Fandom High Weapons Poll

[aka-vala.livejournal.com]

[OOC: ATTN: This is non-binding, non-official (although some official types thought it might not be a bad idea), and just to see what's actually what out there in the school. Vala's name is only on it because we needed a paid account (I'm so weak!) to post from.

(Remember: principalconnor rules this place with her Scary Iron Fist Of Doom, so what she ultimately says is what actually goes.)

Please answer IN CHARACTER (As a FH issue it's locked to FH members, sorry Townies!) ]

ETA: Question two, where it reads "magic users", it should read "people with magical/superpowers/mutantpowers/etc."

ETA2: Any mis-votes can be fixed by just "re-voting". It will only count your last answers.

ETA3: Anything I (aka_vala) posted in comments below with the "FH ate my life" icon are OOC, and my mistake in spacing the fact that comments are IC. My bad, please ignore. :(

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[Poll #579502]

Comments

[alchemy-4-arson.livejournal.com]

[[OOC: Thank you! Nicely coded poll.]]

[aka-vala.livejournal.com]

[marieann-d.livejournal.com]

Question, does "magic-user" mean ONLY "person who uses magic" or does it mean "anyone who can do something different/special with only their body" too?

[http://users.livejournal.com/_gottahavefaith/]

I was wondering this too. I took it to mean any sort of extra powers

[marieann-d.livejournal.com]

Which would mean Faith and Buffy would both have to register too, I would assume.

[alchemy-4-arson.livejournal.com]

When I suggested the poll, that's what I meant the term to mean, and I think most people are answering it that way.

[aka-vala.livejournal.com]

I'm meaning it as magic/superpowers/mutant powers/etc.

Basically Type 1 weapons you can lock up. Type 2, you can't. :)

Sorry, should have fixed the wording in question 2 as well... Ooops...

[can_be_more]

*is not questioning about aliens, cuz...*

[http://users.livejournal.com/___lily_evans_/]

Since my answers won't fit in the 'other' boxes:

1. This being a high school, the thought of weapons makes me extremely uncomfortable. Perhaps it's just a sensitivity issue with the fact that I am a school teacher in real life, but I don't like the atmosphere that weaponry creates in this game.

2. I think the administration should be aware of every student's powers/abilities, but that no students should be using any powers or abilities against other students or teachers in a negative way.

[alchemy-4-arson.livejournal.com]

Perhaps it's just a sensitivity issue with the fact that I am a school teacher in real life

The poll is meant to be in-character, though, not from the player's opinions outside the game.

[alchemy-4-arson.livejournal.com]

I think the administration should be aware of every student's powers/abilities, but that no students should be using any powers or abilities against other students or teachers in a negative way.

I wonder if people would get behind a compromise whereas the staff knew the abilities of the students, but that info was not released to the rest of the student body.

[aka-vala.livejournal.com]

Well, there's also the consideration that -- whatever the name may be -- this isn't actually set up like any RL high school that I know of. It's really designed more like a college, and I think people are largely playing it somewhere about half-way between the two.

Plus, of course, we have a bizarre unique student body, where "normal" simply isn't. ;)

[phases-of-kitty.livejournal.com]

I understand #1, but I'm assuming your school doesn't have a squid monster in the basement, gremlins in the cafeteria and random zombie invasions. :) I think most people are more worried about the monsters than the other students.

[neptune-wallace.livejournal.com]

As a "normal" student, (one with no supernatural abilities and one who would not carry a weapon in my own canon), I don't understand the need for all of this in a high school. I don't like the idea that Wallace might feel so uncomfortable being surrounded by his fellow students that he might be forced to do something so out of character just to keep up and or/not be completely left out.

[aka-vala.livejournal.com]

Definitely vote against then. This is IC, and I can't imagine Wallace wouldn't.

(VM premiere tonight! Hee! ;-)

[positive-angel.livejournal.com]

*nodnodnod* That was one of my objections that seemed to keep getting lost in all of the hubbub noise.

I'm not a normal normal but I'm very passive and nonaggressive. I don't carry weapons and I don't have any magical abilities to hurt/harm/affect anyone except to heal.

Maybe we should form a coalition for our voices to at least to be heard. Sort of a support group thing.

[death-n-binky.livejournal.com]

*DEATH seems mildly amused, if such a thing was possible*

[aka-vala.livejournal.com]

[bluemanoncampus.livejournal.com]

Many, if not most of the worlds that we the students come from have mandatory handgun registration that also requires the owner to have a firearms proficiency license. As I understand it, the licensing process takes less than a day and I see no logical reason why those with firearms and blades would be averse to proving their competency.

As for registration of innate abilities, I agree with both Chihaya and Miss Pride that said registration smacks solidly of discrimination. In my world, millions of "baseline" people were massacred because they were perceived as being different from, and therefore inferior to, their murderers. Currently, mutants such as myself are so feared and persecuted that the President of the United States authorized a program to build a series of robots specifically designed to identify mutants without their knowledge or consent and, if the government deemed it necessary, assasinate them without the benefit of due process. I personally rescued a young mutant from one such attack wherein the multistory-tall robot nearly destroyed a city block in Manhattan in the process of attacking a fully-populated bus that held said mutant.

In my experience, the kind of discrimination and registration that is being proposed leads inevitably to mass persecution with a high probability of secondary casualties.

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

The concept of responsible weapons use gets lost in this shuffle too. As if there's no middle ground between "I have a gun and I'll use it on anyone who pisses me off, possibly taking out random bystanders" and "I understand both the consequences of carrying a gun, how to make sure it doesn't do what I don't want it to, and under what circumstances its use is appropriate."

That said. There are some hella appropriate circumstances at this school. Zombie attack? Big check. Locker 327? Oh, would I *like* to have had my gun when I fell in there last week! Squid monster gets the munchies? Sorry, Professor Drusilla, I'll take a gun violation over being your pet's lunch. Use of a knife to get out of a booby trap planted by yourself your roomate? Check.

Random menacing comments from certain assholes in the student body? UNcheck. That's what Rover and Principal Connor are supposed to be for. Disagreement over the last slice of pie in the caf? Insane, and uncheck. (Talk to the chef.) Juggling in Study Hall? Impressively stupid, and uncheck.

See? We can be taught.

At least those of us who've *had* gun training and weapons' familiarity drilled into us do. As I understand it, a lot of these rules were put into place *partly* because the student body is adolescent and unstable and, *drumroll please* unfamiliar with the mores and laws of Earth in some cases.

Others have backgrounds which, while Earth-based, make them feel infinitely more secure with *some* kind of weapon to hand. For some, allowing them a weapon they can use responsibly is both easily proven and simply a precaution. Others, yes, can not be trusted; but they are *individuals*-- not the student body as a whole. Taking away their weapons does not make them more secure or reasonable. Counseling, time, and understanding can do that. Taking away their crutches and replacing them with *nothing* just makes them more willing to take chances, or find ways around the rules. It doesn't make them more comfortable with the unfamiliarity of fellow students with powers and intentions they don't understand.

Understanding and training in the limits of weapons use will not turn the student body into an army of Mini-Rambos. Being allowed the *priviledge* -- subject to the oversight of the school-- of carrying a weapon, and proving we can do so responsibly, will not automatically lead to gun and knife fights on the roof of the gym. But unless and until we are assured that our school environment provides *no* threats to our physical safety (from even the School Lounge Guard, who has gone walkabout for the third time in as many weeks), and being deprived of what many regard as the necessary means to ensure the safety of ourselves, and other students, is not only incomprehensible, it is indefensible.

Very few at this school are typical adolescents. Please allow us the opportunity to prove, within new strictures and guidelines, that we deserve to learn while protecting ourselves in ways which, within our own frame of reference, are neither extraordinary nor dangerous.

IC: regarding powers

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

I thought about this long and hard, because frankly, yes, the powers and attitudes of some of my fellow students is goddamn unnerving. But having just pled for the administration to regard us as individuals, I'd be the worst kind of hypocrite if I went back on that, and asked for the registration of werewolves, vampires, mutants and magic-users in toto.

I have two brown belts in different martial arts. I am a bigger threat than some of the students here with magical powers. I am registered in those belts-- because it is a skill which can cause damage to others, and which I can, with sufficient time and laziness, fail to keep proficiency in. It is an intrinsic part of me, yes, but not the most important part. Do I want to be listed with the school as a "threat"? Hell no. I just outed myself, though, so people can take that awareness of my abilities any way they want. Better yet, they can *ask* me about it.

But if I'd wanted to, I could've kept that as a 'secret weapon' against either my fellow students or the things we face here. It was *my* choice to come out of that closet, though. I don't think forcing that choice on anyone else will lead to anything but confusion.

The main thing is-- knowing what a werewolf or a witch is, should be the kind of question we can ask the administration. Then ask how we protect ourselves from any threats they pose. The freedom of information here should also still protect those who have those powers or abilities from being judged on them, without knowledge of their character first. Knowing how to protect ourselves from vampires, mutants, or anyone else here who has dangerious abilities should be a priority-- but so should knowing how to protect yourself from, say, a brown belt who may have eaten in the cafeteria and who currently thinks she's Ming the Merciless. And the responsibility for providing that information lands again, on the administration who admitted those students-- not the students themselves. *Not* by identifying individuals who would under normal circumstances, not pose a threat to anyone.

The presumption of threat is not one that most of us are qualified to make, I'll admit. Some of us are more paranoid than others (*sneer*). But knowing the hazards in your environment means that any accidents or problems that happen can at least be dealt with in the least traumatic manner possible.

[names-ash.livejournal.com]

A-hem.

It has come to my attention that you kids who are worried about being "registered" as something different have nothing to worry about.

Since It should have all been in the paperwork and applications you submitted to the school, your abilities should already be on file.

There is no discrimination here, as everyone is registered as a student. Some of you just have powers, that's all, and that's included just like your blood type, previous grades, and favorite ice cream flavor.

My committee will not be pursuing any efforts of personal registration. Merely weapon certification and registration. Thank you.

::scribbles on his clipboard::

[swerval_zero]

My personal feelings on the weapons ban?

Never mind that I don't carry anything stronger than a croquet mallet. Never mind that I was the girl with a gun to her head. Never mind that a lot of us'd be dead or the shambling squalling undead by now if it weren't for guns.

I'd just like to point out that all the weapons bannage in the world won't do much good as long as there's a flamethrower in the supply closet on the first floor of the dorms.

IC

[2ls-in-oneill.livejournal.com]

Weapons:
Okay here's my part of the thing. First off I would really like to be able to defend myself against the zombies/gremlins/tentacle monsters/locker #327 and all that crap. I wouldn't even use it against godinakilt unless he tries to kill me/someone else first. On my honor.

Completely aside from that? I've been carrying weapons, several guns and knives and back-ups for longer then the majority of the population here has been alive. I'm all for weapons and think they should be allowed, as long as the people with the weapons can prove they're responisble with them. Keep 'em locked up and away when they're not usuing them, unloaded, proper safety and relatively good aim. I'm sure no one would mind that.


Registration:
I am completely for guns (and other weapons), but only for those responsible enough to have them. I think that if you want to have a weapon you should be subjected to numerous tests and should have to pass with flying colors, anything less is irresponsible.

Magic on the other hand. I don't know really. I haven't had many run-ins with it except for a couple while here. I think this would probably be a case-by-case sort of thing. Some people here, have an organic... something that makes them physically dangerous. But just because someone may be able to make grass grow on command doesn't mean that they're more dangerous than the kid who can throw their fist at someone's face.

There are others though here who are growing into powers and magic and the like and it would be wrong to brand them as weapons right off the bat. High school screws you ever enough as it is, a label that you're the bad kind of dangerous could kill a kid or twelve.

[littleluck.livejournal.com]

I suppose I'll comment too, as there seems to be some confusion on previous comments of mine (and yes, I'll do this IC). I don't really care if people have magic powers/whatever (obviously--I like cheating people in poker) and I've been told that brining up the fact that they still have no oversight is petty and a us-vs-them mentality.

But is it? Isn't it much more a case that someone saw a problem (IE: a student with a gun where they shouldn't have had one) and decided guns=bad, while everyone ELSE has been allowed to continue with the original set of sanctions as a deterrent (and what a good deterrent it is! I sure don't want detention.) Why aren't we afforeded this same opportunity? What, exactly, is the difference between having a gun in your hand and ...I dunno. A big flame-y sword of justice that is the focused totality of one's will (corny, yes. Shhh.)? Aside from the fact that the gun can be taken away and the sword, presumably can't? I really don't think seperabiltiy of the weapon from one's person is a good criteria for judging one's responsibility in handling it.

Hrm. Maybe I should have taken a normal sociology course.

I also have a low tolerance for crybabies. But the locker can always take care of that... *looks totally innocent*