Ben Beckerich

One of my standards for the validity of a law is how relevant it is. A lot of things are illegal because... well, just because! You're just dumb if you don't get it. These people tend to be fans of Bill Mahr. I see absolutely no need for a law that does not do anything. A law against owning nuclear weapons, being the ultimate example of this. Does the law prohibiting people from owning nuclear weapons keep anyone from owning them? Do you think a person who has the money, means, and will to own a nuclear weapon cares at all if they're illegal? I can guarantee you- I would put a month's salary down on it- that law has never once stopped anyone from obtaining a nuclear weapon who otherwise wanted one. You can carry the same logic on down the line of less destructive devices. If you can obtain one, you can whether it's illegal or not. If you can't, you can't whether it's legal or not. You still haven't answered how this can be implemented... nor the problem it addresses, or how it fixes it. I'm starting to suspect you think things should be regulated because... well, just because!

You have an authoritarian view on law. You think laws should be so restrictive that people can't commit crimes if they wanted to. But that'd be a pretty ridiculous system of regulation, if we applied it universally. The civil-liberal crowd says punish people when they break the law, but otherwise leave people alone.

Excellent point. Car registrations and licenses are obviously useless, too Um, no.. if we didn't have those laws, we couldn't pop people when they do retarded shit.

And there are, in fact, LOTs of people driving around cars that aren't registered to them. Ever gotten a parking ticket from halfway across the country? My wife and I both have- from people who failed to register cars we sold them. The only time you really need to get it registered is when your tag expires, and they won't give you a new one unless it's registered to you. There are laws that say you have to register your car, and that you have to have a valid license to drive it. If you break those laws, and you definitely can, and you get caught, you suffer the consequences. Likewise, there are laws against felons possessing guns. They can break them like anyone can break any law.. and they usually get caught eventually.

My understanding of gun laws in the US and especially in the PNW is strong. Do you check someone's driver's license before you sell them a car? You might- but you're not required to. You're required to report the fact that you sold it (ETA- Wait, no, you're not even required to do this, in Oregon at least), but not even who you sold it to. You certainly aren't required to verify their license is valid, or that they're not a felon. So how would you apply this to guns?

But since he's a criminal, he's totally unhindered and uninhibited by that annoying fact. He does it anyway. Which is the point.

well, guns are *barely* regulated. But regardless of that, just because cars kill more people doesn't mean we shouldn't do anything about the fact that a psychotic felon can legally buy a gun no-questions-asked pretty easily. No.... no a felon cannot legally buy a gun. Period.

The NRA has sold out gun owners in the past. I think they're probably better about it now- realizing they'd better modernize or die. But the FOPA of '86 was a huge blow to gun rights- thanks, old men with shotguns! As to your explanation- I'm still wondering what deficiencies exist currently. What is the problem that warrants the change, and how will the change address the problem?

No.. actually there's a similar number of registered vehicles as guns in the US. There ARE more guns, but it's not by much.

What does it address, and how does it address it?

I have zero interest in outlawing guns -- I just want to see them properly regulated with mandatory universal background checks, training and licensing: just like we have with cars (which are another possibly lethal implement which has been very successfully regulated) As a gun owner myself, I cant even begin to fathom why any rational individual would be against universal background checks and licensing. Imagine if we treated cars like we treat guns. Shudder! Cars are probably the single most heavily regulated thing we own... guns are largely unregulated... cars kill more people than guns, even if you factor in suicide. They kill more people unnaturally than anything, for that matter. If you leave suicide out of the equation, I think it's like 3:1, in fact. I'm not sure how your car analogy is supporting your argument for regulation

I've heard that stat cited... It runs so incredibly contrary to everything I'm seeing that I haven't even bothered to research the criteria used to compile it. I guess I'll have to... maybe after finals. In any event, I'll just lend some anecdotal internet sample-of-one perspective... I'm a younger guy- not YOUNG anymore, but definitely still "young man." The current market for military style weapons is absolutely dominated by 20-30s. We are eating the shit up. Our parents were anti-gun- and irrationally so- and we've rebelled against that inside-the-box establishment and are openly embracing a new culture. We carry Glocks, we own and shoot ARs. Everyone I hang with, everyone I climb with, everyone I go to school with. With exceptions, obviously... some climbers wear crocs, for instance. Get on one of the jillions of high-traffic internet gun forums that have popped up in the last 5 years- ALL young adults. Go to one of these new "tactical" style gun-shops selling semiautomatic sporting rifles- all young guys working there, all young guys buying the shit. Go to an IPSC or IDPA or three-gun event... the young guys' split times get better and better, the old guys' get slower and slower.. Concealed handgun permit issuance is not just up because they're available- sheriff's offices were inundated with new applications years ago, and it just keeps going up and up, in the last 5-6 years. Our local sheriff here in Columbia county goes around to all the different towns in the county on different days of the week and issues permits from the local police department, because lines would be out the door if he made everyone go to the sheriff's office. These permits have been available for decades- that's not new. We grew up on Call of Duty, MOA, CounterStrike, HALO, and a lot of us are veterans. Military style guns specifically, are a fully ingrained part of the young adult culture in this country right now. And we're not NRA members.

Oh man... I've got bad news for you. I'm guessing you're about 45-50...?

Repealing the Second Amendment is a legal avenue we possess. That's gonna be a hard one to choke down for 3/4ths of the states- most of which have radically liberalized their own gun laws in the last 20 years, as is clearly suggested by the OP. Not gonna get another shot at that for a couple generations, I'd imagine.... the next turn of the great revolving door of collective thought. Right now, everyone loves guns. We're getting concealed carry permits and AR15s and stockpiling tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition for fun, people. "Assault weapons" are mainstream, now. Might as well try to ban fast cars and big boobs.

Why do you care about guns? Don't be a political mindfuck. Care that it's possible that possession of pieces of a plant can be illegal, even a "felony," in this country. Care that wealth and privilege determine health and guilt or innocence in this country. Care that we have more people incarcerated than any other country on earth- by numbers or by capita. Care that every 4th amendment SCOTUS case brings us closer and closer to 1914 (Weeks v. US). Care that he who spends the most wins elections, 9 times out of 10, and that what few contribution caps we have are barely enforced if at all. Care that black Americans make up less than 6% of the population of out country, but over 40% of our prisoners. Care that you can be stopped and detained and made to prove your citizenship status at roadblock checkpoints hundreds of miles inside our borders. Care that Obama has deported 400,000 people every year that he's been in office- but hasn't made one step toward reform. Care that American citizens can be, and are being, detained by their government indefinitely and without charge, and that our government has declared it can preemptively kill American citizens if it deems them threats.... using its own criteria. Care that there are people serving life sentences for stealing hamburgers. Care that poor minorities are being concentrated in the imploded economic voids of major urban areas, where they're offered free abortions, free carcinogens, but absolutely no opportunities to better themselves. Care that you've been mindfucked to believe empowered citizens are a thing to be feared. Don't ever show me statistics on gun crime unless you're going to put up statistics on motor vehicle crashes and figures demonstrating the health/obesity epidemic in this country. If it's about volume of deaths, we've got a lot of shit to talk about before guns even get on the agenda.

Anybody ski climb in these? Wondering if they might be more appropriate for climbing than my TLT5s, which seem to be getting trashed really fast. Specifically, how do they compare for flex, warmth and durability? Thanks -Ben

I did it the other day

What ARE the current rules? During the winter, they deliberately groom out a skin track for us to the top of Palmer... since the lift is out, I assume it's done as a courtesy to anyone who wants to skin up. But once the lift opens, if you skin up groomed snow, you get told "the climber's trail is over on the east side of the resort," in varying tones of friendliness and hostility by 5 different redcoats on your way up. Since they do NOT maintain any kind of clearly defined cat road or skin track over there where the climber's trail is supposedly buried under 20' of snow, I will look for the almost invariably present snow cat track that follows the lifts up. It follows groomed snow, but usually isn't groomed itself, and it's not a hard, inconvenient, or dangerous thing to just step aside when cats come through... yet I still get told, sometimes pleasantly, sometimes curtly, "the climber's tail is way the fuck over there," with a ski pole pointed out toward the eastern horizon. If they want to permit access to groomed trails, I guess if that's their prerogative, then it's their prerogative. They just need to make the rules very explicit so people know what the fuck they can or can't do. ETA - That is, so long as it's just mechanically groomed trails. Gonna be some bullshit if they try to get a fee for being an access point. I already give them $35 or $40 a year to park.

Simmer down Hoss. You were posting about where to get avi instruction earlier this year. I would suggest a little slower intro than soloing "easy" climbs in the North Cascades is warranted. Build up some skills with partners before going it alone. Oh? What's that look like?

Fuck yea... I gotta get around to the north side this winter Thanks for the stoke

I recognized the name Glen Kessler... http://www.mountain-savvy.com/ What's up with all this? The content- I realize it's not the mountain savvy website.

Hmm... Yea, now that I look at the "sections" map, I see that it seems to be indicating that section 3 doesn't actually go any farther east than Rainy Pass.... guess that should have been my first clue.

They say it's a Hood course... I thought only TMG could operate on Hood?

Yea, just looking at the routes south of the 20, as I only own the Green and White. Definitely need to get a Red, obviously, as it's half of the area I'm looking to expand into. In my 1971 Green, none of the peaks south of 20 east of Rainy Pass are listed (or are listed under different names?). As far as I can tell, Liberty Bell is the easternmost listed peak. Which end of the highway was completed first? Maybe that was still fairly uncharted territory over there in 71 Guess it's time to buy some new books..

This is pretty much exactly why I'm looking to get professional instruction. I just "registered" with Mountain Savvy for a 2-day Hood course... will have to wait for them to get ahold of me to let me know if my selected class dates are still available. I assume that's through TMG. You say three days is more typical, Chris? Who would you recommend checking with?