Potential Massacre Averted At Pokémon World Championships

Do us americans know no bounds?

jesus

"they were both released without charge"

Oh.

That sounded like a nasty plot.

The were both released...
America, ladies and gentlemen 😑

This I consider domestic terrorism, seeing as how it was pre-planned, along with them knowing it was at a public event, for shame.

Wait.......they're still out there?

Criminals used Nasty Plot on World Champions

It had no effect.

Police used Tackle on Criminals

It was super effective!!

"They were both released without charge". Wait, WHAT!? They were planning what was essentially an act of terrorism! How are they not in jail!?

@Hachiko Hilarious XD

@HandheldGuru97 God knows we won't change our gun laws, even with what seem to be mass shootings every week.

"Gotta catch 'em all", someone should have dropped some cannabis in same box with those weapons. I really don't understand how people can be free after trying to go in happening like that armed with firearms.

"they were both released without charge"

"A thorough search of vehicle revealed a shotgun, assault rifle, hunting rifle and 250 rounds of ammo, and the pair would be arrested on Friday night. They have both been charged with unlawful possession of a firearm"

I don't.....

That's just sad that they were released, I mean you've got to be kidding me if those two are actually not going to be charged for what really could of been a huge massacre.

This is simply ridiculous. One of the least likely places you would think this could happen too.

@NintendoFan64 @C-Olimar @Mr_Action @night

Read the full article. They were arrested once the police had a search warrant.

Edit: Warrant for their arrest, not a search warrant. My mistake.

...
They have unlawfully brought firearms across the border without licenses, but it is interesting to note that Iowa (Where they are from) does not require a permit to purchase a long gun, nor register it either.

Both of these people were actual players who had to drive to many other tournaments to rack up the championship points to play in this tournament.

Also, note that these "Shooters" only had one belt and one mag to use, yet plenty of open ammo. Seems a bit unnecessary for all that extra stuff if you can only fire one set

@IceClimb Okay, good. Though, IMO, I feel like that's still a little lite.

http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2011/10/facepalm.jpg
Why the heck would they release them without charge, let alone not jail these two? If they really are released and aren't jailed I'm really going to start questioning the government even more. I don't believe they wouldn't be released, but if they are I'm going question what will happen if someone does a mass shooting.
EDIT: Thanks for clearing things up Damo. Now time for me to play the waiting game again for Wolf in Smash.

I like how that photo of their car in facebook shows sticker of National Rifle Association.

This is a bizarre story.

And just why would they post about it on Facebook? Did they WANT to be caught?

@Hero-of-WiiU Please don't use slurs. I understand the anger — believe me, I do — but there's no need for that kind of language.

Also the Pokemon Company International banned them for life already

Thank goodness that 27-year-old decided to post on social media, so that people would find out their plans and tip the authorities. Otherwise look at how many innocent people would die. Children especially, they came there to watch or play Pokémon and have fun, and it could have ended terribly

@Pod
This wasn't any post that would reach no one. In fact, The original post was made on front of the Facebook group, Virbank City Uncensored (A sister group of the biggest pokemon tcg fanbase, Virbank City), and the environment there seems to always throw a bunch of bad jokes around.

Just wow, what absolutely malevolent and evil people to even conceive an idea like this. At such a busy and popular event that could have been over 100 innocent lives lost. I hope these people are put away for a long time and never seen again. I personally feel that they should be punished for what they intended to do and not just what they've been caught for.

@Pod You'd be surprised by how much stuff like this gets posted online and ignored.

It's not very effective.

Scary.

@HandheldGuru97 If people don't take America 'seriously' because of the violence there, they must also not take the Middle East, Africa, Russia, most of South America and most of Asia seriously either.

(Pro tip: once you get a passport and actually leave America, you will soon realize that you are generally well liked all over the world)

Thank goodness they were stopped, it would have been awful if they injured/killed some people.

@night Why do people have to introduce race into everything. Jesus Christ...

People should not have guns.

Woah, that's crazy. Glad that it was resolved before happening, as it will be quite bizzare, the amount of lives that could be lost and to lesser extent, the Pokemon company will take a massive hit too.

Thank God they were caught...

Wow glad the attendees are safe. Why even advertise your intentions?

@Damo @IceClimbers Oh, thank God. My faith in humanity is already low enough as it is, and I'd prefer for it to stop dropping.

Notice that it wasn't a "gun-free zone" sign that stopped them.

Gun rights? For what exactly?

Are shotgun shells considered the same as ammo rounds? I need a Kommandos advice.

@Phle Only kid/squid hybrids should have guns.

@NintendoFan990 I mean, there's innocent black men and woman being murdered in the streets by police with no questions asked, but guys like this aren't... maybe it's a conversation worth having....

What a couple of idiots. Announcing an attack on facebook? Really?

@Hachiko I wish I'd come up with that.

Please, let's drop the race discussion right now.

This could have seriously damaged Nintendo and Pokemon, not to mention the people that could have been killed. I'm extremely relieved that they were apprehended.

Thank God nothing happened.

People, show some class and stop making jokes and puns about something that could have ended very tragically if the authorities hadn't been tipped off and gotten involved.

What has this world come to...

Glad they got arrested, even if there wasn't going to be a shooting, it still should be a lesson to everybody not to joke about terrorism online.. People said this "facebook group" they were in contained a bunch of macho guys who acted all cool.. they probably made the post trying to look bad### and got considered a threat.

But in the end, they illegally processed guns without a license. Two criminals were caught.

@HollywoodHogan Unless they were people who were like these guys, any lives lost there would have been sad.

@Ralizah and @HollywoodHogan Hey guys I did just want to apologize. I let my emotions get the best of me and of course that has left a dumb internet comment.
As an American citzen, it's just so frustrating to see this type of thing happen on a near daily basis, even if tragedy was averted here...still my apologizes, the first comment I made shall be deleted.

The ugly underneath of the gaming culture?

@HandheldGuru97

No worries brutha. I'm not even American but hate it when I see you guys putting yourselves down and believing in this weird idea that the rest of the world hates you. It's not even close to being true, and you guys can go pretty much anywhere on Earth and the people in whatever country you are in are going to like you and want to talk to you

Why is Pokémon always involved!? Didn't someone with a Pikachu plush toy jump the White House fence last year on the anniversary of 9/11? Anyways, I'm glad no one was injured and the lunatics were subdued in time. Hopefully they'll be put away for a long, looong time, though knowing America's often terrible judicial system, that probably won't be the case, unfortunately.

Why... did they let them go AT ALL? I would think you'd detain the suspects, search the vehicle, and then arrest and / or charge. Not track them down a day later and go "btw, you're under arrest".

@Ralizah
If we were to do that, no one could protect themselves from the unlawful who will get their guns by other means. It's wishful thinking to believe taking away guns solves anything.

Ummm they let them go? God help us all.

That's a pretty scary thing. I'm glad they were caught before anything terrible could happen. It troubles me to imagine the outcome if they didn't post about this on social media.

@Phle
But the fact that they exist makes it so that everyone needs one to defend themselves from evil people like these two. They would get them in any way they could and massacre the defenseless masses.

Wow! I hope The PokéMon Company and Nintendo will take more security measures for their events from now on. They did do a good job handling the situation, though.

@Ralizah What law would have stopped them? Massachusetts has very strict laws and they ignored them.

They were released after the police found I'm guessing smaller firearms in their car. Then they were arrested after the police found all the bigger guns.

This...wasn't in Texas was it?

Wow. This is scary. There are evil people in this world... I'm glad to see that they never got a chance to use those guns. Yikes.

@AVahne

The world championships were held in Boston...

Good Lord, this could classify as terrorism! Thank goodness this was averted, how many innocent lives that just were watching could have been lost? What is wrong with with people today??

@JaxonH I know Jax. I guess it's earlier for people to regurgitate spin than actually apply critical thinking skills to issues.

@JaxonH

That's why NL added the report button. Better to just let their post get deleted than drag the issue out longer mentioning it.

@night The article went on to state they were arrested.

Holy hell.

Glad they got reported and caught.

@night Don't be silly.

Thankfully they didn't have the intelligence to pull this terror act off and sadly they have the level of intelligence to think they were justified. May they rot wherever they end up. Not about race, not about class, not about poverty or disadvantage or anything other than two selfish emotional retards needing to prove how "big" they are through violence. That cr*p cuts across all barriers and is only unique to a minority of social inadequates. This is only about two kids thinking they can act with total impunity, disregarding everybody and everything else.

This reminded me of that High school Massacre that occurred in i think either Columbia or California. Two students killed several other students including one teacher.....and the blame on that was Doom.

Why would they want to kill competitors? Even better, why would they post their stuff on facebook like that in the first place? This incident has a chance to not only affect the Pokemon brand but also the social media as well.

I'm still interested in the reasons that drove them to these extremes. This is neither normal nor aggressive behaviour, this goes far beyond what is even remotely reasonable. Unfortunately, this will most likely get undermined by rabid news outlets pointing fingers at everything except the actual issue(s).

@HollywoodHogan The internet hates America, and even then, it's more of an escalated joke than genuine hatred. I myself like to make fun about "MURICA", but I still know that it's just cherry-picking the extremes rather than the whole country acting out of control. But it paints a very bleak picture when regular people are more embarrassed about bad examples than they are proud of great achievements.

@JaxonH This right here, people! Nuff said!

@night They had small arms but no papers on them at first. So they couldn't (and didn't) Bring them on the premises. It was after a full search that they found the rest. And they were charged/convicted. Read the whole article before you complain please.

@ghosto Considering the amount of guns and ammunition they had in their car. Along with the fact they had been alluding to the act through posts and youtube of all things. They will be charged with domestic terrorism threats.

That's pretty sick-minded. It's good they were arrested but I can't believe something like that almost happened. Hopefully good security will prevent future threats from getting farther than this one.

This is really sad that anyone would have done this. I'm so glad everyone was safe. That would have been a horrific event

@Dpishere There is no least likely place. This is the world we Americans have chosen for ourselves. We have to live with the constant threat of mass killings because a few vocal hobbyists are convinced their hobby is tantamount to freedom. /rant

Again it strikes me as odd that any idiot can get a gun in the US without even having to try.

That fat older guy looks like he could do such a thing, but the other one could be a 12-year old One Direction fan, from his looks. :/

Bizarre.

@CB85

Both of them look like Nintendo fans though

Wow... I was there the entire weekend and there were homicidal maniac's going there? I'm glad they announced this after the World Championships ended...

@Mr_Action they were later arrested and charged when the guns were found in the car.

@goonow they were arrested

How.many of you did not read the article? They were later arrested and charged with a crime. Calm down jfc

@night read. The were arrested.

I've lost hope in humanity..... Can't believe crazy people like that exist.

@SneakyStyle You JUST NOW lost hope for humanity?

@tsukipon Well, they just look for any excuse to instantly bash things so it's by no means surprising.

Society these days.

Why would anyone want to do this in the first place?

@Artwark I believe you're thinking of the Columbine massacre.

You can't even go out without knowing your going to die....Thank you God the authorized caught them before they killed or hurt people...One of many reasons I rather stay home.

Not to make fun of this whole thing because it is very serious, but I was kind of expecting their names to be Jesse and James.

I don't get some of these comments. It's true that the two were originally let go, but if you read the full story, you'd learn that their car was confiscated. After the firearms were discovered, they were BOTH arrested. They were not let off the hook. Do you honestly think Boston's police would've just brushed something like this off after the Boston Marathon Massacre?

@night: they cant be charged with attempted murder because to be convicted of attempted murder there must be an "attempt". possession and threats are not an attempt.

an adequate example is if a person breaks the window of your house with the intent to enter and kill you but was arrested before he can enter the broken window. at that point despite his intent, it is still called an indefinite crime since it cannot yet be determined what crime he could have commited inside. he could have robbed, raped, killed etc. etc. He therefore can only be charge by the acts he actually committed which is malicious mischief or atmost attempted robbery (in this case Illegal Possession or acts of terror).

I thought Michelle Bachmann was the worst person to come out of my beautiful state.

HAHAHAH that fat ugly kid on the left. LOL. He...looks like a Pokemon World Champion...just sayin'. And his name matches his face.
Sure glad nothing unfortunate went down and that everyone was safe. "STUMBO USES THREAT!" "IT WAS NOT VERY EFFECTIVE..."

I'm glad law enforcement was able to prevent anything from happening. Hopefully these idiots will receive a more than adequate punishment. I hate it, but I'm sure the media will drum up some controversy following this. I imagine Hatred will get the blame this time around. At least there was no opportunity for anyone to be hurt though.

Dang Team Rocket

In all seriousness though, major props to the security and the Boston PD for stopping what could have been really terrible. You're awesome!

"27-year-old James Austin Stumbo and 18-year-old Kevin Norton - both of whom had been invited to play in the "Masters Division" of the tournament - had made threats of violence on Facebook, including one post which had a photo of the guns the pair intended to take along as well as the message: "Kevin Norton and I are ready for Worlds Boston here we come!!!" This post was apparently brought to the attention of the police."

Who does this? It really makes no sense how someone can be so stupid.

Wow. Idiocy knows no bounds. Glad these perps got apprehended. Every other day some "lone wolf" snaps. Gun violence has got to stop.

Thank god it was stopped.

@ALinkttPresent They did their job but I don't think they're so awesome. They only knew because it was posted on facebook. Course they wouldn't have had anything to go on otherwise, so even if they'd failed to catch them it wouldn't have been their fault.

All race comments will be deleted. Tread carefully

Major tragedy prevented!

@LztheQuack Ah, good on you. But to replace the part of my comment that was...too controversial? I don't know. I'm gonna have to restate the non-controversial part in the controversial way I had chosen to avoid.

@tsukipon :You're one to talk. If you'd read the comments you'd know that people already corrected them. Including @Damo . sigh Fe- oh @LztheQuack you said tread carefully. Ok then.

@HollywoodHogan Dear lord, that was brutal

@Fee Now you're just beating a dead horse. Just move on and let's all be glad this incident was prevented.

They way they look pisses me off: One has a neck-beard while the other looks smug. They should be thrown in jail for trying to murder people.

What...

Probably not technically terrorists, because the dictionary definition is about for a political cause.
But still well done everyone who took the threats seriously and passed the details on to authorities, because too often people are unable to take such threats seriously and never let the police know - how many times do you hear someone say "I thought they were joking."

@LordofMentos Don't bring America into this please. These guys have problems, serious ones, and being american didn't influence it in the slightest.

Seriously, just give them life without parole and throw away the key. I'm sick and tired of all these idiots out here trying to murder people for no reason. Humans are stupid...

@Mr_Action
You mean the innocent ones that are shot while attacking cops, resisting arrest, rioting, killing 9 year olds in their beds while they are doing homework, destroying property, dealing/using illegal weapons/drugs? Those are criminals, just like these two idiots.

Well at least the idiots were stupid enough to go to social media with their plans so no harm was caused. Kind of sad they were initially released, but hopefully they are locked away for a long long time.

What is up with people these days? If you hate something that's legal, there is still never any reason to shoot innocents. Instead, you just don't take part in it. It's just so good that they were stopped from doing something horrific.

This is one of the most disturbing news I've heard in a while. I love video games, and to use one of our (videogamers) events as excuse for a massacre..... I feel so disgusted by the idea, that it is hard to put it in words. But I feel that there's something interesting about this; you know how video games are accused of causing violence? I pondering on how these news relate to it, because I'm pretty sure Pokémon didn't make somebody want to massacre people at an event. What the hell?!

It sounds like they weren't planning on actually doing anything, but that's a terrible joke, especially when you do have the illegal guns to potentially back up the threat. They need to roast them on some kind of murder conspiracy charge in addition to the illegal firearms charges to show people that these kinds of threats shouldn't be tolerated.

I guess taking out the competition is 1 way to win the championships.
In all seriousness I'm surprised people would do that at a world championships of all places.

if your not planning to use your guns leave them at home!its beyond stuppidity to take weapons along for the ride.if they were planning on using them....wtf is wrong with people,its a damn pokémon match

When becoming a Pokemon Master goes to far. 😈 I'm glad those two individuals didn't hurt anyone, but hey it comes to show us how easy it's is to commit a crime. Just keep it away from social media. Hey maybe you can get away.

@JakeOfAllTrades this 'they might have one so I need one' attitude is exactly the problem with the attitude towards guns in America......
You do realize that there are many countries around the world that have access to guns legally but don't go out and shoot up schools, carry guns on the street for 'protection', or have most robbery and criminal activity involve guns? America is in a REALLY REALLY bad state regarding attitude towards guns, they are regarded by many as a normal every day item needed to protect the home/self/country when the facts say the opposite. More guns = more deaths , no matter how they are regulated, this is fact!!
The innocent people are always more at risk when the average person in the street defends their need for a murder weapon by saying it makes them safer!! It symbolizes the weakness in humans that we feel the need to feel stronger by holding in our hands something that can kill.....

And people still wonder why US gun laws are mocked in other regions ?
The solution to "too many guns" isnt even more guns, its no guns at all.

And yes, the really bad guys will always get a gun. And they will most certainly always get the bigger gun. But it wont be as easy as it is now, and idiots like that wont get it at all.

@Einherjar

There are hundreds of millions of guns in the USA right now.

How would any law you could possibly suggest change that?

It's easy for you to point fingers from across the ocean and give your opinion, but in reality there isn't an easy solution.

They shouldn't be play Pokemon, they should be playing Call of Duty.

In this thread: Typical gun arguments.

In all honesty, I'm just glad no one got hurt.

@HollywoodHogan umm.... Australia had as many guns per person when the Port Arthur massacre happened. They were banned straight after and not a single massacre since. When there is a precedent like that already set there really is no argument. The rest of the world is watching America in bemusement.

@HollywoodHogan Which just shows that it was wrong from the beginning. And yes, its easy to point fingers, because on countrys with a strict anti gun law, shooting are a non issue. Its as simple as that.

@GraveLordXD Yup, instead, give people even bigger guns. Why not install a fully automatic turret and a minefield on every front lawn by default ? I guess burglers would have to get tanks to steal your stuff then.
And people who are mistakingly thought to be burglers ? Oh well, the US is big enough, one or two people wont be missed i guess -.-

What the actual... Jesus.

I was about to go on a swear ridden rant. Stopped myself.

I will just say I hope these a-hole wannabe terrorists get what's coming to them. Killing innocent kids and gamers is the lowest of the low. What's next? Hospitals? Nursery homes? How about freaking schools? Movie theaters? Oh wait they're already busy doing those last two over there... Sick world we live in.

Next you're telling me the NRA will say we should arm all kids. Because obviously the only way to stop bad guys with guns is MORE GUNS!

I can't imagine my reaction if someone actually got hurt. Anger, shock and disgust. (to an even more extreme degree than I already am)

Guns. Hot button topic here in the states. While personally I dislike weapons especially when accidental shootings occur at home, they are unfortunately part of the American culture. This topic is a can of worms I didn't want to see here on this site even if there was an article involving it. Just my opinion.

Wait what, my friends were playing there and some guys thought about shooting there? Makes me sick...

I would say something about the level of intelligence of an individual (or two) who wants to cause a massacre and then goes and actually posts threats on the internet (and without even trying for anonymity)... but then again those idiots meant to shoot people in the first place, for heaven's sake, so that tells us enough about their intelligence right there.

Thank god no one was hurt.

@GraveLordXD You are aware that the "Hitler Situation" had other reasons then gun laws, are you ?
If not, well, the nicest thing i could say is that youre an ignorant idiot.

Frisking morons... Why target pokemon fans? Seriously. You have to be at an all time low for that. I mean, it's not like they'd gain anything from it. I don't care where you are in your miserable life - attacking fans of a children's medium is never justified.

Unless psycho. In which case, that'd explain why.

I don't understand why you would post your intentions on the internet if you were planning something as horrible as this?

The gun situation is a problem with no answers. The government would not be able to rid the country of guns, and even if they did, people would find other ways. A car going 80+ mph could do a lot of harm to people too and we do little to regulate who gets a license. Drunk driving kills waaaay more people then guns do too, but I still see countless empty bottles and cans thrown on the side of the road when I run. My point, it takes but just a few losers to ruin it for everyone else. It's sad.

@GraveLordXD Sorry, im out of this discussion. Youre an absolute lunatic with no clue what youre talking about.
But im pretty sure that the right to bear arms would have helped them defend against the entire 3rd Reich Military.
Put your beloved firearms where the sun doesnt shine and maybe lear a thing or two about politics.
Shooting people is not the universal answer to political problems, but i guess thats rather hard to understand for someone like you.

So please, leave me be, im rather disgusted right now.

@GraveLordXD I overreacted quite a bit too. Lets talk this through another time. At the moment, the tension is a little too high to remain calm
No bad blood

@Damo No worries, some people just don't have the patience to completely read an article before commenting.

Holy Cow! Really? All I can say is Why? It gets crazier and crazier these days. We go around worried about terrorists then our own does the job. This really makes me sad that it could have happened at an event filled with kids. Not that it should happen anywhere.

WTF. Is it that hard to leave the crazy at home? I don't even...

That's both bizarre and disturbing. At least they got caught. Hopefully the police can get them for more than just possession.

To all the people bashing America and it's gun laws, the 2nd Amendment exists for a reason. If people are unarmed, they're defenseless. We can look to history and see numerous cases of disarmament followed by subjugation, including Hitler, Stalin, and various other regimes. On a more personal level, gun ownership allows you to defend yourself from other individuals, whether they be rapists, terrorists, murderers, or burglars, without relying on someone else to save you.

@Einherjar

Rather than sticking the guns 'where the sun don't shine', it would probably be easier just to load them into train cars by the millions, drop them off at a disposal depot, then incinerate them all.

...and this is why I'm more than happy to NOT live in the US.

Hell, I don't know a SINGLE person with a gun here in Australia... apart from a friend who works as a security guard.

I'll much rather live in a society where NO ONE has guns rather than EVERYONE,

The social media age, ladies and gentlemen. What's next? A guy uploading pictures in gruesome detail of how he killed his wife on Instagram?

These guys look like the type of losers that thought they looked cool carrying these weapons and making empty threats at a freakin' Pokemon tournament. Wow, so [email protected]$$ committing an act of terror at a gathering of geeky adults and children. What idiots.

I don't feel strongly about gun control one way or the other, but at what level of tragedy does it need to reach before it's obvious something needs to be done? There's just too many idiots and psychos getting their hands on these things.

Ok considering this wasn't any kind of prank and that both parties were fans and players of Pokemon why on Earth would they do this? Does anybody know what their motive was?

Wow, **** these guys. In fact, imo, they don't deserve jail. They deserve to be hung for commiting an act of terrorism. At least they were stupid enough to post their plans on social media, which lead to them being caught.

Some damn ****head wants to shoot up something everyday. One of the reasons I dislike the US and want to move as soon as I can.

Thankfully team Dumb* ss' plot was thwarted. Still things could have turned out much worse for those attending the Pokemon World Championship.

That's just insane! Did they have any motives I wonder?

@LordofMentos No you don't (look at Hiroshima for example)

That is scary. Imagine the impact on the gaming world if it did happen.

@Ralizah
Because criminals will never be able to get guns if they're illegal...

@IrishGamer97

I thought the Boston bomber's Uncle put it across right two years ago, "What I think, what’s behind it — being losers, not being able to settle themselves."

A few years ago the Obama administration put domestic terrorism ahead of all other credible threats to the homeland. There are a lot of people here in the states who are hateful, who amplify it through the internet and buy weapons to compensate for being a loser.

To me, being a loser in this context can stretch from being a person who is incapable of living an inspired and healthy life to those who feel alienated and are economic losers like the gunman in Paris this last week. The point is, is that we don't look out for one another like we should.

Incoming "Typical American" comments. I hate all of you for always picking on us just because a few people give us a bad reputation

@TheAceofMystery There's not much we can do to disperse the stereotypes of Americans in general. We can only prove our individual selves different from the rest.

In any case, I was gonna make a joke about how these two idiots didn't get into the Black Ops III beta as the reason why they'd do this, but to go and do something like this and ruin Pokémon for everyone...what a bunch of jerk-offs. The fact that they're running free is a testament to how distorted our judicial system is, not so much our moral compass. It's pretty clear where Americans stand on this matter.

I just love how all the hamburgers get offended by the "typical americans" thing, while they easily and constantly dish out racist stereotype jokes about asians, russians, indians, arabs etc. Typical americans 乁༼☯‿☯༽ㄏ

@TrueWiiMaster that's barmy

@TrueWiiMaster What kind of citizen would ever need to defend themselves using an assault rifle? It's one thing to guarantee citizens the right to use shotguns or handguns in self defense on the street or at home, but why assault rifles? THOSE should be illegal for any citizen to own. Those things are not self defense weapons, they are unwieldly mass killing machines.

As for the idea of a potentially corrupt government having superior arms... It's a moot point, they have drones, gunships and tanks. Civilians wouldn't be able to stand against a well equipped professional army, even with assault rifles. There's no point to have them, except to line the gun manufacturer's fat pockets. The manufacturers love stuff like this.

Good to see that mass civilian surveillance has at least gotten one good use out of it. (It's usually worthless, wasteful, and inconstitutional).

This is what happens when gun lobbyists and big corporate interests (military industrial complex, gun manufacturers, mining cartels, etc) have so much influence over the law of the land. None of those guys care, they love stuff like this. It gives them fuel to push their survivalist propaganda.

No one needs something as powerful as assault rifles for civilian self protection, a handgun or shotgun is more than good enough. It's just an excuse to sell more weapons. Anyone with one of those easily acquired NRA licenses (sometimes not even any license) can walk into one of the thousands of frequent gun shows or Walmarts in the USA and walk out with a carbine assault rifle capable of mowing down a redwood tree... Or perhaps a busy street. No one should be able to have such easy access to that much power. Just corruption everywhere in the USA...

@PlywoodStick

"Civilians wouldn't be able to stand against a well equipped professional army, even with assault rifles."

The Vietcong and Taliban say "Hi!"

Me thinks you need to crack open a history book....

@HollywoodHogan That's not the same thing. Both of those groups have been and were supplied with professional military grade weaponry and training (including from the USA in the precursor to the Taliban's case, since they came out of the USA-Pakistan alliance), both stemming from foreign military aid and black market deals. Not all of them, but yes, quite a few of the people who made those organizations possible received outside aid and professional training at some point. Those organizations are much different from just a random group of beleaguered citizens making an amateur militia, with no professional training and no multi billion $ stimulus of military grade equipment funding/arming.

The Vietcong and Taliban were/are part of the war games being played by Russia and the USA, with each side supplying a side with weapons and training specifically for the purpose of destroying stability in the targeted areas (Vietnam/Middle East). They're people hardened by conflict and death, they're not in the same frame of mind as people who have lived relatively comfortably in an industrialized nation for all of their lives.

@PlywoodStick

It's all still guerrilla warfare my friend.

The Russians and American's, using laser guided bombs, napalm, and all other kinds of high tech aerial weaponry couldn't beat a bunch of stone age people using old AK's and hiding in tunnels and caves.

Nobody needs a super fast sports car either, but some people just like to collect them and are interested in them. Same with automatic weapons. People like to fire them at ranges and just enjoy owning one. The vast majority of these guns are NEVER used to kill people either, and are owned by responsible citizens.

American was built using guns, and nothing is going to change that mindset. Your government would do better trying to eliminate the threats (i.e. the mental cases) rather than trying to round up and dispose of guns, which will never work anyway.

@HollywoodHogan Probably because most of that powerful weaponry was spent on destroying the land and innocent civilians, not actual combatants... The intention of these wars is not to win, but to support the military industrial complex. The longer a war goes on, the more profit there is to be made.

That sports car analogy is a poor one. A sports car can actually be useful for transportation, just as much so as any other car. It is just as valid in purpose as a regular car. An assault rifle, on the other hand, is much more deadly against groups of people than a handgun or a shotgun in almost all cases. An assault rifle is not useful strictly for self defense, because it isn't designed for that purpose. There's no comparison to be made there.

It's true that mental health problems need more attention, but allowing just about anyone to own ANY gun, without ANY adequate background checks, is not reasonable or sensible. All of the people who are allowing that to go on are just as mad as those who are deemed psychotic. We don't need to necessarily round up guns either, we just to stop making so damn many!

I don't believe that mindset of violence and xenophobia which has plagued the USA through it's history has to remain the same forever. Mindsets CAN change. Just look at Japan, they're unrecognizable today compared to 100 years ago. I don't think the current mindset is immortal either, especially with the increasing diversity in the USA. Personally, I don't believe this current mindset will survive into the 22nd century. In the present day, it is now far more expensive to solve problems through violence than through kindness. Business must eventually be forced to follow that trend.

@PlywoodStick

Who honestly needs a car that is capable of going 200-250 mph when they are just a regular person driving on city streets and highways? You could make a reasonable argument that nobody outside of a professional race driver needs that car, but guess what, lots of people like them and would like to own them, when a Honda Civic would do them just fine.

Same goes for a high powered firearm. Does someone really need to own an AK-47? Probably not, but a lot of people still want to and enjoy shooting them at a range.

Oh well, whatever. We are never going to agree on this issue anyway so better to just end it now haha.

My brother was at this event, so I'm obviously very relieved that nothing happened.

@HollywoodHogan Yeah, but in most cases, traffic limits the abilities of a sports car. Thus, it realistically isn't allowed to perform much differently from a regular car in most cases. On the other hand, there is nothing to limit the greater destructive power of an assault rifle when it is legally sold en masse, including to people with psychosis (no background checks at gun shows and many outlets such as Walmart), and inevitably used by someone to massacre people, compared to a relatively less destructive handgun or shotgun.

The enthusiasts' desires are not as important as the peoples' safety. There are many responsible owners, but there are also people like the two mentioned in this article. Accommodating those responsible owners is not worth potentially having incidents like this case could have been. If there were proper background checks, laws, and community awareness/responsibility in place, this whole case probably would have never happened.

I'll end it here, as well, then...

@Sakura_Moonlight2421 What dead horse? I wasn't beating anything. Was I arguing something? I don't think so. If I was explain it to me cuz I'm confused. I'm not even joking I honestly don't understand what horse I was beating, unless you mean how I repeated what I said to Tsukipon, but that was mostly a joke, and based onhistory she probably didn't read the first comment I made so.

@HollywoodHogan : Fight for the rights of every man. Gotta take a stand, can't let it slide.

@PlywoodStick Bro, I'm not against gun legislation but these two got the guns illegally so laws wouldn't matter. On the flip laws against having those guns without a license are why they got arrested so. This post is all neutral. Oh, and I didn't read any of you guys conversation so I'm not sure if you guys already mentioned that or not. Whatever I'm a hypocrite. Laytahs Hatuh's.(Pronounce it lay toss hat us, cuz reasons)

@Fee There's not a whole lot of laws or efforts in place truly preventing illegal imported weapons sales, and there are almost no restrictions on buying gun parts. The gun lobby and gun manufactures ensures that. My point was that these two could have easily acquired assault rifles legally through a gun show or an outlet like Walmart, so the guns being illegal is currently a moot point. Legally purchased guns are not being tracked as well as they could be by the mass surveillance we have now, either.

Their charge of unlawfully carrying such weapons does not apply throughout the entire USA. It just happened to apply in the tournament's area. Also, it's not terribly difficult to acquire those licenses with minimal training, thanks to the NRA. We should be thankful these two were not smart enough to procure a license and join the NRA before doing this, or else they might just have been able to slink out of this one unscathed. If they had those, they could have argued that their weapons were not related to their Facebook message, and were having their 2nd amendment rights infringed through the investigation. (Yes, this can work in a lot of places. The NRA is a very powerful lobby group, slipping $millions into politicians' pockets every year.)

@PlywoodStick
Assault rifles, as in the automatic rifles used in the military, aren't legal to own. The gun many people confuse as an assault rifle, and which is almost certainly what these guys had, the AR-15, is not automatic, and isn't very different from a regular rifle. Many people use them for hunting, and some people just like them better than traditional rifles. Because of its appearance, it has become the go-to example for gun control advocates, but it's just another semi-automatic gun like almost every other gun on the market. It's also worth mentioning that murders with rifles, including AR-15's, make up an incredibly small number of the murders in America. More people are killed with bare hands than rifles.

@luke88
Feel free to tell the people who defended their lives and property with guns how "barmy" it is that they were able to do so. I'd ask you to say the same thing to Holocaust survivors, but they were disarmed before being put into concentration camps, so they weren't able to defend themselves. History has shown us time and time again the danger of being a disarmed populace. It's not some theoretical idea thought up by gun owners.

Are those guns in the pic a new peripheral for an upcoming game?
clicks on article
Oh. The description wasn't kiddin' this time...

@Hachiko ROFL

@luke88
No, I don't, but that doesn't mean there will never be a time when people need to take up arms against a tyrannical government. Regardless of whether that time ever comes, the right to bear arms is guaranteed so that people can protect themselves and their freedom should either come under attack. So no, I don't think we're in immediate danger from the government, but I think the citizenry having the ability to fight back should there be a danger is an important right. As kind of an aside, I doubt the Germans would have thought their government was capable of the horrors the Nazi's committed 10 years before they came to power, either.

And again, guns are frequently used for self-defense, too. Many people have used guns to protect themselves and their loved ones. People use them to hunt, too, of course.

Globally speaking, most other countries don't have the same freedoms as the USA, and most other countries weren't born by escaping tyrannical rule with the citizens' guns.

@JakeOfAllTrades No. No one should have guns, end of story.

More guns, only means more people are likely to get killed by one. Don't get a gun to defend yourself from guns. Vote against letting people keep them. If no one has guns, no one gets shot.

@Yorumi well, the problem is that people are allowed to own guns in the USA. As long as there are guns, there will be shooting. One building that isn't allowing guns will not change anything. We need countries without guns. Really, if no one had a gun, no one would be shooting.

@Phle
What an ignorant and close-minded response.
Won't even argue.

What's sad is that the most important time for having the freedom to own guns is most important when it's under the threat of removal. The Founders of the USA knew that there could emerge a new tyranny. Guns are needed to overthrow that government. The army is almost immune to normal law. Thus owning guns is your only outlet of defense that could be partially useful.

@Yorumi First, I didn't say all weapons should be illegal. Non-lethal weapons would be fine with restrictions to use them.
Secondly, I agree that removing all guns from the earths surface would be impossible. Peoples attitude is what could make a huge change. It's way to accepted to own a gun, at least in some countries.

Drugs are entirely different from guns.
Drugs are something a person can get something from (feelings / emotions / escape from the daily life), even if that person was the last living thing on earth. Guns don't give you anything. Some people feel a fake "I'm safe because I have this gun", but in reality it's not true, unless you're a police officer or something. If you where the last living thing on earth, a gun would be completely useless.

And at last: @JakeOfAllTrades You think you can fight the army with your gun?!
Sorry this is just...
I don't even...

@Phle
American Revolution. It happened.