Americans Compensating for an Actual Personality.

It's weird to sit back and look at this picture and imagine you were part of a world War or one of the other global conflicts. These weapons are tools of destruction and I'm sure many people, soldiers and otherwise didn't want to kill other people if they could avoid it. Bearing these arms meant you had to commit to doing something dreadful, that'll affect you for the rest of your life.

Then these people hold these weapons with smiles on their faces like they'd be excited about ending lives. Oblivious to the notion that many people sacrificed and killed so they can pose and smile in a peaceful house, free from the possibility of harm.

Again it's just weird.

In a weird way, I "get" these people.
I live in a country with very strict gun laws, but I know some gun owners and Ive been shooting before and I hate to say it... fuck its fun.
When I was younger I was also a dipshit street racing fuckwit, I had a very highly modified car that I did outrageously stupid dangerous crap at very high speeds and despite being at risk of serious injury, death or imprisonment... fuck it was fun.
But these people taking photos with their guns are like people who took photos standing with their brand new sports cars thinking that they are Dominic Toretto who would talk shit about my car but would never put up paper and race. Having the equipment and doing the dangerous thing are as disparate as knowing the alphabet and writing a critically acclaimed novel.
So they take the photos and they smile because their toys make them happy and give them delusions of who they could be without ever demanding they put themselves at risk.
- Yeah, I get that it can be fun.
  Still, lots of other things can be fun as well. Going through proofs of math theorems for example. Yet, you don't typically see lots of people doing it.
- I grew up surrounded by guns and they're fun as hell. I've considered buying my own many times but ultimately I don't want the responsibility with gun ownership.
  The most well equipped people I knew would never talk about them with anyone except those they knew well or while shooting the shit with the range master when we'd go shooting. Posting a picture or even just taking a group picture with firearms would be a massive no. At absolute most we'd take a group picture at the range, but no guns or the range itself would be in site.
- I think you might have missed how intensely the imagery of assault rifles clashes with the nativity?
What's weird to me is that some people can look at this photo and not think it's a sign of a crazy, dystopian society.
That somehow the insane juxtaposition of smiling, happy family Christmas celebration and high powered weapons doesn't seem completely insane to them.
- I think the worst part is these people in the photos aren't the most insane ones. Sure, the picture is crazy, but they know that it appeals to a certain demographic. They aren't doing it out of a desire for the picture themselves probably, but to make others like them somehow.

Find the differences.

Those poor guys are cold! Look at how they're forced into wearing those head-warming knitted hats.
- A man walks down the street in that hat, people know he's not afraid of anything.
- If you're cold, they're cold. Let them inside.
No women? /S

I never understood people who think they are badasses because they have a gun. Like yeah you went to the gun store and paid someone for a gun, good job?

The entire rest of the world looks at this picture and goes "Oo look, a bunch of pathetic cowards!"
- Rest of the world being everyone except this weird sub-cult. Even most gun owning Americans think this is cringe AF.
- Hi someone from the rest of the world here. With no context this just looks like a corny family photo and I don't see a reason to be so hateful over it.
Ok but try holding a gun and be amazed at the testosterone fueled rush that fills your god given red blooodded aaaamerican veinzzz OH YEAH!!
:: puts gun down:: :: hands are visibly shaking:: :: sweating profusely ::
Whoa that was a trip . . How am I gonna go back to cocaine after that?
This post has been an advertisement for A24s upcoming thriller Love Lies Bleeding. /s
- I burst out of my white T as I mow down a deer with my full automatic hunting rifle, an American eagle shrieks out of nowhere as I rip the deer to pieces and take a raw bite of flesh, I salute the flag and a tear crawls down my cheek. God bless America!
- I've shot guns quite a few times. It doesn't really make me feel powerful or give me an adrenaline rush. I'm actually fairly calm, which is how you should feel. The goal shouldn't be to feel a rush, but to practice a skill.
  I have no issue with sport shooting or practicing at the range to improve at something, but the people who just own guns to say they own them are crazy. I think there should be a requirement to owning a firearm to have some level of competency with it so you don't do harm if you end up using it. You should also be required to store it safely, or at least have a place to store it safely and knowledge on how to do that.
Slightly tangential story.
When I was young, I used to hang out in a downtown "cruising" area. I was one of the people who parked and hung out by their car, other people would slowly drive their cars around. Lots of cool cars to see, some of them driven by guys who thought they were oh so cool badasses. Those guys, we'd yell "HEY!" and then when they turned to look, "NICE TIRES!" The subtext there being that they just went to the tire store and bought tires like anyone else could.
I had to literally flee from those guys more than once, and it was so funny.
Edit: And the car I still remember was some early 70s full size Chevy 4-door beater with a Rochester Quadrajet bolted to the outside of the hood.

Dude I'm pro 2a and this shit creeps me out. These guys look like they'd have blood orgies during the purge.

I like that you can tell who his in-laws and least favorite children are, because they look like this picture was taken during the Vietnam War during an impromptu clan rally in Vermont.

Mental illness in a picture.

I’ve said “guns are tools” before but when you take family pics with them, you lose the ability to say that shit.

I take family pictures with my actual tools though lol
It's bad enough politicizing (the love of) guns. You like them, whatever. But you shouldn't be forced to say you're against any and all restrictions on gun-ownership to win an election in a Red state. Then there's these people, who are straight-up fetishizing them...
Still applies, just being used to hammer a different type of nail

My wife went to USA on an exchange program and the amount of people that turned one thing into 100% of their personality that she thought she was on a different planet.

It's because it's celebrated in every way. Americans have looked at the one special thing they enjoy as the way they find attention and it's often seen through media. If you are a football player everything relates to that. And their good deeds mostly are noticed through that filter. Our individualism is what made us a nation. I personally love this part of it, however it comes at the cost of others not seeing the harm it does when it comes to specific problems.
That is just my insight. Who knows I might just be a dumb American.
- I couldn't have said it better myself, as a fellow dumb American.
- And if you don't have a specific thing to adopt as an identity, you're a loser. At least that's how it feels.

This dude is a member of Congress. This is what his district wants to vote for.

it's obviously a district full of hateful people
- Scared first. Then hateful because they're scared.

microblog memes
look inside
us politics

this isn't very happinesspilled joymaxxing of you

Why do I feel like they all really want us to notice their trigger discipline

The guy on the right whose hand is nowhere near the trigger!
It is a bit odd because there's not really any reason for their hands to be near a trigger.
- It's a bit odd because there's really no reason for them all to have guns.

Starting back to front, left to right, looks like they have a G3 with buffer tube adapter and standard cheap adjustable stock, Paratrooper FAL, M16A2, M16A1, M60, Uzi, and Thomson Submachine gun.

The designs are old enough to where they could be legal pre-ban machine guns but those are insanely expensive to own ($10k+ each minimum) but considering they're in congress and have an M60 (even semi-auto only is expensive), they're probably extremely rich.

I support people responsibly owning firearms and they are handling them safely (open chambers, no magazines, safe direction, fingers off triggers), but this still looks very bad for a congressman.

It's also just a really really weird Christmas photo regardless of who is taking it.
- I need someone to edit out the guns so it just looks like a bunch of weirdos pointing in different directions.
Fully automatic firearms are actually ready to fire specifically with an open chamber. Closed chamber is considered safe with an open bolt rather than the inverse.
Seriously : I expected this was a joke picture and if not, just some exgremsitst having some fun... You're telling me this is a congressman???

The woman on the bottom right is pointing her gun at her brother/husband/cousin.

Also, the congressman has his fucking finger on the trigger like the big stupid idiot that he is. Like, if you're going to be a "gun person," can't you at least follow the rules? There's so much wrong with this person and this photo.
People like this are the reason I got out of target shooting, which was the only sport I was ever any good at (which turned out to be really great for me, because I was able to explore machining and electronics stuff which I like more). Like, I was just there for the engineering challenge and precision, when it seemed like a bunch of the people I was competing with were there for the "2nd amendment fuck yeah fuck the libs fuck the poor my gun is an extension of my big floppy weiner" shit. I have such contempt for people like this, and I've grown to feel horrified at the violence that this type of behavior leads to.
- Do you live in a conservative area? I ask because I'm a target shooter, and I'm even a member of a shooting club, and nobody is like that there. They're all very respectful and respectable people, who treat guns as the deadly instruments that they are, and treat shooting as a challenging sport. But I live in a very liberal area. Like super liberal, to the tune of 98% liberal.
I don't know, but based on faces, and a few assumptions, she is pointing the weapon at her son-in-law.

No one learned gun safety anymore huh? That daughter is aiming that gun straight at her mom's head.

Edit: It's not, but this is still stupid.

There's something really unnerving about that picture. Like I get the sense that these people would do horrible things with those guns while thinking they are doing good the whole time. At least at first, but once they start to question it, it will be too late to fix it.

If their preacher said it was OK to shoot poor people they would be all over it.
Absolutely they would. But mind you they only feel this power rush when the other side is unarmed. Put three of four black dudes with guns and these cowards will shit their pants.
They love to LARP.

Any person who needs a weapon in order to feel safe in their own home / country, is living in a shithole.

Is that an M60 machine gun?

Edit: It is. I went looking and ones manufactured before 1986 are legal to own in the US. The average cost for one is around $25K USD.

It's for hunting!
- HUNTING LIBERALS!

It's how they cope with being fearful, angry, and greedy.

That's a hilarious photo

These people are all worried about registering guns but then turn around and post their arsenals on social media.

An actual preper never shows off their prep.

These fucks are cosplayers.

Is the girl in red holding a Thompson?

Every single one of those firearms is fully automatic
- brrrrrrt

Yeah. Looks like Jerry over on the left can really handle that M60. It wouldn't immediately knock him off his feet and burn the ever loving shit out of him.

Everyone knows this isn’t ALL Americans, right?

Does Lord Humungus and his crew live nearby? Is Max busy somewhere else and can’t help? If not, I understand now why people tell me satire is dead. It’s like the worst type of ganja smokers - don’t make one thing your entire personality.

it's like nobody ever explained to these people that guns are just a tool.

They are quite literally, just a tool. That is all.

No, no ever did. To them it's just a toy. When I have to carry a gun(when I am outfitting) I will find myself in town every so often and people will sometimes ask to see it. Every time it is a no. Guns are a tool when I don't have a job for it, it stays in the holster.
- some people are really strict about them, which is a good thing, me personally im a little more lax about those kinds of things because im a nerd.
  You wouldn't catch me ANYWHERE telling ANYBODY i have a gun, unless it would be the obvious outcome. Half the point of personal carry is nobody knowing that you are carrying.

Image Transcription: Social Media

Hampton Institute

Wealthy (and especially those who get into politics) in the US are the most insecure demographic in the world as deep down they know their cushioned bubble is a direct result of so much misery for others and they live with constant fear of reckoning.

[A screenshot of a twitter post is shown, transcribed below]

Thomas Massie, @RepThomasMassie

Merry Christmas! 🎄 ps. Santa, bring ammo.🎁

[*A photo of 7 people holding guns is shown. The background shows a Christmas tree. Three people are sitting on a couch in front of the Christmas tree, and four people are standing behind the couch in front of the Christmas tree.

What kind of Hallmark-ass Shitmas tree is that? Lol. They care more about their guns than they do decorating a beautiful Christmas tree

This is the second time in as many days that I have been able to reference season five of Fargo.

Was it that good? I just finished Season 2 and was a little disappointed to see that the remaining seasons appear to have lower overall ratings. But the first two seasons were really well done.
- Still working through 5, but all the seasons are good.

This photo is more than 2 years old... Christmas 2021.