Gun control yard sign

[Jenn]

I've seen this one before, but I can't find it here:

Comment: Ralph, My neighbor is a "lefty" of sorts (Obama bumper stickers,
gung-ho socialized medicine, "guns should be banned", etc.). So last week
I put this sign up in my yard after one of his anti-gun rants at a neighborhood
cocktail party.

The sign wasn't up more than an hour before he called the police and
wanted them to make me take down the sign.

Fortunately, the officer politely informed him that it was not their job to
take such action without a court order and that he had to file a complaint
"downtown" first, which would be reviewed by the city attorney to see if
it violated any city, county, or state ordinances, which if there was a
violation a court order would be sent to the offending party (me) to
"remove the sign in seven days".

After several weeks he was informed that the sign was legal (by a
quarter of an inch) and there was nothing the city could do, which
obviously made him madder.

I tried to smooth things over by inviting him to go shooting with me and
my friends at the hunt club but that seemed to make him even more
angry. I then asked him if he wanted to go to a Tea Party rally but again
he declined my outreach efforts to bring about a better understanding
between political and social opponents.

I am at a loss how to reconcile our long relationship (notice I did not say
friendship), any suggestions would be welcome.

Anyway, that's life in our neck of the woods, how's about yours?

[Troodon]

I think that the sign is edited in; it's an exact rectangle, to the pixel.

[rockland6674]

If I had a beautifully manicured lawn like that, I wouldn't want to deface it by pounding an ugly-ass sign into it. YMMV, of course.

I agree that the sign looks edited-in.

[Eddylizard]

I tried to smooth things over by inviting him to go shooting with me and
my friends at the hunt club

Is this the smartest way of happying up someone with a strong anti-gun stance? Wouldn't taking him out for a couple of beers or inviting hime over for a pizza have been a better notion?

[Chloe]

I wouldn't care if my neighbor put up that sign. I doubt it would raise by chances of being burgled one iota.

I might put up one that says, "My neighbor will be on vacation April 6-20 and has a valuable collection of firearms" though.

[Mama Duck]

Originally Posted by Eddylizard

Is this the smartest way of happying up someone with a strong anti-gun stance? Wouldn't taking him out for a couple of beers or inviting hime over for a pizza have been a better notion?

You're asking for a lot of rationality for what is essentially a photoshop troll. The sign has tell-tale pixel markings around the edges. Photoshop. I will also add that people who write these sort of missives from the safety of their computer are almost never as aggressive in real likfe. Occassionally, they're also more rational or at least fake it better. So it's likely gun nut's neighbor has no idea what gun nut's stance on gun control is.

[Eddylizard]

Yeah I realised we'd tossed the photo out of the window; I was just making fun of the writer.

[ParaDiddle]

Originally Posted by Eddylizard

Is this the smartest way of happying up someone with a strong anti-gun stance? Wouldn't taking him out for a couple of beers or inviting hime over for a pizza have been a better notion?

I'm very much pro gun control, but I'd have gone shooting. Especially if somebody was bringing something automatic. Oh, just let me get my hands on one of those mini-guns and watch my inner conservative emerge!


- P

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by Eddylizard

Is this the smartest way of happying up someone with a strong anti-gun stance? Wouldn't taking him out for a couple of beers or inviting hime over for a pizza have been a better notion?

I think that was meant as deliberate passive aggression.

[quink]

See, I'm a lefty libreral commusocialist canuck, and I'd have taken the offer to go shooting. The thing is, even though the gun culture scares me and I really don't think we need to turn downtown streets into a scene from a bad western, I actually quite enjoy shooting as a sport.

[Skeptic]

Originally Posted by Eddylizard

Is this the smartest way of happying up someone with a strong anti-gun stance? Wouldn't taking him out for a couple of beers or inviting hime over for a pizza have been a better notion?

I'm in a gun club in Australia, and as part of my license I must attend a safety and legality lecture (day long). But the comment was made by the lecturer that we should invite those not keen, or even opposed to guns, to the club so that they could see we weren't all bullet blasting yobbos, and that shooting is a legitimate sport.

But I should point out that owning a gun for personal protection is not a permitted reason to own here, and will be knocked back with very few exceptions, such as cash transit drivers and some security guards.

One of the requirements here for weapons is that you must not advertise the fact that you own them. They must be stored in a safe out of sight. Transport must be in locked unmarked metal boxes. Putting up such a sign here would get you a visit from the boys in blue (or brown) who might confiscate them until you come to your senses.

[Eddylizard]

I take that that might be a good idea, but if the neighbours had fallen out so badly over gun control wouldn't it be a good idea to "build bridges" first by inviting the neighbour over for a coffee or something a couple of times then politely slip into the conversation "Hey Ralph, I know you don't much care for guns, but why don't you come down to the gun club with us next Saturday and see what we get up to? If you are still opposed we'll agree to disagree." rather than making the invitation to go shooting the first attempt at appeasement?

[Troberg]

I find it a bit amusing that the left/right stance on the gun control issue is reversed here. Here, the left are more pro-gun, as a way to establish a more balanced capacity for violence between the citizens and the state, while the right want a stronger state and is opposed to private ownership of guns (unless you are rich).

Originally Posted by Skeptic

But I should point out that owning a gun for personal protection is not a permitted reason to own here, and will be knocked back with very few exceptions, such as cash transit drivers and some security guards.

Same here. You are not even allowed a gun if you are under a direct threat, they are only for hunting and sports target shooting.

Personally, I feel that the main reason to own a gun is not to defend yourself, you just up the ante if you bring guns into that game. The main reason is that you can protect your country from becoming a dictatorship. A well armed population will discourage would be dictators from trying, and could depose them if they do try. By breaking the government monopoly on violence, you put the people back in control.

[Errata]

Originally Posted by Eddylizard

Is this the smartest way of happying up someone with a strong anti-gun stance? Wouldn't taking him out for a couple of beers or inviting hime over for a pizza have been a better notion?

And the backup plan was attending a tea party rally. Gosh, he just did everything possible to try to mend their relationship, short of, you know, taking down the sign or suggesting doing anything together that the other person wouldn't hate.

I agree that this story doesn't ring true even without the bad photoshop. It just reads like fantasy glurge from a jagoff. And really, how hard would it be to make a real sign, even if the story was fake? Perhaps too timid to risk anyone seeing it even long enough to photograph it, or maybe their mom's trailer isn't very photogenic.