HERE ARE THE HIGH SCHOOL GUN PHOTOS!

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

NO one is bringing a gun to school.

http://www.omaha.com/news/nebraska/guns-in-senior-portraits-ok-if-done-tastefully-nebraska-school/article_e25a4c6e-593c-11e4-ae63-001a4bcf6878.html?mode=image&photo=1

They are typical high school senior portraits taken at a private studio and then submitted to the yearbook staff. This is done in many schools in rural and suburban America. It's big business. Many talented photographers take these pictures as their "bread and butter" even if they personally hate doing them. Generally a little over done, over posed, over photoshopped, but the teen girls LOVE THEM!

One guy include his yellow lab in his photo, and another manages to get his truck into the photo, as well! LOL

Pretty obvious that no one bothered to investigated before screaming about "guns at school!"

[linuxman]

1. Tacky,

but then again, so were all the "vanity" shots in my yearbook from 10 years ago.

I guess the blood in the streets crowd will have to pipe down ever so slightly.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

2. Well, moms and dads may want senior portraits

but it is the teen girls who drive what is popular, and this kind of photography is wildly popular right now.

And, yeah, I look back at our "vanity" shots many moons ago, and they are absolutely cringe worthy.

[kcr]

3. I don't think people were thinking guns at school

I'm pretty sure the problem was with guns in the pictures themselves. These pictures will be in the yearbook.

[snooper2]

4. I know, they are going to be horrible

?resize=820%2C1024

[kcr]

7. Not everyone has lived around or understands the culture

For them, guns mean first graders blown to bits. People who do understand don't get why everyone is afraid. They should blame the NRA.

[Fumesucker]

13. I was around a couple of members of "the culture" last night

They had just finished shooting a couple of deer on the property and were back at the house, a grandniece of mine and her father. Grandniece is about 12 and was waving the scoped rifle around a bit more casually than I was comfortable with, I was keeping my eye on it and moving around the room to try and stay out of any line of possible fire. If the bolt had been open I would have relaxed but it wasn't and I had no idea if the rifle was loaded, cocked, on safety or what.

You're right in that they "don't get" people who are made nervous by guns, I think I was the only one in the room who was even paying attention to where the rifle was pointing.

That's damn sure not how I remember being taught to handle guns back when I was on the target shooting team in HS.

[sarisataka]

19. Yet you did nothing

even though you suspected there was a possibility a child was in possession of a loaded gun.

[Fumesucker]

35. It wasn't my place, figuratively and literally

It's not my home and there were three adults in the room who outranked me, one of them being the child's father and the other two being grandparents and the homeowners while I'm not a direct blood relative.

[sarisataka]

41. Yes it is

if a child is in danger to him/her self or others and you do nothing, you are complicit in any misfortune which occurs. No different than watching a child walk away from a distracted parent towards a busy street. I hope you would not just stand by thinking not your problem.

I would not have hesitated to speak up even if they were complete strangers. If they ignore such concern, I would leave; then it is on them as I took action to forewarn.

[Fumesucker]

65. A non-gunner speak up to a room full of gun enthusiasts?

I can easily predict exactly how that would have wound up, I know nothing and am being needlessly alarmist. Another bitter family split for no purpose whatsoever.

Frankly I'd be more likely to speak up with complete strangers, too damn many angles to consider when it's family.

[sarisataka]

68. If I may speak candidly

it appears you have deeper family problems than the handling of firearms. As someone who has a dysfunctional branch on the family tree I can empathize.

Should we ever meet and you observe my children or myself even inappropriately handling a firearm I can promise I will thank you for pointing out the issue and being concerned.

[Fumesucker]

84. That's not the least functional branch by a substantial margin..

To a big extent it's thanks to the political divisions that seem to be getting ever worse in America these days, I'm the only liberal and the only admitted atheist in a family that's otherwise deeply Christian and strongly conservative and hence anything I say right down to comments on the weather are suspect and held to scrutiny for some hint of liberal propaganda.

It doesn't help that I'm the elder of the family either, they are so torn between respecting my years and thinking I'm crazy for being a liberal atheist that I can almost hear the gears grinding with some comments I make. I spend a lot more time laughing up my sleeve at them than I do being annoyed.

I know I'm not alone in this, threads about family political divisions are pretty common on DU and usually get a lot of replies.

[sarisataka]

89. Sounds very familiar

except for the Atheist part; I'm a live-and-let-live Christian who enjoys hanging out with Pagans

Most of our family are straight ticket Democrats since they stepped off the boat but we have one group of dyed in the wool GOPers of the Cult of St Ronnie Synod. It makes for interesting get togethers. I get the laughing up the sleeve bit. They seem to take my words as agreement not understanding that I am mocking them.

[d_r]

82. I took my kids out to my uncle's farm

Last edited Thu Oct 23, 2014, 03:01 PM - Edit history (1)

once when they were about six or so, and my teenage cousins had been out shooting rabbits and left a shotgun by the door, the first thing I said was "that shotguns not loaded is it?"

I honestly can't imagine not asking something like that, but maybe it is a parent thing I guess.

Eta always assume a gun is loaded. No such thing as unloaded.

[Sparhawk60]

150. Not to Pile on You

Not to pile on you....but, gun safety is every ones business. I would rather you tell me "sir, do you know little Johnnie has his finger on the trigger" than for you to be quite and some one gets hurt or killed.

During range safety briefings they all drive home the point that safety is every ones job. If the lowly Private sees the Commander doing some thing unsafe, the Private yells "CEASE FIRE".

Hurt feelings don't stack up against a bullet hole.


Again, not to pile on, but just wanted to point this out so hopefully next time you will feel free to speak up. I know I would thank you if you did.

[Fumesucker]

190. I was asking myself if it was just a matter of perception..

They perceived the gun as unloaded I saw it as loaded.

Daddy is a senior EMT and I think he probably made sure the gun was clear and safe, but I don't know that for sure because I was never shown an open chamber. I just assume any gun I haven't personally seen to be unloaded is loaded and even then I treat it like it was.

If the rifle had ever got pointed right at someone or the finger went in the guard I was going to speak up, twelve year olds in crowded rooms with deer rifles just make me twitchy, a twelve year old is still perfectly capable of accidentally knocking their drink off the table onto your lap they just do it less often than a six year old.

[adigal]

254. When a 12 year old is casually swinging around a gun that might be loaded -

NO ONE outranks me!!!

[Ykcutnek]

14. I've lived around it my whole life and think the whole culture is disgusting and dangerous.

My local culture is inundated with Sky Daddy beliefs as well, but I'm an atheist.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

20. You know, there a a lot of democrats even in "that culture."

And who are part of that culture. And who even believe in the "Sky Daddy."

Last I looked, most Republicans don't win 100% of the vote even in "those counties."

[Arugula Latte]

51. So, nobody is ever supposed to say anything bad about guns and religion because

some people who like those things are Democrats?

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

56. "The whole culture is disgusting and dangerous?"

You agree with this? Because that is an ABSURD statement. In fact, I find that kind of broad generalization dangerous.

I have a lot of negative things to say about Muslim culture, but I would NEVER say "the whole culture is disgusting and dangerous."

Would you?

[Arugula Latte]

80. The whole gun culture, yes.

It causes untold death, injury, and misery.

[joeglow3]

99. Have you or your family had to hunt for survival?

I have family in rural Nebraska who, but for them hunting for food, would not have near enough to eat. They take pride in hunting their own food and not relying on others. But, that is disgusting, right?

[kcr]

22. There's a reason I don't have guns in the house. I understand.

But not everyone is a psychopath who's going to go postal with their gun is my point. If there hadn't been a fear based marketing campaign to put guns in everyone's homes resulting in a fear based backlash against guns in response to the rise in gun violence, perhaps there wouldn't be quite the stigma is what I'm saying.

[randys1]

153. Put BLACK faces on this pics and imagine the response

[BlueCaliDem]

170. I was thinking the SAAAAAME thing. eom

[mybuddy]

215. How is this relevant?

What does this even mean? Black people own guns too. Thank you for interjecting this element into the discussion. I would have never thought of this myself.

[sabbat hunter]

209. Is that dog

alive or 'stuffed'? It does not look alive to me, but I could be wrong.

If it is dead, it makes the photo a bit creepy.

[jmowreader]

253. This guy doesn't look like a high school senior to me

I'm looking at his face...the guy looks maybe fifteen to me, not seventeen or eighteen.

[MH1]

255. Well, to me that's a horrible picture for a yearbook.

Maybe if I'd grown up in such a place, it wouldn't be.

The celebration of death in this picture is what bothers me. But I realize that there are places in this country where killing deer is something to be not only celebrated but memorialized in stuffing and mounting the corpse, and then posing with the "trophy".

In some parts of Asia people like to eat dogs. Most people in this country find that repulsive, and there are even laws against it. How would you feel if the animal head in that picture was of a german shepherd that looked just like your own pet?

But the point is, whatever animal it is, it is a celebration of death.

I have no problem with people hunting for food; it's the machoistic posturing that bothers me.

Then again, when I was in high school, a photographer came to the school and we all just had those headshots as our senior pictures. A question like this just wouldn't have come up because the yearbook didn't have those kind of pictures.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

9. There were several comments about guns at school.

Which I immediately knew was not going to be the case!

[kcr]

24. Maybe, but the point is the pictures of the guns n/t

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

29. And in that small community, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the guns in pics

It's a hunting culture.

If you haven't lived it, you have no idea how folks look forward to hunting season in the fall so they can bag their ducks (or whatever), and get them in the freezer - all the while having a great time.

[Luminous Animal]

48. I grew up in a hunting culture. In the winter, the only meat we ate was hunted meat. We didn't

fetishize our guns. When the day was over, we cleaned them and locked them in the gun case. I got my first .22 when I was 12 years old. There is not one picture of me holding my gun. Nor any of my brother, sister, mom, dad, and the dozens of cousins. There were no trophies in our house, nor in any of my relatives houses. Not even a rack though at least one deer was shot per household per season.

Our guns were tools. I wouldn't have thought to take a vanity shot with one any more than I would have thought to take a vanity shot with the hay baler.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

54. sigh

You apparently aren't real up-to-date on senior photos.

Cell phones, computers, dogs, cats, horses, favorite car or truck, golf clubs, ballet costume, team uniform, instrument senior played in h.s. band, violin, and on and on.

http://rabphotography.com/blog/2014/03/04/andy-senior-photos-bozeman-senior-photographer/

I thought this one was funny. I can easily see my son wanting to take his high school photo with his gaming system. ugh

[Aristus]

5. Well, who wouldn't want to be photographed with the thing they love best?

Must get pretty lonely and boring out there in the sticks...

[petronius]

217. If you're implying what I think you're implying, that certainly casts a different light

on kids that want to pose with their pets...

[Aristus]

226. Kids who love their pets, I got no problem with.

People who love their guns, well...

[Fla_Democrat]

6. That young lady in the first picture has a nice rack

Good spread on that 8 pointer. The 10 pointer in the second picture is impressive as well.

[NV Whino]

8. For a minute there

I thought Kalen had a dog named Trophy Mount.

[KinMd]

10. The pics don't creep me out even a little bit..

and I've never owned a gun.

[calimary]

73. Well, they kinda do creep me out.

I look at those three photos and find myself just hoping those aren't three lost souls there. And as far as the family gathering described a little bit upthread (the one with the 12-year-old pointing a rifle around the room) - if I were part of that family and didn't feel like speaking up, I would at least GET THE HELL OUTTA THERE, before that rifle goes off!

Wasn't it a 12-year-old girl with a machine gun at that gun range, who recently BLEW AWAY the military-veteran staffer who was assisting her at the time? All safe and properly supervised and well-controlled and legal and why-the-hell are you worrying and everything's okay and what could possibly go wrong?

[hack89]

85. Why would a hunter be a lost soul?

or someone that enjoyed skeet or trap shooting?

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

88. She had no business shooting that particular weapon

In a real hunting culture, a twelve year old would be shooting a bb gun. A twelve year old might go out shooting with dad and/or mom and get to handle mom or dad's rifle for a couple of minutes, but wouldn't actually be a real member of the hunt, although I can't speak for every hunting family. When we were growing up, you didn't get to handle your own hunting rifle until you were fifteen or sixteen.

That little girl's parents were ignorant extremists making a statement, imo.

[calimary]

97. Well, that sure doesn't stop anybody.

OF COURSE that little girl had NO BUSINESS with that kind of weapon!!!!! On that, you and I agree completely. But that sure didn't stop anybody from letting her shoot that damn thing. Honestly, what are people THINKING???????? Which one was she? The good guy with the gun or the bad guy with the gun?

I forgot to add - "flame away" in my earlier post here.

I don't even care anymore. You add guns into the mix and this is the kind of thing you're apt to get. I don't even like gun ranges because you're not really all that "safe" in those places either. I went to high school with a quiet girl who was very nice but kept to herself. It was only later that I learned she USED TO have three brothers. Now there were only two. The three of them had gone to a very well-appointed gun range, all safe and legal and what-could-possibly-go-wrong and blah-blah-blah. One of them aimed at a target, and didn't hit the target. The bullet ricocheted off something else and hit his brother - AND KILLED HIM. That family was ruined. Devastated. They were never the same again. And they will never be the same again. So nobody better try to sell me on how foolproof gun ranges are.

I have another friend who's not around anymore. She grew up in the mountains, on a ranch. Guns all over the place. They went hunting all the time. Grew up with it. Learned shooting and proper handling and gun safety and what-could-possibly-go-wrong and blah-blah-blah from an early age. She was wonderful and wise and mentored my son and he really looked up to her. He looked up to her nephew too. The nephew had the same background - grew up in the mountains, on that same family ranch, guns all over the place, they went hunting all the time, grew up with it, learned shooting and proper handling and gun safety and what-could-possibly-go-wrong and blah-blah-blah. And he's not around anymore either. My friend and her nephew got into a huge argument one fine day and she blew him to Mars. Then she turned the gun on herself and blew herself to Mars too. What was left of that family was ruined. Devastated. They were never the same again. And they, too, will never be the same again. So nobody better try to sell me on how foolproof guns are in the hands of experienced and well-trained hunters who grew up with them and went hunting all the time and learned shooting and proper handling and gun safety and what-could-possibly-go-wrong and blah-blah-blah from an early age, and all that.

You will NOT be able to convince me EVER - that guns are a good idea in civilian hands. Frankly, I don't think guns are a good idea in ANYBODY'S hands.

After all, what could possibly go wrong?

[Jenoch]

103. In our family, the kids did not get

to go to deer camp or hunt deer until they were 12. That was the state law. By law they had to always be with an adult, licensed deer hunter. They also had to pass a state endorsed gun and hunting safety class.

[riqster]

202. Slight difference of opinion: the bb gun bit.

My old man hated the things. Felt that they made guns seem less lethal, so they were verboten in our family (and both sides of the extended families). We were started off on .22s, real guns that could really kill something. We learned respect for firearms and the damage they could cause in the wrong hands.

At age 12, in Scouts, on a range, with range masters and such. Safety was drilled into us, boy and girl alike.

All we keep at my advanced age are guns for varmint control. Too old to hunt, and too lazy too. I shoot enough to be safe.

[joeglow3]

101. Lost souls? Really?

[MissB]

11. I don't have a dog - or a gun - in this fight but

I've found myself laughing hysterically at some of the seniors' portraits this year. I have a junior, so I see pics that many of his senior friends have taken for yearbook.

A couple of kids posed with saws (think old time tree cutting equipment, not chainsaws). They were wearing plaid shirts and jeans. They do not come from a family of foresters and that isn't their intended area of study in college.

One kid wore a dinosaur costume.

Gone are the days of vanity portraits. I think it's fine if kids pose next to what they find important, or irrelevant.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

16. LOL

Hey, I once saw a photo of a guy leaning over a counter in his father's place of business. Quite professional looking and good looking kid.

I thought it was unusual but, maybe, the kid was saying "This is going to be mine when I'm older!" Who knows?

[NV Whino]

12. You know what...

I think these photos are just fine. These kids live in Podunk, Wherever, and it's what they do. And the photos are a hell of a lot better than my senior class photo, which was posed in a studio where I had to wear the infamous "drape."

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

17. Oh, GOD. The Drape.

I did a little shudder at that. Mine was navy. What color was yours?

[NV Whino]

21. Funeral black.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

25. Not everyone looks so great in black.

So mine could have been worse. I look goth in black!

[Gormy Cuss]

95. The "drape" standard is far more bizarre to me.

"Let's make everyone look exactly alike to make the yearbook pretty and make them all look like conformists. "

[kysrsoze]

15. Wow. How lame. If that's all I had to feel excited about and connected to, I'd GTF out of there.

[Arugula Latte]

18. Gives me the creeps.

"I'm proud to be a 'murikin, where at least I know I'm free to hump gunz gunz MOAR GUNZ!!!"

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

23. You really don't know SHIT.

All the male members of my family hunted, and, so do a couple of female members, now. (I don't, but I enjoy the prize.)

Some of the best memories my brother has of my father (now gone) are of the two of them duck hunting in the fall. It was the most wonderful bonding time. Of course, our black lab always went along - he was an amazing dog and is also gone. I miss them both. I kind of wish I had joined them when I was invited, but the bugs and mud didn't really appeal to me.

[Arugula Latte]

26. Well, we have a sick, twisted gun fetish culture in this country. It really is creepy.

Other countries don't have our weird obsession with these things, and a mass public shooting is incredibly rare and incredibly shocking to them. In the USA it's just called "Tuesday" or whatever day of the week it is.

Makes me sick.

Yeah, yeah, I get that hunting for food isn't the same as the routine human carnage and slaughter we put up with, but the entire gun culture worshipping culture we have is twisted and disgusting.

[mountain grammy]

66. Agree.. it is a creepy obsession.

I'm a gun owner and just don't get the need to pose with weapons.

[Arugula Latte]

28. Yikes. I'd rather not answer that one.

[sarisataka]

32. Perhaps then

you may want to think before tossing pejoratives about people you know nothing about.

[Arugula Latte]

34. The whole gun-worshipm gun-fetish culture is creepy, deadly, and makes me sick.

I think I'm entitled to express that.

Other countries aren't obsessed with guns like we are. There is something deeply wrong with this country when it comes to guns.

(And, to answer your first question, I'd say "both" about the young woman in the photo.)

[LeftinOH]

37. Agreed! Totally creepy.

[sarisataka]

45. You are entitled to express your opinion

We have an amendment that allows that, which I strongly support.

I truly appreciate your candor, though I find it highly disturbing. I too think there are some things deeply wrong but we are not in the same place about that.

[Arugula Latte]

49. My candor is what is highly disturbing?

Wow .. okay.

What I find disturbing is the daily mass slaughter of people due to guns enabled by sicko gun culture, gun-worship, NRA support, etc., in this insane country.

THIS is what disturbs me:

[sarisataka]

57. Yes, to claim a teen aged girl has sexual feelings

about a firearm and that she actually uses it to sexually pleasure herself, based on a single hunting themed photo is disturbing. I have difficulty comprehending the thought process that induces such a graphic and illogical leap.

I find our deaths by firearms, and other forms of homicide, to be well out of proportion to other countries. I do not think a few teens taking themed photos significantly contribute to that nor do I make assumptions of their overall lifestyle based on such photo.

-I do not believe they are all potential murders
-I do not wish them a life of poverty because no one will employ them
-I do not believe they will attempt insurrection against the government, murder everyone in their school or randomly kill people
-I do not think they are sexually involved with inanimate objects

all of these are stated or implied by self-proclaimed "liberals" and "progressives" based on a single photo of each child.

I do wish them happiness and safety in their activities, success in life and a fulfilling relationship with a fellow human, of whichever gender they find attractive.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

63. thank you!

http://rabphotography.com/blog/2014/03/04/andy-senior-photos-bozeman-senior-photographer/

Thought you might enjoy these. Senior portraits were certainly different in my day. Mine are well hidden.

[sarisataka]

74. There are some doozies out there

As I recall my senior portrait could be described as extra-bland generic. Guys weren't expected to look as ridiculous as the girls back then; no drapes

[Jenoch]

110. My oldest brother wore a leisure suit in his senior photo.

[Arugula Latte]

83. There is a huge sexual element to the gun fetishization in this country.

There's more than a little truth to this:

[joeglow3]

105. Holy shit, you actually doubled down

Fucking amazing.

[Arugula Latte]

158. Yeah, this isn't the Gungeon.

[joeglow3]

191. Never been to the "gungeon"

But when I see facts countered by hyperbole that is then crushed, I am shocked when the person who just got their ass handed to them doubles down on their hyperbole.

This is, however, a common defense mechanism. You KNOW you cannot counter their facts, so you resort to calling people names, in the hopes of shutting them down. Inevitably, they will grow tired of pissing in the wind and then you will convince yourself of your moral superiority since they gave up. Overall, it is very sad.

[sarisataka]

112. I must say

though it may be humorous I have never met anyone like that.

What saddens me is how many who rightfully deride racist stereotypes as false blindly accept such as that video being real.

[Duckhunter935]

199. yes, I agree

[Judi Lynn]

256. Perfect! Thanks for the Little Britain clip. Never saw it before, won't forget it! n/t

[GGJohn]

111. So you condemn this guy also because he's part of the whole gun-fetish culture?

[Sparhawk60]

156. Ack! He is a Black Man With a Gun!!!

run for the hills, lock up the women folk. With a gun that long, he must be over compencating for some thing. lol


/sarcasm
// notice the use of the proper safety equipment
///good firing stance

[EX500rider]

174. Jury results:

REASON FOR ALERT
This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.
ALERTER'S COMMENTS
This post responds to an excerpt from this article in post 102: http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-the-prefrontal-cortex.htm
So it's basically both right wing concern trolling and accusing Obama of having a weak brain.

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Thu Oct 23, 2014, 03:34 PM, and the Jury voted 3-4 to LEAVE IT.

Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Frivolous alert.
Juror #2 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #3 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #4 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Looks like a pic of Obama with a shotgun and nothing more to me..
Juror #5 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: If it made any sense, I'd vote to leave it but the insinuation that the President is a child? No point to that kind of post.
Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #7 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given

I was number 4

[pscot]

181. jury results: wherein the biter gets bit

A randomly-selected Jury of DU members completed their review of this alert at Thu Oct 23, 2014, 03:45 PM, and voted 6-1 to HIDE IT.

Juror #1 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: Post is sexist
Juror #2 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: Looks like trolling to me.
Juror #3 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #4 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #5 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #6 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: Agree with the alert
Juror #7 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given

[EX500rider]

188. Weird hide..

...someone calls a girl in a picture with her hunting gun a "gun humper", another poster ask for a clarification of that post...and that post gets hid?

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

201. Actually, if you reread the posts in question

The original post didn't call anyone in any pic a gun humper specifically, just made a sarcastic comment about gun humpers in America.

The post you say was 'asking for a clarification' was the one that specifically tried to turn the first post into 'someone calling a girl in a picture a gun humper'. Now admittedly, the first poster did eventually feed that troll question, but it's pretty obvious what was going on there.

I didn't do the alert or vote to hide the trolling post, but I certainly would have considered it if I'd been on that jury. People who try to get others to say things that can be hidden need to be a bit less blatant in their attempts.

[calimary]

198. I feel the same way, Arugula Latte.

Every time I remember my friend and her nephew. And every time I think of my other friend who USED TO have three brothers. And yeah, I, too, think there's something really deeply wrong with our country that we're so frickin' obsessed with this. It so easily goes so horribly wrong. And we're not even allowed to talk about it in some cases, thanks to the obscenely-lopsided power and effective hardball muzzling of honest open discussion - by the NRA. Thanks to them, we don't even have a surgeon general during this time of Ebola in the U.S. But we're free to stoke the paranoia on a round-the-clock basis.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

203. It's just under two weeks

since the anniversary of a friend's sister's murder, gunned down decades back, but the friend will never forget, and the season is always full of heartache for her, and sadness for those of us who care for the friend.

And sadness for another dear friend, whose favourite cousin went into a field to shoot himself.

Everyone out there is probably only a degree or two of separation from one or more gun victims.

[calimary]

235. Yeah. No kidding.

I'm sorry to hear about the losses you've suffered. You're probably right. "Everyone out there is probably only a degree or two of separation from one or more gun victims."

It leaves a mark. Sometimes a really deep one. And so FINAL. I don't care what the excuse was for that little girl who had no business being allowed to play with an assault rifle at age 12 - even at a respectable shooting range with a war veteran assisting. He will NEVER be coming back AGAIN. He will NEVER assist another shooter, too young for common sense or not. It's OVER. And I wonder if maybe it's also over for her. She was still just a little girl. And she freakin' KILLED somebody. How does one go through life with that on one's ledger - even accidentally? Horrible flukey accident or no, she still KILLED SOMEBODY forcryingoutloud. NEEDLESSLY!!!! She didn't NEED to fire that damn assault rifle!!!! I'm sorry, but NOBODY NEEDS to shoot a fucking damn assault rifle - unless you're knee-deep in Afghanistan or ISIS territory, that is.

Ooooooh, those "second-amendment remedies." Gotta love 'em.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

249. Three victims in extended family to drunk drivers

No gun accidents, but they do happen.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

250. And we have massive media campaigns against drunk driving

and all sorts of laws and regulations and testing and licensing and insurance you have to have to be a driver.

Maybe we should require the same level of testing and registration and insurance to be a gun operator as we do to be a vehicle operator.

[calimary]

252. And we sure don't have mass media campaigns against reckless gun usage, either.

I STILL believe strongly that we as a nation need to seriously rethink the Second Amendment. It's been interpreted FAR too loosely and recklessly, and that extreme gets worse seemingly by the hour. Another DUer posted something I thought was just spot-on, regarding the different attitude toward gun ownership and usage in Canada than what we have here in the U.S. Basically it boiled down to guns being a PRIVILEGE. NOT A "RIGHT"!!!

[Seeking Serenity]

30. Creeps me out not one whit.

The way those kids are holding their firearms makes me think that they know what they are doing with them and what they can do if misused.

My daddy taught me "never point a gun at anything that you're not willing to see be destroyed." And "always assume a firearm is loaded." Those have stuck with me to this day.

(Waiting on someone to suggest I'm just trying to compensate for having a small penis. Or, I guess in my case, or that of the girl in the linked article, of not having one at all.)

[scarystuffyo]

31. Seems like they all favor the sniper rifle

[Lurks Often]

43. Some serious ignorance in your post

None of those are sniper rifles, the first appears to be a Remington pump or semi-auto rifle that holds at most 5 shots, the second is a bolt action rifle and the third is a pump shotgun.

[scarystuffyo]

53. Trooper ambush suspect Frein may be relying on sniper training manual

In military and law enforcement terminology, a sniper rifle is a precision-rifle used to ensure more accurate placement of bullets at longer ranges than other small arms



http://www.barska.com/Riflescopes-Sniper_Scope.html


Frein is believed to be armed with at least two guns, an AK-47 and a .308 caliber rifle with a scope


http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news-news/50332893/Frein-may-be-relying-on-sniper-training-manual

[Adrahil]

62. It's not a "Sniper Rifle" just because it's a bolt action gun with a scope.

And in any case, you don't need a "sniper rifle" to shoot accurately over a couple hundred yards.

Don't drop scare words. It's silly. Just say what you mean.

[scarystuffyo]

93. I wouldn't be so sure

The line between a sniper rifle and a hunting rifle ? there is none

The rifles in those the senior portraits can just as easily be called sniper rifles

Here's another video of what they call budget sniper rifles

[Jenoch]

127. How often do snipers use shotguns

in their long-range shooting?

[Adrahil]

138. <sigh> Yeah....

That's what I mean. "Sniper Rifle" is a just a scare word. It's an emotionally charged, but meaningless word. Like "assault rifle."

I'm gonna start calling booze "drunk driver fuel."

[benEzra]

145. True, but what's your point?

(@scarystuffyo)
The line between a sniper rifle and a hunting rifle ? there is none
The rifles in those the senior portraits can just as easily be called sniper rifles

True, but what's your point? They're not being misused, are they?

The military M24 and M40 sniper weapon systems are very nicely configured Remington Model 700 deer rifles. Does that mean that civilians shouldn't be allowed to own Remington 700's?

Many civilian pump and semiauto shotguns are similar to military shotguns used for close-range killing since World War I. Does that mean that civilians shouldn't be allowed to own shotguns?

[Lurks Often]

251. So a rifle from 1874, shooting a black powder cartridge

that has better sights is some how a sniper rifle by your definition? Do you even recognize how ridiculous that sounds?

And the rifle I am referring to is a 1874 Sharps rifle.

[DashOneBravo]

218. They don't care

It's not ignorance. That's intentional.

It's the same mindset that allows people to label a AR15 as a assault rifle when the public has one. But call it a patrol rifle or some obscure acronym when the police carry the same weapon.

[benEzra]

67. If a scoped rifle is being used for sniping, it's a sniper rifle.

If it's being used for hunting, it's a hunting rifle. If it's being used for target shooting, it's a target rifle. Looks to me as if these kids are using them for hunting and/or target shooting, not sniping, no?

What, rather than "sniper rifles", would you rather they hunt deer with? Olympic biatholon rifles? Reproduction military flintlock rifles from the 1700s? Super Soakers?

FWIW, all rifles in the USA put together account for fewer murders in this country than shotguns, knives, clubs, and shoes/bare hands.

[EX500rider]

175. What an actual sniper rifle looks like:

Seems they actually favor long guns used in hunting.

[scarystuffyo]

179. Marine M40 sniper rifle

[EX500rider]

182. The M40 was introduced in 1966.

The Marines have a small budget compared to other services and have to use outdated equipment much more frequently.

And the model they use now, the m40A5 looks more like this:

[leftyladyfrommo]

33. I don't have a problem with people with hunting rifles.

Or with regular hunting. People here in the Midwest are really into hunting deer in the fall and bird hunting. It's not like someone standing there with an AK47 or something. With black mask over their face. That would definitely be over the top.

[LeftinOH]

36. Incredibly tacky. If these kids were African-American

the reaction *would* be quite different. Still tacky as hell, though... "hunting culture" or not.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

40. http://africanamericanhuntingassociation.com/index.htm

For anyone interested.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

44. Actually, even in the south, most people would be highly receptive

of those kinds of pictures.

Hunting here in the south is part of family life which most white folks would immediately "get." You want to know what would pop into their minds? "I bet his dad taught him to hunt. Good for them. Another 2nd amendment supporter."

http://africanamericanhuntingassociation.com/index.htm

[GGJohn]

58. In the rural parts of Northern CA also.

[Kali]

38. this is the kind of shit that makes us look as stupid as them

getting worked up over some rural kids' senior portraits?

[GusBob]

60. Truly

its their senior portrait: who is in the picture? who pays for it? who is it intended for?
its their school yearbook: whose school is it? who pays for it? who looks at it? who advertises in it? Is the school administration OK with it? Any parents complaining?

^^^^when any of these people have a problem with the photos then it matters^^^^

Its also their problem and none of our business

[Texasgal]

212. Agreed.

[samsingh]

39. very tacky. why don't we have people pose with their computers and iphones as they are integral to

their lives (well maybe not there).

gun lovers are trying way to hard and honestly appear desparate and in need of help.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

47. Here's one for ya'

http://rabphotography.com/blog/2014/03/04/andy-senior-photos-bozeman-senior-photographer/

You can find high school senior portraits taken with cell phones, dogs, cats, horses, golf clubs, favorite car or truck, guitar, high school band instrument, in team uniform, in ballet pose, and on and on.

If you think these kids from rural America are trying hard to make a political statement, you really don't know much about rural America.

They are just being themselves like the guy in the above link.

[joeglow3]

108. The ignorance.....it burns....

[leftynyc]

42. Whatever

I've never had a problem with hunting (as long as you eat what you kill - if I were in charge I would ban trophy hunting). These kids look responsible and in no way look like "gunhumpers". If this is their culture, fine. I've always felt the problem is handguns.

[Hoyt]

46. Have no problem with hunting, but I wonder how many of those kids will end up like this.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

50. Probably as much to fear as this guy making a bomb

http://rabphotography.com/blog/2014/03/04/andy-senior-photos-bozeman-senior-photographer/

[Hoyt]

52. At least they had the good sense to restrict the poses so we don't have any like this.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

55. Probably not part of their lifestyle

nt

[Hoyt]

59. Probably is. No normal kid would choose to appear in a HS annual with guns, nowadays.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

61. By guns, I believe you are excluding hunting rifles?

[Hoyt]

94. I suspect if the school board had been stupid enough, there would have been some of this.

?itok=Cf-Ti065

[GGJohn]

69. You're telling us that those kids, who grew up in a hunting culture, still hunt,

are abnormal because they want to pose with their HUNTING rifles?

[Hoyt]

70. I'm telling you a high school kid has a problem if gunz are that important to who they are.

Sorry if you don't like it. I get gunz are very important to you. That is sad.

[GGJohn]

72. And I'm telling you that those high school seniors don't have a problem,

the one with the problem here is you.
For the record, you don't know what's important to me, so lay off the hyperbole, it doesn't suit you in the least.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

77. It's not THE GUN. It's hunting

it's an area of interest - just like the kids who pose with the iPhones, their computers, cars, trucks, violins, footballs, horses, cats, dogs, and on and on. Girls in ballet costumes, girls on a balance beam, boys shooting a basketball. What is it that you don't understand?

You can't possibly comment intelligently on these photos if you don't know what senior portraits are like these days.

[Maedhros]

96. He can't possibly comment intelligently AT ALL if he thinks that he can be the authority

and arbiter of what constitutes "normal" behavior for high school graduates in every community in America.

[Adrahil]

64. IN my experience? Not many.

But those in hunting culture are more likely to be conservative, if only because they are often made to feel unwelcome by many progressives.

My brother-in-law is centrist to progressive on most issues, but hunting is very important to him, so he often doesn't vote for the (D) candidate because he is afraid they are "gun grabbers."

[Hoyt]

71. I bet he's not just into hunting weapons. Does he carry in public?

[dionysus]

79. why would they?

[DashOneBravo]

222. Hang on Hoyt

I doubt very few hunters would go from pumping a lot of money in wildlife conservation and gun safety to shooting at the feds.

[dilby]

75. Guns to some Liberals are like Muslims to some Conservatives.

They think they are hiding behind every corner just waiting to kill someone.

[Arugula Latte]

159. Yeah, it's so weird how people don't like the daily high death toll from guns in this country.

What a bunch of pansies, huh?!

[Hoyt]

195. +1

[EX500rider]

196. "don't like the daily high death toll from guns"

Since we are talking about rifles is 1 a high number to you?

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2012/crime-in-the-u.s.-2012/offenses-known-to-law-enforcement/expanded-homicide/expanded_homicide_data_table_8_murder_victims_by_weapon_2008-2012.xls

year 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Rifles 380 351 367 332 322
deaths

[bigwillq]

76. Nice pics.

Hope they are happy with them. I wouldn't pose with a gun, but if that's what they choose to do, I have no issue with it.

[dionysus]

78. not my cup of tea, but it's not like these kids are dressed in fatigues and pointing rifles at the

camera.. sounds like the people offended by this are overreacting quite a bit.

pictures look like normal "country" stuff to me.

[procon]

81. What do guns have to do with academics?

Seriously, schools are about education, you know, stuff like learning, the Three R's, and critical thinking skills, so how do guns factor in the academic setting? Did this change? In marked contrast, my graduation photos were formal and we had to don a 'breakaway' graduation gown over our clothes, and they gave us a mortarboard that you could choose to either wear or hold in your pose.

I can understand kids showcasing their various accoutrements if they participate in school sponsored clubs; some of clubs I remember were for skeet shooting, rodeo, chess, and skiing, and they had yearbook sections featuring the club members posed with their gear and trophies.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

90. You mean back in the ol' days :)

Here's a guy being himself:

http://rabphotography.com/blog/2014/03/04/andy-senior-photos-bozeman-senior-photographer/

[DesMoinesDem]

86. Anti gun extremists are not rational people.

[hack89]

87. The kids posing with their cars are the ones that scare me

because we know what will most likely kill them.

[TeeYiYi]

91. I actually like this one...

I think it's kinda' sexy.

TYY

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

98. If I were sixteen

He managed to get his hunting rifle, his truck, and his class ring in that picture.

Here in the 'burbs, most kids don't bother with class rings. Mine didn't. No real links to the high school. No heritage there.

Yet these teens are very likely 2nd, 3rd, 4th...generation of the same high school. Hence, the proud display of the ring.

[TeeYiYi]

106. What, you didn't notice...

...Jeezus in the rear window?

re: He managed to get his hunting rifle, his truck, and his class ring in that picture.

Actually, I didn't either until just now.

TYY

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

118. No, I hadn't!

Here let's give them something else to complain about:

That is the kind of Jesus pic that usually adorns a truck driven by a....

Catholic. (am ex catholic, but progressive christian)..

[Jenoch]

115. My siblings and I all got class rings.

We wore them for a year in high school and put them in a drawer, or in the case one of my brothers, it fell off his finger while he was waterskiing.

One of my brothers bought his kids shotguns instead of a class ring. They can use it their entire lives and they cost the same or less than a class ring. I am sure many DUers on this thread are oppesed to my brother's decision.

[notrightatall]

121. Gunz, jebezus, and Chevrolet

[MattBaggins]

232. A real life walking cliche

[Number23]

246. I don't know why but I am

at "jebezus"

[Maedhros]

92. I object to a lot of gun fetishism and associated paranoid behaviors,

but I see nothing wrong with these photos. They are hunting-culture oriented, not paramilitary in flavor, and do not feature aggressive or threatening poses.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

100. THANK YOU for so succinctly writing

exactly what I think!

[valerief]

102. Prefrontal cortex doesn't mature until age 25, so judgment doesn't mature until then.

Last edited Fri Oct 24, 2014, 11:48 AM - Edit history (2)

Permitting children to pose with killing machines is abominable. This is the stuff that feeds the ammosexual gun culture in America.

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is located in the very front of the brain, just behind the forehead. In charge of abstract thinking and thought analysis, it is also responsible for regulating behavior. This includes mediating conflicting thoughts, making choices between right and wrong, and predicting the probable outcomes of actions or events. This brain area also governs social control, such as suppressing emotional or sexual urges. Since the prefrontal cortex is the brain center responsible for taking in data through the body's senses and deciding on actions, it is most strongly implicated in human qualities like consciousness, general intelligence, and personality.

http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-the-prefrontal-cortex.htm

(edited to change develop to mature)

[GGJohn]

113. You mean like this guy?

[LostOne4Ever]

171. AUTOMATED MESSAGE: Results of your Jury Service

On Thu Oct 23, 2014, 03:26 PM an alert was sent on the following post:

You mean like this guy?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5704097

REASON FOR ALERT

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

ALERTER'S COMMENTS

This post responds to an excerpt from this article in post 102: http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-the-prefrontal-cortex.htm

So it's basically both right wing concern trolling and accusing Obama of having a weak brain.

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Thu Oct 23, 2014, 03:34 PM, and the Jury voted 3-4 to LEAVE IT.

Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Frivolous alert.
Juror #2 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #3 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #4 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Looks like a pic of Obama with a shotgun and nothing more to me..
Juror #5 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: If it made any sense, I'd vote to leave it but the insinuation that the President is a child? No point to that kind of post.
Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #7 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given

Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the future.

[B2G]

116. Congrats. You've just argued that half of our military personnel

shouldn't be armed.

This is what's called infantilism of our young people.

[valerief]

117. I agree. Military personnel should be age 25 or older. nt

[B2G]

120. Good luck with that.

What else should 'kids' from 18-25 not be allowed to do?

[valerief]

123. I think not allowing them to kill is enough for now. nt

[B2G]

128. So no military service until the age of 26

Is that what you're proposing?

[valerief]

131. Do you have a reading comprehension problem? nt

[B2G]

132. Just verifying I have your position correct

No need to get snippy, Val.

[hack89]

133. But they can consume alcohol? nt

[hack89]

126. So the drinking age should also be 25?

an immature brain and alcohol is a dangerous combination.

[Seeking Serenity]

134. Don't forget driving! We can't let people with no judgment,

such as 16-25 year-olds, operate a couple of thousand pounds of metal on our streets. Now THAT'S unsafe at any speed.

[d_r]

144. that isn't correct

" Prefrontal cortex doesn't develop until age 25, so judgment doesn't develop until then."


You might could say something like "development of the prefrontal cortext continues into young adulthood" and be correct, but there is a tremendous amount of development in this area of the brain during the preschool and early elementary school years.

[valerief]

193. You're right. It doesn't "mature" until age 25 or later. nt

[EX500rider]

176. So no voting till 26 either? Or sex? Or driving?

[aikoaiko]

228. It finishes developing by 25 and judgment exists prior to that.

Most people under 25 use good judgment most of the time.

[notrightatall]

104. If kids can get suspended for drawing a picture of a gun...

there is no reason to allow such pictures in a high school yearbook. Hell why not this one, then?

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QqAn6jRY748/UP906Z4OONI/AAAAAAAAMBw/4UJL1sLYx2E/s400/Gun+Nut+Article+for+Bell+of+Lost+Souls2.jpg




He's just highlighting his hobbies, music and gunz.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

109. Betcha' they don't have stupid zero tolerance laws, either :(

nt

[hunter]

107. I find the photos offensive and innappropriate.

Families can take any kind of portraits they like, frolicking in the lake at a nudist camp for all I care, but guns don't belong in a high school senior portrait.

[GGJohn]

114. Luckily they probably don't much care what you or others find offensive and innappropriate.

[hunter]

139. No worries, my feelings are not hurt.

Gun fetishes are simply incomprehensible to me.

I managed to escape picture days before I quit high school for college. On the last-last-chance picture day the office sent a pass to my classroom so I could get my picture taken for the yearbook. I used the pass to leave campus and go for a little walk. I'm in the "not pictured" section of the yearbook.

Actually, now that I think about it, High School itself was incomprehensible to me. I never managed to shed the "queerbait" nickname that I'd acquired in middle school. People would bump into me on purpose in the halls and say, "Get out of my way, queerbait," and other similar pleasantries.

If I'd actually attended my senior year and posed with a rifle for my senior portrait certain people might have been scared shitless.

Fortunately I've never liked guns.

Fire, on the other hand... I really want that "Girl on Fire" costume from Hunger Games. But with real fire. While holding a chainsaw. Yep. That would do it.

Or naked. Streaking was still a very popular prank when I was in high school.

[GGJohn]

140. Queerbait?

What kind of assholes would call you queerbait?
Ooops, never mind, I know what kind would.

My sympathies that you had to endure that bigoted crap, there's no excuse for it at all.

[EX500rider]

183. "Gun fetishes are simply incomprehensible to me."

Does the guy with his truck in the photo have a "truck fetish" also?

[hunter]

186. Yes.

[Jenoch]

207. Your posts on this thread make curious

about your user name. What's the deal with that?

[hunter]

229. It's my name.

I hunt for a lot of things too, even food sometimes, but I don't need a gun for that, especially since I'm vegetarian most days. My environmental footprint is smaller that way. It would be silly for me to rant about hunting for dinner if I'm not ranting about meat in the supermarket.

I'm not a stranger to gun culture but I've decided not to participate in it.

Mostly I don't believe teenagers ought to be forming their personal identities around dangerous objects like guns or cars. It's better they be mastering a musical instrument, cooking, or some other art.

Personally, as a teen I was building home brew rockets and computers. The sort of rockets I built were not something that I, as a parent, would approve of because a rocket becomes a bomb or unguided missile when things go wrong. Fortunately I didn't do any major damage to people or property, but a few times that was dumb luck. My kids, adult twenty-somethings now, simply didn't go in that direction.

My siblings and I were just as dangerous with guns, cars, and motorcycles. My kids only did idiot things with cars.

One can lecture teenagers about safety, deny them use of the family car or guns when they do something dangerous and stupid with them, but it's quite clear that high school kids are not yet fully developed and tend to act as if they are immortal.

[Travis_0004]

122. And the school board disagreed with you 6-0

Maybe it wouldnt work for your high school, but it seems like nobody in that town is complaining about it.

[hunter]

141. Columbine. Sandy Hook. How soon we forget...

[LanternWaste]

119. I think typing your title in all caps adds a certain sense of gravity and stolid reasoning to your p

I think typing your title in all caps is a rational decision which adds a certain sense of gravity and stolid reasoning to your position.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

124. Actually, I was trying to make sure those pics would get seen

by all those screaming in the other thread about the kids taking the guns to school.

Having teens, I knew immediately before I saw the photos what the photos would be like. And I also knew those pictures would NOT be taken at school.

My official position is - much ado about nothing.

[Renew Deal]

125. They are nice pictures for advertisements or stock photos

But I'm not sure they belong in the year book. Then again, what do you do with the pictures of the "Rifle Team"?

[azmom]

129. I only see white kids in the photos.

All blonde. What's up with that?

[hack89]

135. Nebraska is 90% white.

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/31000.html

[azmom]

143. That is really white.

[hack89]

146. Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire are the whitest states at 96%

In all, 10 states are more than 90 percent white, including the three northern New England states, West Virginia, Iowa, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Kentucky and North Dakota.

Maine tops the nation with 96.9 percent of its population described as white, while 96.7 percent of Vermont and 96 percent of New Hampshire are white, according to the census. All three were at least 98 percent white in the 1990 census.

Hawaii, Mississippi, Louisiana, Maryland and Georgia had the smallest percentage of whites, according to the census

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=93608

[azmom]

151. Was just reading up on Nebraska.

Republican and conservative. The school photos seem to propagate the stereotype.

[KinMd]

166. devils advocate would say the murder rate in NE

is lower than Democrat and liberal states

[azmom]

168. Well, I'm brown and

Let's just say I won't be going there to find out.

[EX500rider]

177. As is Arizona..

....about 89% white.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Arizona

[azmom]

187. True,

And it's republican and conservative. Even the brown people here seem to be republicans and conservative.

[Tikki]

130. Makes it easy to point out to my granddaughter photos with a guy's priority on display.

http://www.myhero.com/hero.asp?hero=teen_animal_rescue_AP



Tikki

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

136. Nice pic, but I bet that lab in the hunting photo is well loved

Ours always were, and the men all cried more than the women when they finally passed.

[Tikki]

137. The young man in the gun photo wants to be known as a hunter, the young man in the animal rescue

photo wants to be known as an advocate against animal cruelty.

Choices...I get to point out to my granddaughter the choices people make.


Tikki

[moondust]

142. Without my props I'm nobody!

Can't get no respect or nuthin. Wait'll they see my RPG!!

[99Forever]

147. Hooray for gun porn!

Last edited Thu Oct 23, 2014, 10:43 PM - Edit history (1)

[d_r]

148. People wonder why

southern folks, midwestern folks, rural folks don't support democrats, then they post nonsense like the stuff on this thread. They end up looking like silly city folks who are judgmental about what they don't understand, not like supposed open-minded people.

[Tikki]

152. Please don't assume we don't understand...The photo poses were chosen to support a lifestyle choice.

If they can afford the professional photos, ODDS are they aren't hunting daily for their food to stay alive.

People can hunt..they are going to do it. We know that. But by making that choice of photo
front and center it says: Please define me by my guns and my kills.

Tikki

[Jenoch]

154. Please tell me a place in the U.S. in which someone can

hunt daily for their food to stay alive.

[Tikki]

157. That has nothing to do with these photos. These young people and their families approve...

and pay for these photos. This is their choice. Some here will wear the latest fashion in the Senior photo
or wear the traditional formal wear.

These are choices. The gun photos depict the priority of a teenager at that time in his/her life.

I want to make sure that the young people I influence know that there are those who place that kind of lifestyle as a priority.
Tikki

[Jenoch]

184. Of course hunting is what these photos are about.

I was just attempting figure out what your point was about hunting daily for food. There is no such thing anywhere in the U.S.

[Tikki]

185. We have seen on DU often about how many have to hunt for their food.

I know this must be true to a certain extent.

I was pointing out that these High Students that posed and bought these photos are probably not
among those who need to hunt to eat.

They chose to hunt and probably eat some of their kill.

I pointed out that the photos are the way they want to be remembered at this time in their life, posing with their
weapon and their kill.

Tikki

[Jenoch]

192. Hunting is regulated in all 50 states.

Nobody is hunting dailly for their food. I still don't know why you are pointing out that it might be that these students wiuld go hungry if they did not hunt. I'm a hunter and we always eat our game. I made a big kettle of venison chilli last week that we will eat at our deer camp in November. I will also be making a venison bolognese, and venison taco filling.

[Tikki]

194. So you are saying...No one has to hunt for food!! Don't tell me, tell those here that remind us...

..often, that there are those who would starve if they couldn't hunt.


Tikki

[Jenoch]

197. I'm sorry Tikki,

your lack of understanding on this topic is shocking.

Many people hunt for food. I hunt for food. I'm saying it is not legal to hunt every single day during the year. For instance, deer hunting in Minnesota starts November 8th and runs for various lengths depending on where a person is hunting. Where I hunt it lasts until November 23rd. I can only shoot a buck with antlers longer than 2" because I did not win the lottery that would give me a tag to shoot an antlerless deer.

[Tikki]

204. I have no problem understanding...talk to those who say people must hunt for food or starve.

You are making my case for me...

The High School students who pose with their kill and guns are showing off their trophies...not their evening's meal.


Tikki

[Jenoch]

205. What exactly is your point here?

I am sure the meat from those two deer was not left in the field to rot. People do hunt for food to supplement their diet. I wrote a reply to you explaining what I am doing with the venison we harvested last deer season. In your earlier post you wrote that some people hunt daily. That is simply not true. It is against the law. If somebody is doing that, they poaching many days out of the year.

[Tikki]

206. How does this: 'ODDS are they aren't hunting daily for their food to stay alive'....turn into

me saying people hunt daily. It actually says the complete opposite.


Tikki

[Jenoch]

208. You brought up 'hunting daily'.

I told that NOBODY is doing that, at least not legally. What is your point about hunting anyway? Are you against hunting? If so, then say so. Just because somebody doesn't NEED to hunt in order to get enough to eat is a meaningless point it was ridiculous for you to introduce that into this thread.

As to these young people being identified as being part of the hunting culture and it will be in their yearbook forever, well duh, that's why they had the photos taken and submitted to the yearbook.

[Tikki]

213. In all honesty this goes back to a debate a while back here on whether there should be

Last edited Thu Oct 23, 2014, 09:47 PM - Edit history (1)

a limit on ammunition sold to an individual.

First responses where that people hunt for a living and there should be exceptions made for them.
The next response was that people hunt to feed their families and limiting their ammunition would mean
some would go hungry.

But you have posted that the limit on legal hunting prevents people from killing fresh meat for dinner
year around.

So I guess that means that nobody hunts for food year around.


Tikki

[Jenoch]

214. Do you happen to have a link to that thread?

I did not see it and would be interested in reading it.

(There are many people who do need to supplement their diet by hunting, but I'm still baffled what that has to do with these two boys and the girl.)

[Tikki]

220. I didn't save that discussion. It may have been in the gun forum.

I don't care if the High Schoolers hunt...I just wanted to point out to my granddaughter
that this is how some young people want to be defined at the time of their photos.

I would, also, point out to her a picture of a High School Goth or the kid dressed in Medieval garb
or a young man or a young woman dressed in a tuxedo.

This is a way to explain to her that these are the ways some people see themselves and want others to see them.

She'll get from it what she gets from it.

I am always challenging her to dialog.


Tikki

[Jenoch]

221. I think the medival and goth stuff is much more

weird and disturbing than the hunting related photos. The three photos attached to this story and thread are baseball, hotdogs, and apple pie when compared to goth.

[Tikki]

225. And this is really where we disagree.

To me a High School Goth or a Steampunk kid is working on a creative bent in their life.

Nearly all will certainly out grow the phase as they learn to take on other creative
endeavors. Some great art has come out of teenage angst....
Some may try cosplay or historical reenactment later.

I guess there could be ways to be a more creative hunter: build a sneakier blind or quicker trap, I suppose.

Truth is we all want to be validated and it isn't going to happen.

I would have rather seen the young man have his photo taken with a painting he drew of
a deer he saw in the wild....but, whatever.


Tikki

[Jenoch]

227. The mistake you are making is

that I believe you are putting these young hunters in the same category as youths, or youths who grow into adults, who end up committing crimes with guns. There is no reason to assume that. Just as there is no reason for me to assume that youths who are into goth grow up to be anti-social misfits who continue to die their hair black, get facial piercings, and work as a convenience store clerk into their 30s while horrifying their grandparents with their appearance and attitude.

[d_r]

173. I'm not assuming anyone

doesn't "understand," I am assuming that sometimes what is written sounds like it looks down on other people, it sounds like some think they are culturally superior.

[MattBaggins]

233. And those southern midwestern folks

are just as judgmental

[tridim]

149. If this is common, why is it news?

Seems like these young gun nuts are rubbing their gun nuttery in our faces, just because.

Fucking assholes.

[Jenoch]

155. Did you read the story?

It's not common and that school district recently voted to allow these sorts of photos in the yearbook. What makes these students gun nuts? How are they rubbing it in your face, do live in that small Nebraska town and have children in that high school?

[KinMd]

160. The school in question is in Broken Bow Ne

..they haven't had a murder in at least 10yrs

[Jenoch]

162. I'm still baffled as to why anyone would object to these photos.

The fact that a kid can be suspended for drawing an image that represents a gun is reason to get rid of the senseless zero tolerance policies and allow for some common sense. Those photos do not represent 'gun culture'. They represent those children and the fact that they like to hunt and/or shoot clay targets. (I did not see evidence of hunting in the photo of the young man with his shotgun and pickup, but I bet he hunts pheasants and waterfowl.)

[KinMd]

167. Also on farms they have guns to protect livestock from predators

[tridim]

172. Right. Leave the guns on the damn farm.

Don't be a dick and pose with your killing machines in your school yearbook.

How hard is that to understand?

[EX500rider]

180. "Don't be a dick and pose with your killing machines"

Lets see....number of rifles in the US...about 110 million rifles and 86 million shotguns.
Number of people shot by rifles every year...less then 400.

Not really good "killing machines" are they?

[Jenoch]

210. It appears that the young man

with the dog is on the farm with the rifle given to him by his grandfather, but I could be wrong.

[Tikki]

163. So...Los Altos Hill California...in a gun control State has not had a murder in a decade.

Lots of towns and cities have a low crime rate...guns lying around really have nothing to do with it.


Tikki

[KinMd]

165. I agree, my points was cause these kids pose with hunting rifles..

doesn't make them dangerous. If they had 9mm with extended clips I'd feel differently

[Tikki]

169. I never said they were dangerous. I said, this is the way these young people want to be defined...

It is a lifestyle choice and a priority.

We all need to remember that everyone is a responsible gun owner until the moment they are not.


Tikki

[Jenoch]

211. Your last statement is absolutely false.

There are many people who are legally barred from owning firearms who later acquire guns.

[tridim]

161. What makes them gun nuts?

How about posing for a school picture with their killing machines.

The school district who voted for this idiotic shit are assholes as well.

[Jenoch]

164. Read post #162.

So a kid posing for a senior yearbook photo holding a football and wearing a jersey is a football nut? A kid with her horse is a horse nut? That is bizarro logic.

[alp227]

178. But guns cause instant, sudden DEATHS much more than football and horses.

Along with the negative perception of guns that surround people whether the Open Carry Texas fools or the "Obama wants to take away your guns" conspiracy theories, you can't just compare guns with any other hobby.

[riverwalker]

189. if they were black

they would circulated around as evidence of being a "thug", as they did with Vonderrit Myers Jr., and others.

[Cali_Democrat]

230. ^^TRUTH^^....America is a racist nation. Double standard for blacks. nt

[Duckhunter935]

200. Good for them

Some nice pictures

[bigwillq]

224. ....

[NaturalHigh]

216. I don't see the big deal even if I don't really like them.

Last edited Thu Oct 23, 2014, 10:28 PM - Edit history (1)

Frankly I'm not big on hunting animals, and the heads freak me out. My kids haven't hunted or handled many firearms, so they would not want to pose with them. Different strokes, though. If these kids and their parents are okay with their yearbook pictures, I don't see why anyone else feels the need to sit in judgment.

[bigwillq]

223. ....

[LiberalElite]

219. I note the suffering Jesus in the Chevy logo -

?resize=1024%2C682

[MattBaggins]

234. Tackiest thing I have ever seen in my life

Using one's deity in corporate log?

[LeftyMom]

236. Lookit how clean that truck is. Ugh, there's nothing worse than affluent fake rednecks. nt

[GGJohn]

238. That's got to be the most idiotic statement yet,

and that took some doing considering some of the comments here.
It's just as possible that he washed his truck just for this photo.

[LeftyMom]

239. Washed, yes. But that thing's remarkably free of dents and scratches. It's not a working truck.

A high school kid driving around in a relatively new truck ($$$ to buy, $$$ for gas and upkeep) that serves as a fashion statement and not as a truck is an entitled dickhead. Very safe bet.

[GGJohn]

240. That doesn't prove a damn thing,

I've got a 1965 Chevrolet 4X4 pick up that's in beautiful shape, not a dent nor ding in it, yet I drive it every day, sometimes take it off road.
It is possible to have a vehicle in good condition and still use it as a working truck.
And why would it be a working truck? The kids in high school.
When I was in high school, loooooong time ago, I earned enough money to buy a 1966 Chevelle Super Sport that I kept in very good shape, maybe that's what this kid does also.

[LeftyMom]

242. Oh you're talking to the wrong girl.

Your truck is one year newer than mine. Mine looks brand fucking new at the moment because it just came back from the body shop (idiot family member took it for a ride through a fence) but before? Very straight body with a few little dings and even a bit of rust showing through those dings. A few small dents of the parking lot sort. Some serious rust in the floor pans until I fixed that shit. And mine's never left interior California. No salt, mild weather.

A 49 year old truck isn't pristine unless it's garaged and not used as a truck. Pull the other one.

[GGJohn]

244. I'm not pulling anything, I'm an old Chevy affectionado,

I keep my vehicles in good shape, and it's not garaged, the garage is for my classic chevys, a 1956 and a 1957 Chevy Nomad that are restored to factory specs, the truck is in my driveway under a car cover when not being driven, along with my wife's 2014 Challenger.

[GGJohn]

241. One other thing.

You can't even see the whole truck, so, how do you know there's no scratches or dents?
All I see is part of the back end of the truck and the rear window.

[LeftyMom]

243. Because that's where it gets fucked up fastest doing truck stuff.

Go look at trucks that get hard wear. Usually the top of the cab where lumber and weirdly shaped shit rubs looks like hell. The bed of that truck has a liner, but the top of the cargo box is pristine. No scratches in that decal even.

There's never anything of consequence in the back of that kid's truck.

I'm calling fake redneck and I stand by my call.

[GGJohn]

245. Stand by your call, but you're more than likely wrong.

What makes you think this is a work truck? The kid is just graduating High School, why would he have a work truck?
It's probably the truck he uses to go hunting, go to school, go out on the weekend, etc.
Truth is that you have no idea who or what he is, or what shape the truck is really in.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

248. And dickheads make statements like that. Safe bet.

You really don't know these kids. Many of these kids will have worked their asses off to earn that truck. You're talking about small town rural life, and like many teen boys, he probably cherishes his first set of wheels.

You know nothing about this kid except that he is white and lives in flyover country and you call him a dickhead.


Well, I never met a person who made such judgments based on such little information who wasn't himself a "dickhead."

[Warren DeMontague]

237. ANDY KAUFMAN IS NOT DEAD.

No, seriously. I mean, that picture has it all. The shirt, the overly serious profile shot complete with bad sideburns, The Jesus Chevy Truck....


It's really amazing. One could not plan a better parody of... whatever that is.

[MattBaggins]

231. Yet another thing white people can do

that blacks can not.

[JuliaJasmine]

247. So cute!

cute&lol