What is the general consensus on what we are allowed to discuss?

The reality is that this and pretty much all gun forums are heavily monitored by state and federal LE. Don't mistake that, hence when we have a situation where a member is under investigation or charged, it's flat out smarter to handle this the way they have been handled before. Kill speculation and stop discussions that are far better kept in private and off the fricken internet.

Roger pays for all of this and he and the chosen moderators have a fairly liberal policy, but when they do chose to nip something, I've found they are pretty damn good about letting you know why.

While I understand your reason for asking, perhaps you'd have gotten a better response about the deleted thread by asking the mods via IM.

Generally speaking, common sense and typically civil discussion and topics are good to go. Meaning if you wouldn't talk to your kids about it, or your parents, most likely it isn't something that needs to be thrown up on the internet.

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Originally Posted by BadShot

The reality is that this and pretty much all gun forums are heavily monitored by state and federal LE. Don't mistake that, hence when we have a situation where a member is under investigation or charged, it's flat out smarter to handle this the way they have been handled before. Kill speculation and stop discussions that are far better kept in private and off the fricken internet.

Roger pays for all of this and he and the chosen moderators have a fairly liberal policy, but when they do chose to nip something, I've found they are pretty damn good about letting you know why.

While I understand your reason for asking, perhaps you'd have gotten a better response about the deleted thread by asking the mods via IM.

Generally speaking, common sense and typically civil discussion and topics are good to go. Meaning if you wouldn't talk to your kids about it, or your parents, most likely it isn't something that needs to be thrown up on the internet.

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Amen Brotha! coudnt have said it better myself!

so is the reason JUST because an affected party is a member here?

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Originally Posted by PhL0aTeR

so is the reason JUST because an affected party is a member here?

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The reason is we don't want a bunch of speculation the fact is we have no facts in any way shape or form. The media is not facts and that is the only thing anybody has to go off of.

If somebody posted the police reports of the entire investigation I would have no problem with it. The fact is the only thing anybody is posting is what the media says which means nothing.

PhL0aTer I can tell you this much we=(site staff) would extened the same courtesy too you if you ever found your self in Shawns position. I am going to guess you have never been in the system am I right? Let me tell you I have and what the media usually reports is the farthest thing from the truth. It's about 5% truth and 95% miss information.

I am sure Shawn would love to tell everyone of us what happened but he cant at this point. Lets give him that chance before we pass judgement especially based on the media.

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Originally Posted by HunterCO

The reason is we don't want a bunch of speculation the fact is we have no facts in any way shape or form. The media is not facts and that is the only thing anybody has to go off of.

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So if i posted a "like article" about a guy in florida that had no connection with this site, it too, would be locked?

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If somebody posted the police reports of the entire investigation I would have no problem with it. The fact is the only thing anybody is posting is what the media says which means nothing.

PhL0aTer I can tell you this much we=(site staff) would extened the same courtesy too you if you ever found your self in Shawns position. I am going to guess you have never been in the system am I right?

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Actually, i have been in for several years, the ATF/FBI visited my house and conducted a search of the many firearms i had at the time. but thats beside the point.

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Let me tell you I have and what the media usually reports is the farthest thing from the truth. It's about 5% truth and 95% miss information.

I am sure Shawn would love to tell everyone of us what happened but he cant at this point. Lets give him that chance before we pass judgement especially based on the media.

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I hate to make it look like im missing the point, but i think i must not be wording my questions properly, but you, in a round about way have answered it, that it is because the party involved is a member because you said you would extend the same courtesy to me... I just would like to know the line so i dont cross it next time and end up on the asshole list.... lol

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Originally Posted by PhL0aTeR

I hate to make it look like im missing the point, but i think i must not be wording my questions properly, but you, in a round about way have answered it, that it is because the party involved is a member because you said you would extend the same courtesy to me... I just would like to know the line so i dont cross it next time and end up on the asshole list.... lol

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We don't have any list and you did not cross any line. This is the problem you judged a man even though you have no facts. This is a direct quote from you and that is the problem. You based your opinion of him on a news paper article.

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Originally Posted by PhL0aTeR

Why is it when some one is on the bad side of the law' we are not allowed to discuss it?

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Exactly how did you come to the conclusion he is on the bad side of the law??

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Originally Posted by HunterCO

We don't have any list and you did not cross any line. This is the problem you judged a man even though you have no facts. This is a direct quote from you and that is the problem. You based your opinion of him on a news paper article.



Exactly how did you come to the conclusion he is on the bad side of the law??

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I was told by another moderator that there was a line i crossed, and thats why my thread got locked, and thats why another got deleted. I didnt judge anyone, from what i know about him, he is a good guy and i follow some of his post on another forum as well.

But i based my statement (Not judgement) on the fact that he has already "lawyered up" which is a direct quote from another member. Perhaps that was a bad choice of words, but for lack of a better phrase, thats what i used. But to define why i said it, if he needs to get a lawyer, he cant very well be on the good side of the law can he?

I think that minuscule quote was misconstrued into me saying he was guilty even though when i posted the original article i added my own word in the title (alleged), but i digress....

All in all i hope it works out for him, but thats not what this thread was supposed to be about, I just wanted to better learn of the grey area, but it appears that ill just fly by the seat of my pants cuz the area is still grey. End of story ;)

Actually I do think there is validity to raising the issue. I don't pay a ton of attention to local media because of the lack of real value. But bringing the fact to the community here, that one of our own is being investigated, right wrong or indifferent, is valuable.

Where the line gets crossed in this group is when the discussion expands beyond the facts. The fact is that there are always several sides to these kinds of stories. We watched some inappropriate discussion regarding another member occur and while it was quashed in a timely manner, the fact is that the discussion could have added prejudice had the wrong comments been made.

To the more specific question.. what topics are inappropriate for www.co-ar15.com/forums ... aka, this community.. well that is partly up to the club President/site owner; aka Roger .. and those with whom he has entrusted the day to day management of the site and club.. e.g. moderators.

They do on average, a far better job of moderating the forum that most places. Even the more obscure sites that I've been known to haunt.

Now, one option is to look at what I personally consider the gold standard for firearm entrenched web sites/communities... LightFighter... never a more crass and brutal crowd has the internet known, but also one of the highest standards of integrity, honesty and a absolute zero tolerance for bull shiddi-da .. I highly recommend to everyone, take some time, read what gets posted there.

I might even recommend that given the nature of some of these issues in the last year.. members with legal run in's.. news items, ect .. that we have a "current events" or "news and issues" forum created to facilitate the communication of these types of items. I would also suggest that it be governed in the same manner as LightFighters "Crusaders Hall" or "Intel" forums.

Again, I think I answered your question fairly succinctly with regards to what is and what isn't considered generally acceptable on co-ar15... the post is there to re-read and if you really think I missed the mark, I'll be happy to rephrase the response or attempt to better expand upon the premise, though I don't think it's lost on you.

[quote=BadShot;89453]


I might even recommend that given the nature of some of these issues in the last year.. members with legal run in's.. news items, ect .. that we have a "current events" or "news and issues" forum created to facilitate the communication of these types of items. I would also suggest that it be governed in the same manner as LightFighters "Crusaders Hall" or "Intel" forums.

This would be a good idea.

I have not been avoiding this, I was just trying to figure out how to respond to it. No matter what I do I'm bound to offend someone. And all I can do is to try to be fair and consistent.

When I founded this place several years ago, I envisioned a fun place to post information, and get together with other people who enjoyed shooting. I never in my wildest dreams thought that someday I would become a person who had to deal with members being arrested, or members going to prison, or similar issues. So up until the end of last year this was not something that I was prepared to deal with.

Traditionally we have not had an official "COC" or any written rules about what can and can not be posted here. I would hate to have to create one. Nobody gets paid for running this site, and there are no real benefits to being a mod or manager here other then the joys of working hard to support something you like and or believe in.

I always believe in erring on the side of caution. I can tell you for a fact that this site is monitored, and law enforcement is on this site weekly if not daily. I also know for a fact that there are some anti-gun types out there that have, and probably do, troll this site for whatever they can find. They, like the media believe in guilt by association. Lets not give them any more ammunition then they already have.

I have talked to the mods here and I believe that the actions they took were appropriate. The actions they took were taken to protect those that are under scrutiny. There is nothing written down, they just have to use their best judgment and do the best they can.

So you may post whatever you want. But if a mod feels it is inappropriate he may lock the thread or trash it. I trust their judgment or they wouldn't be here. And in all honesty, we don't lock many threads, and I can only think of one or two real people that we have banned here. We do let most things go by. So we will all continue to do the best we can. And we will try to be fair and consistent. That's all we can do.

And finally, if you feel that a lock was unfair, contact whoever locked it and discuss it with them. Politely please. If you're still not satisfied come to me and I'll look into it.

Thanks.