02-15-2008, 10:29 AM | #1 (permalink) |
I Confess a Shiver
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Glock's Recent Bad Publicity
Seems like Glock is getting a whole crapload of bad publicity these days.
The media doesn't drop namebrands on most guns, but they know Glock. I guess it's because the media's overall firearm savvy is around the 70 IQ mark. Or they listen to gangsta rap. "Pop-pop with my Glock Forty, bitches!" Virginia Tech retard? Didn't hear much about the other guns... just the Glock. This recent dickhead out in the midwest? Didn't say the brand of the shotgun or other handgun, but they saw a Glock. Between CNN and Fox, I've heard "Glock" about two dozen times in the last hour. I wonder what the motivation is to use that over "handgun" or "pistol." ... While bad publicity is still publicity (and thus good from a "get our name out there" commercial standpoint), "infamous" guns usually may end up creating new piece-specific legislation or show up on special ban lists like the Intratec Tec-9 (big pistol), the Cobray Streetsweeper (DD), etc. I generally feel piece-specific laws are bullshit. ... The popularity and simplicity of the Glock make it a ubiquitous handgun. It's immensely popular with law enforcement in the US. Just about everybody I know who uses firearms has shot one at least once and many own 'em. Glock was the first company to mass produce polymer frame handguns. Damn fine pistols, really. ... What do you think about the brand name dropping the media uses with specific firearms? I think they're trying to demonize the company. Sensationalize the product. Media: "It's not just a handgun, it's a Glock... the preferred weapon of school shooters." Last edited by Plan9; 02-15-2008 at 10:45 AM.. |
02-15-2008, 11:03 AM | #2 (permalink) |
Junkie
Location: Pats country
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Yeah, I think that the generally uninformed morons who report the news may not even be aware that Glock is in fact a brand and not a type of gun. They probably think that the only type of guns that exist are six shooters, machine guns and Glocks. The popularity of Glock has created a situation where it is only one step from being the Kleenex of handguns.
This sort of name recognition nonsense is part of the reason why we can't legally own certain weapons here in MA--because the name SOUNDS scary. "OOOoo AK-47, like in Rambo!"
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"Religion is the one area of our discourse in which it is considered noble to pretend to be certain about things no human being could possibly be certain about" --Sam Harris Last edited by Ilow; 02-15-2008 at 12:28 PM.. Reason: typo |
02-15-2008, 11:25 AM | #3 (permalink) | |
Psycho
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I think it's also an easy way for newscasters to appear like they know what they're talking about, at least in regard to an uninformed public. |
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02-16-2008, 05:59 AM | #4 (permalink) |
Young Crumudgeon
Location: Canada
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Blame the movies. Go pick a generic action movie and you might notice the good guys carry Glocks and the bad guys carry Desert Eagles. Henchmen usually carry Uzis (sometimes mico-uzis) or AK-47's. And if there's a SWAT team, Ranger team or some similar good guy henchman equivalent, they almost always carry M4's or MP-5's.
Now me, if I was a movie villain, I'd carry something like a Sig P220. The .45 ACP may not be able to punch a hole through a baby elephant like the .50 AE does, but I'd have the massive advantage over the hero, who'd run right past me looking for the guy carrying the big ugly IMI piece. But, y'know, I'm Canadian, so I don't know shit about guns. Probably better to ask someone else.
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I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said - Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame |
02-16-2008, 07:03 AM | #5 (permalink) | |
I Confess a Shiver
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... Why? Do you want to buy a P220? Turns out I may have one for sale... I don't think the Desert Eagle is ugly. It's just big and misused. |
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02-16-2008, 07:30 AM | #6 (permalink) |
Psycho
Location: Western New York
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My favorite movie mis information was in one of the Die Hard's where John McClain says:
"They have ceramic guns that won't even set off your metal detectors" in reference to a Glock.
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02-16-2008, 07:44 AM | #7 (permalink) | |
Young Crumudgeon
Location: Canada
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I almost typed that I don't want to buy a P220. The truth is that I do want to buy a P220, but I don't want it badly enough to jump through all the necessary hoops. I don't even think there are any ranges closer to me than the city, which is an hour and a half away on a good day. Anyway, that's why Glocks are famous. It's the same reason every 9 year old boy can identify an Uzi on sight but wouldn't recognize a Tec-9 no matter how hard you beat them with it. Movies like flashy guns. Glocks are flashy. Note that it's almost always a Glock 17 too, although the 18's with the extended mags are gaining ground. Laurence Fishburne doing his kung fu shit on the freeway with one in whichever Matrix movie that was probably has something to do with that.
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I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said - Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame |
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02-16-2008, 09:49 AM | #8 (permalink) |
Psycho
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It appears the media is at it again. Apparently the NIU shooter bought some clips from Topglock.com, which happens to be a favorite site of mine. Now everyone is in an uproar over how he was able to buy gun accessories online, even though he had no criminal background.
Here is an article from the Green Bay Press on the issue: Green Bay gun dealer sold supplies to NIU shooter If you're looking for an amusing/scary discussion on the subject check out the Fark.com comments on the article. Website owner who sold gun accessories to Cho Seung-Hui did the same for NIU shooter. Alek Hidell unavailable for comment It's sad that the owner of the site has to defend himself when the shooter could've easily purchased the same thing anywhere else with the same effect. |
02-17-2008, 08:42 PM | #9 (permalink) | ||
The sky calls to us ...
Super Moderator
Location: CT
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02-17-2008, 08:51 PM | #10 (permalink) | |||
I Confess a Shiver
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It's a big gas operated target pistol. Quote:
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Last edited by Plan9; 02-17-2008 at 08:56 PM.. Reason: Automerged Doublepost |
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02-18-2008, 12:39 AM | #11 (permalink) | |
The sky calls to us ...
Super Moderator
Location: CT
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02-18-2008, 01:39 AM | #12 (permalink) | |
Young Crumudgeon
Location: Canada
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__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said - Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame |
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02-18-2008, 08:29 AM | #13 (permalink) | |
The sky calls to us ...
Super Moderator
Location: CT
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http://world.guns.ru/handguns/hs-xd-3.jpg http://www.shootingtimes.com/newprod...06_022106R.jpg http://www.kimberamerica.com/images/...pd/kpd_kpd.jpg http://www.impactguns.com/store/medi...hr_PM9094A.jpg |
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02-18-2008, 08:42 AM | #14 (permalink) | |
Psycho
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02-18-2008, 12:18 PM | #16 (permalink) |
Upright
Location: Texas
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Also it used to be, prior to 1989 anyway, you'd never hear the term "semi-automatic" used to describe a firearm in a news article. Only after the Patrick Purdey incident in Stockton, CA did the media jump on the bandwagon. Now all you hear is semi-automatic this or semi-automatic that...
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02-18-2008, 08:36 PM | #19 (permalink) | |
Psycho
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Although I was looking at Asian recipes earlier...
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02-22-2008, 01:42 AM | #20 (permalink) |
Twitterpated
Location: My own little world (also Canada)
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Name recognition. Everyone knows Glock, so media will use it to sell a story. It's like the difference between saying "an actor fell off a cliff" and "Chuck Norris fell off a cliff"; more people will gravitate to the specificity of it. And there's no point in saying "the shooter was carring a Taurus", for example, because not enough of the unwashed masses know what that is.
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"Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions." - Albert Einstein "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." - Plato |
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bad, glock, publicity, recent |
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