Hey, Gem, if you're a responsible citizen, why not? Responsible ownership coupled with responsible use is fine with me. Some people like to see things explode, and if you own enough land to fire rounds from your tank w/o disturbing your neighbors, I say go for it. It does me no harm whatsoever. If EricOKC is a responsible gun owner, why should it bother you what's in his arsenal?

It's the same argument I make in defense of homosexuals, minorities, the religious, gamblers, drinkers, drug-users, prostitutes & their johns, whatever. Who cares what another does so long as it does no harm to others?

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"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither breaks my leg, nor picks my pocket."

Thomas Jefferson

This may surprise you Gem, but you can own a tank if you wish. I know people who do.

Click Here for a website which offers them

Now as far as FAE's thats a little more tricky. I am not actually sure it is illegal to own them, but nobody is obligated to SELL them to you. Thats where your whole line of argument falls apart.

FAE's run what....about $1 million a piece? You have that kind of spare change lying around to spend on a device for which you have no real use? Items such as that are self-limiting.

When the 2nd Amendment was written, private citizens most assuredly DID own the most powerful weapons of the era. Before you start thinking that the technology of the time was not that advanced, bear in mind it did include some rather formidable naval guns which could pound the hell out of a coastal town, as well as explosives not much weaker than today's - granted, they were bulkier, but they were just as strong. Black powder is not weak.

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In case you were wondering, yes, there really ARE more idiots these days....technology has made natural selection obsolete.

Fair enough - i was just starting to smell a little anti-gun odor and reacted accordingly. My apologies.

Doesnt change that i'm going to continue being condescending as hell to Gem

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In case you were wondering, yes, there really ARE more idiots these days....technology has made natural selection obsolete.

People in the U.K. are even allowed to drive their tanks on public roads with license plates on and everything.

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It all comes down to this on election day: Are you a racist, or do you look down on spastics?

Then you obviously havent seen Clint Eastwood with a single action revolver in the good old spaghetti westerns.

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It all comes down to this on election day: Are you a racist, or do you look down on spastics?

Strange how a thread about mass shootings in the US turned into a celebration of guns and tanks.

My thoughts, exactly.
It would be nice to hear people's ideas as to why. The mass shootings are a weird and disturbing problem and I would like to understand. Others' ideas/theories help me, and all of us, to think. Yup, it has gone off topic.

Not really strange at all. Seriously - what is there to discuss?

Some psycho went crazy and did something bad. Sad, but it happens. We cannot change the fact that it occured.

The anti-gun crowd usually trys to twist things like this into yet another rallying cry of support for their perverse desires, but i believe most of the US has wised up to that. We arent listening to them anymore.

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In case you were wondering, yes, there really ARE more idiots these days....technology has made natural selection obsolete.

On the contrary, I started the thread making a specific point of not engaging in gun control discussions, but suggesting that there is more of a cultural influence in these regular and repeated mass shootings in the US. To get the discussion off gun control, and onto the cultural issue, do you have any thoughts as to why so many Americans feel compelled to go on mass shootings sprees?

I dont believe there really are that many mass killings, when adjusted for population, compared to other nations. They are simply more highly sensationalized.

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In case you were wondering, yes, there really ARE more idiots these days....technology has made natural selection obsolete.

Australia has had its fair share of gun massacres, especially in the time period from 1987 to 1998. Worst case was the psycho who single handed shot and killed 35 people on Tasmania - quite impressive actually.

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It all comes down to this on election day: Are you a racist, or do you look down on spastics?

Okay for discussion purposes the population of the US is 300 million of Australia about 21 million.

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"There were no D-Day Heroes in 1973" - Cold Chisel Khe Sanh

Yes, but that horrible event in 1998 was the last mass shooting we have had since. That's almsot 10 years. On the contrary though, there are several that occur each year in the US, not to mention an average of two per year in high schools. That's an average statistics that no other nation in the Western world combined can match!! I'm just trying to figure out what the propensity is for so many regular shootings. As I've suggested earlier on, I believe it's more to do with a bullying-esque culture that is enmeshed in high schools, which may have a flow-on affect. I'm not sure how true this assertion is though. Anyone care to offer their ideas on that suggestion?

It was April 1996 I think. Before that we had the shooting at a Westfield shopping centre in western Sydney and of course the one in Melbourne, the army Reservist nutter, Julian something. And the one at the then Telecom building in Melbourne. And waaaaaay back in 1971 I think it was we had the Hope Forest shooting here in SA, but that was a bit different, believe it or not, the MO was very different from Bryant and Julian whatisname.

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"There were no D-Day Heroes in 1973" - Cold Chisel Khe Sanh