Jeff Danziger for February 07, 2023

Being Canadian, I know nothing of guns so perhaps an American Conservative could educate me. When a plane shoots down a balloon and the bullets go through it, popping it, where do the bullets go from there?

This is about the level of intellectual sophistication I have seen about this whole Balloon bit in the general public (including many members of Congress).

On an absolutely winless night let the balloon get directly overhead at 60,000+ feet before you let loose with everything you got! Remember – point absolutely straight up. That is very very important. Straight up or else! Then wait to see what happens

there was an article in a paper called “wyoming state daily” where a number of residents in a certain county said “we can shoot ’er down if ya let us!”what worries me is if they actually had weapons which could reach 60,000 feet high! prolly not- just sayin"

The NSA knew what the balloon was and what it was doing when it flew over the Aleutians. Every air traffic controller at airports on the northern west coast on duty at the time knew it was there. The only danger it might have imposed was an air traffic hazard. It was flying about thirty to forty thousand feet too low which is the only reason it was spotted and turned into a political soccer ball. It’s a pretty low tech, cheap surveillance platform compared to satellites in orbit and whatever spy plane we built to replace the SR71.

I once boarded a ferry to Canada. Stood at the bow watching the sunrise. Beautiful! A Canadian (total stranger) standing next to me, said: (first words out of his mouth!) “So, what’s all this aboot the right ta bear arms, eh?”

Anyone here ever grow up with Reader’s Digest??

I remember an article titled “Ivan Stoltzfuss’ Revenge”.

Seems back in the 60’s when it was announced that the USSR was orbiting satellites over the US, Ivan – an Amish farmer – didn’t like the idea of his picture being taken.

So he took his horse and plow out to his field and began plowing long lines:

First, a vertical line with two connecting horizontal lines.

Next, two parallel vertical lines connected at the bottom with a half circle.

Next, a three-quarter circle.

Next, a vertical line and two 45 degree lines connected to it.

Next, a short vertical line with two 45 degree lines connected at the top.

Two more parallel lines with a half circle at the bottom.

Finally, a long, oval circle.

It was rumored that sometime later, an American satellite took a picture of a Russian field with letters stamped in the snow that said in Russian,

“Same to you”.

Those slugs don’t reach that high. It’s a Darwin-like way to shoot yourself. What goes up, must come down, unless you’re in microgravity. Then, it’s “equal and opposite reaction” time.

Balloon was at an altitude of 60,000 feet +/-. That’s about 11 miles. i don’t know of any rifle or artillery piece that can reach that height.

You’re not going to bring down a 200 ft balloon with a long gun.

At that altitude bullets wouldn’t reach it.

In the early 1980s, I was a summer camp counselor. Unbeknownst to us that summer, one of the campers had a dad in the air force reserves. Two F-15s were being flown up from Texas to Minnesota, and this kid’s dad was one of the pilots. Of course we didn’t know any of this until well after.

The kid’s dad convinced the other pilot to make a detour en route. The two F-15s came into this camp in Wisconsin over the lake, rose to tree top level when they got to the camp, and then hit the after burners.

Scared the crap out of most of the camp. I was overseeing a soccer game among 20 12-year-olds at the time. Half of them ran off into the woods, half of them broke out crying. I saw two other counselors grab each other and fall to the ground.

The next morning the caretaker came in with his shotgun and said he dared them to try that again.

Now here’s a good job for the right-wing populists. Biden, hire up a coupla’ the local nutters for a month or two.

What goes up must come down

depends on the type of rounds used some will not make it to earth. and I am a moderate with 30 years military service, I am glad there are places where guns are not needed; live well!