One has to wonder if this is the only time they did it... There sure are a lot of signs in the county that this has happened to...

Take a sedative, Susan. Stupidity does not have to be defined by whether someone is a gun owner or not. I know you didn't say this directly, but you seem to promote this guilt by association attitude that paints with an extremely broad brush. Please tell me how your broad generalizations about moronic 22 year olds looking to kill some time somehow reflects more on gun owners vs. non gun-owners as opposed to stupid and bored 22 year olds vs. 22 year olds who can find more productive things to do with their time. Rather than gun owners, why not suggest law-abiding 22 year olds should be offended by the actions perpetrated by these two? I guess this is just your way to make sure you don't run out of things to be outraged about, but I think this one falls short. You're better than this.

Reasonable people don't start blaming guns in an instance like this, especially when it's a simple handgun rather than an automatic weapon or assault rifle, for example, and gun owners should feel no obligation to get riled up over the fact that these idiots also happen to own a gun(s). Why are you holding gun owners to a higher standard than normal people? Whether someone owns a gun or not does not define them, but whether they are an idiot or not just might.

"It's these kind of idiots that the responsible gun owners should rail against."

"I am not holding gun owners to a higher standard."

Since you are not calling for non-gun owning residents to rail against these dolts, I think you are holding responsible gun owners to a higher standard and I think that is unfair.

I'm not worried about guns being taken away, Susan, but of course I don't own any 100 round clips or automatic weapons. I'm sure you don't need me to point this out, but I hope you are willing to draw a line between felons, the mentally ill and stupid 22 year olds who probably don't have priors. Last I checked, idiots still enjoy the same rights as non-idiots until they are diagnosed with a disorder or commit a crime. It almost sounds like you're advocating for some type of restriction that would have prevented these particular individuals from owning a gun and you should know that based on the information available that is simply not possible. Then again, maybe you are psychic.

My intent is not to mischaracterize your words, but rather to point out some things we see differently. Also just to be clear, were you not referring to these particular 22 year olds when you suggested responsible gun owners should "get behind legislation keeping guns out the of hands of idiots"? I would also suggest that sometimes generally reasonable people sometimes do idiotic things, or does one idiotic or irresponsible act automatically make that person an idiot or irresponsible? Perhaps it does, but I'll defer to the philosophy majors out there on that one. I personally don't see this particular incident as any worse than the driver who is not late for anything but speeding at 85 miles an hour because he/she likes to drive fast and weaving in and out of traffic. I don't recommend it, but nobody got shot/run over in this case so maybe the level of idiocy should be defined by the end result and these kids don't deserve to be somebody's pin cushion in prison.

Prison was an exaggeration, and I hope the $10,000 fine you suggested is as well.

FELONY charges not enough??
again a case of someone doing somithing freaking stupid, getting caught and facing many charges for doing it.
Seems like the CURRENT laws (when finally used) work.
FYI- A felon cannot own a gun.
Funny to watch the libs get worked up about this....they freak out and demand 100 new gun laws every time something happens.
Try enforcing current laws (like this).
As far as not letting these idiots have guns for life, I would suggest maybe 5 years. Let them grow up.

Susan, that just seems like a lot of punishment you are advocating for what is essentially a victimless crime.

If it's victimless, who is paying for the signs to be fixed or new ones made? WE ARE.

Sounds like only Randy gets to have an opinion here.

We should ban viruses too....they caused 90,000 deaths last year in hospitals....

OK lets get to the point....
since guns and rural traffic sings have been in existince, they have been holes in those signs. (usualy far out in the country) these just happens to be closer to city...lets not make this more than it is.
Stupid=yes. moutain out of mole hill=probably...

They sensationalize things to the nth degree...They specifcally try to hit nerves, cause panic, divide. Numbers are better that way.

My favorite part of this "correspondence" is the name Randy Marsh. Randy is this your real name or a pop culture reference?
Regardless, Susan before you get frustrated with the apparent use of argument tactics, google Randy Marsh. Might provide some perspective or a spin to the banter be offered. Interesting also is the discussion being carried out here when the truth is that the two individuals glossed over the seriousness of their yet to be convicted crime. What if a child was hit by the product of their "stupid redneck stuff"? Right, so their willingness to ignore laws made to keep the population out of needless risk is a call to as for gun rights? Oh and by they way when a statement is made inside a series of commas it should be read as subordinate description of the main point being brought in a statement. (I.e. go militias)

Referring to a previous comment about the penalty for this stunt, if these guys are prosecuted for having an uncased gun in a moving vehicle (no carry permit), the gun will probably be taken away. If the DA wants to push it into "hunting without a license", they may even be able to take away the vehicle from the owner.

I know these kids and they were not hunting anything. Anybody see the article in the wednesday Pioneer Press about the COP who discharged his revolver in his backyard and was charged with a misdemeanor? What would you do to him Susan?

I did not say not HURTING anything, I said not HUNTING anything as it stated in the article. The Patch should get their act together and report it truthfully and not make things up. The charges did not include illegal hunting!

And Susan you must just be miss perfect, how lucky for you!

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Susan should get a job. She has waaaayyy too much time on her hands...

Susan: It wasn't deep concern...I was just funning with you...

Sigh... Trolls and pseudonymous postings. You can leave a post directly to a user by clicking on their name. If you have something to say to Shawn, use the "e-mail the author" function. The Patch nastiness is toxic. I realize a bit of irony, as I am not commenting on the original story, however the comments went off topic on post #3.

I understand civil behavior, which does not include voluminous off-topic postings and sniping the comments of others. There is a considerable amount of rational dialog recently regarding the use of Internet comments by trolls and cyber-bullies. Many outlets have stopped allowing comments altogether because of such behavior.