2ndamd, this board is viewed, can be viewed and has been viewed by many different peoples.
Some are your standard anti-gun types, just looking for ammunition (pun) to hammer some more nails into our coffins. Should we allow posts and comments that degrade who and what we are about?
Some are kids. Should we allow abusive language? Are we not intelligent enough to post our thoughts without using four letter words?
Should we allow posts that tend to confirm to the lurker, the stereotypical Neanderthal that many believe we are?
It is the considered opinion of the owner, Rich Lucibella, all of us moderators, and the vast majority of members to this forum, that The Firing Line be maintained as a cut above the rest of the internet community. To that end, The Firing Line is not a free-for-all discussion board. We have standards that we all strive to maintain.
We ask that our members think rationally and post rationally. We ask that our members use proper spelling and grammar. We ask that our members refrain from personal attacks in all discussions.
We have been around long enough to know that certain topics (race, religion and sexual identity, to name the three most contentious) lead to abuse, and hence they are forbidden. Other topics (SHTF, TEOTWAWKI, and zombies, to name three) tend to denigrate who we are and what we are about, and likewise are given a very dim view.
In short, any topic or thread that lends a bad image of gun owners in general, are and will be locked down or even deleted.
Some people don't like these restrictions and have moved on. That's fine with us. The Firing Line isn't trying to play a numbers game. We have a mission: The Firing Line, a virtual community dedicated to the discussion and advancement of responsible firearms ownership. If that mission isn't being met, then what's the point of this whole thing?
So... If you are disappointed in what we are about and how we go about achieving that goal, you, 2ndamd, are invited to go elsewhere. It's that simple.
