How do I hide my boxcutter?

February 22, 2008 11:19 PM

looking for an affordable single-stack pistol suitable for concealed carry. . .

Are askme threads about obtaining concealable weapons really so ok? I realize that, thanks to the NRA, walking about with a hidden gun is now legal in all but a very few states (including my own) here in the US; however policy-wise I'm still not convinced that threads about obtaining easy to conceal lethal weapons--of any kind--are an especially great idea.

posted by washburn to etiquette/policy at 11:19 PM (36 comments total)

Such questions have been asked before:
-recommend a concealed-carry gun for a woman
-what are the logistics of concealed carry, I'm trying to decide whether to do it
The gun threads in AskMe are usually very factual and interesting to read, and when the question is, "should I get a gun?", the answers are usually thoughtful about the risks of carrying a gun.
posted by LobsterMitten at 11:34 PM on February 22 [2 favorites]

Yikes! I was getting an error message each time! I was persistent, however.
posted by washburn at 11:35 PM on February 22

Maybe it was trying to tell you something.
posted by Bookhouse at 11:36 PM on February 22

I think cilantro is icky and that people should not be allowed to ask questions about it on AskMe.
posted by LarryC at 11:39 PM on February 22 [12 favorites]

Maybe it was trying to tell you something.

It usually is.
posted by washburn at 11:41 PM on February 22

I'm going to repost this here, in case the other thread is deleted. Washburn, while I agree in general with your principled view here, I've noted that these sorts of quasi-legal posts are always left up. I emailed the admins, for example, about how problematic it is for someone to get answers about techniques and strategies on how to stalk a battered ex-wife who moved out of town track down an old friend. In general, they seem to ere on leaving these sorts of questions up, unless a clear line of legality is crossed, and it seems that's just how it is. So it's a matter that may not be worth investing much emotional energy in, and (hard as it can be sometimes) moving on may be for the best. Just my observation.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:41 PM on February 22

Also previously in MeTa:
why'd you delete my comment about how concealed carry is bad from that thread asking about the logistics of it?
posted by LobsterMitten at 11:42 PM on February 22 [2 favorites]

If it's legal to carry a concealed weapon somewhere, then it's not fair to say "you can't ask because it's illegal where I live." If it's morally repugnant to you, well, lots of people ask questions that are morally repugnant to other people, so no harm no foul there.

So I wouldn't let it bother you. But that's just my opinion.

Now can we get back to making fun of the accidental multiple posts?

I think the one with the most comments by the time the others are deleted wins a trip to somewhere that concealed handguns are legal
posted by davejay at 11:42 PM on February 22 [3 favorites]

Given that, at least according to the annoying wikipedia map, NM is currently a shall-issue state for CCW, I don't see how this is even quasi-legal. It's legit, and it's not even about how to conceal, it's about finding a comfortable gun. I'm therefore firmly on the side of the question staying. After all, I don't like concealed carry of weapons, but then again, some people don't like abortion. I think that if either one is legal in your jurisdiction, you should be allowed to ask metafilter how to get it.
posted by agentofselection at 11:50 PM on February 22

If it's legal to carry a concealed weapon somewhere, then it's not fair to say "you can't ask because it's illegal where I live."

That's poor reasoning. Many forms of proscribed behavior can and indeed are used as a basis for questions to be deleted, yet those same behaviors can be legal in other jurisdictions outside where the site is hosted.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:52 PM on February 22

I just wanted to have a comment in every single version of this, though I know the other 87 will be deleted and this will make no sense. It'll be a tiny personal triumph of will on my end.
posted by Salmonberry at 11:53 PM on February 22

it's not fair to say "you can't ask because it's illegal where I live."

A good point, except that posts do seem to get deleted on this basis pretty often, especially when intellectual property is involved. Or maybe I'm mistaken, here? It just strikes me as odd that a question, for example, about copying a dvd would be subject to deletion, while one about carrying a glock in secret is considered perfectly ok. (What locale or laws, I wonder, sent the guidelines for what's askable?)

But then, I was shocked a while back when I learned that sometime while I wasn't paying attention, the whole country except for the two states where I mostly hang out went and legalized carrying hidden firearms. I'm suddenly surrounded by Americans!
posted by washburn at 11:54 PM on February 22 [1 favorite]

My money is on this thread...







Click.
posted by iamkimiam at 11:56 PM on February 22

[P]olicy-wise I'm still not convinced that threads about obtaining easy to conceal lethal weapons--of any kind--are an especially great idea.

You have concerns that this would be bad for Society? Or just potentially bad for Metafilter? And if bad for Metafilter, bad in a "the gun nuts are coming" kind of shifting of the norms we have come to enjoy, or in a tenuous I'm-suing-mathowie-because-my-daughter-was-shot-by-someone-who-read-a-thread-on-AskMe-about-concealed-weapons kind of way?

'Cos while I'm not a big fan of concealed carry, or guns in general, I think AskMe is a fine place for questions like that to be posed, seeing as how it's legal. Your title, conflating vorfeed's request for info about handguns with a desire to commit acts of OMGTERRORISM, isn't helping me to understand what you're after either. That part's a joke, right?
posted by mumkin at 11:58 PM on February 22 [1 favorite]

Apparently if the question gets deleted, the OP will give up his search, and choose to learn Kung-Fu instead. Another soul redeemed, Metafilter!
posted by Brocktoon at 11:58 PM on February 22

It just strikes me as odd that a question, for example, about copying a dvd would be subject to deletion, while one about carrying a glock in secret is considered perfectly ok.

It seems to me that a question about how to crack the security on a DVD would be deleted, as would a question about how to sneak a gun past a metal detector, while a question about copying your home movies or carrying a legal concealed weapon would both be fine.
posted by Bookhouse at 12:01 AM on February 23

It just strikes me as odd that a question, for example, about copying a dvd would be subject to deletion, while one about carrying a glock in secret is considered perfectly ok

Some make the cut, some don't. That's just how it goes, sometimes.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:04 AM on February 23

A good point, except that posts do seem to get deleted on this basis pretty often, especially when intellectual property is involved.

There is a belief (mistaken as far as I know) that metafilter could be liable if people are talking about how to pirate stuff here. But the IP stuff travels across jurisdictions, so even if it's legal where you live you could be breaking the law "somewhere else" as well because you're doing it online.

With the concealed carry thing, it's only something you do in the state you live, it doesn't cross boundaries.
posted by delmoi at 12:04 AM on February 23

Yay for mods being asleep when weird things happen!
posted by spiderskull at 12:10 AM on February 23

conflating vorfeed's request for info about handguns with a desire to commit acts of OMGTERRORISM

Well, I didn't mean either to joke or conflate; the title "How do I hide my boxcutter?" presents another question that, while not asking for help with an illegal act, is probably a bad kind of question to permit on Askme.

A few people in this thread have made the point that one (or, in this case "I") can't demand that a question from a poster in a concealed carry state be deleted, simply because my own state doesn't permit concealed carry. Fair enough, I think. But what that "boxcutter" title was supposed to suggest is that this kind of question should be discouraged not because it asks about something illegal, but because it falls into a large category of "questions about concealing lethal weapons" that is generally bad, whether the weapons themselves are or are not specifically illegal. How can I hide my rat poison? How can I secretly carry a gallon of gasoline and a lighter? etc. I think it's on this "just a bad kind of question" ground, rather than on a specifically legal one, that the glock question is a bad one.

Yeah, I do think it's kind of a bad sign when it becomes normal for people to talk about about what kinds of concealed handguns they're hiding in their purses and glove compartments lately.

Maybe I'm a little extra sensitive on this, however. Here in Illinois the recent NIU shooting has lately brought out the concealed-carry fans in droves ("But what if those students had been armed!"), and so perhaps I'm feeling more on guard than usual about the normalization of the assumption that people should carry around hidden weapons in public.
posted by washburn at 12:24 AM on February 23

Yeah, I do think it's kind of a bad sign when it becomes normal for people to talk about about what kinds of concealed handguns they're hiding in their purses and glove compartments lately.

Maybe I'm a little extra sensitive on this, however.

AskMetafilter is not about your comfort.
posted by Snyder at 12:56 AM on February 23 [6 favorites]

I love you guys. *hugs* You know this it the thread where we realy, really mean it, right?
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 1:19 AM on February 23

I find threads like the concealed-carry one so friggin weird because, well, I'm Canadian and I never see or hear people talk about guns, like, ever. And then when I start thinking about the people I interact with here, or even worse people I interact with when I'm in the US, having guns on them, it just seems like such a huge difference in values that it totally trips me out. Man.
posted by loiseau at 1:40 AM on February 23

washburn - please read the thread that Lobstermitten linked above, it contains many sensible answers to your points.

Also, I don't see how you can say "A few people in this thread have made the point that one (or, in this case "I") can't demand that a question from a poster in a concealed carry state be deleted, simply because my own state doesn't permit concealed carry. Fair enough, I think." and at the same time want them to be "discouraged". What sort of discouragement would you like to see? Waiting periods? Mandatory background checks? Posting locks perhaps?
posted by patricio at 1:43 AM on February 23

It'll be a tiny personal triumph of will on my end.

OMG NAZI
posted by atrazine at 2:16 AM on February 23

1
posted by Wilder at 2:16 AM on February 23

!!!!!!!!!BANHAMMER!!!!!!!!!
posted by dgaicun at 2:38 AM on February 23 [2 favorites]

This is not a Metatalk post, this is change we can Xerox.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 4:25 AM on February 23

I live in Canada, I dislike handguns, but I flagged four useless comments in the Ask post and think its a completely legitimate question. Hell, I learned a lot about handguns just reading the question and the (good) answers.
posted by the dief at 4:47 AM on February 23 [1 favorite]

But what that "boxcutter" title was supposed to suggest is that this kind of question should be discouraged not because it asks about something illegal, but because it falls into a large category of "questions about concealing lethal weapons" that is generally bad, whether the weapons themselves are or are not specifically illegal. How can I hide my rat poison? How can I secretly carry a gallon of gasoline and a lighter? etc. I think it's on this "just a bad kind of question" ground, rather than on a specifically legal one, that the glock question is a bad one.

"How can I hide my rat poison? My wife thinks rats are cute, but I am deathly allergic and everything else we've tried isn't working."

"How can secretly carry a gallon of gasoline and a lighter? I've been studying fireswallowing, and I want my debut performance to be a surprise at my boyfriend's birthday party."

"Recommend a gun to buy that I can legally conceal. _______________________________________________."

Is the only thing that you can think of to go in the blank is "I have a strong urge to kill someone and I want to minimize my chances of being found out before I get to do it"? Not everyone who carries something that can be used to kill someone is going to use that thing to kill someone.
posted by 23skidoo at 5:03 AM on February 23

AskMetafilter is not about your comfort.

Repeated for truth. washburn, this is a really poor callout, and demonstrates a view of AskMe that has repeatedly been smacked down in the past.
posted by mediareport at 5:26 AM on February 23

But what that "boxcutter" title was supposed to suggest is that this kind of question should be discouraged not because it asks about something illegal, but because it falls into a large category of "questions about concealing lethal weapons" that is generally bad, whether the weapons themselves are or are not specifically illegal.

What your title, and your thinking, miss, however, is that in the case of 9/11 the boxcutters didn't need to be concealed. In other words, you want AskMe to engage in emotionally driven security theater in order to make you feel better about something that isn't illegal in the first place.
posted by OmieWise at 5:26 AM on February 23 [4 favorites]

Everyone needs a hug an affordable single-stack pistol suitable for concealed carry.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 5:33 AM on February 23 [2 favorites]

It's weird... I have guns and I've never fucking shot anyone, but I'm starting to wonder if summary execution might be a viable option for these lame-ass nanny callouts.
posted by BeerFilter at 6:15 AM on February 23 [4 favorites]

Luckily ask.me is not operated based on your sensibilities. Thank god. What the fuck, man?
posted by absalom at 6:26 AM on February 23 [1 favorite]

Maybe I'm a little extra sensitive on this, however. Here in Illinois the recent NIU shooting has lately brought out the concealed-carry fans in droves ("But what if those students had been armed!"), and so perhaps I'm feeling more on guard than usual about the normalization of the assumption that people should carry around hidden weapons in public.


Yep.
posted by Atreides at 6:30 AM on February 23