An Observation: Firearms=Intellect?

B

Bunkster

New member
Among my usual daily travels while surfing, in addition to the usual news sources and financial sites I visit, there are three others that have become regular.

All three are forums such as this, and the topics are:
1. Firearms (this site)
2. Politics
3. Automotive

After months of daily visits, I have concluded what I believe to be an odd observation regarding the quality of the posts and the posters.

When it comes to staying on topic, spelling, grammar, sentence structure...the attempt to communicate with a bit of intelligence...it is this firearms related forum that easily comes in first.

The automotive forum I visit, while containing good information, is dead last. It's painful to wade through the posts as most have no idea what a paragraph is, let alone a shift key. Spelling is invented on the fly.

The political forum is somewhere in the middle.

Kudos to the members here!

Regards

ps No, I am not a school marm. It's just that swimming through gibberish leaves my eyeballs spinnning in opposite directions.
 
M

Mikul

New member
Certain topics draw certain types of people. Firearms ownership in today's political climate (sorry, I was posessed by Dan Rather when I said that) requires an attitude of 1) Who give a **** what the feds think, or 2) I've done the research and know that I'm right.

Firearms are also dangerous to the truly clumsy and stupid, and so they tend to avoid it. While there are morons among us, the majority of them are too frightened to join, or so stupid they've shot themselves out of the community.

That's what I like about skiing. Sometimes the slopes get really crowded. All I have to do is slide on over to the expert slopes and it opens up again, because most people don't have the skill or guts to go down them, and I can leave them to their own business.

Activities that require a modocum of skill to participate in without serious injury are my favorite because they naturally weed out the complete idiots... eventually.

That reminds me of a Steven Wright quote: "I was an only child. Eventually."




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There are two types of men: those with guns, and those at their mercy.
 
C

chink

New member
I have been on the this here internet for 5 -6 years have seen the quality of information sink to the point where I am bored with most of the giberrish. If you want to see good information with lots of crap visit anyone of the many technically /*geek*/ oriented sights out there. We /*geek type people*/ tend to make up words on the fly to fit the situation and had more brand loyality or brand disdain then the COLT vs. BM guys have on AR boards or the 1911 vs. GLOCK guys have Pistols Forum. And flames. We invented that stuff. I also like the content on the board would like to thank you all for the quality of most posts.

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It ain't mah fault. did I do dat?
http://yellowman.virtualave.net/
 
J

JJR

New member
I think that the quality of discussion you experience here is best attributed to the site itself and those who run it rather than the topic alone. The standards and expectations set here draw a certain type of clientele. There are many firearms sites out there which make your automotive forums seem like a Mensa meeting.

I wish I could agree with your hypothesis that firearms=intellect, but I think that's a pretty broad assumption. My experiences at gun shops, gun shows, shooting ranges and other encounters tell me that firearm enthusiasts pretty much make up the same intellectual spectrum as any other interest.

The current political climate ;) seems to be bringing out only the extremes of the spectrum... the very best and the very worst. I think sites like this one do an excellent job in preparing gun owners to be a positive example rather than a negative one.

Just an opinion from the King of run-on sentences.
 
G

Gunslinger

Moderator
I have to agree with JJR that much of the credit here goes to the staff and the site as a whole. The quality of post on some of the other RKBA sites is sadly lacking. I think that we have a lot of enthusiast migrate here after becoming fed up with some of the antics of those on other sites. Thus we have a higher caliber of membership here.
However, that aside I do believe there is a direct correlation between firearms enthusiast and intellect. Gun owners are most asute to the political climate, more aware of current events and share an interest in our nations history.

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Gunslinger

I was promised a Shortycicle and I want a Shortycicle!
 
G

griz

New member
A couple of years ago I heard a Dr. Laura Schlesinger (SP?) show where she was talking about a previous show on gun control. Apparently she had sided with the anti-gun side and had received lots of responses to the show. She said although she still leaned toward more gun control, the responses from the gun rights side were far more polite and rational. I consider that high praise.
 
I

Incursion

New member
I believe that the people on this board articulate their ideas more clearly because they do not want to look like the antis. We must be above the anti's emotional rhetoric.
 
M

Mal H

Staff
Firearms ownership has a built-in gene pool cleansing effect. ;)

(Too bad that isn't true of politics, i.e., if you sponsor a downright dumb bill, your head explodes!)
 
J

JCH

New member
Scary thought! We are the smart ones!!!! :eek:

You are right though.

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DUM SPIRO SPERO
While I Breath I Hope
 
M

Monkeyleg

New member
The people I encounter at the range seem to be of average intelligence, and those at gun shows run the gamut from highly educated to barely able to speak. This forum, however, has amongst its members some truly outstanding minds, and I am frequently in awe. Perhaps it is due to the moderators restraining flame wars, and the subsequent departure of those who can only discuss issues in that manner. Who knows? Just don't change it!

Dick
Want to send a message to Bush? Sign the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/monk/petition.html and forward the link to every gun owner you know.
 
G

Goet

New member
You must also take into consideration that only a few gun owners will surf the web and post in gun forums.

There's your intellectual edge--->the computer factor, not the gun. :)
 
D

Dead

New member
From my experience the majority of people that I know who own guns, are indeed "smarter" than the average person. They are also more aware of what is going on around them in terms of politics, and are more likely to vote in elections.

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Dead [Black Ops]
 
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