Outspoken gun advocate & Youtube star Keith Ratliff shot dead

[fried eggs]

The brother of a popular YouTube firearms and explosives expert, who was murdered at a gun making business, finds it surprising that he did not pull out a weapon to defend himself.

Keith Ratliff, 32, was found with a bullet in his head Thursday evening inside FPS Industries, his gun fabrication business near Carnesville, Ga.

"For him not to pull out that gun and try to defend himself, he had to feel comfortable around somebody. Either that or he was ambushed," his brother, Kelly Ratliff, told ABC News affiliate WSB-TV.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/slain-youtube-weapons-expert-defend-brother/story?id=18170305

[savalez]

1. Live by the sword... n/t

[graham4anything]

2. it's a proven fact- gunslingers end up dying by a faster gunslinger

[Terra Alta]

3. if only he'd had a gun.

oh.. wait..



Judging from his tweet, perhaps the world is better of without him. Praying for an Aurora-like rampage(I'm assuming that's what he mean by "Batman&quot just so he could use his precious gun? What a pathetic individual he was.

[MADem]

5. "Youtube star...."

These are interesting times...the old Television paradigm is well and truly out the window.

Ratliff was the manager of FPS Russia, the ninth most popular YouTube channel, which features a man with a thick Russian accent shooting weapons and blowing items up on the screen.

The channel has amassed a following among weapons enthusiasts, garnering more than 3 million subscribers, making it slightly more than popular boy band One Direction.

"As many of you already know I lost a close friend this week. I ask only that you show respect to the situation for the family's sake," the host of the show, who goes by the name Dmitri, posted on Twitter.

Kitty Wandel, who identifies herself on Twitter as a producer of the FPS Russia videos, said Ratliff had been with the channel "for quite some time, helping us out with everything from pulling pranks to finding almost impossible weapons to use in videos."
http://abcnews.go.com/US/slain-youtube-weapons-expert-defend-brother/story?id=18170305

Who knew?

[Drunken Irishman]

6. How quick until someone accuses Obama and Holder of murdering him?

[karpool]

22. I'm sure Jones is already there

[napkinz]

32. there are already stories that Sandy Hook never really happened

another conspiracy theory how President Obama is somehow creating stories to grab everyone's guns

And I knew these kinds of stories were going to emerge.

They just can't help themselves.

Delusional and sick.

[etherealtruth]

7. I am horrified by gun violence ...

... whether it is directed at a dumb ass like this or anyone else

[upaloopa]

8. I guess you could say it was irony. Who shot him?

Most of the time an acquaintance is the perp. Maybe one of his fellow travelers got pissed and shot him.
The more guns there are the better chance you'll have at getting shot.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

11. He was at his business from what I read

Known customer or friend would be the first place the cops look

[KharmaTrain]

9. You Can Be Armed To The Teeth...

...be the greatest shot in the known universe and it doesn't matter if someone has the upper hand. Having it known that you're armed only makes it more likely an attacker will shoot first and there's little time to react. Tactics trump firepower every time...

[Mimosa]

10. Qui bono?

That is all.

[kestrel91316]

12. If only he'd had a gun to defend himself with.......

[mzmolly]

13. His twitter is full of disgusting commentary.

I'm not surprised, however.

https://twitter.com/keithratliff

Here's my favorite!

"You can always tell a f*cking wh*re by the duck face she has in her photos." ~ Keith Ratliff

Sounds like a lovely human being.

[alcibiades_mystery]

14. He was a national treasure

[HappyMe]

15. "YouTube star"

There are YouTube stars? One piece of the 'what the fuck is wrong with us' puzzle is in place.

[jmg257]

16. Wow - more senseless gun violence...that - and karma.

[GoneOffShore]

17. Oops.

Just oops.

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. Interesting...silencer.

[Heimer]

25. Wonder if any details from camera footage will be released

Near certainty a business such as this would have an abundance of cameras running 24/7.

Also, not to split hairs but there is no such thing as a silencer. Suppressor would be the proper term.

[nadinbrzezinski]

30. Not to split hairs,

Interesting, and illegal, use of a mag lite.

[Heimer]

34. Highly doubt it was illegal

Class 3 paperwork is expensive, but easy enough to put through. You just have to have the plan on file and approved by the ATF.

[nadinbrzezinski]

35. You keep telling yourself that.

[Heimer]

36. I guess this is proof that a big post count doesn't correlate to knowing what you're talking about..

http://www.atf.gov/forms/download/atf-f-5320-1.pdf

[nadinbrzezinski]

37. Yes, and prove this guy filed that paperwork

As I sad, you keep telling yourself that b

People who file the paperwork don't have a need to get creative with a flashlight, or rather one that was one at one time.

[Heimer]

38. Dense?

From what is being reported he was a Class III FFL. From my understanding.. Any NFA weapon in his possession would be legal. It would of been his business to build stuff like that.

[nadinbrzezinski]

39. No, not dense

Have a good life.

[99Forever]

23. No newbie...

.. what this is "proof of," is that having lots of guns in your life tends to get you dead.


Enjoy your stay and pizza.

[leeroysphitz]

20. Good. One less nutjob for the sane people in this country to be threatend by. n/t

[tavernier]

21. Oh stop it, everyone!

You know very well that guns had nothing to do with it.

The killer had been watching Sponge Bob immediately prior to the murder and was psychologically compromised by the violence.

[NoPasaran]

24. "You can't shoot in here, this is the Gun Room!"

[CBGLuthier]

26. Where in the hell is Major Kong?

30 seconds before I read your post Slim Pickens most famous scene had just finished. Channel is running Strangelove and in a few minutes Fail Safe.

[Scootaloo]

27. I'm tired of being piously progressive.

May his journey down the tunnel be filled with echoes of the Nelson laugh.

[cherokeeprogressive]

28. Yayyy!

Right?

[stevenleser]

29. Those who carry guns are 4.5 times more likely to be shot during an assault

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2759797/

Objectives. We investigated the possible relationship between being shot in an assault and possession of a gun at the time.

Methods. We enrolled 677 case participants that had been shot in an assault and 684 population-based control participants within Philadelphia, PA, from 2003 to 2006. We adjusted odds ratios for confounding variables.

Results. After adjustment, individuals in possession of a gun were 4.46 (P < .05) times more likely to be shot in an assault than those not in possession. Among gun assaults where the victim had at least some chance to resist, this adjusted odds ratio increased to 5.45 (P < .05).

Conclusions. On average, guns did not protect those who possessed them from being shot in an assault. Although successful defensive gun uses occur each year, the probability of success may be low for civilian gun users in urban areas. Such users should reconsider their possession of guns or, at least, understand that regular possession necessitates careful safety countermeasures.

[napkinz]

31. other cases ...

another story:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022166963

[bluestate10]

33. No loss for humanity. nt

[redStateBlueHeart]

40. How ironic. n/t