AZ Senator Is Idiot

[Ritterin Sophia]

HuffPo

Arizona state Sen. Lori Klein (R), a gun-rights champion, keeps a loaded raspberry-pink handgun in her purse, and during an interview with Arizona Republic reporter Richard Ruelas, she took it out and pointed it at him.

"Oh, it's so cute," Klein said, before aiming the gun at Ruelas's chest to show off the red beam of the laser sight. Klein's gun, a .380 Ruger, has no safety, but the senator assured Ruelas that he wasn't in danger.

"I just didn't have my hand on the trigger," she said.

Klein told the Arizona Republic that she owns a number of guns and has had "informal" training sessions on each of them, and that she was taught gun safety by her father.

Local gun activists have criticized Klein for pointing her gun at Ruelas, however.

Rob Mermelstein, the range master of the Phoenix Rod and Gun Club, told the Arizona Guardian, that Klein's actions were "unconscionable."

"Whoever would do something like that needs to have a better grounding in gun safety before ever laying a hand on a firearm," he said.
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The shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) on January 8 has reignited the national debate over gun control. President Barack Obama called for stronger gun laws in the wake of the shooting, and HuffPost's Sam Stein reported last week that the Obama administration is preparing to release a series of reforms in the near future.

According to the Daily Beast the changes will include:

- A national electronic system designed to make background checks for handgun buyers simpler and faster, leaving an electronic paper trail under a law named for Ronald Reagan's press secretary James Brady, who was wounded in the 1981 assassination attempt.

- A new reporting requirement that federally licensed gun shops report any person who tries to buy two long-arm weapons near the Mexican border over a five-day period.

- Tougher sentencing guidelines for straw buyers that Holder's department pushed through procedural hoops at the U.S. Sentencing Commission earlier this year.

In Arizona, Klein's handgun has become a symbol of the gun control debate, and while she supports those who want the right to carry guns, she says it's a personal choice that she isn't forcing on anyone.

"I don't like chocolate ice cream," she told the Arizona Republic. "Am I going to force you not to have any?"

Yep...

[Eleas]

If I were a pro-gun person living in Arizona right now, I'd be fucking livid.

[Chris OFarrell]

Um, ins't rule #1 around firearms to never point a loaded one at someone unless you are willing and probably needing to use it?

[Eleas]

Um, ins't rule #1 around firearms to never point a loaded one at someone unless you are willing and probably needing to use it?

You don't point a gun at someone regardless of whether it's loaded or not, because you treat a gun as if it's loaded at all times.

[Kamakazie Sith]

Um, ins't rule #1 around firearms to never point a loaded one at someone unless you are willing and probably needing to use it?

Depends on who you're asking. If you're asking the NRA then yes. If you ask Col. John Cooper then here is his answer; 1. All guns are always loaded. 2. Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy. 3. Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target. 4. Be sure of your target and what is beyond it.

The bottom line is this senator should have her gun taken away from her. Depending on the context of that encounter it wouldn't be difficult to charge her with aggravated assault.

[evilsoup]

What is the reasoning for allowing guns without safeties to the general public? I know, second amendment etc., but if you're going to have guns, surely safeties should be obligatory?

[Kamakazie Sith]

What is the reasoning for allowing guns without safeties to the general public? I know, second amendment etc., but if you're going to have guns, surely safeties should be obligatory?

Most likely because pro gun groups lobby like hell to prevent any legislation limiting what firearms can be purchased. Look at the latest protests against new laws designed to prevent people near the Mexico border from buying multiple rifles. In my opinion that is ridiculous to lobby against a law like that when it is well known that the guns used by drug cartels in mexico mostly come from the US.

[Ritterin Sophia]

What is the reasoning for allowing guns without safeties to the general public? I know, second amendment etc., but if you're going to have guns, surely safeties should be obligatory?

New model LCPs come with safeties and there's been a recall since '09 to have all pre-recall weapons retrofitted with a safety, because the gun failed it's drop test. The gun also has a very hefty trigger pull of 8lbs.

[[R_H]]

What is the reasoning for allowing guns without safeties to the general public? I know, second amendment etc., but if you're going to have guns, surely safeties should be obligatory?

Because even a safety doesn't necessarily mean the weapon is "safe". Like the Remington 700, for example.

[Crossroads Inc.]

Yeah I know this State Senator well, she was one of the biggest proponents of wanting to let Arizona's carry Concealed Weapons on college campuses.
Yeah I shit you not on that.

Really something like this should be considered a crime "Reckless Endangerment" perhaps. But it isn't too surprising from this Nut. She has a long history of saying incredibly stupid stuff.

Really it is just further proof of my personal belief that the far right is not actually FOR anything but only AGAINST other things.

They are Anti abortion, not Pro life.
They are Anti taxes, not Pro fiscal responsibility.
They are Anti gun laws, and not Pro guns.

Basically if they really were "For" things, they would understand that, with Life aside from being against the death penalty, they would understand the importance of condoms and sex ed in avoiding unwanted pregnancy that cause abortions. If they were really for fiscal responsibility, they would understand the importance of spending cuts AND Revenue increases. And as for guns, even the most vehement gun owner should realize that basic gun safety is vitally important.

[Sea Skimmer]

What is the reasoning for allowing guns without safeties to the general public? I know, second amendment etc., but if you're going to have guns, surely safeties should be obligatory?

A safety means nothing as far as gun safety goes. Thinking about it that way is just wrong and will lead to more fuckups, not less. The only real valid point of a safety is to make the gun less likely to fire if you drop it.

[[R_H]]

What is the reasoning for allowing guns without safeties to the general public? I know, second amendment etc., but if you're going to have guns, surely safeties should be obligatory?

A safety means nothing as far as gun safety goes. Thinking about it that way is just wrong and will lead to more fuckups, not less. The only real valid point of a safety is to make the gun less likely to fire if you drop it.

This.

Here in Switzerland two guys (one was the shooter and a friend of the dead man, the other had supervised them at the range) were recently charged with negligence, after a third man was killed by an accidental discharge.

The weapon which killed the third man was cleared as "safe" by the guy supervising them, but there was still a round in the chamber. On their way home from the range, the two friends were horsing around, the selector went from SAFE to fire, the trigger was pulled and then the deceased was fatally wounded.

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

Um, ins't rule #1 around firearms to never point a loaded one at someone unless you are willing and probably needing to use it?

<snark>Well, dontcha know that reporters are the most dangerous thing to a Republican? Why, she must've felt threatened that he might do something as inconvenient as report the truth, or something.</snark>

But, yes, the first rule is to always assume a gun is loaded unless you have personally verified that it is not. This applies to unloaded guns that you've left in a completely empty room for even a split second, because you just never know when the Negligent Discharge Fairy is going to sneak a round into the chamber (she typically strikes that one time you've forgotten to check.) The second rule is to never point a gun at anything you aren't willing to destroy.

What is the reasoning for allowing guns without safeties to the general public? I know, second amendment etc., but if you're going to have guns, surely safeties should be obligatory?

First, because it is as others have said . . . the usual dedicated safety is there to prevent the accidental discharge of a fully-cocked weapon, as a fully-cocked weapon with a safety lever only requires the 2 - 4 pounds of a single-action trigger to discharge. Second, because the usual collection of safety buttons, safety levers, and safety switches that aren't expressly designed to prevent the accidental discharge of a fully-cocked weapon are all aimed at making sure you're not firing a cocked weapon until your hand is grasping the weapon properly.

Arguably a safety switch makes a weapon less-safe, not more safe, since it encourages so-called "cocked-and-locked" carry (i.e. the hammer is in the ready-to-fire position, a round is in the chamber, and the only thing stopping it is the safety switch. And like any mechanical device, they can, and occasionally do, break.)

The weapon carried by Senator Nincompoop is double-action only, which means that trigger must cock the weapon and then release the striker (unlike a single-action trigger, whose sole purpose is to release the striker or hammer.) Ergo, it has to overcome the force of the spring that drives the striker (which is why a ~10 ounce gun has an eight pound trigger pull.) The long, heavy, trigger pull is a kind of safety device all by itself; since the gun has to be braced in your hand for you to be able to exert the necessary force to fire it. Which does not, in any way, ameliorate Senator Shit-for-brains' actions, as they are those of a woman with a callous disregard for the lives of others.

[Shroom Man 777]

Most revolvers don't have safeties aside from pulling the hammer back and un-pulling (uncocking?) the hammer. Sig Sauers also don't have safeties, but use de-cockers, which itself is in a way a safety (since to fire your decocked gun when it is chambered, you have to either cock it again or fire it double-action which will require a harder squeeze of the triger).

I think I would feel safer with a chambered but decocked Sig rather than a chambered and "safetied" gun with the hammer still pulled back.

[Atlan]

The only real gun safety is between your ears.

This senator doesn't have enough inbetween her ears for it to be an effective gun safety. In fact, there is so little between her ears that you can see daylight on the other side.

[DPDarkPrimus]

Really it is just further proof of my personal belief that the far right is not actually FOR anything but only AGAINST other things.

They are Anti abortion, not Pro life.
They are Anti taxes, not Pro fiscal responsibility.
They are Anti gun laws, and not Pro guns.

Personally, I prefer "Anti-choice" for people who oppose abortions.

[Eulogy]

The only real gun safety is between your ears.

This senator doesn't have enough inbetween her ears for it to be an effective gun safety. In fact, there is so little between her ears that you can see daylight on the other side.

She's lucky the reporter didn't blow her away in self-defense. Her False Analogy only shows just how stupid and callous the bitch is; ice cream is not nearly as lethal as a gun is, and the consequences for misusing ice cream is far less severe than firearms are.

Personally, I prefer "Anti-choice" for people who oppose abortions.

There's also pro-misery, pro-misogyny, pro-poverty, pro-crime, and pro-overpopulation. These terms describe them as being for clearly bad things, and are much more honest as well.

[General Mung Beans]

There's also pro-misery, pro-misogyny, pro-poverty, pro-crime, and pro-overpopulation. These terms describe them as being for clearly bad things, and are much more honest as well.

While I don't want the thread to go OT into abortion, this is just erhm....

[Broomstick]

Um, ins't rule #1 around firearms to never point a loaded one at someone unless you are willing and probably needing to use it?

I was taught never to point even an UNloaded gun at someone. Because mistakes and misunderstanding can happen. Just make it a habit never to point a gun unless it's at something you want a hole in.

[Terralthra]

Rule 1 is always treat a gun as if it is loaded.
Rule 2 is never point a loaded gun at something unless you are willing to destroy it. If you are sure your gun is unloaded, see Rule 1.

[Vanejin]

Arizona Republican Sen. Lori Klein allegedly aimed a filled pistol at the upper body of Arizona Republic media reporter Richard Ruelas, states the Arizona Guardian. A laser sight was apparently centered on Ruelas' upper body, and the safety was off, according to states. I read this here: Arizona Sen. Lori Klein points loaded .380 Ruger at reporter