Gangsta gun photos? why?

[Sam Hainn]

Many people post photos online of their guns with money, liquor bottles, cigarette lighters, syringe needles, drugs, jewelry, pens, watches, knives, keychains to luxury cars, & other crap in the photo. I get the knife or gun accessories with the gun and makes sense but not needed. I also get some people want to show off their fine watch. But a .99 cent keychain is just a .99 cent key chain and cash is nothing special. Why clutter up the photo? Why imply a 'gangsta' image in some of these photos? I saw one with a mirror and lines of white powder in the photo like that was something cool.

[ghost]

i dont understand it either.i guess some people are impressed by status/material wealth or portray an image they dont actually live or have done.theyre called "studio gangstas" or "busters" lol

[slick_711]

It's a way for gangbangers and banger wannabes to demonstrate their self perceived masculinity. In that particular lifestyle, well... really in most lifestyles, it is important for a man to be masculine and dominant. They just have a different view of what constitutes masculinity than others do.

Not saying it's right, personally I detest it as well, the whole hip hop lifestyle really, it is demeaning to women, they're perpetuating their own continued problems (not saying African Americans, but "gangsters" in general, of any race).

But it's what they see on TV and the way they think they're raised, it's what they think they have to do/be to be a man. Different values.

Of all of it, the demeaning of women, talking about commiting crimes, using the word "clip" and "Glock deuce deuce" or "Glock Fo-tay," the depictions of cash and drugs, shiny tires, of all the stupid gangster images, and tough guy fronts, the thing that bothers me the most is when they walk around in public with sports team hats on and the bill of that hat is like $*(^@&*^ ironed flat and they didn't even take off the tags or stickers. What the #$&*% does that have to do with being a gangster? I just want to take off their hats and dance on them.

[ts]

It's a way for gangbangers and banger wannabes to demonstrate their self perceived masculinity. In that particular lifestyle, well... really in most lifestyles, it is important for a man to be masculine and dominant. They just have a different view of what constitutes masculinity than others do.

Not saying it's right, personally I detest it as well, the whole hip hop lifestyle really, it is demeaning to women, they're perpetuating their own continued problems (not saying African Americans, but "gangsters" in general, of any race).

But it's what they see on TV and the way they think they're raised, it's what they think they have to do/be to be a man. Different values.

Of all of it, the demeaning of women, talking about commiting crimes, using the word "clip" and "Glock deuce deuce" or "Glock Fo-tay," the depictions of cash and drugs, shiny tires, of all the stupid gangster images, and tough guy fronts, the thing that bothers me the most is when they walk around in public with sports team hats on and the bill of that hat is like $*(^@&*^ ironed flat and they didn't even take off the tags or stickers. What the #$&*% does that have to do with being a gangster? I just want to take off their hats and dance on them.

It's called culture.

If I had to take a photograph of the things that were important to me I would have my family, my car, my gun collection, my watches, and of course my self (and so many other things, too many to name).

Some people take a picture of the things that are important to them, such as drugs and violence. That is their life style... what ever.

My whole position on the whole subject is pictures = evidence, you will never find a picture of me holding a gun, having sex, doing drugs (not that i do them), or anything else that might close a door for me in my future.

[Stanze]

Different Strokes. All in good fun(the legal, no one gets hurt stuff that is).

[slick_711]

Tony, culture and lifestyle are not synonyms.

[MysteryCereal]

My whole position on the whole subject is pictures = evidence, you will never find a picture of me holding a gun, having sex, doing drugs (not that i do them), or anything else that might close a door for me in my future.

Ton"YAYO" does not do drugs :-D

[Sam Hainn]

Different Strokes. All in good fun(the legal, no one gets hurt stuff that is).

Uh huh. Different Strokes - fun like Dana Plato and Todd Bridges (the illegal, people get hurt stuff that is).

[Teletiger7]

Ton"YAYO" does not do drugs :-D

^^^^ LMAO. hahahaha

[ts]

Tony, culture and lifestyle are not synonyms.

You're right - most of us on this forum have the ability to easily change our life styles. Many people don't - such as kids in South Central LA.

It's not easy to get out of a ghetto of any kind. Most people (kids) take the easy way out. Which results in selling of drugs and violence.

Gangs have always been around, you have your family, your "gang" (one could also refer to that as a "tribe"), your village, your country.

I see many of you bashing on gangs, I understand they give gun owners a bad name due to what we might perceive as senseless violence (to them it has much more meaning) - but the fact of the matter is gang mentality runs in human nature. Hell, everyone on this forum is part of a gang - one of our members is in trouble and we're doing everything we can to help him - why? Because he is in our gang - if BWO wasn't a CalGuns member I doubt I would even know about it.

And for the record I do not do drugs, it was a nick name given to me a while back. Then some rapper got it.

[slick_711]

I was bashing on neither you nor gangs. And there is a wealth of culture in inner cities, LA in particular. However, the use and sales of drugs, and gang violence, are not aspects of that culture; they are a lifestyle. I was simply making a distinction.

[ts]

I was bashing on neither you nor gangs. And there is a wealth of culture in inner cities, LA in particular. However, the use and sales of drugs, and gang violence, are not aspects of that culture; they are a lifestyle. I was simply making a distinction.

Oh - I know you were not bashing on me or gangs. I was just saying there seems to be a lot of gang bashing on this forum, which is completely understandable since they give law abiding gun owners a bad name. But think about it this way.

1) Get worried about getting shot every day
2) Go to school every day while worried about getting shot and get straight A's
3) Hope they give you a scholarship to a college

And do that from ages 12-18.

Or...

Join a gang, sell crack, get money.

What would you're average 12 year old pick?

People are very harsh on gang's - people should not only look into the naturalistic view of it, but also the sociological and psychological aspect of gangs. Most people (kids) would join a gang for protection and money makes sense to me, it is a lot easier and safer in certain ways then the other route. It is not easy to get out of ANY ghetto. The only reason I speak of these things is I have around 10 friends from South Central LA and Compton that were dirt poor and joined gangs.

One of them got stabbed selling crack, died for 5 min on the operating table (lungs filled with blood), woke up and did everything he could to change his life. He is now 28 working at a retail store for minimum wage making less then $10 an hour. He made a lot more before.

[BlackReef]

People that portray a "gangster" image are simply going to make responsible Black Gun owners look bad. Gangsters and Drug Addicts are the reasons why California has so many ridiculous gun laws in the first place. They ruined it for us. Ive lived in Oceanside my whole life and Ive been shot at and ran with bad people for a long period of time. I can tell you from first hand experience that an individual that is trying to portray a gangster image, WILL use their Black Rifle (or any firearm) irresponsibly; out of peer pressure. Whether it is simply equipping the rifle in an illegal fashion, or using it to murder somebody. Individuals like this feel a need to live up to their image, even if deep down they do not want to. It is unfortunate.

-J

[boosterboy]

Now I hate to sound like a Liberal Arts major, but we have to consider the idea of cultural relativism.

Every culture has different ways of displaying status, whether it's low profile or high profile, it's there. There's a always a gap between the haves and have-nots.

The Haves might show very very subtle forms of status, while the have-nots would have more flamboyant displays of status because that's all they can afford.

Ex: U.S. Marines do not wear as much patches/pins as the other branches. Now all the branches serve the same country, but each branch has their own style of displaying their decorations.

Some cultures around the world often adorn very colorful garments and wear a lot jewelery. I would go as far as saying their sense of aesthetic was mentored by a drunken gypsy woman who had a knack for shiny metallic objects.

From the perspective of anti-gun pacifist who sees the online profile of a firearm enthusiast, the anti-gun person would probably think that the fire-arm enthusiast is compensating for his small set of family jewels. Even if the picture featured the gun enthusiast holding a firearm in a non-threatening manner. Ever since Virginia Tech, I have removed most of online pictures of me at the range. Some of these anti-gun folks might resort to labeling gun-enthusiast as "savages" or "psychos" or some other derogatory term.

Point is, let them do whatever the hell they want, and we'll do our thing. Let's not sink to their level and use emotions to spin an opinion as a fact.
Everybody shows off, but if you wanna be fair, show off to people with the same bank account as you.

P.S.

Don't get me wrong, I do get irritated of stupid gangsters and poser gangster taking dumb pictures with guns (sometimes toy guns) to make themselves look more "powerful". I would not use the word masculine because some of those guy looks like a walking abortion.

[VeryCoolCat]

Hell, everyone on this forum is part of a gang - one of our members is in trouble and we're doing everything we can to help him - why? Because he is in our gang - if BWO wasn't a CalGuns member I doubt I would even know about it.

Can we wear bandannas with calguns logos on em

and flash gang signs that look like receivers????

Should we make listening to a rant by one of our more "tin foil" members the way of being "jumped in"