Hide your guns!

[minx]

Democrats in the state senate passed a bill that says if you leave your handgun visible in your vehicle when you are not physically in you will be charged with a misdemeanor and subject to a $500 fine.  And if you're not around, your vehicle can be towed on site by police.  Too many people see a gun on the front seat and break into the car to steal it.

Richmond police said there were 637 such incidents in 2022.

Republican dude from Richmond says this bill is completely unnecessary, as people break into cars and steal valuables then use them to buy guns, so this isn't going to be any type of deterrent and amounts to victim blaming.

On the one hand I get his point - we need to do more to prevent car break-ins and theft.  OTOH, just exactly how many criminals break into cars for the entire purpose of stealing money and then using it to buy a gun?  Seems like you'd have to break into a lot of cars to get that type of cash.

I do get the victim-blaming aspect as well, but we're not talking about someone leaving their wallet and credit cards on the front seat, but someone leaving a deadly weapon there. 

I 100% think that we have tried beyond belief to give neglectful  gun owners chance after chance to change their ways - classes, free trigger locks, not being charged with a crime when someone gets their hands on their unsecured gun and uses it to shoot someone.  It's time to hold people accountable - you have a gun and a minor gets a hold of it and shoots someone - child abuse and endangerment.  You leave your gun on the seat of your front car while you run into 7-11 and someone breaks in and steals it?  Fine your ass.

It seems to me that the responsible gun owners (and I know quite a few), secure their guns properly and don't misuse them.  Maybe if we truly crack down on those who don't, we might (HA) start making a dent somewhere.

[Dave's Not Here Man]

I don't know why you're distracted by this minor problem when we have a gas powered lawn equipment crisis to solve!
www.wric.com/news/virginia-news/bill-to-allow-localities-to-ban-gas-powered-leaf-blowers-advances-in-virginia/


Where's that "eye rolling" emoji when you need it?

[k9krap]

Actually, not only do they pollute the air, they also create noise pollution. I have a friend (and high school “boyfriend”) that now lives in Portland. He complains bitterly about them, as the city uses them to clear the sidewalks constantly, all year round. And they start very early in the morning.

[Dave's Not Here Man]

So the compromise is to ban them?

Nope.

[minx]

Oh, I say BAN! Jack actually wants one to just fire up at weird hours to get back at the neighbor who spends his time carefully blowing away every leaf, only to have new leaves arrive.
Endless cycle of noise. You want leaves gone on your personal property, then do it the old-fashioned way with a rake! Those were the good days when America was Strong, and I can only hope that new President Trump will ban blowers on his first day in office so we can start Making America Great! In fact, it should be his first action - as soon as he's sworn in, before he leaves the inaugural ceremony!

They do have their place, but I wish people with average-size yards would realize that their place is not there. Besides, using a mulching mower to clean them up is better for your lawn.

[Dave's Not Here Man]

I'm not sure how to respond to that. 😂

But I'll work on it.👿

[k9krap]

Why get rid of the leaves at all? They provide great havens for all sorts of wildlife. (The old guy that used to live next door to me was adamant about having no leaves. Every Saturday morning, he (or his son later) would be out there with the leaf blower, no matter the season.

And what’s wrong with electric leaf blowers?

[Dave's Not Here Man]

I can make you a list.

[minx]

For electric ones, or gas powered ones?

I will say that at the resort we have an electric mower and weed whacker and they are sweet. Get the job done nicely.

Except the mower doesn't if the grass gets too tall (and I don't mean as high as an elephant's eye either!). We hadn't mowed for two weeks last September, and that damn mower clogged up every 5 feet and I had to clear it out. Got the yard done, but took me close to an hour. And that was without weed whacking. But it is super quiet and goes quite a way on a charge. Don't think the charge would last for our entire yard here though.

[Dave's Not Here Man]

I'll get to it but I'll start with this because it is something rarely discussed in certain circles. We have an electrical power grid that we rely on for everything and as everything we use becomes battery powered, the demand on the grid could double, triple, or maybe even be ten-fold before too long. Has anyone seen or heard about new power plants being built to get ahead of demand?

Obviously there's a solar farm going in here, a wind farm going up there, but what kind of actual output are they producing? I'd be willing to bet that the gross is less than 1%. Was reading a thing the other day about the power needed for these new data centers being built all over the area. Guess what each building of each center comes with? Massive Generators. But you won't be able to buy or own a generator when there's a blackout because, you know, the neighbor says they are noisy and stinky and I don't "need" one.

[Dave's Not Here Man]

I just re-read the OP and wondered if the law could apply to your gas powered lawn equipment for the sake of staying on topic. It was my bad, I know.

Anyway, "what's wrong with electric leaf blowers"?

Nothing if that's the tool you choose for your job. I have an actual electric blower that I picked up in a lot from an auction. It uses an extension cord. Extreme pain in the ass for several reasons related to the cord. It's got decent power but not powerful enough to do a healthy cover of leaves especially if they aren't 100% dry. It takes x number of times longer to do the work of my Stihl light commercial backpack blower in any conditions or quantity. Hours vs an hour. For a business, productivity would go in the shitter.

I also have a battery powered blower. I still say it's one of the best new tool purchases I've made in years. Super handy to have for everyday use in the garage, front porch, and back patio. As for negatives- It only has 15-20 minutes of run time and the extra batteries are freaking $60 a piece. So when I'm in the middle of something I have to wait several hours for the battery to recharge since I can't see spending almost as much for an extra battery as the whole tool battery and charger together in the same box. Again, this thing is great for saving me and my back from having to sweep, in case I'm asked what's wrong with brooms.


What's "wrong" with electric and battery powered outdoor/lawn tools is pretty standard.
Electric
-Extension Cords suck hind titty for yard work (probably okay for a townhouse yard but nothing larger).
-Way under-powered vs gas.
Battery-
-Way under-powered vs gas.
-Limited run time vs recharge time = more down time.
-Batteries are expensive to replace or add.
-Tools are double+ the price of gas powered equipment.
-Electric motors are usually not repairable.
-LiOn Batteries are a known fire hazard.

Let's not forget the environmental and human impact of mining lithium. www.wired.co.uk/article/lithium-batteries-environment-impact

[minx]

Yeah - I believe we're putting too much strain on the grid and the impact of lithium and cobalt mining are huge.

I 100% believe that if we want to cut things back, we need to start with two industries.
Natural gas and the plumes those operations emit - thousands and thousands of pounds of excess gas go through them and create not only huge amounts of methane, but are a total health hazard to workers and nearby neighborhoods.

The plastics industry. Too much plastic shit out there, and more and more gets produced every day. And the dirty little secret behind it all is that plastic can never be 'truly' recycled. First of all, it has a limited lifecycle. So the brand-new bottle you buy can only be recycled into a new bottle once. And it can't be used to make say, a straw. It can be used to make a plank for a bench, but that's about it. And from what I understand, things like straws and single-use bags can't be recycled into anything but planks for benches.

So, eliminate all single-use plastic grocery bags. Period. And get rid of paper grocery bags too. They use a lot of bleaches and chemicals in their creation. Personally, I'd go with reusable cotton bags that can be easily washed, but since there are already so many reusable bags floating around I wouldn't mess with having folks get new bags. And stores can also go the Costco way and make boxes available to customers to use.
I'd also go for eliminating plastic to-go containers, but not sure how that would work exactly.

Either way, we need to drastically cut back on the amount of plastic that is produced and used. And people will freak out completely. Therefore, political suicide.

As for gas-powered things, there are ways to make them more fuel efficient and pollute less. But I don't think your lawn mower is the issue here. That's what the large corporations and environmental groups want us to believe. They need to go after companies like Chevron and Exxon/Mobile and force them to fix shit. You and I choosing to switch to reusable bags doesn't do shit.

[Dave's Not Here Man]

You can pry my plastic bags from my cold dead hands, Commie!



and yes it would be political suicide for anyone singing that tune. Cash...... and Orange Jesus, is King.