Bullets fly on crowded Queens subway train as two gangs brawl

[RamboLiberal]

Shots rang out on a crowded Queens subway train Thursday, forcing riders to duck and run as two gangs brawled.

Riders panicked when three shots erupted from the last cars of a Manhattan-bound A train at the Howard Beach station about 6:30 p.m.

No injuries were reported.

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"I heard the gunshots and everyone started to yell 'Get down! Get down!" said Genesis Fernandez, 15, of East New York. "I was really frightened."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2011/06/10/2011-06-10_bullets_fly_on_qns_subway.html#ixzz1Ov2kYIRF

Gun control really working well!

[demosincebirth]

1. Ahhh, the lovely smell of gunsmoke in the subway. I just love our American

gangs.:sarcasm:

[friendly_iconoclast]

14. Don't worry, they do just fine without guns, and have for a very long time:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=118x425726#425768

[spin]

2. It would be wise to focus future gun control efforts on criminals and criminal gangs ...

and less on honest gun owners.

[sharesunited]

3. If anything should be clear to you by now

it's that access to guns and ammo by the public WHATSOEVER is the problem.

Ultimately, your access is the same as those gang bangers.

[lawodevolution]

4. They tried removing access to guns to the lublic in Mexico, Nigeria and Jamaica and it didn't work

Many might say things are worse

[spin]

12. You see things through lenses distorted by your personal fantasy.

You have never explained just how you would effectively stop access to guns and ammo. I seem to remember you advocated stopping production of new firearms and ammo but this would do little or nothing to stop access to firearms as there 300 million firearms in our nation already. Many people own a large quantity of ammo for their firearms and ammo is easy to reload. Many people also have stocked up on reloading supplies.

With proper storage and reasonable care, firearms and ammo will last indefinitely. My great grandchildren will probably inherit some of the firearms in my collection today.

You should really consider coming over to my side and advocating gun control measures that target criminals and criminal gangs and stop tilting at windmills.

If criminals had fewer firearms or at least rarely carried them, the violent crime rate would fall and eventually people would stop buying firearms for self defense. We might actually live in a society where only target shooters, hunters and collectors had any interest in owning firearms.

[Straw Man]

13. Wrong.

If anything should be clear to you by now

it's that access to guns and ammo by the public WHATSOEVER is the problem.

Why should something so convoluted and illogical be clear to me or anyone? Is the public composed entirely of violent criminals? Is the right to an effective means of self-defense solely the province of those who have a uniform and a badge?

Ultimately, your access is the same as those gang bangers.

Nope. I pass a NICS check when I buy a firearm. I had to provide three character references and undergo a full background check to get a handgun license in my state. Gangbangers don't do any of that. So no, not the same at all.

Your refrain always boils down to this: "If guns did not exist, these things would not happen." You are wrong; crimes of violence have plagued society since time immemorial.

[eqfan592]

16. How's that working out in Mexico? nt

[jmodden]

5. I don't understand

why anyone would honestly feel compelled to own a gun. There is no justifiable need.

If no one had a gun, events like this would not happen. Knives and fists are much less efficient at doing damage and only at close proximity.

[gejohnston]

7. Gangsters would still have them........

I am old enough to remember when gangs like that rarely had guns. If they did, they were homemade zip guns, but most of the time they had knives and tire chains. Then Nixon's war on drugs and the crack epidemic came along. The drug trade became more profitable for even the corner pot connection. In other words, why anyone would honestly feel compelled to do drugs. There is no justifiable need.
If no one used drugs (or legalized it), events like this would not happen. Knives and fists would still be the weapons of choice and are much less efficient at doing damage and only at close proximity.

[TheWraith]

8. "There is no justifiable need." You're wrong. Here's why.

Because not everyone lives in a processed, starched, and pressed suburb, where there's no crime, no wildlife, nothing that could ever threaten you.

Because a 100 pound woman cannot manually fight off a 250 pound rapist and potential murderer.

Because the law abiding should not be held at the mercy of a group of thugs who decide that person was just a good choice to rob tonight.

Because that black bear pawing through your garbage might decide that your house smells like a better place to find food.

Because people still hunt for food every day in this country, including those who do it to survive.

And lastly, because what you view as someone else's "need" is not the arbiter of what is allowed or not. You could just as easily say there's no "justifiable need" for alcohol to be legal, or marijuana, or television. But you are not allowed to make those decisions for others, any more than others are allowed to tell you that there's no "justifiable need" for abortion, or gay marriage, or labor laws.

[spin]

11. I disagree but I may be prejudiced as my daughter used a firearm ...

to stop an intruder breaking into our home.

She pointed it at him and he ran.

There is a possibility that had she not have had that firearm she might not have survived or would have been raped.

[eqfan592]

17. I don't understand...

...how somebody could say something as wrong-headed as you just did.

[benld74]

6. I support the right to bare arms

[RSillsbee]

9. But do you support the right to arm bears? NT

[ileus]

10. Queens, gangs, guns....all legal I'm sure.

[A Simple Game]

15. Wish I had been there with my gun, that would have made a difference. n/t

[eqfan592]

18. Not very likely.

One person against two armed gangs is not really a good situation to find yourself in. Better to try and get rid of the gangs source of money which is likely the illegal drug trade by ending the war on drugs.

[A Simple Game]

19. How about if I had a friend with me? Would that have been enough firepower? n/t

[ManiacJoe]

20. You just keep forgetting the sarcasm tag, right?

[A Simple Game]

22. Yeah. n/t

[gejohnston]

21. if they had pistols

and you your friend had machine guns or shot guns, maybe.