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Ban human paper targets

Venator

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Am I the only one that finds the increasing prohibition on using paper human silhouette targets at pubic and private ranges troubling?. Oh except for the police.

The DNR has banned them from their ranges. Direct calls of concern to DNR range supervisorat 517-641-4903 ext. 225. They will allow game animals, (which many people would object to.) but no pictures of non-game animals are allowed. That means you can't shoot at a picture of a kittenor a dogor a condor ...well you get the idea. After talking withthe DNR range supervisorhe stated the only reason that they are banned is for political correctness. He directed me to his boss Dennis Fox, DNR supervisor for Recruitment and Retention Programs 517-373-6714.


Massachusetts actually banned the use of human paper targets. Except LEO use. These target help those that use them to simulate a real encounter with a criminal. They work or LEO's wouldn't be using them. What we have is another privilege to LEO's, a dangerous one, since the politically correct think it's OK for the police to shoot people but a no LEO can't, what message does that send? POLICE STATE.

I guess I really find this frustrating and a bit scary, maybe it's justme.


[align=center]Massachusetts Morality -- Part II
by
Larry Pratt

In a previous column, I wrote about an unbelievably stupid law in Massachusetts which says that state-licensed gun clubs "shall not permit shooting at targets that depict human figures, human effigies, human silhouettes or any human images thereof, except by public safety personnel performing in line with their official duties." Violation of this law could result in revocation of a club's license and a fine of no less than $1,000 and no more than $10,000.
[/align]
Two enthusiastic supporters of this ludicrous legislation are State Rep. Christopher Hodgkins -- who sponsored it -- and feminist attorney Gloria Allred.

In an interview, Hodgkins says: "We don't believe it's necessary to shoot at any human effigy at all.... Why do we want people to be experts -- other than law enforcement personnel and those involved in Olympic sports -- to be able to have a bull's-eye on somebody's forehead or heart?" In other words, why should any private individuals learn to shoot effectively at human beings? The obvious answer: Because the police cannot protect everybody, because, sometimes, private individuals have to use deadly force against other human beings.

Q: But, what's wrong with shooting at paper images of Osama bin Laden, Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot or Mao Tse-tung?

Hodgkins: I just don't think we should be shooting at any effigy at a certified public range at all.

Q: Why not?

A: Because I don't think it promotes public safety. That's my opinion.

Regarding the silly view of Massachusetts' Acting Governor Jane Swift that shooting at paper targets of humans promotes shooting at real humans, Hodgkins is asked: "But, shouldn't some humans be shot at, like those breaking into your home when you think your life is threatened?" He replies: "I'll stand by what I said and am not going to go any further."

On the Fox Cable TV program Hannity & Colmes (8/20/02), Gloria Allred voiced her strong support for this Massachusetts law agreeing with those who have said "the only purpose of [shooting at] the image of a human is to target a human.... It's for possible assassination." She adds, incoherently: "I'm saying we don't need more Columbines."

Previously, on the Cable News Network program Crossfire (4/28/99), Allred said:
I feel very strongly about the handguns; I'd prefer not to see any kinds of handguns available to children. I'd like to see no handguns in the home.... all guns should have child safety locks on them. I think they should be locked up. I think that no child should have access to a handgun. I think if a parent allows access to a handgun of any kind of a child for any reason, then I think that parent should be subject to criminal prosecution.

In an interview, Allred is asked about her preposterous statement that the "only purpose" of shooting at a paper image of a person is to target a real human. She replies: "Well, yeah. What other purpose could there be? Why not use a duck? -- [though] I'm not saying they should use a duck."

Q: But, some people should be shot at, shouldn't they?

A: It depends on the circumstances, you know, if it's reasonable self-defense.

Q: But, the law you support bans, at licensed ranges, shooting at images of any human beings!

Well, says Allred, this is "a whole different discussion" she doesn't want "to get mired down in." But, no, she would not favor legalizing targets of certain people because "once you okay certain people this will expand to other people."

Q: So, you would say, with a straight face, that you really would object to shooting at an image of Osama bin Laden, Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot?

A: You know, I don't want to get into the -- you know, the criminal de jour, you know.... I don't want to get into the content, which humans it's okay to shoot and which it is not.

Q: But, the law you support does get into content! At licensed ranges, it outlaws shooting at any images that are human. This regulates content. And were you serious when on Crossfire you said there should be no handguns in homes?

A: That would be nice.

Q: Why would this be nice? Surveys show that perhaps as many as 2.5 million Americans every year use guns in self-defense?

A: There have been many, many, many children injured and killed by guns in the home.

Q: But, there have been many, many, many more guns used by people in self-defense than there have been guns that killed or injured children.

A: I'm not going to get into the battle of statistics.

Too late. Allred has already been in this battle. She loses.

When told about the horrible slaughter in California (her home state), where two Carpenter family children were murdered by a maniac with a pitchfork, and one young family member was prevented from getting the gun in the house to defend them because the law required it to be locked up, Allred asks: "So, you're trying to tell me guns shouldn't be locked up away from children?"

Well, actually, Gloria, what you were being told was that because of laws you favor, two Carpenter children were murdered! But, you had nothing to say about this other than to ask a rhetorical question.

Q: Do you want to outlaw handguns?

A: I'm for gun control.

When told that the most detailed study to date of the Brady Law -- a study published in the Journal Of The American Medical Association -- showed that this "gun control" law has had no appreciable or detectable effect in reducing crimes committed by people with guns, she says: "It needs to be expanded then"!

Wonderful! So, a "gun control" law doesn't work. The solution? Expand it! Truly, Allred's view here is a perfect example of what the philosopher George Santayana meant when he said: "Fanaticism consists in redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim."

Q: Seriously, name one gun control law that ever worked, that ever reduced crimes committed by people using guns.

A: I think you should call Handgun Control and they can give you all that.

Well, thanks but no thanks. Been there, done that. And they can't say either.
 

azebolsky

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This one is scary. Now I can agree, shooting people is bad, and kids shooting kids is bad, but I absolutely can NOT abide someone telling me what's ok to use for target practice. :cuss:

*S*
 

Scooter123

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What I have to wonder about is, would Mx. Allred change her opinion it she were attacked by some maniac with a pitchfork?

As for banning effigy targets, maybe we shoud pass some laws that require anyone convicted of a violent crime to always wear clothing that features illustrated target zones. If they want us to only shoot bulleyes, then make the damn crimals wear bulleyes.
 

JeffSayers

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So if these people had their way we would be staking the lives of ourselves, our families, our neighbors and our country on our superior training of shooting dart guns at coffee cans after receiving a permit to do so and under direct supervision of Uncle Sam?
 

PT111

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Most SC CWP classes require shooting at a human size target for qualification and most use pictrues of someone. I think Osama or Nancy Pelosie pictures would make me shoot better.
 

smellslikemichigan

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PT111 wrote:
Most SC CWP classes require shooting at a human size target for qualification and most use pictrues of someone. I think Osama or Nancy Pelosie pictures would make me shoot better.
then people like you are the reason human profile targets are banned at most places. shooting a human silhouette is not to be taken lightly. and certainly, one should never shoot at a picture of another human being. human profiles should be used as practice for real-world scenarios in which one is called upon to defend himself, his family or the innocent. it's not even funny to joke about shooting a politician. and certainly not in a public forum like this. the anti's will point to ignorant posts like yours and say, "see, that's why we need to take away their guns!"
 

smellslikemichigan

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Venator wrote:
but no pictures of non-game animals are allowed. That means you can't shoot at a picture of a kittenor a dogor a condor ...well you get the idea.
what if you painted a little white foam around the mouth of the kitten to show that it was rabid. then it would be legal.:D
 

45-ACP

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smellslikemichigan wrote:
Venator wrote:
but no pictures of non-game animals are allowed. That means you can't shoot at a picture of a kittenor a dogor a condor ...well you get the idea.
what if you painted a little white foam around the mouth of the kitten to show that it was rabid. then it would be legal.:D
/ROFL.................. come on now isn's it gettin just plain silly to ban targets , what next we gonna throw cotton balls at brick walls.......that way we don't hurt our selves and every one feels good they didn't miss the wall
 

PT111

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smellslikemichigan wrote:
PT111 wrote:
Most SC CWP classes require shooting at a human size target for qualification and most use pictrues of someone. I think Osama or Nancy Pelosie pictures would make me shoot better.
then people like you are the reason human profile targets are banned at most places. shooting a human silhouette is not to be taken lightly. and certainly, one should never shoot at a picture of another human being. human profiles should be used as practice for real-world scenarios in which one is called upon to defend himself, his family or the innocent. it's not even funny to joke about shooting a politician. and certainly not in a public forum like this. the anti's will point to ignorant posts like yours and say, "see, that's why we need to take away their guns!"

So it is fine in this furum to call the police the po-po, jack booted thugs, lickspittle, doughnut cravers and encourage everyone to start repeating "Am I being detained" before the police even ask you to roll down your winddow on a traffic stop for going 25 MPH over the speed limit. But the cause of people banning guns is shooting a picure of nancy Pelosi. You are correct in that this is a screwed up country.

How about if I just take your avatar and blow it up to full size to use for target practice?
 

smellslikemichigan

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PT111 wrote:
smellslikemichigan wrote:
PT111 wrote:
Most SC CWP classes require shooting at a human size target for qualification and most use pictrues of someone.  I think Osama or Nancy Pelosie pictures would make me shoot better.
then people like you are the reason human profile targets are banned at most places.  shooting a human silhouette is not to be taken lightly.  and certainly, one should never shoot at a picture of another human being.  human profiles should be used as practice for real-world scenarios in which one is called upon to defend himself, his family or the innocent.  it's not even funny to joke about shooting a politician.  and certainly not in a public forum like this.  the anti's will point to ignorant posts like yours and say, "see, that's why we need to take away their guns!"

So it is fine in this furum to call the police the po-po, jack booted thugs, lickspittle, doughnut cravers and encourage everyone to start repeating "Am I being detained" before the police even ask you to roll down your winddow on a traffic stop for going 25 MPH over the speed limit.  But the cause of people banning guns is shooting a picure of nancy Pelosi.  You are correct in that this is a screwed up country.

How about if I just take your avatar and blow it up to full size to use for target practice?

that's rather poor attempt at deflecting from the real issue here. i don't think anyone else here is suggesting shooting at pictures of public officials except you. and while i don't use them, nicknames for police are harmless. i assure you that if anyone is going to get their door kicked in, it will be those who practice shooting at pictures of politicians and not those who call people names.
feel free to do whatever you like with my avatar, up to, and including, blowing it up to poster size and taping it on your bedroom wall.
 

PT111

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I thought you argument was about public perception. If you don't think that the attitudeof way some on here, whether right or wrong, give the anti gun folks ammunition then I don't know what to say. Nicknames may be harmless but to call all police lickspittle on cow dung is not going to win you any friends with the anti gun crowd and certainly not with me. I would not defend the few on here tha constantly refer topolice as that eve if Osama Bin laden was torturing them. Just my opinion.
 

Venator

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smellslikemichigan wrote:
PT111 wrote:
Most SC CWP classes require shooting at a human size target for qualification and most use pictrues of someone. I think Osama or Nancy Pelosie pictures would make me shoot better.
then people like you are the reason human profile targets are banned at most places. shooting a human silhouette is not to be taken lightly. and certainly, one should never shoot at a picture of another human being. human profiles should be used as practice for real-world scenarios in which one is called upon to defend himself, his family or the innocent. it's not even funny to joke about shooting a politician. and certainly not in a public forum like this. the anti's will point to ignorant posts like yours and say, "see, that's why we need to take away their guns!"
Well we disagree again. It's along the line of flag burning. Some hate it, and others recognize the fact that both paper targets and flags are just symbols of things real and imagined. Making a political statement is a right as much as firearm ownership. Take the "EMOTION" out of it and in the end a flag is nylon and a targetis paper, you can destroy both, but the Country still survives andso does the living thing symbolized on the paper.
 

smellslikemichigan

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PT111 wrote:
I thought you argument was about public perception.  If you don't think that the attitude of way some on here, whether right or wrong, give the anti gun folks ammunition then I don't know what to say.  Nicknames may be harmless but to call all police lickspittle on cow dung is not going to win you any friends with the anti gun crowd and certainly not with me.  I would not defend the few on here tha constantly refer topolice as that eve if Osama Bin laden was torturing them.  Just my opinion.
this issue goes back to firearms safety day one, whether it's what Dad, the NRA or the Marine Corps taught us. never point a weapon at anything you do not intend to shoot. while an image is not the same as the actual object or person, the reason we shoot at profile targets is because someday we may have to defend ourselves against another human being. the same goes for shooting at wildlife targets that you intend to hunt. if you shoot at a picture of nancy pelosi, does that mean that someday you intend to shoot her?
 

smellslikemichigan

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Venator wrote:
smellslikemichigan wrote:
PT111 wrote:
Most SC CWP classes require shooting at a human size target for qualification and most use pictrues of someone.  I think Osama or Nancy Pelosie pictures would make me shoot better.
then people like you are the reason human profile targets are banned at most places.  shooting a human silhouette is not to be taken lightly.  and certainly, one should never shoot at a picture of another human being.  human profiles should be used as practice for real-world scenarios in which one is called upon to defend himself, his family or the innocent.  it's not even funny to joke about shooting a politician.  and certainly not in a public forum like this.  the anti's will point to ignorant posts like yours and say, "see, that's why we need to take away their guns!"
Well we disagree again.  It's along the line of flag burning.  Some hate it, and others recognize the fact that both paper targets and flags are just symbols of things real and imagined.  Making a political statement is a right as much as firearm ownership.  Take the "EMOTION" out of it and in the end a flag is nylon and a target is paper, you can destroy both, but the Country still survives and so does the living thing symbolized on the paper.
i'm not saying that shooting pictures of politicians or burning flags should be illegal or banned. and i definitely think human profile targets are harmless. i'm just questioning the intelligence and mental state of someone who would shoot at a picture of an elected official.
 

Venator

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smellslikemichigan wrote:
Venator wrote:
smellslikemichigan wrote:
PT111 wrote:
Most SC CWP classes require shooting at a human size target for qualification and most use pictrues of someone. I think Osama or Nancy Pelosie pictures would make me shoot better.
then people like you are the reason human profile targets are banned at most places. shooting a human silhouette is not to be taken lightly. and certainly, one should never shoot at a picture of another human being. human profiles should be used as practice for real-world scenarios in which one is called upon to defend himself, his family or the innocent. it's not even funny to joke about shooting a politician. and certainly not in a public forum like this. the anti's will point to ignorant posts like yours and say, "see, that's why we need to take away their guns!"
Well we disagree again. It's along the line of flag burning. Some hate it, and others recognize the fact that both paper targets and flags are just symbols of things real and imagined. Making a political statement is a right as much as firearm ownership. Take the "EMOTION" out of it and in the end a flag is nylon and a targetis paper, you can destroy both, but the Country still survives andso does the living thing symbolized on the paper.
i'm not saying that shooting pictures of politicians or burning flags should be illegal or banned. and i definitely think human profile targets are harmless. i'm just questioning the intelligence and mental state of someone who would shoot at a picture of an elected official.
Fair enough, you realize that shooting paper targetsis not the same as shooting a real person, if it was many video games would be banned, where kids shoot at images of people with graphic detail. Are they likely to go and kill the people that are portrayed in the game? There is no solid evidence that this is the case.
 

Venator

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smellslikemichigan wrote:
PT111 wrote:
I thought you argument was about public perception. If you don't think that the attitudeof way some on here, whether right or wrong, give the anti gun folks ammunition then I don't know what to say. Nicknames may be harmless but to call all police lickspittle on cow dung is not going to win you any friends with the anti gun crowd and certainly not with me. I would not defend the few on here tha constantly refer topolice as that eve if Osama Bin laden was torturing them. Just my opinion.
this issue goes back to firearms safety day one, whether it's what Dad, the NRA or the Marine Corps taught us. never point a weapon at anything you do not intend to shoot. while an image is not the same as the actual object or person, the reason we shoot at profile targets is because someday we may have to defend ourselves against another human being. the same goes for shooting at wildlife targets that you intend to hunt. if you shoot at a picture of nancy pelosi, does that mean that someday you intend to shoot her?
Your first sentenceis certainly true, but your argument isn't. It's a long stretch to compare an image of a person to the real thing. Your last sentence is absurd. I shoot at targets of dinosaurs, does that mean I will go and hunt one? I have seen targets of all sorts of things realand imagined, does thatmean I will shoot them? I'm not following ya.
 

smellslikemichigan

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Venator wrote:
smellslikemichigan wrote:
Venator wrote:
smellslikemichigan wrote:
PT111 wrote:
Most SC CWP classes require shooting at a human size target for qualification and most use pictrues of someone.  I think Osama or Nancy Pelosie pictures would make me shoot better.
then people like you are the reason human profile targets are banned at most places.  shooting a human silhouette is not to be taken lightly.  and certainly, one should never shoot at a picture of another human being.  human profiles should be used as practice for real-world scenarios in which one is called upon to defend himself, his family or the innocent.  it's not even funny to joke about shooting a politician.  and certainly not in a public forum like this.  the anti's will point to ignorant posts like yours and say, "see, that's why we need to take away their guns!"
Well we disagree again.  It's along the line of flag burning.  Some hate it, and others recognize the fact that both paper targets and flags are just symbols of things real and imagined.  Making a political statement is a right as much as firearm ownership.  Take the "EMOTION" out of it and in the end a flag is nylon and a target is paper, you can destroy both, but the Country still survives and so does the living thing symbolized on the paper.
i'm not saying that shooting pictures of politicians or burning flags should be illegal or banned. and i definitely think human profile targets are harmless. i'm just questioning the intelligence and mental state of someone who would shoot at a picture of an elected official.
Fair enough, you realize that shooting paper targets is not the same as shooting a real person, if it was many video games would be banned, where kids shoot at images of people with graphic detail.  Are they likely to go and kill the people that are portrayed in the game?  There is no solid evidence that this is the case.
that's true, they probably aren't going to shoot the people in the games in the real world. but then again, they are using a plastic controller and not a firearm with live rounds. i think my comparison between human profile and animal targets still holds water when you consider the mindset behind shooting at those style targets is preparation for shooting a human or animal. playing a video game is not practice or preparation for shooting anything.
 

smellslikemichigan

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Venator wrote:
smellslikemichigan wrote:
PT111 wrote:
I thought you argument was about public perception.  If you don't think that the attitude of way some on here, whether right or wrong, give the anti gun folks ammunition then I don't know what to say.  Nicknames may be harmless but to call all police lickspittle on cow dung is not going to win you any friends with the anti gun crowd and certainly not with me.  I would not defend the few on here tha constantly refer topolice as that eve if Osama Bin laden was torturing them.  Just my opinion.
this issue goes back to firearms safety day one, whether it's what Dad, the NRA or the Marine Corps taught us. never point a weapon at anything you do not intend to shoot. while an image is not the same as the actual object or person, the reason we shoot at profile targets is because someday we may have to defend ourselves against another human being. the same goes for shooting at wildlife targets that you intend to hunt. if you shoot at a picture of nancy pelosi, does that mean that someday you intend to shoot her?
Your first sentence is certainly true, but your argument isn't.  It's a long stretch to compare an image of a person to the real thing.  Your last sentence is absurd.  I shoot at targets of dinosaurs, does that mean I will go and hunt one?  I have seen targets of all sorts of things real and imagined, does that mean I will shoot them?  I'm not following ya.
shooting at a dinosaur target is amusing and appropriate behaviour, as such. but there is nothing amusing about shooting at someone's picture. (i would hunt a dinosaur if i could find one, wouldn't you?)
 
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