Had something quite similar happen to me. You can bet I used it to my advantage until I grew up and needed it changed back. What a PITA! Having to prove your real age while going through life as another. I don't see how they can pass em out to illegals left and right, while I needed all sorts of proof of purchase that I was American and the age I say I am. Was also a pain juggling different bdays for different things, and felt stupid when asked to verify and I give them the wrong one only to get the answer right on guess #2.

I do not see how someone standing inside their house behind a locked door armed with a firearm can justify that at the moment they fired their weapon they were in immediate and imminent fear for their life/great personal injury.

Thats right, you don't know. So if you aren't faced with that reality, maybe you shouldn't be spouting off whether or not he felt he was in danger. He was there and he felt threatened, that's all that should matter. You seem awfully hard up to defend the assaulter. Seems to me, police can charge you with intent of (you name it), whether or not you actually were intending to do it. If you were beating down the door of say a cop car, that would be assault. And if said cop shot the guy it would be perfectly justifiable, so why not for this guy? Maybe when you come face to face with a similar situation, you won't be so quick to cry for the rights of the waste of life on the other side of your door trying to do God knows what to you regardless of his condition. Whether or not he was drunk,high, wanted to steal,kill, etc; you don't know that and shouldn't have to wait to find out, he had no business pounding down the door like that. I believe he was ABOUT to be hurt, if he had stood behind the door a little longer, it would have come crashing down on him, thus injuring him. Either way, if everyone excersized their rights to arm themselves, I bet it wouldn't be long before people really started to think twice before attempting to rob,break in, rape, or harass people.

"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass."

That is the way it ought to be. If you think otherwise, then you deserve the alternative.

Apparently not. Best watch what you say on here or the gestapo will be at your door.

Really, would it? They overtax cigarettes and people seek illicit means of getting them. Out of state, out of country, etc. Do you really think all these potheads are going to rejoice and pay taxes rather than get it the same way they're getting it now at a much cheaper price? Everyone's solution to everything......Legalize pot and tax the hell out of it. It's not going to stop illegal marijuana coming into the state and being sold, if anything it will probably increase due to easy competition of a product that would no longer be as hard to move because of its legal status. Just like booze, smokes, guns, etc. If you want it legalized so bad, why do you insist it be taxed through the roof?

The state is crying about "lost revenue" that never existed. They are taxing themselves out of a lot more revenue. If they want the money, they need to back that tax off. I'd be willing to pay 40ish a carton and gladly give the state their due tax, but they done lost my business years ago.

If its so bad for you and they want you to quit so bad, at the rate of our rights raping, they'd have outlawed it by now. Every tax thats for your betterment, because we are obviously too stupid to think for ourselves and need big gov. to hold our hands, is nothing but pure greed and profits on human misery. They don't care about your health, they care about moving that dollar from your pocket to theirs.

I wonder how much money was spent counting all those cigarette butts. It'd take a while to count anything up to 24,000. I don't expect they'd make up a number.

People are getting way to sensitive over things. People act like they have a God given right not to be annoyed by anything, and if something happens they don't like, they are victims. On the other hand, littering is not cool, and if everyone that smoked was a bit more courteous, we'd have fewer "victims" whining about stupid stuff. Do we really need local,state,federal government telling us more of what we can and can't do? Is everything else in King County so perfect, that this is the latest burning issue? Shootings,home invasions,burglaries,drugs,gangs,rapists happening all around, but smoking in parks has more priority? Let's ban stupid councilmen. And if bans do so much good, let's end poverty by banning that too.

Glad you know exactly what the founders had in mind. No way in hell you could be wrong, so we should just drop it.

Although I'd like to say this, there's no way in hell I'll "submit" my firearms to anyone, I will hold them and be on standby for when such a need arises that a militia be formed to protect our rights, foreign or DOMESTIC, you seemed to have forgotten that part. Guess they should have clarified the part about not allowing for technological advancements throughout the years. Good thing we have our crack constitutional interpreter on hand. I guess your definition of a free state means you need government officials dictating every aspect of our lives. The day they try to ban guns or oppress the owners anymore is the day we need a militia, and I'll be more than happy to lend a hand, or arm. I'm done with this argument, there's no way any of us are going to change our minds on anything and it's just a waste of bits. Let's just hope the person invading your home shares the same views as you on guns.

- especially if not highly trained -
I think if everybody relaxed a little and quit shrouding guns with total fear and made it mandatory to teach gun/hunter safety in public schools, a lot of accidental shootings may be prevented. They put guns on a pedestal and say it's evil, don't touch, don't even look, and curiosity gets the better of kids.

- and without any demonstration of actual need,
I'm sorry, but I really disagree with everything about this statement. It's a fundamental right, there should be no "need" demonstrated or otherwise, had you stated without any demonstration of training in safely handling and marksmanship, that'd be different. Along with teaching gun safety in schools, they should require not only background check upon issuing, but also followups, they need to offer and require a course on gun safety and training for concealed permits.

Either way, I'm sick of all these shootings turning into nothing but a gun debate. All the legislation in the world isn't going to protect you and everyone else from human nature and behavior. People like to take the easiest way out and blame it on guns. People can be crazy, plain and simple, don't blame guns, and don't punish everyone else by attacking our rights. This article in particular is nothing but the media sensationalizing the fact he had a concealed weapons permit to stir things up, even though it had little to nothing to do with the fact of what he did. Did it enable him to walk into the place with a gun? Legally yes, but ultimately it was his choice to do it and his choice to shoot people. The gun and the permit had no say in the matter.

Could not have legally carried a gun? Beings as going on a psychotic shooting rampage is illegal already, I don't think that "not being able to carry a gun legally" would have stopped him. Would have been obvious? How easy is it to spot CCWers vs non? Do non CCWers who happen to be illegally carrying a concealed weapon look obvious? Pretty sure you can't come by and "pull all his guns", unless your a felon.

Had more people exercised their rights to bear arms, this may have had a different ending. But we'll never know, because so many people out there such as you would rather be a victim and whine about it instead of standing up for themselves. So you take an incident like this, start demonizing me about ranting about 2nd ammend rights. Meanwhile the guy that did it is becoming less significant and you think its best to disarm everyone so it wont happen again because of course it's always the guns' fault. Thereby victimizing everyone who otherwise would be no match for home invaders,theives, rapists, murderers, gang violence, etc.

Do me a favor make a big sign and post it in your yard that you dont' believe in guns.

Jonesboro anyone? Maybe not hemlock tea, but I do believe they called it a massacre. But they did have guns, it was probably the guns that made everyone drink, so you're right guns kill people.

What difference would it have made had they succeeded in pulling the permit? And why is it you use the term gun nuts? Why do people despise guns so much they feel the need to dictate and control other people's lives and basically beg the government to take away our most powerful right that has the ability to protect all other rights?