Perfect PC Sidearm

[Uncle Bob]

Well, I can't say it's typical, but it is common. I have a 7mm Mauser Rifl, a Ruger 10-22 carbine and a Ruger .357 revolver in my room. None are loaded, but all are stored with ammunition in clips, magazines, or speedloaders.

When I grew up in East Texas many (certainly more than 1/3) of the light trucks had racks in the rear window with between one and three rifles or shotguns. This was even true in the high school parking lot.

When I was driving in questionable parts of Dallas I had a Tanfoglio 9mm with me. I have a number of friends who either have a conceasled carry permit or carry illegally. Only one man has an automatic weapon (an HK MP5SD).

I have several friends who either have concealed carry permits or who carry illigally.

 

[PapaGolfWhiskey]

It's not alien to me. though I wish it were less.

by american standards I'm probably an evil left wing crypto totalitarian who wnats to register all guns as a prelude to confiscating them.

By Canadian standards I'm a right wing "you can have my gun when you take if from my cold dead heand" Card carrying gun not.

that's how far apart our two societies are.

Until I surrendered to the latest round of Anti-gun stupidity, I had a collection of a half a dozen handguns (all with some scientific, or historical quirk that made them cool to me. Like my INGLIS hi-power: a 9mm Browning made by a canadian washing machine company for WWii and still issued to our troops today)
and about three longarms. (a .22 bolt action, an SKS, and pump shotgun)

Mind you like an obiedient little canadian mine were all under three layers of locks, with the firing pins/bolts removed and stored separately from the guns, with ammo stored in yet a third place under another set of locks. And since they were all registered under a 'completely secure' police database I -never- lay awake at night thinking anyone would break in to steal those guns which I had rendered so thoroughly unable to defend my home.

...

...

until of course I gave up on the hobby and switched to playing strategy miniatures games. I figure I've got a few years yet beofre they ban toy soldiers...

...

but I'm not bitter.

as for RPG's

I always thought the snub was cool. but then I encountered it after reading 'logan's run' and have trouble separating the two.

 

[Father Fletch]

This seems bizarre to me - I've never lived in America and have always taken movies with more than a grain of salt. Are you serious that "normal" people such as yourself have this much firepower lying around the home and even carry it on your person!

I am not representative of all Americans, but I am the legal possessor of all the firearms in my home. I also have two .22LR bolt actions with which I train my children to shoot and handle firearms safely.
When I lived in San Francisco, I came close to drawing my weapon twice, but luckily enough did not have too because I remained calm and talked the situation down. I did have to carry illegally because of the strict gun control in California and San Francisco especially. I would call it at least law level 9.
funnily enough in Washington, where I can carry legally everywhere but bars, banks, courthouses, gov. bldgs. and schools I have never had to fear for drawing, and yet the neighbor hood I live in is considered one of the worst in the state.
I am a true believer in "an armed society is a polite society" and that by being a responsible gun owner and raising the next generation of responsible gun owners I can meaningfully contribute to a safe society. There is certainly more than that, but just my .02cr.

 

[Liam Devlin]

Mink Posted-"This seems bizzarre to me - I've never lived in America and have always taken movies with more than a grain of salt. Are you serious that "normal" people such as yourself have this much firepower lying arround the homa and even carry it on your person! "
__________________________________________
I live in the country, not the recent sniper fraught urban/suburban area the DC-"Snipers(terrorists)team were operating in. Why there, and not here? Cuz gun laws prohibitively prevent the citizens from self defense. Out here, he'd as like as not gotten shot back at by the people livin here.
Scary? It scares me not to have a weapon to defend myself or home, or family. Not an NRA member, but definitely fer the right to keep and bear arms.
Or was it arm bears?!

 

[themink]

I would like to say that everone over there is crazy - but since there are so many guns, that would be a foolish thing to say.

I suppose since sanity is determined by majority hand counts, if enough people in a society find it normal to have weapons arround, then it is.

I don't have a gun arround the house to protect myself, that is the police's job. I would have thought that if you need a gun to defend yourself with, you aren;t in a society. (Welcome to a hobbsian state of nature)

I can feel a soap box coming on .. Steady steady, back to traveller.

One of the reasons I've been willing to accept the very high level of firearms in Traveller is that the area isn't covered by police/ government. It is much closer to a frontier environment where the government is not arround to help. I'll raise a topic about the degree of "settled-ness" that there is in their TU - Becaue it seems likely to degenerate, I'll raise it in random static.

 

[Liam Devlin]

Originally posted by Father Fletch:
Liam you do raise a good point about not including certain weapons. I wanted to get an idea of what the characters carry when the possibility but not the certainty of "negotiations by other means" would occur. Perhaps the "social" choice of arms, not the roughneck. I do realize that there is a whole world of ironmongery out there, but since I usually do not run mercenary or military campaigns, I like to see what ‘jest folks carry. Personally I have a loaded shotgun (Mossberg 500 7+1 shots of #4) within easy reach in my bedroom and a loaded 5-shot hammerless stainless Taurus in 38 Special. There is also a 9mm FN High Power with a couple of loaded mags in the gun safe, for wearing when the weather gets cold enough for long coats. (Washington state is a must-issue concealed carry state)
(Liam I have an off topic question I would like to ask you, please email me.)
SO I guess I am asking what PCs and NPCs are likely to have on their person when just out visiting the broker, warehouse, shipyard, startown, brothel, bar and etc. NOT what they have ready when they are going to meet the local sub-sector mob boss about a cargo they dumped recently in the ring of the local GG.
Sort of helps me to visualize my background setting a little better.

_______________________________________________
AS CPT Blacklight sez, social is one thing, goin to the "dance" quite another. Thanks fer clearin the matter up before we steered into deeper waters!

Mink, welcome to AMerica! If I had confidence in my police the way you do, I wouldnae own as many pieces of steel (cutlery) or hand-irons, as I do. Currently the steel outnumbers the ironmongery, but then, If'n the mood takes me, I can get positively medieval on my opponents.
Crazy? A fellow took me to court over that. Took their test (court-ordered). Verdict: Accused /never proven.

But thats okay, we tolerate your POV. I do. Thanks fer postin'!

 

[Uncle Bob]

I understand gun-related crimes in Britain have tripled(?) in the last year or so, and the trends are still climbing. There have been similar trends in several European countries.

A cynical NRA member would say that criminals have finally figured out that they have the edge.

Mink, you are probably not getting an unbiased view of American society. Adventure gamers (not so much fantasy gamers) tend to have a higher proportion of gun nuts than the society as a whole. I don't carry as long as I can stay out of Oak Cliff at night, and while I have several friends who keep a gun in the car the only one who habitually carries on his person is licensed.

I have never pointed a loaded gun at another person, and none of my friends have been involved in shootings (except Murph and Archie, but they carry badges as well).

 

[themink]

I was going to rebutt, however there is no way that my opinion can change the laws in America. America will keep allowing guns to be bought by it's civilians in huge numbers.

These are facts that I have to live with.

I chose not to live there, however the size and buying power of America is currently dominating the globe so American mores are permiating other societies. Again this is something I have to learn to accept.

Luckily, I don't think it will last more than another 20 years, and there is a limit to how much damage can be done by then.

 

[Steve Perlot]

In reply to Mink saying that it's the job of the police to protect him, I can say with confidence that such protection is not as extensive as he might wish. I'm a police officer, and I can guarantee one thing. If you get assaulted, there's a 99.99999 percent chance that I won't be right there to protect you. I patrol an area of over 75 square miles with a population of around 35,000. In that area, there are generally between 4 and 8 officers on patrol at any one time. I'll show up as fast as I can, but normally the incident is over and I end up just cleaning up the mess and writing the report. In Traveller, if you're jumped while skimming a GG in a frontier system, it's unlikely that the Imperial Navy will be right there to slag the corsair. Unfortunately, the same is true just about anywhere on earth today. I have no problem whatsoever with people being armed for self-defense. It makes my job easier. Traveller PCs, who face a lot more fictional violence in a campaign than most people see in a lifetime of reality, are generally armed for a reason. It's a game. No one smirks at D&D characters carrying swords. (Except the dragon.)

 

[StrikerFan]

My preferences usually run to the gauss weapons, because they're effective and they offered (under MT rules, at least) the option of non-lethal ammunition. Switch mags and you've got a choice. Same applies to snub pistols, but their range is _so_ bad in a gravity well that I always cringed. Lasers are good, but banned so much of the time that they're of limited use except in a hot situation.

StrikerFan

 

[themink]

How many non-Americans out there would like to see more guns in the community?

 

[justacaveman]

Look at Mexico. That country has very restrictive gun laws. And, you are taking your life in your hands if you go out in the countryside. The crime rate in the cities is awful too. You can't go by the published statistics either, because the government denies that there's a problem.

Americans have guns because we're paranoid. Our constitution requires us to be wary of government power, and is designed to keep government power in check. How much say does the average Canadian really have? You have the right to vote them out, but you have no real power over the politicians. The faces change, but the policies don't.

 

[matrix cypher]

As long as they are owned by resonably intelligent and responsible people....sure.

I own quite a few my self.

I live in one of the rougher parts of lincoln.

only been in a bad situation once, and talked my way out of it. They had thier gun out and waving it around. Me i had mine stuck in the back of my pants. they never saw it. they may have known that i had something, as when they started waving thiers around i reached behind and told them that they better put that pop gun away before some one gets hurt. they must of known it was not me i was refering too.

They had an Assualt rifle (Mini-14) I had a pistol(M1911 .45). They Backed down, and i couldnt sleep the rest of the night. I wasnt scared of them I was scared of my self as i was very calm and about too actually shoot some one!!

heck the hole time im in the marines and never once got into any thing.

Buy the Way they were drug dealers that never returned to the neighbor hood.

Ive never pulled a gun on anyone before. Just like to go plinking and target shooting. I dont even hunt.

Originally posted by The Mink:
How many non-Americans out there would like to see more guns in the community?

 

[Father Fletch]

Trader Scott, I was in a similar situation, I was talking with a friend in front of his house in San Francisco (strict gun control town) when this skinhead comes up and asks if I am prepared to die, as he is ready. I unzip my coat and put my hand on my 1911A1, tell him that no one really wants to die tonight, and he should go home and sober up. He started to prepare a garrote made up of a bungee he had. My friend and I told him go home, it is not worth dying tonight, and we stepped carefully back into the house keeping him in sight.
Thankfully I did not have to draw down on him, and like you spent the night wondering how I stayed so calm. Stars to you my man

 

[trader jim]

the best side are is the one that can take out the most people in the shortest amount of time.....and i dont realyknow witch on it is....it is an auto matic though.....

 

[Antares Administration]

Originally posted by The Mink:
How many non-Americans out there would like to see more guns in the community?

Not me.

As far as Canadians go, I expect that I'm fairly pro-gun. I grew up on a farm where we kept a varmint rifle in the garage, owned my own rifle (.30-06 Remington pump w/ 3x optics) before I was 18, joined the military for a 20 year stint (during which time I actually qualified as a marksman with a Stirling SMG!), and got to use them in various exciting places around the world.

I now have no guns in my home (I do have my infantry officer's sword). My children have never fired a gun (something I hope to rectify in the near future), and I have no problems with government registration of weapons.

I harbour no misconceptions about the general availability of weapons, especially sidearms, and I know that a policeman will not likely be immediately available if I ever get assaulted. I have, however, made a personal choice: one which many of my friends and neighbours have also made. We don't keep guns in our homes.

Paul Nemeth
AA

 

[Antares Administration]

As far as Traveller goes , three situations have generally conspired to dictate choice of weapons - variation in law levels, available INEXPENSIVE technology, and the large proportion of zero-G settings in my games.

First, my players have learned, through bitter experience, that local authorities are not stupid. They may be bias, conceited and arrogant, but not stupid. If the law level is low, it's unlikely that they'll be carrying an fusion rifle or RAM-GL for very long. It's usually more convenient to go with a weapon appropriate to the local situation. Second, with the average TL around 10-12, a gauss rifle or ACR is generally military technology, and not readily available to the general public. In lower TL cultures, the local starport is the only place that you might even be able to find ammunition or replacement spare parts. How many of you have access to a low-recoil slug-thrower, or a powerpack capable of supporting a laser carbine?

These two points drive a preference for lower tech solutions: the auto-pistol or carbine (depending upon the situation).

Third, most of the campaigns that we've run have a significant amount of play in space, i.e. zero-G. Most of the characters are not belters or marines, so they haven't necessarily had zero-G combat training. Therefore, there's a tendency to go for low-recoil weapons.

Given all of the above, the favourites tend to be:

Pistols:
1. Auto-Pistol
2. Snub-Pistol
3. Revolver
4. Laser-Pistol

Longarms and Automatics:
1. Laser Carbine or SMG
2. Accelerator Rifle or Snub SMG
3. Assault Rifle or ACR

What's in the ship's weapons locker is another story....

Paul Nemeth
AA

 

[eclipse]

Originally posted by The Mink:
How many non-Americans out there would like to see more guns in the community?

I'd like to see the political portion of this thread taken over to the Random Static board.
The topic here is what charaters carry, not their players.

 

[Capt. Blacklight]

Originally posted by eclipse:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by The Mink:
How many non-Americans out there would like to see more guns in the community?

I'd like to see the political portion of this thread taken over to the Random Static board.
The topic here is what charaters carry, not their players.</font>[/QUOTE]Thank you, I agree!

 

[PapaGolfWhiskey]

Snub pistol and Shotgun under the old rules. Or under original 3 book CT whatever the character had skill to use.

under these rules with my encouraging certain picks for muster out.

Engraved dress swords for ex military.
Autopistols for the ship's locker.
Laser pistol and Body pistols for start up purchases.