4/18/2005: Rwandan gun burn

Another xoB WaPo: here Rwandan officials are having an official burn of weapons and ammo. They're trying to stop trafficking of small arms in the area.

Hopefully no loaded ones slipped through...

It reminds me of this sculture in DC:

...considering I can see what looks like two browning 50cal machineguns on that burning pile I wonder about their definition of small arms.

Always aim them downwards when setting them on fire.

All they're doing is taking guns away from civilians. Again...

Everybody take notes.

Chances are it's a touch more complex than that, there are so many forces at work there, political, tribal, military, milita that nothing tends to be what it seems.

Fun fact: Many African militas issue thier guys with guns but no ammo.

A touch more complex, an understatement, that.

All the complexity you want here.

A lot of them are probably AK-47s. Put a new stock on them and they'll be ready to use again.

Ok hippies :stickpoke , what does that have to do with us?

russotto wrote:

A lot of them are probably AK-47s. Put a new stock on them and they'll be ready to use again.

If they get a good blaze going, the barrels willbend and the metal will anneal (soften) making them useless for anything but beating into plowshares. ;)

i have seen Gubment folks clear out the furnes deck at a steel mill and dump LOTS of FINE comfiscated weapons in the furnes , AK's , HK's , M16's , M4's , Shotguns of EVERY description , and just about EVERY kind of pistol and you can imagen , it made me SICK !!!!!!!

Worse thou was the time i was at a recycle center , 3-4 Sherrif deputies apeared and did a quick sweep of the premisis , then brought in 3-4 big boxes of comfiscated weapons , the recycle center used a hydrolic chopper called a Pirana to reduce these guns to LITTLE bitty pieces , slow and PIANFULL !!!!! I almost cryed !!!!!!!!

And all of it pointless.

I'm still waiting for a buy-back to try something I read about.

Work out a deal with a local pawn shop to allow me to transport some of their firearms and when the buy back happens I'll go to the pawn shop and get all of their behind the counter, piece of shit weapons they won't sell. Turn them in and split the money with the shop owner.

Zip, and that was only the times you happened to see it, lots more you didn't.
The US has reached a point of saturation that make these "feel good on the 6 O'clock news" projects, just silly. :)

There was at least one gun buy-back where gun dealers were bringing over NEW guns (Lorcin, I believe) and getting more than they paid for them. I wonder if they'd accept a length of iron pipe and a nail....

That's the point, buy backs are stupid. You get old people ditching their breech loaders and thugs ditching weapons they used to shoot somebody.

They're at it again. Nairobi this time. :smack:

Reminded me of this...but with less fire.

In the wrong hands, those guitars are every bit as dangerous as the AKs.... burn em!!!

Gun for protecting peace or killing? The more advanced weapon, the worse chaos.

xoxoxoBruce wrote:

They're at it again. Nairobi this time. :smack:

Oh, the humanity ...

Billy wrote:

Gun for protecting peace or killing? The more advanced weapon, the worse chaos.

Not really Billy. People are always going to find ways to kill each other.

The problem with africa is that the ruling people are so oppressive, so harmful to their people that they are in a constant state of war, relocation and suppression.

In Zimbabwe their dictator nationalized (tribalized?) all of the farms and ran off, killed or imprisoned all of the white owners. The only problem is that now there is no one left who knows how to run the farms and his country's starvation is drastically worse than usual.

In Swaziland for example:

"Mswati, 37, has drawn criticism for spending money on luxury cars while many of his 1.1 million subjects struggle by on food aid, ravaged by the world's highest rate of HIV/AIDS which affects around two in every five adults.

Mswati early in June said he was not sub-Saharan Africa's only absolute monarch, contending that although political parties were banned in Swaziland, he only made decisions after consulting with the people."

So no, it's not the guns, or the knives, or even the sticks, it's the people. Same as everywhere else. :headshake

Yet, set a pile of people on fire, and everyone gets all up in arms.


They were having a sale on puns today.

Troubleshooter wrote:

....So no, it's not the guns, or the knives, or even the sticks, it's the people. Same as everywhere else. :headshake

Agreed... totally.

I did a peacekeeping tour... no matter what we took away from the combatants, they found a way to make their own or just plain old threw rocks at each other.

I nearly got sick at a recent news article about some British politicians trying to ban "pointed" knives as you don't really need a point for cutting foot but for stabbing... a throw back to when a knife was not just used in the kitchen but was also usually carried on one's belt as a weapon as well as a tool.

All that is true but it was in response to an increase in knife attacks what with the Brits pretty much having effectively banned all easily carried firearms.

Doesn't anybody get it that you have to change the peoples attitudes first before you lower violence?

This "Life in a Playpen" movement really has me sick ... "take away all the tools that can hurt us, and we can't hurt each other anymore" ... yah right ... like our distant ancestors didn't hit each other over the head with rocks.

Guns, knives, sticks and rocks are not the problem ... WE are.

And until we acknowledge that fact, we really aren't going to get much of anywhere socially.

Don't worry, Ubergeek, there will always be sharp edges on furniture.

It's a little harder to maneuver someone's head onto it just right, but with a little patience, you can get there.

[Sean]That's, the Chicago way.[/Connery]

It looks suspiciously like there might be some nice guitars in that sculpture.

What moron would do that?

Hey Els,

It's real, I've seen it and played it even. It's reeeeaaalllly cool. It's at EMP.

It's called Roots and Branches. An excerpt:

Roots and Branches

The Roots and Branches sculpture is a great starting point for visitors to begin their journey through EMP’s galleries and exhibits, offering a dynamic, interactive, and historical journey into the origins and evolution of American popular music. From the ancient Scottish melodies that eventually gave birth to folk music, to the “sweet home” Chicago blues, to the irreverence of punk rock, visitors receive an audio/visual tour of American musical roots and influences. Computer touch-screens equipped with earphones guide visitors through various musical permutations as live music, provided by the sculpture itself, plays in the background. Numerous customized robotic guitars attached to the sculpture play music on cue. Each customized guitar plays only one string at a time, so six guitars work together to create the sound of one chord — an effective mechanical metaphor for the way that musical styles and traditions have influenced one another throughout time.

Wasn't that an IotD once? :confused:

Guess Sri Lanka doesn't like air pollution from bon fires. ;)

'tards...

Next!

Fair daffadills, we weep to see
You haste away so soon:


- Robert Herrick