• Anything ‘published’ on the web is viewed as intellectual property and, regardless of whether it displays a copyright symbol or not, is therefore copyrighted by the originator. The only exception to this is if there is a “free and unrestricted reuse” statement associated with the work.

    In order to protect our members and TFL from possible litigation, all members must abide by the following new rules:

    1. Copying and pasting entire articles from another site to TFL is strictly prohibited. The same applies to articles from print or other media, and to posting photographs taken of copyrighted pages or other media.

    2. Copyright law provides for “fair use” of portions of a copyrighted work. You can copy no more than a SINGLE paragraph from the article to your post (3 or 4 sentences at most).

    3. You must provide a link to the article along with the name of website. For example: ww.xxx.yyy/zzz (The Lower Thumbsuck Daily News).

    4. You must provide, in your own words, a brief summary of the article AND your reasons for believing it will be of interest to TFL members. Failure to do so may result in the thread being closed or your post being deleted as a “cut and paste drive by.”

    5. Photographs and other images are also copyrighted. "Hotlinking" of images (so that it appears in your message) from other sites is also prohibited unless you own rights to the image. If you wish to share an image, provide a clickable link to it.

    Posts that do not follow these new guidelines will be altered or deleted by staff. Members who continue to violate this policy may lose their posting privileges at TFL.

    Thank you for your cooperation and your participation in TFL, the leading online forum for firearms enthusiasts.

Closing L&P....

Status
Not open for further replies.
Personally, I don't see the big deal about the L&P. It is one of the tamest Legal & Political forums I have ever been to. Quite honestly, if there is some thought about making it even more tame, then I suggest keeping it closed. If a person can't speak their mind without having to worry if they are offending someone, then it is not open and free discussion and is not, therefore, honest dialog. There will always be someone who is offended by someone else's comments, whether they are polite comments or not.

Thin skin is not a good quality to have in a political forum. Thin skinned people should stay out of any legal/political discussion whether it be on a web forum or in person.

It's humorous that those arguing so vociferously for the closing are the same individuals who argued so vociferously while it was open. The hypocrisy is precious.
Click to expand...
+1
 
"Emotional control can also mean you get mad as hell and NOT react with anything more than verbiage."

And, it can also mean that you get mad as hell and fly into a violent rage that ends in injury or death to another party.

Once again, we can't take the chance now, can we?


"Tell me, and be truthful, how many times has someone cut you off in traffic? You slam on your brakes and yell into the windshield, "You stupid jerk!" Does that mean you're gonna get your gun and shoot them?"

Odd that you should mention that.

Last year in metro DC (I think it was last year) we had an incident where one car cut another one off and the driver of the second car fired shots at the first. Turns out the driver of the second car was considered to be very aggressive and rather unstable by his coworkers, and no one was really surprised by the incident.

So, once again, we can't really take that chance, can we?

No, I don't think we can. It's for the children, don't you know.
 
It's humorous that those arguing so vociferously for the closing are the same individuals who argued so vociferously while it was open. The hypocrisy is precious.
Click to expand...

Oddly Enough, I have noticed the same thing...
But even more puzzling to me is this....


But you can't deny that that area was routinely used for cop-hating and anti-government conspiracies on a daily basis, mainly by the same small group of posters.
Click to expand...


And this...

The right wing and sometimes quite radical slant of the political discussions in L&P pretty much prevented that. It is hard for newbies to find this forum non-threatening when thay are slapped in the face with a ton of "Obama eats babies" or "liberals hate America" threads every time they hit the new posts button
Click to expand...


And this Gem...

anti-government, anti-police venom was spewing
Click to expand...


Just a thought here, but, if that is the way some feel about posts in L&P then why on earth would YOU even READ those threads, much less POST in them?

If something is so strongly repugnant, why would you not just skip reading L&P rather than torture your sensibilities, or waste your time posting there?

Why would you want to deny the ability to have a L&P forum to those of us who wish it, and can stay within the rules? Is it impossible for you just to NOT read what you don't like? or at least don't flame just because your view happens to be different than someone elses.

The idea that politics and the discussion of politics can be held to some sort of civil tone is frankly wrong
Click to expand...


OK, let's try this, and I'll type slowly and use the smallest words possible so that no one gets lost, if you don't like what is on a particular thread, don't read it.
 
t's humorous that those arguing so vociferously for the closing are the same individuals who argued so vociferously while it was open. The hypocrisy is precious.
Click to expand...
This thread has already proven that the L&P should stay closed. Some people have already started singling out comments by others and attacking and/or ridiculing them because they do not align with their beliefs.

Instead of discussing the failings and strengths of an L&P section they are attacking individuals who have made statement by calling their motives into question. It is that "attack dog" mentality that has doomed more than one L&P section.
 
No, the basis of my argument is a proven record of bullying and propaganda. Hard to believe you missed that. And it is hard to understand why you keep reacting to others posts instead of the issue itself.

This is just another example of the weaknesses of the L&P section. Anyone that dares speak an opinion that does not come from the Rush school of dependent thinking is dog piled upon and spend the rest of the thread fending off attacks.
 
The problem is some people cannot see the difference between disagreeing and demonizing. There is a reason there is a distinction between free speech and slander. Some people can also not understand the concept of being your own worst enemy.
 
The issue I am pointing out is that you think that your opinion about what is propaganda and bullying is not what many other members think. In fact, your smarmy comments here, and elsewhere, are perfect examples of both. You took a self-imposed sabbatical from L&P before. If L&P comes back, perhaps you should simply take another sabbatical?...that way you wont have to subject yourself to all the bickering and ultra leftist/rightist propaganda. I would say that you're the one demonizing.
 
"The idea that people can respectively disagree with each other is asking more than any human being is capable of."

So, you're also saying...

The idea that people can act responsibly and own guns is asing more than any human being is capable of.

If someone can't act logically, responsibly, and politely while engaged in conversation, then it is a given that they can't be trusted with a deadly weapon.
Click to expand...

Nope, not what I'm saying at all. Don't put words in my mouth. I said people who disagree with each other are not capable of respecting each other. "Respect" is an idea devoid of action. I never said people are not capable of logic. They are. Sometimes you're just wrong. Accept it. I never said people can't act responsibly. They can. What does acting responsible have to do with a legal and political forum, though? And for that matter, who decides what responsible is? I think it's a responsible person who attempts to show another person that they are wrong, making a mistake, or just plain stupid. And while I think we'd all appreciate a little more polite conversation, the fact is the only way to be polite when it comes to political conversation is to agree with the person you are conversing with, or keep your mouth shut after saying, "I disagree." Any attempt to explain your reasoning or to try to convince the person that you are right leads to the kinds of things that got L&P closed in the first place. Conversation ends at disagreement. Then it's just an arguement, and if you can't use all of the tools available to you in an arguement there is no point in having it.
 
Well said.

My point is that if you are not in favor of a L&P forum, fine. But if it does come back online...and you still feel that way, then just don't go in. Simple.
 
Creature

How does a "let the inmates run the asylum" mentality help solve the persistent problems that exist in legal sections of gun forums? How does "if you do not like it don't stay around" deal with the negative image of gun owners presented on these forums?

It was made pretty clear that the L&P section was not presenting a public image that was a positive one. It would be a very weak argument to try and say the forum was in anyway leaning left. The problem is not disagreements or debates. The problem is pretty much universally that the gun community is being unfairly represented as a bunch of right wing haters who accept no other opinions and are willing to use any means to squelch anyone that opposes them.

There is an old saying that pretty much translates to "if you are asked if you have a crazy relative and you say no, you are probably the crazy one in your family." Maybe if the vast majority of people see a problem and certain people are unable to see that problem they are themselves a part of the problem.
 
and are willing to use any means to squelch anyone that opposes them.
Click to expand...

Including themselves.

A Baptist preacher and a Methodist preacher were talking. The Methodist asked the Baptist preacher what denomination he was. He said, "Baptist."

The Methodist responded, "Oh, you're part of that denomination who thinks only Baptists are going to Heaven."

Whereupon the Baptist replied, "It's worse than that. I'm note sure some of MY folk are going."

"We have met the enemy and it is us."

Unfortunately, it's hard to be unemotional about something you believe very strongly in. And, unfortunately, it's hard to be civil when you're very emotional. A have succumbed to this in the past, and I am not proud of it.

However, I still believe the Mods should police the L&P more tightly rather than cut it off discussion entirely.
 
However, I still believe the Mods should police the L&P more tightly rather than cut it off discussion entirely.
Click to expand...
If the manpower is available that is a good idea...but even then you have to decide how balanced is the moderating?

Another idea might be to somehow separate L&P in some way that it was not included in general searches. Meaning when you hit the "new posts" button you did not get L&P threads hitting you in the face. If you want to see L&P you have to willingly open the section itself.

Still, the problem of L&P is a very deep and long running issue. One that has been around much longer than most of us and to think simple moderating will fix it is being very hopeful.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top