whole hell of a lot of people I’ve met remember Daddy giving them their first rifle as early as age six—and that kind of bonding—that first walk through the early morning woods with your Dad—that’s deep tissue stuff. When people start equating guns—ALL guns—as evil—as something to be eradicated, a whole helluva lot of people are going to get defensive.

The conversation so far has illuminated, instead of any substantial issues, mostly the huge cultural divide between those like me who live in coastal cities with restrictive gun laws—and that vast swath of America who live very differently. We don’t understand how they live. And they don’t understand how we could POSSIBLY live the way we live. A little respect for that difference might be a good thing. The contempt, mockery and total lack of understanding for all those people “out there” by deep thinkers and pundits who’ve never sat down for a cold beer in a bar full of camo-wearing duck hunters is both despicable and counterproductive. We are too busy expressing disbelief at the ways others have chosen to live to ever really talk about the nuts and bolts of making America safer and less violent.

No middle ground is possible when even the notion of a sane, reasonable person who likes to shoot lots of bullets at stuff is seen as so foreign—so “other”. Maybe we would be better off– safer, kinder to one another if we were Denmark or Sweden.

But we are not.

And riding across the incredible landscape of Ghost Ranch outside of Sante Fe, seeing the canyons and arroyos that so inspired Georgia O’ Keefe and generations of artists, writers and seekers who followed, one is especially glad we are not.

There are a lot of nice people in this country. A whole helluva lot of them, like it or not, own AR-15s. If we can’t have at least, a conversation with them, sit down, break bread— about where we are going and how we are going to get there, there is no hope at all.

As far as the much more important question of where I stand on the question of red chile—or green?

I’m green all the way. And New Mexico’s got it best."

[Chief Brody]

Boutons will photoshop this with guns instead of knives:

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Books/Pix/pictures/2010/4/21/1271861366324/Anthony-Bourdain-001.jpg


Nice, refreshing opinion on the matter though. Well done, AB

[boutons_deux]

more guns = more gun violence, more gun deaths

guns and their violence, and gun felllators, are HUGE SHIT STAIN on American civilization.

[boutons_deux]

Man Aiming For Snake Accidentally Shoots Friend InsteadA man in Florida aiming to shoot a snake with a semiautomatic rifle mistakenly shot his friend instead.


Brandon Rapé and his friends stopped their pickup truck on Thursday so one of them could use the bathroom. The friends spotted a snake on the road and Jared Hemphill tried to shoot it with a semiautomatic rifle, according to the Orlando Sentinel (http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2013-09-27/news/os-accidental-shooting-snake-20130927_1_shoots-friend-snake-office-report-states). But Hemphill ended up shooting Rapé in the left thigh instead.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/man-aiming-for-snake-shoots-accidentally-friend-instead

:lol

[boutons_deux]

10 Guns Found In Schools Last Week (http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/09/25/2673921/10-guns-found-in-schools-this-week/)


Clarksburg, WV: A middle school student (http://www.wboy.com/story/23467481/clarksburg-police-investigating-incident-at-mountaineer-middle-school) brought a gun to school, and gave it to another student, who turned it in.

Chattanooga, TN: A possibly loaded gun was found in a 7-year-old (http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/23471236/woodmore-elementary) boy’s backback. He had brought it from home, and the discovery forced the school to go into
lockdown.

Mobile, AL: An eighth grader (http://www.abc3340.com/story/23470324/boy-accused-of-bringing-gun-to-school-arrested) brought a gun to school.

Nashville, NC: An elementary schoolgirl (http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=9251681) brought an unloaded gun into school. Teachers found it in her backpack.

Paramus, NJ: Staff saw a 17-year-old acting suspiciously (http://www.northjersey.com/paramus/Student_arrested_after_bringing_gun_to_school.html ), and ended up finding an unloaded gun in his backpack.

Providence, RI: A 15-year-old tried to sell a gun (http://news.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/2013/09/providence-police-boy-tries-to-sell-gun-drugs-in-classroom.html) during class, and also brought it out during a fight after school.

Hawthorne, FL: A 16-year-old student brought a loaded gun (http://www.mygtn.tv/story/23501646/student-brings-a-loaded-gun-to-hawthorne-high-school) to school.

Knoxville, TN: A gun was confiscated from a 15 year old student (http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2013/sep/17/gun-confiscated-at-south-doyle-high-school-15-in/).

Shreveport, LA: A 10th grade student carried an unloaded handgun in his waistband (http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20130918/NEWS03/130918027/Shreveport-high-school-student-unloaded-gun-arrested?nclick_check=1).

Kansas City, MO: A school employee with a concealed carry permit (http://www.khou.com/news/national/missouri-school-employee-resigns-gun-car-campus-91913.html) brought a gun in his vehicle to school property.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/09/25/2673921/10-guns-found-in-schools-this-week/

[boutons_deux]

Arkansas Advocate for Guns In Schools Accidentally Shoots a Teacher?

Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, R-Benton, is interested in exploring whether state law allows school districts to make decisions on school safety.

If a legal avenue does not exist, he hopes the Legislature will After the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, Hutchinson became interested in arming school personnel, he said.

He was invited to attend an “active shooter” training and – using a rubber bullet-loaded pistol – he mistakenly shot a teacher who was confronting a “bad guy.”

http://www.politicususa.com/2013/08/29/arkansas-advocate-guns-schools-accidentally-shoots-teacher.html

[boutons_deux]

NRA Tried To Stifle Study Showing Gun Retailers Support Background Checks (http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/09/27/2690521/gun-dealers-background-checks/)


A new survey (http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/publish/news/newsroom/8217) from a University of California-Davis professor shows that even a majority of gun sellers (http://www.psmag.com/politics/nra-member-finds-gun-dealers-favor-background-checks-66986/) support background checks. Looking at 1,601 federally licensed gun dealers in 2011, Director of UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program Garen Wintemute found that 55 percent support comprehensive background checks, despite the NRA’s position against it (http://www.salon.com/2013/01/29/wayne_lapierre_why_bother_with_background_checks/). Wintemute found high levels of support for denying guns to people convicted of assault and robbery, as well as those with alcohol abuse and serious mental illnesses.

When the author began his survey in 2011, he says he received a warning (http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/9/24/how-the-nra-triedtostopamemberfromconductingguncontrolresearch .html) from the National Rifle Association urging members not to participate. An NRA member himself, Wintemute showed Al Jazeera America the email sent, though it appears gun dealers did not heed the NRA’s warning:


If you are a federally licensed dealer in firearms, you may recently have received a survey questionnaire from gun control supporter Dr. Garen Wintemute, of the University of California, Davis.

Why is Dr. Wintemute sending the survey? Consider the source. Over the years, he has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from anti-gun organizations to conduct “studies” designed to promote gun control.


While the NRA claims Wintemute is backed by more powerful special interests, the NRA is the giant by any measure, worth hundreds of millions (http://www.forbes.com/sites/danbigman/2012/12/21/what-the-nras-wayne-lapierre-gets-paid-to-defend-guns/) of dollars. Meanwhile, thanks to the NRA’s success banning (http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/12/20/1366561/how-the-nra-stifled-gun-violence-research/) Center for Disease Control funding, there is virtually no funding for gun violence research. As a result, researchers have chosen unusual routes to pursue data on gun deaths, including going as far as crowdsourcing (http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/05/31/2083181/nra-gun-research-crowdsource/) his or her own research.

Even though more than 90 percent (http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/07/29/2369861/public-support-for-background-checks-remains-strong-100-days-after-senate-failed-to-pass-measure/) of the public and 74 percent (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/01/31/nra-leadership-members-divide-on-universal-background-checks/) of NRA members back universal background checks, the Senate rejected (http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/04/17/1885981/senate-votes-down-background-check-bill/) the simple gun violence reform in April. Under current law, only federally licensed gun dealers must comply with background screenings, leaving out about 40 percent (http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/johns-hopkins-center-for-gun-policy-and-research/publications/WhitePaper102512_CGPR.pdf) of guns sold through private sales.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/09/27/2690521/gun-dealers-background-checks/

[boutons_deux]

The Scourge of Online Gun Sales

It’s not difficult to grasp how aman with a history of (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-17/navy-yard-shooting-suspect-had-history-of-gun-arrests.html) gun arrests and mental instabilityobtained the necessary firepower to commit a massacre at theWashington Navy Yard earlier this week. Buying a gun, or even an arsenal, is exceptionally easy in the U.S.

Even so, there are some people who both fail to meet the minimal requirements for purchasing a gun from a licensed dealerand whose relevant personal details are known to the FederalBureau of Investigation (http://topics.bloomberg.com/federal-bureau-of-investigation/). Since 1998, the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System has stopped more than 2 million attempted gun purchases by felons, domestic abusers, drugaddicts, the mentally ill and other prohibited persons.

Those blocked from making legal purchases from gun dealers, however, have an alternative marketplace -- online. As a report (https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/images/FELON_SEEKS_FIREARM_REPORT.pdf)r eleased this week makes painfully clear, that marketplace isgrowing in both size and danger.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns, cofounded by New York (http://topics.bloomberg.com/new-york/) CityMayor and Bloomberg LP founder Michael Bloomberg (http://topics.bloomberg.com/michael-bloomberg/), found 83,000ads for guns on Armslist.com, a site devoted to firearm sales.The number of criminals seeking guns on the site -- federal lawrequires no background checks or questions of any kind for in-state, nondealer transactions -- would be astounding if it weren’t so predictable.

So when Radcliffe Haughton was prohibited from buyingfirearms, he naturally turned to Armslist, where he found awilling seller while avoiding a background check or any otherkind of scrutiny. Haughton bought a .40-caliber semi-automaticGlock handgun. The next day, he drove to his estranged wife’sworkplace and murdered her along with two co-workers. Four others were injured before Haughton turned the gun on himself.

This is the “gun-show loophole” in action. Armslist isprecisely the kind of lawless marketplace that the NationalRifle Association champions and that the U.S. Senate (http://topics.bloomberg.com/u.s.-senate/) this yearmobilized to protect by scuttling background-check legislation.With the growth of online markets, there’s never a need to waitfor a gun show; tens of thousands of guns are on sale every hourof every day.

In an effort to gauge the extent of criminal activity online, Mayors Against Illegal Guns analyzed the contactinformation supplied by prospective buyers in the “want-to-buy” ads posted on Armslist. According to the study, 1 of every30 gun seekers in the want-to-buy section had a history thatwould prohibit them from legally possessing a gun.

“Alarming as this snapshot is,” states the report, “it badly understates the true scope of the problem. Only 5 percent of the postings on Armslist are want-to-buy ads: the vast majority of buyers -- prohibited and otherwise -- respond to ‘for-sale’ ads, and therefore remain completely anonymous.”

There are rumblings in Washington (http://topics.bloomberg.com/washington/) that background-checklegislation will be resuscitated on the Senate floor. If so, itshould be a meaningful exercise. So perhaps it’s best ifAmericans first ask themselves a simple question: How easyshould it be for criminals and the mentally ill to buy guns? Asone massacre after another confirms, such people enjoy virtuallyunfettered access to guns right now. The gun lobby will continueto work to preserve that status quo. What are the rest of uswilling to do to change it?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-20/the-scourge-of-online-gun-sales.html

:lol sicko gun fellators, GFY

more guns = more gun violence, more guns deaths

2nd Amendment? :lol

home/self defense" :lol

America's gun disease is ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS

btw, the guy who said "give me liberty or give me death" also said, campaigning against a strong Constitutional central govt to replace the flaccid Article of Confederation, "They'll release your n!gg@rs" :lol

[boutons_deux]

Poll: Overwhelming Majority Supports Major Gun Reforms
http://cdn-media.nationaljournal.com/?controllerName=image&action=get&id=31401&width=628


http://www.nationalmemo.com/poll-overwhelming-majority-supports-major-gun-reforms/

[TDMVPDPOY]

more security, means more money needed to employ them

who fits the bill? taxpayers/consumers...and to think the govt wants to cut down costs thats not needed, and this is one of them....

[George Gervin's Afro]

Some of you Lefty pussies should take note.



"As much as I’d like to wax effusively about the delights of the Frito pie, a shamefully delightful flavor bomb that pleases in equal measure to its feeling in the hand like a steaming dog turd, I suspect what people are going to talk about when they see our New Mexico episode is the sight of me; socialist sympathizer, leftie, liberal New Yorker, gleefully hammering away with an AR-15, an instrument of mayhem and loathing that also has the distinction of being America’s favorite weapon.

I like guns.

I like shooting them. I like holding their sleek, heavy, deadly weight in my hands. I like shooting at targets: cans, paper cut-outs, and—even though I’m not a hunter—the occasional animal. Though I do not own a gun—I would, if I lived in a rural area like, say…Montana—consider owning one. Whatever my feelings about gun regulation—and my worries, as a father, about what kind of world my daughter will have to live in, I think I should have as many guns as I like. Even Ted Nugent should have guns. He likes them a lot. They make him happy—and as offensive as I may find a lot of what comes out of his mouth, I’m pretty sure, based on first hand experience, that he’s a responsible gun owner.

You, however, I’m not so sure about. And my next door neighbor. I’m not so sure about him either. I’d like to know a bit more about him before he takes possession of an M-16 and a whole lot of extra clips. If we accept the proposition that that a gun is simply a tool—with potentially lethal properties—it follows that it’s not too different than a vehicle. And I would like to know a LOT more about you before I’m comfortable putting you behind the wheel of a sixteen wheeler. I’d like to know if you’re a maniacal drunk or crackhead before allowing you to barrel down that highway with three tons of trailer swinging behind you. If you favor an aluminum foil hat as headgear, I would have concerns about entrusting you with so much power to harm so many in so little time. That’s a reasonable thing for a society to ponder on, I think.

The upcoming New Mexico show is not about guns. Though there are, as in much of America between the coasts, many guns there. This show is about the American cowboy ideal, about the romantic promise of the American West, about individuality, the freedom to be weird. New Mexico, where Spanish, Mexican, Pueblo, Navajo and European cultures mix and have mixed—at times painfully, lately more easily. New Mexico, where everyone from artists, hippies, cowboys, poets, misfits, refugees, and tourists, of every political stripe have interpreted the promise of its gorgeous, wide open spaces and the freedom that that offers in their own, very different ways. New Mexico is an enchanted land, where people are largely free to create their own world.

Americans are traditionally, by nature, suspicious—and even hostile—to government. Whether we admit it or not, we were, most of us, suckled on the idea that a “man” should solve his own problems—that there are simple answers to complex questions—and that if all else fails, taking the situation into one’s own hands—violently—is somehow “cleansing” and heroic. Whether playing cowboys and Indians as a child, or watching films—those are our heroes, our icons: the lone gunman, the outlaw, the gangster, the ordinary man pushed too far. That’s a uniquely American pathology. And even the ex-flower children who’ve escaped the cities of the East to put Indian feathers in their hair, turquoise around their neck—and a battered pair of cowboy boots are, on some level, buying in to that ethos of a mythical West.

In New York, where I live, the appearance of a gun—anywhere—is a cause for immediate and extreme alarm. Yet, in much of America, I have come to find, it’s perfectly normal. I’ve walked many times into bars in Missouri, Nevada, Texas, where absolutely everyone is packing. I’ve sat down many times to dinner in perfectly nice family homes where—at end of dinner—Mom swings open the gun locker and invites us all to step into the back yard and pot some beer cans. That may not be Piers Morgan’s idea of normal. It may not be yours. But that’s a facet of American life that’s unlikely to change.

I may be a New York lefty—with all the experiences, prejudices and attitudes that one would expect to come along with that, but I do NOT believe that we will reduce gun violence—or reach any kind of consensus—by shrieking at each other. Gun owners—the vast majority of them I have met—are NOT idiots. They are NOT psychos. They are not even necessarily Republican (New Mexico, by the way, is a Blue State). They are not hicks, right wing “nuts” or necessarily violent by nature. And if “we” have any hope of ever changing anything in this country in the cause of reason—and the safety of our children—we should stop talking about a significant part of our population as if they were lesser, stupider or crazier than we are. The batshit absolutist Wayne LaPierre may not represent the vast majority of gun owners in this land—but if pushed—if the conversation veers towards talk of taking away people’s guns—many gun owners will shade towards him—and away from us.

Gun culture goes DEEP in this country. Deep. A whole hell of a lot of people I’ve met remember Daddy giving them their first rifle as early as age six—and that kind of bonding—that first walk through the early morning woods with your Dad—that’s deep tissue stuff. When people start equating guns—ALL guns—as evil—as something to be eradicated, a whole helluva lot of people are going to get defensive.

The conversation so far has illuminated, instead of any substantial issues, mostly the huge cultural divide between those like me who live in coastal cities with restrictive gun laws—and that vast swath of America who live very differently. We don’t understand how they live. And they don’t understand how we could POSSIBLY live the way we live. A little respect for that difference might be a good thing. The contempt, mockery and total lack of understanding for all those people “out there” by deep thinkers and pundits who’ve never sat down for a cold beer in a bar full of camo-wearing duck hunters is both despicable and counterproductive. We are too busy expressing disbelief at the ways others have chosen to live to ever really talk about the nuts and bolts of making America safer and less violent.

No middle ground is possible when even the notion of a sane, reasonable person who likes to shoot lots of bullets at stuff is seen as so foreign—so “other”. Maybe we would be better off– safer, kinder to one another if we were Denmark or Sweden.

But we are not.

And riding across the incredible landscape of Ghost Ranch outside of Sante Fe, seeing the canyons and arroyos that so inspired Georgia O’ Keefe and generations of artists, writers and seekers who followed, one is especially glad we are not.

There are a lot of nice people in this country. A whole helluva lot of them, like it or not, own AR-15s. If we can’t have at least, a conversation with them, sit down, break bread— about where we are going and how we are going to get there, there is no hope at all.

As far as the much more important question of where I stand on the question of red chile—or green?

I’m green all the way. And New Mexico’s got it best."

Did anyone ever claim liberals didn't own guns? What exactly do 'lefties' have to listen too?

[Th'Pusher]

Lol single issue.

[exstatic]

Lost in the shuffle...he's for UBCs.

You, however, I’m not so sure about. And my next door neighbor. I’m not so sure about him either. I’d like to know a bit more about him before he takes possession of an M-16 and a whole lot of extra clips. If we accept the proposition that that a gun is simply a tool—with potentially lethal properties—it follows that it’s not too different than a vehicle. And I would like to know a LOT more about you before I’m comfortable putting you behind the wheel of a sixteen wheeler. I’d like to know if you’re a maniacal drunk or crackhead before allowing you to barrel down that highway with three tons of trailer swinging behind you. If you favor an aluminum foil hat as headgear, I would have concerns about entrusting you with so much power to harm so many in so little time. That’s a reasonable thing for a society to ponder on, I think.

[The Reckoning]

Bourdain is the man. an idol to behold.

[m>s]

Did anyone ever claim liberals didn't own guns? What exactly do 'lefties' have to listen too?

not just guns, he's talking about "high powered evil ar15 assault weapons :cry"

apparently he respects the right to own those too.

[CitizenDwayne]

I'm always interested in the political beliefs of chefs.

[boutons_deux]

Children and Guns: The Hidden Toll

Cases like these are among the most gut-wrenching of gun deaths. Children shot accidentally — usually by other children — are collateral casualties of the accessibility of guns in America, their deaths all the more devastating for being eminently preventable.

(http://mobile.nytimes.com/images/100000002471316/2013/09/29/us/children-and-guns-the-hidden-toll.html?from=homepage)...

They die in the households of police officers and drug dealers, in broken homes and close-knit families, on rural farms and in city apartments. Some adults whose guns were used had tried to store them safely; others were grossly negligent. Still others pulled the trigger themselves, accidentally fracturing their own families while cleaning a pistol or hunting.

And there are far more of these innocent victims than official records show.

A New York Times review of hundreds of child firearm deaths found that accidental shootings occurred roughly twice as often as the records indicate, because of idiosyncrasies in how such deaths are classified by the authorities. The killings of Lucas, Cassie and Alex, for instance, were not recorded as accidents. Nor were more than half of the 259 accidental firearm deaths of children under age 15 identified by The Times in eight states where records were available.

As a result, scores of accidental killings are not reflected in the official statistics that have framed the debate over how to protect children from guns.

The National Rifle Association cited the lower official numbers this year in a fact sheet opposing “safe storage” laws, saying children were more likely to be killed by falls, poisoning or environmental factors — an incorrect assertion if the actual number of accidental firearm deaths is significantly higher.

In all, fewer than 20 states have enacted laws to hold adults criminally liable if they fail to store guns safely, enabling children to access them.

Legislative and other efforts to promote the development of childproof weapons using “smart gun” technology have similarly stalled. Technical issues have been an obstacle, but so have N.R.A. arguments that the problem is relatively insignificant and the technology unneeded.

Because of maneuvering in Congress by the gun lobby and its allies, firearms have also been exempted from regulation by the Consumer Product Safety Commission since its inception.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/09/29/us/children-and-guns-the-hidden-toll.html?from=homepage&WT.z_mob_rel=1 (http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/09/29/us/children-and-guns-the-hidden-toll.html?from=homepage&WT.z_mob_rel=1)

[m>s]

sup jewtouns_douche

got any plans for what you're going to do with the christians once you get their guns? ukraine sound familiar? keep dreaming fuckboy.

[TSA]

The problem in a nutshell.



"I may be a New York lefty—with all the experiences, prejudices and attitudes that one would expect to come along with that, but I do NOT believe that we will reduce gun violence—or reach any kind of consensus—by shrieking at each other. Gun owners—the vast majority of them I have met—are NOT idiots. They are NOT psychos. They are not even necessarily Republican (New Mexico, by the way, is a Blue State). They are not hicks, right wing “nuts” or necessarily violent by nature. And if “we” have any hope of ever changing anything in this country in the cause of reason—and the safety of our children—we should stop talking about a significant part of our population as if they were lesser, stupider or crazier than we are. The batshit absolutist Wayne LaPierre may not represent the vast majority of gun owners in this land—but if pushed—if the conversation veers towards talk of taking away people’s guns—many gun owners will shade towards him—and away from us."

[boutons_deux]

"many gun owners will shade towards .... LaPierre"

the "talk" isn't about confiiscating guns, that's NRA (Nuts Retards Assholes) lie of a strawman that gun fellators spew non stop

[m>s]

the "talk" isn't about confiiscating guns

lets be real that's the real goal they're just taking it in steps. the gun grabbing sociopaths have already tipped their hand and gotten caught saying it...remember diane feinsteins famous quote? "if i could have taken them all i would have...mr and mrs america turn them all in."

today "sensible restrictions" like not being able to own a weapon that you can actually fight back with like an AR and a giant database of who has what...tommorrow they use that database to come mop up what's left. we all see right through it and that's why there's really no discussion or negotiating with you commies.

[TSA]

"many gun owners will shade towards .... LaPierre"

the "talk" isn't about confiiscating guns, that's NRA (Nuts Retards Assholes) lie of a strawman that gun fellators spew non stop

You are missing the whole point, not surprising. The NRA does not represent all gun owners, not even close. You like to lump all gun owners as nigga hatin, red neck, child killing, bubba repugs. It simply isn't true.

[TSA]

"many gun owners will shade towards .... LaPierre"

the "talk" isn't about confiiscating guns, that's NRA (Nuts Retards Assholes) lie of a strawman that gun fellators spew non stop



Many democrats disagree with you.

[Clipper Nation]

The NRA is a joke anyway, the GOA is a better defender of gun rights....

[TSA]

The only true defenders of gun rights are the people themselves. And they are well defended.

[boutons_deux]

Many democrats disagree with you.

bullshit, where is the legislative bill, fed or state, to confiscate guns?

there is confiscation in CA but it's from ex-felons breaking the law.

[boutons_deux]

The NRA is a joke anyway, the GOA is a better defender of gun rights....

I never heard of gutless politicians pissing their pants in fear of GOA. Got any evidence of GOA's political power to block gun legislation?

[boutons_deux]

The only true defenders of gun rights are the people themselves. And they are well defended.

:lol paranoid idiocy.

[rjv]

well as long as he defers to the guilty pleasures of a frito pie...

[AntiChrist]

I think Bourdain makes a really good point that has nothing to do with gun control.

[RandomGuy]

Some of you Lefty pussies should take note.



"As much as I’d like to wax effusively about the delights of the Frito pie, a shamefully delightful flavor bomb that pleases in equal measure to its feeling in the hand like a steaming dog turd, I suspect what people are going to talk about when they see our New Mexico episode is the sight of me; socialist sympathizer, leftie, liberal New Yorker, gleefully hammering away with an AR-15, an instrument of mayhem and loathing that also has the distinction of being America’s favorite weapon.

I like guns.

I like shooting them. I like holding their sleek, heavy, deadly weight in my hands. I like shooting at targets: cans, paper cut-outs, and—even though I’m not a hunter—the occasional animal. Though I do not own a gun—I would, if I lived in a rural area like, say…Montana—consider owning one. Whatever my feelings about gun regulation—and my worries, as a father, about what kind of world my daughter will have to live in, I think I should have as many guns as I like. Even Ted Nugent should have guns. He likes them a lot. They make him happy—and as offensive as I may find a lot of what comes out of his mouth, I’m pretty sure, based on first hand experience, that he’s a responsible gun owner.

You, however, I’m not so sure about. And my next door neighbor. I’m not so sure about him either. I’d like to know a bit more about him before he takes possession of an M-16 and a whole lot of extra clips. If we accept the proposition that that a gun is simply a tool—with potentially lethal properties—it follows that it’s not too different than a vehicle. And I would like to know a LOT more about you before I’m comfortable putting you behind the wheel of a sixteen wheeler. I’d like to know if you’re a maniacal drunk or crackhead before allowing you to barrel down that highway with three tons of trailer swinging behind you. If you favor an aluminum foil hat as headgear, I would have concerns about entrusting you with so much power to harm so many in so little time. That’s a reasonable thing for a society to ponder on, I think.

The upcoming New Mexico show is not about guns. Though there are, as in much of America between the coasts, many guns there. This show is about the American cowboy ideal, about the romantic promise of the American West, about individuality, the freedom to be weird. New Mexico, where Spanish, Mexican, Pueblo, Navajo and European cultures mix and have mixed—at times painfully, lately more easily. New Mexico, where everyone from artists, hippies, cowboys, poets, misfits, refugees, and tourists, of every political stripe have interpreted the promise of its gorgeous, wide open spaces and the freedom that that offers in their own, very different ways. New Mexico is an enchanted land, where people are largely free to create their own world.

Americans are traditionally, by nature, suspicious—and even hostile—to government. Whether we admit it or not, we were, most of us, suckled on the idea that a “man” should solve his own problems—that there are simple answers to complex questions—and that if all else fails, taking the situation into one’s own hands—violently—is somehow “cleansing” and heroic. Whether playing cowboys and Indians as a child, or watching films—those are our heroes, our icons: the lone gunman, the outlaw, the gangster, the ordinary man pushed too far. That’s a uniquely American pathology. And even the ex-flower children who’ve escaped the cities of the East to put Indian feathers in their hair, turquoise around their neck—and a battered pair of cowboy boots are, on some level, buying in to that ethos of a mythical West.

In New York, where I live, the appearance of a gun—anywhere—is a cause for immediate and extreme alarm. Yet, in much of America, I have come to find, it’s perfectly normal. I’ve walked many times into bars in Missouri, Nevada, Texas, where absolutely everyone is packing. I’ve sat down many times to dinner in perfectly nice family homes where—at end of dinner—Mom swings open the gun locker and invites us all to step into the back yard and pot some beer cans. That may not be Piers Morgan’s idea of normal. It may not be yours. But that’s a facet of American life that’s unlikely to change.

I may be a New York lefty—with all the experiences, prejudices and attitudes that one would expect to come along with that, but I do NOT believe that we will reduce gun violence—or reach any kind of consensus—by shrieking at each other. Gun owners—the vast majority of them I have met—are NOT idiots. They are NOT psychos. They are not even necessarily Republican (New Mexico, by the way, is a Blue State). They are not hicks, right wing “nuts” or necessarily violent by nature. And if “we” have any hope of ever changing anything in this country in the cause of reason—and the safety of our children—we should stop talking about a significant part of our population as if they were lesser, stupider or crazier than we are. The batshit absolutist Wayne LaPierre may not represent the vast majority of gun owners in this land—but if pushed—if the conversation veers towards talk of taking away people’s guns—many gun owners will shade towards him—and away from us.

Gun culture goes DEEP in this country. Deep. A whole hell of a lot of people I’ve met remember Daddy giving them their first rifle as early as age six—and that kind of bonding—that first walk through the early morning woods with your Dad—that’s deep tissue stuff. When people start equating guns—ALL guns—as evil—as something to be eradicated, a whole helluva lot of people are going to get defensive.

The conversation so far has illuminated, instead of any substantial issues, mostly the huge cultural divide between those like me who live in coastal cities with restrictive gun laws—and that vast swath of America who live very differently. We don’t understand how they live. And they don’t understand how we could POSSIBLY live the way we live. A little respect for that difference might be a good thing. The contempt, mockery and total lack of understanding for all those people “out there” by deep thinkers and pundits who’ve never sat down for a cold beer in a bar full of camo-wearing duck hunters is both despicable and counterproductive. We are too busy expressing disbelief at the ways others have chosen to live to ever really talk about the nuts and bolts of making America safer and less violent.

No middle ground is possible when even the notion of a sane, reasonable person who likes to shoot lots of bullets at stuff is seen as so foreign—so “other”. Maybe we would be better off– safer, kinder to one another if we were Denmark or Sweden.

But we are not.

And riding across the incredible landscape of Ghost Ranch outside of Sante Fe, seeing the canyons and arroyos that so inspired Georgia O’ Keefe and generations of artists, writers and seekers who followed, one is especially glad we are not.

There are a lot of nice people in this country. A whole helluva lot of them, like it or not, own AR-15s. If we can’t have at least, a conversation with them, sit down, break bread— about where we are going and how we are going to get there, there is no hope at all.

As far as the much more important question of where I stand on the question of red chile—or green?

I’m green all the way. And New Mexico’s got it best."

meh. I still think the second amendment should be repealed.

I think it should be legal to own guns for anyone who gets a license and passes some minimal checks though.

Right? no.
Priviledge? yes.

[boutons_deux]

"I think it should be legal to own guns for anyone who gets a license"

I do, too.

but getting a license and actually buying AND CONTROLLING the guns would be much harder.

There would be a registration tax at purchase, including photo taken and attached to registration record, a registered title for each serial-numbered gun, and an annual re-registration fee.

Guns sold would require a title transfer, a title transfer fee, just like for cars and houses.

And there'd be all kinds of people and actions that justify confiscation (yielding) guns, steep fines for gun injury, gun death and loss of gun. As with a car, if you sell a gun but the title isn't transferred to the buyer, you are liable for the gun.

The objective is not to deny gun ownership (gun fellators are incorrigible), but to restrict ownership only to qualified buyers.

btw, theft of guns from owners (gun shops or private owners) causes a steep fine to the owner.

anybody found in possession of a gun without a serial number, the gun is confiscated and destroyed, and the possessor fined or jailed.

anybody found in possession of a gun without proof of title and registration is fined.

etc, etc.

All these kids killed with daddy's and mama's unsecured guns would cause daddy or mama to be fined and perhaps jailed, and denied gun ownership for x years.

[TSA]

"I think it should be legal to own guns for anyone who gets a license"

I do, too.

but getting a license and actually buying AND CONTROLLING the guns would be much harder.

There would be a registration tax at purchase, including photo taken and attached to registration record, a registered title for each serial-numbered gun, and an annual re-registration fee.

Guns sold would require a title transfer, a title transfer fee, just like for cars and houses.

And there'd be all kinds of people and actions that justify confiscation (yielding) guns, steep fines for gun injury, gun death and loss of gun. As with a car, if you sell a gun but the title isn't transferred to the buyer, you are liable for the gun.

The objective is not to deny gun ownership (gun fellators are incorrigible), but to restrict ownership only to qualified buyers.

btw, theft of guns from owners (gun shops or private owners) causes a steep fine to the owner.

anybody found in possession of a gun without a serial number, the gun is confiscated and destroyed, and the possessor fined or jailed.

anybody found in possession of a gun without proof of title and registration is fined.

etc, etc.

All these kids killed with daddy's and mama's unsecured guns would cause daddy or mama to be fined and perhaps jailed, and denied gun ownership for x years.




I agree with all of this except a fine for the owner as a result of theft. Having said that, none of this makes a considerable dent in gun violence.

[boutons_deux]

I agree with all of this except a fine for the owner as a result of theft. Having said that, none of this makes a considerable dent in gun violence.

well, America is fucked after you gun fellators supported the NRA and gun industry to allow guns to be freely available so that now the country is inundated with 300M guns.

iow, 300M guns means more gun deaths, more gun injuries, thanks to You People.

My objective of the above is to change the gun-mfr-enriching culture of "guns are toys and fun for the whole family, EVERYBODY should go buys lots of guns" to "guns are death tools and to be treated like plutonium".

It will take time to implement, and much money, but the sales/title/registration fees would make such gun control self-financing. and the fees would be raised until the gun control became self-financing.

After a grace period where all guns are submitted to the control regime and fees, enforcement would be brutal.

[TSA]

well, America is fucked after you gun fellators supported the NRA and gun industry to allow guns to be freely available so that now the country is inundated with 300M guns.

iow, 300M guns means more gun deaths, more gun injuries, thanks to You People.

My objective of the above is to change the gun-mfr-enriching culture of "guns are toys and fun for the whole family, EVERYBODY should go buys lots of guns" to "guns are death tools and to be treated like plutonium".

It will take time to implement, and much money, but the sales/title/registration fees would make such gun control self-financing. and the fees would be raised until the gun control became self-financing.

After a grace period where all guns are submitted to the control regime and fees, enforcement would be brutal.

All this still does nothing to curb gun violence.

[boutons_deux]

All this still does nothing to curb gun violence.

eventually it will. the gun violence today is due to People Like You, Thanks A Lot

[angrydude]

bullshit, where is the legislative bill, fed or state, to confiscate guns?

there is confiscation in CA but it's from ex-felons breaking the law.

and that's why you're a dumbass

[TSA]

eventually it will. the gun violence today is due to People Like You, Thanks A Lot

:lol the law abiding gun owners like myself who've committed ZERO crimes are responsible for gun violence :lol

Leave it to libs to blame others

[boutons_deux]

:lol the law abiding gun owners like myself who've committed ZERO crimes are responsible for gun violence :lol

Leave it to libs to blame others

You People have agitated for no b/g checks, etc, etc, many have financed NRA with memebship and donsations, 1000s have pounded their politicians for years about NO GUN CONTROL, etc, etc or whatever the NRA/GOA dictates to them to write about.

[TSA]

You People have agitated for no b/g checks, etc, etc, many have financed NRA with memebship and donsations, 1000s have pounded their politicians for years about NO GUN CONTROL, etc, etc or whatever the NRA/GOA dictates to them to write about.

We are still not responsible for the gun violence. Place the blame on your own party for all the gun violence as the majority of it is being carried out by inner city democrats.

[symple19]

Enjoyed the article :tu

[TSA]

I'm always interested in the political beliefs of chefs.He's got a firmer grasp on the subject than 99% of the politicians in office.

[ElNono]

I'm personally not moved by the "tradition" argument. I mean, once upon a time, slavery was just as traditional and deeply rooted in the country's culture as well.

In general, I like Bourdain shows though.