Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for May 02, 2010

Leo rulez!

Thank you Mr. Trudeau for Panel #6.

Love this one.

been to mexico lately? if your paking better be ready to put up or shut up. any rambo wanabe can go there,,,dont need them in the states anyway..

In honor of Toggle’s AC/DC shirt:

Shoot to thrill, play to kill I got my gun at the ready, gonna fire at will

As I said, Toggle doesn’t stutter when he’s mad.

I think they were cowed by his standing up to them. They are all bark and no bite.

The truth emerges.

Awesome strip.

Cowed? Gee, like any good Americans they actually respect people who have served their country. What are you guys, hippies from the ’60s or something?

Not sure about this lacking to pack business though. I’d say these folks are probably idiots. How much effort does it take to buy and carry a gun? None.

I think Trudeau is just making stuff up.

I think both sides are so polarized and angry they are ALL acting like idiots.

What they “respect”, dimbulb, is that Leo “packed” a bigger piece than they do!

Try Texas on for size== boys and girls just having breakfast with their 44’s. Maine or Oregon maybe not so muck. Leo came up, MIT, Women(girls), Chivalry, Good Ol’ Boys, Military Might, Home, Mom and Apple Pie also came up. GT you are the GENIUS.

Cannot imagine this scene actually happening. Bogus.

The look on Alex’s face in the last panel is radiant.

tudzax1, as a Christian, I have several responses to this. One is that there are more ways to serve the country than the military. Second is, as a Christian, my primary service isn’t to country but to God, especially when my country stands in opposition to God (eg., every major denomination except Southern Baptist determined the war in Iraq to be UNJUST). Third, if what the yahoos respect is that he carried a bigger gun, they are sad folks indeed. I know way too many who love their guns, supposedly for “self-defense,” yet it always amazes me how many of the find occasion to whip it out. One nearly shot his son, mistaking him for a burglar (he was getting a midnight snack). Most carry because they live in fear – either fear of the other or fear they aren’t enough without it.

Conscientious Objector “I don’t believe in war” Draft Board “You don’t believe in any war?” CO “of course not” DB “If your mother, wife, and children were being raped and murdered, would you fight?” CO “of course.” DB “you’re drafted.”

And as Walter said, :"That’s they way it is.”

dutzax1, ummm…yes, I think Trudeau is making this up. That’s what he does for a living.

cdward, good to know God has given you the power to divine the nature of people who carry guns with such certainty.

Where I live you don’t have to carry to prove your a man or a woman. The haircut says it all. Near Camp LeJeune.

A good strip, but I weary of this playing of the military card. Leo did not spend any time with a machine gun defending our rights. Organizations here in the U.S. defend our rights, not soldiers acting as Bush-Dick’s (and now President Obama’s) pawns in Asia.

As for gun-carrying, it is pathetic, of course, but if we want to enforce the Second Amendment, then open-carrying should be the ONLY carrying. Concealed weapons should be outlawed. Your right to own a gun is predicated on our need for a “well regulated militia”. Thus, your right to own a gun necessitates full public registration: your gun license, with complete contact information, must be a public document accessible on the internet, AND when you leave the house with a gun, it must be visible at all times, because you carry it to defend the security of our nation—not simply your own security. Once you own a gun, you have joined our “well regulated militia” and thoughts of individual safety are secondary to our national security.

Only in a violent and dysfunctional society like Americas you’d even need to openly carry a gun. Anywhere in Europe you’d just look like an idiot Rambo-wannabe, - and it’s against the law by the way.

There are far more homocides in the US every year than in any other ‘civilized’ country.

And if Leo thinks he was in Iraq to defend American rights… oh boy, he has a far worse problem than his speech impediment.

I believe in the right to carry. I don’t anymore. I took great pains to keep mine obstructed from view even though it was illegal to conceal it, even with my permit.

A moron with a weapon is still a moron.

Unfortunately when hackers do this one-upmanship BS it loses something in the translation.

“Listen dude, I spent three years behind a PDP 11/70 defending, among other things, your right to be a moron about your G5 tower.” Somehow it just doesn’t work as well.

@Sheik Yerbouti: Those folks firing at Will had better watch out for his daughter. ;-7

wiserd said, about 4 hours ago

Cannot imagine this scene actually happening. Bogus.

Really? But you can imagine the Sarah Palin doll having a party at night? You know comics aren’t real life, right?

Short, Fat Donut…Heh Heh

Leo: Word

Bobbsie you started it. Why insult someone for exercising their rights.

and don’t forget the sprinkles

I wonder what part of this strip people are finding so implausible. People were exercising their open carry rights in Starbucks back in February and March. Seems like old news to me unless something changed recently that I haven’t heard about. As to the verbal exchange, unfortunately it sounds plausible to me, even though GT is simply regurgitating the same old worn-out stereotypes of gun owners.

I’m really disappointed in GT today and this week. First an easy target like Palin and the Tea Party, and now going back to this old news that he had already exploited for one tedious week.

cdward: Amen.

I like Charles Stanley, but I saw him misqoute the Bible in support of that war, so I know what you’re saying. I haven’t been able to watch him much since.

However, you missed a few pentecostal denominations who also supported it.

By the same token, I can see where the folks who aren’t saved would want the weapons since they have fear and worry for their current situations.

I can also see where a Christian would like to keep a weapon to protect his family as the Bible tells him to turn his cheek, but not that of his children.

Guns are the US’s largest export. Our gov. has a vested interest in not really cracking down on them in country (in Namspeak).

Too many anti-government clans have the Ruby Ridge tapes on replay. They forget that Weaver was against the US Tax system, yet his family took a government settlement, of over 3 million in our tax money after the event. Making it evident that hypocrisy can flow in any cause.

This is all to say both sides have some legitimate worries and complaints. If we could, in fact, take all the guns off the streets, we would in fact reduce crime. Every incidence of it being done has proven that. The reality is that we can’t do it in this country since it’s so pervasive.

Real National regulation with teeth to deal with a National problem would help, making it at least mandatory that the armed folks knew what they were doing with the gun they own. Licensing would be a very good source of national revenue and keep those evil taxes from being raised. Limits on the number and amount of those that one can own would help, too.

The run on the gun stores before the law was in effect would be amusing to watch as well. Then everyone could say they don’t own their guns from fear as they stampede over each other to get to the counter (Obama effect X 100,000)

That’s something that the left and right have in common, and rightly so. The veteran card generally trumps ideologically based personal attacks.

Of course, once he’s “OK” by them, they would drool over the bigger gun he manned in the war.

I see toggle stopped wearing his army shirts. Good for him. I think there’s something about wearing a brag item in public. My only brag item is a 3-season jacket with a modest logo and my unit pin.

As for the HOG, that is nice when it’s vehicle mounted, but lugging it around takes a big guy. It’s almost impossible to do a rambo with it. In BC2, the game is so realistic, that when you get the hog, your soldier actually moves slower! And then there’s the cleaning of it! The SAW is much sweeter, but no penetrating power.

I not worried about the guns; I’m worried that water fluoridation is a Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids.

I think Leo played the veteran card because he knew the mentality of the people he was dealing with. I think it also gives us a glimpse into Trudeau’s inner workings. Although a lefty, I think GT has a genuine respect for those who serve/served.

All this writing about gun registration may sound good, but I don’t think there is enough trust in government to make it happen. It would be nice to think we could do with guns the same thing that we’ve done with car ownership, with the same degree of compliance and no second thoughts, but first you’d have to convince a large segment of gun owners that registration would not lead to confiscation – and I doubt anyone can anytime soon.

Bad argument Chrisnp.

If a gun can protect you from an errant government, then why wouldn’t it protect you from an errant government wanting to confiscate your gun(s)?

I think that all of you who are so against gun rights need to post a sign in front of your house declaring it to be a “Gun Free Zone”. The police do not prevent crime, they only write up the reports after the fact.

Potrzebie, I used to be a M-60 gunner back when we still called it a “pig.” I hated lugging that thing around or cleaning it.

Anyway, you can fire it “Rambo style” without being a really big guy. I am 5’10”, and I think I weighed about 170 back then (I wish I could say “now”). Of course unless it was a really short belt you’d want your ammo in the fabric carrier mounted at the side of the gun, rather than drapped over your arm like Rambo. Also if firing unsupported you’d have to start low and walk your rounds into your target because that baby would climb!

How useful any of that that is in real combat is a whole other matter.

Glad to see Leo again.

This and the part about Mel have my attention, not sure why. A number of my former students are serving or have served.

Actually that was not my argument benbrilling, only my observation that gun registration is futile if people don’t trust their government.

tudzax1?

I am one of those hippies from the 60’s you delightfully hate. I spent from 1966 to 1970 as a Marine infantry radio operator. 1967 to 1970 in Vietnam with the likes of 2/5. 3/9, 1 and 2/7, the Korean Marines, and the CAP.

I haven’t touched a rifle or pistol since I left Vietnam in March, 1970. I never will again. People who use the excuse of personal safety for weapon carrying are simply deluded. Those who use the excuse of liberty for weapon carrying are simply wrong.

The scenario depicted here is exactly what the truth is. Those who carry are in fear. In fear of everything around them. In fear of Latin Americans. In fear of Black Americans. In fear of everything and mostly in fear of themselves. When they run across someone who knows what real fear was and rose above it, they are in the most fear and useless.

Unfortunately the past has shown us that registration DOES IN FACT lead to confiscation. In our FREEDOM LOVING COUNTRY, we have the right to open carry in most places (especially in the west). As to weapons being concealed, that never seems to be a problem for those intent on using their weapons illegally. In Arizona, we will now have the right to carry our weapons however we want as of July 1. It will be interesting to see how the PC crowd will respond to that. I wonder if they will rant to boycott our sports teams the way they are now because we choose to enforce a federal law that impacts us in the way that it does few other states. Interestingly enough, where guns are owned and carried by most of the populace, crime has gone down. I wonder why. As to this strip, GT is taking advantage of the popular perceptions by both extremes to make a comedic point. To bad that his imagination is not better.

Legacyshooter, the idea that everyone who carries is in fear is just as wrong as the ideas some people have about every veteran being the same.

I think people carry for all sorts of reasons, and I imagine one reason some might carry is fear; however, I have known people who carry as a practical consideration. I don’t carry because in my opinion the odds of needing the firearm where I live and work are not worth the risk. If my situation changed, after careful consideration I might carry, but it would be a matter of weighing the pros and cons, not fear.

don’t register … when the russians took lithiuania, the first thing they hit was the banks, and the second the police stations to get registration info … you can’t trust any government …

AC/DC? That’s geezer metal, musta got it at work from Sherm. Somehow or another I can imagine Jeff and Tog getting together after the war, playing GTA and head banging with Blink 182, while telling each other their stories.

Who needs guns to address their irrational fears, when they can do it hand to hand, the Captn’ Chris way. The vid shows how even “Lilly Livers” can confront “Starbuck Carriers” without having to use firepower, or as I like to say, put the “fear of man” in the hearts of the sissy-cons.

http://bit.ly/9YcQOA

Geezer Metal indeed! (grumbling here) .

That is one annoying link you posted

legacyshooter ———- Thanks and AMEN.

Alex, once again, shows just how un-inclusive the left is and how willing they are to chastise anyone who doesn’t agree with their point of view. Being passionate about your beliefs is one thing, being arrogant is something else.

Me thinks that maybe one of the many things Mr. Trudeau is addressing here is the reintegration of our warriors back into the civilian world. In particular our wounded warriors have been having a very difficult time with reintegration (that does include those with mental as well as physical injuries). Whether we agree or disagree with the politics we need to support and acknowledge the sacrifice of all our warriors; I think Mr. Trudeau is simply pointing this out in his coverage of this and other topics.

Outlawing guns would start a civil war against the side that’s armed. Not a good plan

Some days Garry brings tears to my eyes.

..fbjsr: YES!

Chrisnp: …ah…what Gvmt was trusted by what people when/where? My history book collection is incomplete.

Maybe someone could help me out:

Is GT trying to say since Leo is a vet, it would be O.K. for him to carry a gun to defend himself, but not for anyone else?

Because this seems kind of prejudiced. I mean, at what point does a person who takes responsibility to protect themself become a stupid ignorant moron who’s just showing off?

What exact human characteristic is it that makes a person acceptable to be stereotyped?

After all, if a person who carried a firearm was Jewish, or African American, or gay, or even had one of those magical “badge” talismans, it would probably be wrong to make offensive generalizations about them, right? I’m kind of fuzzy about the thing that causes folks normally wary of making offensive stereotypical generalizations, suddenly feel good about tossing them out with casual abandon.

I have never served but, come from a family that served in every war sense ww2 . Most will not talk about what war is like. Of those that do, killing someone, even the worst of enemies is not something to remember with fondness. I think most NRA supporters come across as people who would find killing a gratifying experience.. BTY… NRA SUPPORTS DRUG TRAFFICKING.. by lobbing for assault gunnery. and legislation that enables essayer asses to power-full guns by general public

As a Christian, blah-blah-blah.

You already lost the argument, dude!

“freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.”

what about alex’s (or my) freedom to go to a coffee shop without fear of being shot or browbeaten by an intimidating moron who doesn’t know the meaning of freedom? in this case freedom is just a lame excuse for these idiots to act like churlish jerks.

” in this case freedom is just a lame excuse for these idiots to act like churlish jerks.”

…unless they have shiny metal disks called “badges”, then they suddenly become worthy of protecting their lives and it would then be bad to stereotype them.

Good thing they don’t, or we wouldn’t feel so righteous in hurling abusive epithets at them.

Everyone here has obviously spoken to these “churlish jerks”. After all, it would be hard to feel so intellectually superior if you didn’t actually encounter this “churlish” behavior in person, right?

We all know perpetuating stereotypes by parrotting others is for mental failures incapable of independent thought, right?

I hear alot of squawking in here.

“Gee, like any good Americans they actually respect people who have served their country”

It has been my experience with both the left and the right that the respect stops when the veteran starts disagreeing with you.

“Cowed”? Yes, those Righties who never put on a uniform were cowed by a REAL patriot!

Lycka:– you wonder if they ARE real vets.. I WORRY if they are! I was an ArmyBrat… Dad (“doc”) was a MasterSargent WW2 Army Engineers Pacific Theatre…. and I know EXACTLY which swear words he would be using to answer some of these duffusses…

donaldo – they look like idiots here in the US too. Remember “paranoia strikes deep, into your life it will creep.” I’ve lived my whole life in & near Detroit and worked in child protection in the inner city – and I’ve never carried a gun, nor do I have one in my home. In addition most “packers” get unpacked really fast in the face of a criminal and often have their own gun used on them. Can’t get any more idiotic than that.

Today’s story isn’t about guns, it’s about Alex and Toggle. He displays a wonderful facet of his personality, which is why Alex loves him so much.

Dr.Faustus, you merry scamp…

I carried because I was driving a taxi. The ‘right to carry’ is a joke. Even with a permit one is severely restricted as to where one can take it. Want to run in the store and get a Coke? What do you do with your weapon? Leave it in the cab to get stolen? As far as I’m concerned, one should always have control of one’s weapon. Why should it bother anyone that I have a weapon? Why am I carrying it openly? Because the law says I have to, even with a permit. Here in Georgia you cannot carry a weapon anywhere that you might need it.

The permit. There’s another joke. You go to the probate judge and pay the fee. One takes a test to get a driver’s license. Not for a carry permit.

And God help you if you have to use it.

I know.

lindz.coop GENIUS wrote:

” In addition most “packers” get unpacked really fast in the face of a criminal and often have their own gun used on them”

If you’re such a genius, maybe you can explain why the police carry the things instead of handing them out to criminals instead?

After all, according to you, it would then be easier to “unpack” them and use the criminal’s own guns on them, right?

The air in here stinks of intellectual superiority.

Yet, my five year old believes everything she sees on T.V. Just as you “superior” thinkers have been told to by Hollywood.

It’s so obvious. Look at anything produced by Hollywood in the past 20 years. Do you find any gun owners portrayed in a responsible manner? Nope. According to Hollywood, only cops, and bad guys have guns.

And here all these superior intellects parrot the exact same thing portrayed on T.V. Common firearms owners are outside the bounds of what is “sold” by Hollywood.

So, if you mental giants here are so intellectually capable of independant thought…..

….why do you mimic the very thing Hollywood tells you to, just like my 5 year old?

Superlite27,

why do you mimic the very thing Fox News tells you to do, and say, and think?

I think the joke was in the fact that Leo packed a “bigger piece” than the yahoos will EVER wet dream about carrying.

On the other hand, it’s easier to be “brave” packing a heater when no one else in the room is.

You go Leo!!!