Violence and videogames.

[Art Vandelay]

When you're robbing a bank 10k is a reasonable amount of preparation.

Dist, where I used to stay, the locals would break into a local stately home, steal a Purdey's shotgun worth about £2 -3K, saw it up and then rob the local Post Office and make off with about £200.

Then again, where I used to stay the locals were pretty thick.

In all fairness, I can imagine it would be all but impossible to sell a stolen gun if you don't know the right people. 200 pounds, on the other hand, is legal tender as is.

[Scotsgit]

Dist, where I used to stay, the locals would break into a local stately home, steal a Purdey's shotgun worth about £2 -3K, saw it up and then rob the local Post Office and make off with about £200.

Then again, where I used to stay the locals were pretty thick.

Yeah, I'm aware of how stupid criminals can be, but I try to at least think of what the smart ones might do. They do show up every decade or so...

But really, stick up the post office? What are they gonna do, sort through the mail for things with birthday cards and raid them too?

UK Post Offices have a lot of cash in them - the Employment Services still gets people (in some cases but not all) to cash their benefits there, plus you have old people cashing their pensions there.  Ironically, the tellers are behind bullet-proof glass and the places will not have that much cash to hand, but just up the road is a bank that's open-plan and lots more cash but the robbers avoid it.  See what I mean about thick?

[chitoryu12]

When you're robbing a bank 10k is a reasonable amount of preparation.

Dist, where I used to stay, the locals would break into a local stately home, steal a Purdey's shotgun worth about £2 -3K, saw it up and then rob the local Post Office and make off with about £200.

Then again, where I used to stay the locals were pretty thick.

In all fairness, I can imagine it would be all but impossible to sell a stolen gun if you don't know the right people. 200 pounds, on the other hand, is legal tender as is.

Depends on the gun and the area. Some places, you'll be able to pawn off any piece of crap you'll find as long as there aren't obvious signs of theft or illegal modification (like sawing down a shotgun to a length that makes it an SBS and thus a controlled item, or mucking up the serial number to make it unreadable). And some guns you'll NEVER be able to pawn off except in the seediest areas, like a custom Holland & Holland double-barrel rifle that costs more than a car.

Though expensive elephant guns like that are (or at least were) much more easy to find in Africa, thanks to all the amateur hunters who spent a fortune on them and got eaten in the jungle.

[Art Vandelay]

Depends on the gun and the area. Some places, you'll be able to pawn off any piece of crap you'll find as long as there aren't obvious signs of theft or illegal modification (like sawing down a shotgun to a length that makes it an SBS and thus a controlled item, or mucking up the serial number to make it unreadable). And some guns you'll NEVER be able to pawn off except in the seediest areas, like a custom Holland & Holland double-barrel rifle that costs more than a car.

Though expensive elephant guns like that are (or at least were) much more easy to find in Africa, thanks to all the amateur hunters who spent a fortune on them and got eaten in the jungle.

It sounds like you're talking about America. To my knowledge, United Kingdom gun laws don't allow you to legally sell a gun without an assload of red tape, part of which involves proof of ownership.

[Sylvana]

Though expensive elephant guns like that are (or at least were) much more easy to find in Africa, thanks to all the amateur hunters who spent a fortune on them and got eaten in the jungle.

I don't know much about expensive elephant guns, but I do know that AK-47's used to be pretty abundant. Civilians would accidentally dig up caches of weapons left from the colonial resistance eras. However, with the much stricter gun laws in effect, and most caches recovered for destruction already its not quite as common. Unless you are living in one of the more war torn parts of Africa, in which case they are even more abundant, just often in the hands of a local tribal militia thug.

Speak to the right people though and you can get one again. I am pretty sure the Taxi associations still have a bunch.

[rookie]

In all fairness, I can imagine it would be all but impossible to sell a stolen gun if you don't know the right people. 200 pounds, on the other hand, is legal tender as is.

I would like to point out that it really isn't that hard. Do you have to know the right people? Well, yeah. But everyone knows someone seedy enough who, if s/he isn't interested, knows someone who might be.

[Askold]

Depends on the gun and the area. Some places, you'll be able to pawn off any piece of crap you'll find as long as there aren't obvious signs of theft or illegal modification (like sawing down a shotgun to a length that makes it an SBS and thus a controlled item, or mucking up the serial number to make it unreadable). And some guns you'll NEVER be able to pawn off except in the seediest areas, like a custom Holland & Holland double-barrel rifle that costs more than a car.

Though expensive elephant guns like that are (or at least were) much more easy to find in Africa, thanks to all the amateur hunters who spent a fortune on them and got eaten in the jungle.

It sounds like you're talking about America. To my knowledge, United Kingdom gun laws don't allow you to legally sell a gun without an assload of red tape, part of which involves proof of ownership.

But he is specifically talking about selling the gun in BLACK market not the legal way.

[Scotsgit]

Depends on the gun and the area. Some places, you'll be able to pawn off any piece of crap you'll find as long as there aren't obvious signs of theft or illegal modification (like sawing down a shotgun to a length that makes it an SBS and thus a controlled item, or mucking up the serial number to make it unreadable). And some guns you'll NEVER be able to pawn off except in the seediest areas, like a custom Holland & Holland double-barrel rifle that costs more than a car.

Though expensive elephant guns like that are (or at least were) much more easy to find in Africa, thanks to all the amateur hunters who spent a fortune on them and got eaten in the jungle.

It sounds like you're talking about America. To my knowledge, United Kingdom gun laws don't allow you to legally sell a gun without an assload of red tape, part of which involves proof of ownership.

But he is specifically talking about selling the gun in BLACK market not the legal way.

Well, as the gun was stolen in the first place, there's no way it could be sold legally.

[Askold]

I know, that is why it seemed odd that he started talking about the red tape involved in legal sales.

[Art Vandelay]

I know, that is why it seemed odd that he started talking about the red tape involved in legal sales.

He did say "pawn it off". I guess I assumed he meant actual legal pawn shops and whatnot.

[chitoryu12]

Though expensive elephant guns like that are (or at least were) much more easy to find in Africa, thanks to all the amateur hunters who spent a fortune on them and got eaten in the jungle.

I don't know much about expensive elephant guns, but I do know that AK-47's used to be pretty abundant. Civilians would accidentally dig up caches of weapons left from the colonial resistance eras. However, with the much stricter gun laws in effect, and most caches recovered for destruction already its not quite as common. Unless you are living in one of the more war torn parts of Africa, in which case they are even more abundant, just often in the hands of a local tribal militia thug.

Speak to the right people though and you can get one again. I am pretty sure the Taxi associations still have a bunch.

In modern day Africa, AKs are all over the damn place. Shipments from virtually every nation that produces or once produced them end up in the country regularly, and there's home grown backyard factories that produce cheap copies as well. One statement I heard said that you could buy one for something like $5 over there. Compare that to the US, where prices are creeping up past $700 for a good one now.

[KZN02]

Pelosi makes her stance defending video games.

[Witchyjoshy]

Pelosi makes her stance defending video games.

That's politics for ya.

[Canadian Mojo]

So here's a quick video games and violence anecdote for you. We recently got lego star wars  for the Wii because it has hit the clearance bin and there is fuck-all to do when its really cold out. For the last couple of years, my daughter (who just turned 6) liked to just watch and give 'advice' for games, but now she is getting into actually playing, and has decided she likes playing this game with me. This mostly consisted of using her R2 to zap bad robots in the bar right up until I started the mother of all brawls out of boredom  when she happened to have character with a shield and spear. I'm standing there parrying laser blasts with a light saber waiting for an opening when my girl exclaims 'don't shoot my dad!' runs up from behind and clubs the guy in the back of the head.

To my everlasting pride she told her grandmother about it a couple of days later (after many more bludgeonings/shootings on her part -- odd how I seemed to be stuck in a defensive position and needing help so much )  to which my mom replied "good, you're supposed to protect your family."

The downside is the now she'll charge head first into a group of storm troopers guns blazing expecting me to be able to cover her from the rear with a light saber.

[Osama bin Bambi]

Pelosi makes her stance defending video games.

That's politics for ya.

Didn't she condemn video games as causing violence once or something? Or was that Hillary Clinton?