Lax US gun laws, the wild-west spirit of vigilantism, and undertones of white supremacy all came together in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, a teenager who admitted to killing two white men but has been controversially cleared of all charges. He turned up in Kenosha, Wisconsin last August for protests against the police shooting of a black man, Jacob Blake, armed with a semi-automatic weapon. The reason he gave was to ‘protect property’ from rioters.
The prosecution described Rittenhouse as an armed “chaos tourist” who travelled to Kenosha “looking for trouble”. They argued “you cannot claim self-defence against a danger you create.”
His acquittal hinged on the specific details of Wisconsin’s self-defence laws. It ‘considers whether he believed himself to be in imminent threat of harm, but it does not factor in the choices he made in the hours and days beforehand that put him in the middle of a volatile situation, with guns drawn and tempers flaring.’
Reactions to the verdict have been starkly opposed across the political divide with the right believing “justice has been served”, and the Democrat chair of the House judiciary committee, calling the verdict a “miscarriage of justice.”
Rittenhouse, born 3 January 2003, in Antioch, Illinois, is a conservative Sun Capricorn with Mercury Moon also in Capricorn. But the real eye-opener is a volatile and volcanic Fixed T square of Uranus opposition Jupiter in flamboyant Leo square a vengeful Mars Venus in Scorpio conjunction. He looks like a weedy, spotty nerd in photos but he has all the potential to turn into a dangerous obsessive. There’s ramped-up sexual desire in there from pumped-up Scorpio as well as aggravation and an explosive resistance to having his wishes thwarted from Mars Uranus. Mars Jupiter can also justify self-interested, opportunistic acts by adding a veneer of morality – trying to look like a holy crusader. He also has an immoveable, can-be-depressive and ultra-stubborn Saturn opposition Pluto.
When the shooting occurred there was an exact Mars in Aries square Saturn in Capricorn (conjunct Pluto Jupiter) so the mood was febrile and inflammatory – and that Mars Saturn would impact on his Mercury and maybe his Moon in Capricorn; as well as his deluded Sun/Neptune midpoint.
This week’s Taurus Lunar Eclipse falling on the day of his acquittal was exactly opposition his Venus which might have suggested an emotional crisis rather than an exoneration. Though the fallout may continue since he’s not looking chipper through this December and will be devastated through 2022; with an extremely bruising few years ahead till late this decade with tr Uranus hard aspects to his Mars, Venus, Uranus in 2023/24 and a series of punishing Solar Arcs between 2024 and 2029.
The Wisconsin state chart, 29 May 1848, has Venus in Taurus conjunct Algol picking up yesterday’s Lunar Eclipse; as does the Solar Arc Sun in late Scorpio on the exact degree. When the shootings occurred the Wisconsin Uranus Pluto Moon in Aries square Mars Jupiter in Cancer were also being triggered so the stage was set for over-reactions and high-tensions.
People are forgetting just how violent these “peaceful protests” acutally were. Kyle offered to help defend a business from being burned down as so many others were. He also spent part of the day removing grafitti at a high school, had a med kit and rendered medical aid to two people. If you watched the video you will see him running away from a mob. He fell, was kicked in the head and hit with a skateboard on his head just below his head. He didn’t shoot (from a prone position, mind you) until he had a gun pointed at his head and an attempt to disarm him. He was running away shouting “friendly, friendly” for crying out loud. He wasn’t there to kill black people as the mainstream media are insisting. In fact due to their horrible reporting, people in general assumed the men shot were black and this is a racial issue. Anything to feed a narrative that stokes division to boost their declining viewership.
Obviously these people didn’t watch the trial or research the evidence. Shame on them!
I would like to thank those who have responded to my post, whether for or against. I should like to point out that restraining the absolutism of Kings is an enormous step even if it did prove to be of the Lord’s benefit, rather than the common people. It did eventually lead to everyone being entitled to a trial by their peers. Justice is constantly evolving with a lot of forward and backward steps along the way. So you shouldn’t marginalise the effect of the Magna Carta.
“https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/23/politics/trump-kyle-rittenhouse-mar-a-lago-visit/index.html”
“A nice young man…That was prosecutorial misconduct. He should have not have had to suffer through a trial for that.”
Linda: Excellent observations. Absolutely agree. Carson: Re your comment about “the mentally ill being ignored until they seriously harm others”…..the real issue is that the mentally ill have access to guns–it’s far too easy for them to buy a firearm. Gun laws in the U.S. need to be completely overhauled with extremely stringent background checks put in place. Trouble is, the sale of guns is so profitable. It’s all about money and the need of many to feel macho.
Carson, The UK does have a written constitution, it is just not written in one piece, or located in one place. This also includes Magna Carta which is the backbone of law for all English speaking nations and indeed for many other countries as well.
We do have a right for free speech, just not for inciting hatred. And MPs are there to serve their constituents at the national level as are Counsellors at the local level. As for the protection against overreaching governments, we have this little thing invented by the Greeks called a democracy.
It is a Parliamentary democracy not a Presidential one like yours, and as such we generally have an election every 5 years or whenever the Prime-minister and Parliament agree to call one. Unlike yours which happens every 4 years and is apparently decided by the Electoral College and not the electorate. Which is absolutely shameful, and in only recent years have any steps been taken by some states to ensure that the EC echoes the wishes of the electorate.
Here in the UK, the vast majority of laws are national with the devolved governments of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales having small differences. For us that makes life simpler.
There is no such thing as a perfect country, legal system and government. And yes we do have problems. But America’s constitution shoots itself in the foot every time with the right to bear arms, written at a time when there was no real army, just local people being called upon to do their duty.
Well America has one of the biggest military machine in the world, with even larger resources pushed towards the many, many different types of police and intelligence departments. With all that it still is a war zone that quite frankly is worse than Beirut in the 60s.
The saddest part of this whole mess, is that there is no way out of this situation, until you all agree to give up your guns. And no gun owner is ever going to agree to it. And so the vicious cycle goes on.
Linda, Thank you.
There was a facebook funny recently, possibly repeated from a while back but I’d never seen it.
Amy Barrett, Trump’s Supreme Court Judge nomination is evidently an “originalist” and “textualist” which means she interprets the words of the constitution as they were commonly understood when it was drafted in 1787. Which would relegate her nowadays to the drawing room sewing her sampler or the kitchen peeling the potatoes depending on her birth.
That’s the problem with ancient documents written for a different time – a touch like fundamentalist Islamic approach to the Koran. Take it literally and don’t think.
https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/520891-amy-coney-barrett-the-cruel-irony-of-a-female-originalist
That’s a silly comment. Amy Barrett is a lawyer and a career jurist. She isn’t restricted to feeding the kids and tatting socks. We relish women and minorities, etc. having success in our society.
Originalists in legal interpretation outline the limits of the laws as they were written. This ensures that any change is properly written into law. We have changed our Constitution at various times to progress as a society. We extended the vote to women, ended slavery, eliminated poll taxes, made the Senate a popular vote and so on. We have a desire for inclusion in our country. Not exclusion. But some parties are determined to change that. They will fail in that quest.
Well put Linda. It’s as simple as that.
Respectfully disagree. The Magna Carta restricted the absolutism of kings. It did not bring about democracy. It merely moved power more to the aristocracy. We never had a king nor will we.
Some patchwork of laws here or there is not a Constitution and Bill of Rights. A single comprehensive document encompassing the structure, rights and responsibilities of the govt. is the Constitution. The Bill of Rights for the citizenry is key to prevent that overarching power of government. You rely on an interpretation of that patchwork of laws to assemble your protections. That interpretation can be reinterpreted and undermine your rights all too easily. You are at high risk of a stranglehold from above. Your writer George Orwell was prescient in this. It is much easier for the devious in power to avoid backlash by chipping away at rights rather than overturning a govt by force.
Both of our countries are sharing the same problem of polarized viewpoints that create stalemate legislatively. Good governance is ignored. There are many parties with access to govt. who profit from these situations to not stoke that anger more intensely.
Neither of our countries is a democracy. Both are representative republics. Too often some of our citizens have their voices muted or extinguished. That is counter-democracy. And Evil.
I don’t lay much down on politicians protecting the citizenry. The are careerists first and foremost. You have more of the backroom deals for laws. Effectively you have bribery with the side jobs for your pols and bureaucrats. Whose side are they on? We have effective bribery and threats from the business community via the massed armies of lobbyists. It’s disgusting here. My country is ripe for major change as the public is fed up. Both the left and the right and workers everywhere here are seriously angry. Not sure how r when it will blow up but it is coming. Sooner than later.
The 2nd amendment guaranteeing the rights of bearing and using arms is a throwback to prior times when individuals needed to defend their families and communities if govt. breaks down or becomes abusive. That IS a bulwark against tyranny and fear. It doesn’t (in our view) undermine our society but rather undergirds it.
We have bigger issues with enforcement of our laws and caring for our citizens. The mentally ill are ignored until they seriously harm others. We do not have a national health insurance plan which leaves our citizens bereft. Every move legislatively is beset by “it will cost employers more”. No sense of community and common action is appreciated by the political class. Rather it is all self interest.
Wishing you all the best futures.
A couple of “minor” points. Even before the US Constitution existed we had an standing Army and a Navy. The Continental Army, as it was called, with French allies defeated the British Army forcing the independence of the USA from King George’s realm. You barely have been taught that in England. It’s a key historical point for us.
The Electoral College IS DIRECTLY ELECTED by the people every four years specifically to formally recognize the incoming President as our chief executive officer. The use of the Electoral college rather than direct election was a political compromise when creating our country. Specifically it meant that the voters of the smaller states would not be ignored. They would have relatively strong representation in the electing of our President. Political observers now believe that if we eliminated the electoral college system then all the presidential campaigns would devolve to media campaigns in about 10 large states or at least the major cities in those states. Those states have enough population to elect the President outright. The voters in the other 40ish states would have no reason to vote as it wouldn’t make any difference in the outcome. (effectively disenfranchising them)
You have to understand two things about our country. It is a very large country physically and the population is not homogenous. The people in one area can easily have interests and desires politically/legislatively that other parts are completely unaware of or uninterested in. (think farm crop pricing or water rights or mass transit, etc) They need the political campaigns to generate interest in the other sections of our country to get legislation passed that is of interest to them. This is a key value in long political campaigns in our country.
Secondly, we have from the beginning had a governance system that is built from the bottom up. The 50 states have significant powers including taxation. The real power in our country is local and state power. The national govt has power in relation to other countries (military, currency,foreign relations,etc) and also the courts are aligned with the original Court which is the Supreme Court. Most of the remaining issues are vested in the individual states. This is something that you British in particular don’t seem to understand. The national govt here is the limited govt. It’s anathema to you because you don’t know the lie of the land. The structure of our governmental system is quite different than yours. Our Constitution is THE document that defines this.
The second amendment was designed to retrieve escaped slaves and to murder Indians so they could their land. It says “well regulated militia”. We saw mentally disturbed people assault the Capitol. The NRA has mentally disturbed leaders and members. So if we can prevent these people from owning firearms let’s do it. People mental illness are not likely going to do mass shootings. The UK and Australia have intelligent gun laws.
The second amendment to the US Constitution had nothing to do with slavery or the Native populations. It was in response to the English govt imposing heavy taxes on the American colonies to pay for it’s European wars. The English followed up by confiscating private arms to prevent any uprising by the colonial citizenry. The colonists didn’t have any representation in Parliament so they had no recourse. Thus the slogan, No taxation without representation. The American revolution flowed from those decisions by the English govt.
Our founders decided to have an unregulated militia be the backbone of defending our liberty. An unregulated militia means every able bodied (male)citizen of the community being armed for the community’s defense. The US Supreme Court has clearly stated that is the meaning in the 2nd amendment.
Much as I disagree with the NRA leadership, they are not deranged rather they are power hungry and very financially greedy. As an NRA life member going on 50 years; purging that group from leadership of the NRA would please me greatly.
Nowadays women are equal citizens so the interpretation is not merely limited to able bodied adult males but females as well.
The people who should have been in court are the politicians, the media and all the others who stirred up the violence in the USA last year for their own purposes. They exist on both sides of the political divide and they all have blood on their hands. By their fruits shall ye know them. Never were truer words said. The lust for wealth,power and domination always gives birth to evil.
I would add that in U.K. law Rittenhouse would have been classed as a child and reporting restrictions would have applied to the trial. Instead he has been treated as a political football to be kicked about in the USA increasingly malign, vindictive culture wars.
Too true. My main thought before writing it was that he was almost incidental – a bit player in a larger drama. A pawn of the fates.
But he’s clearly got a delusional saviour complex, wanting to ride in and defend those he thinks need his help. He’s clearly obsessive and will have to redirect his energy in future if he isn’t going to get into more trouble.
Very like Greta Thunberg then. Their families and upbringing doubtless have shaped their personalities but I think both have got caught up in things that they don’t control. I did not watch the entire trial and I am not familiar with all the technicalities of US law but in my view Rittenhouse was going to be the loser whatever the verdict.
Marjorie, thank you, I’ve been hoping you would write about Kyle Rittenhouse, and his role in the Kenosha shootings. However I must ask, was 29 May 1948 a typo, or did you run the Wisconsin state chart using that year? Wisconsin was admitted to statehood on 29 May 1848, not 1948. (Another Wisconsin resident here ♀️)
Although astrology can speak to an individual’s personality, it has no way of defining a person’s character. Socrates, for example, was told by an astrologer that he would die a famous murderer — and he did; he killed himself upon drinking the poisonous hemlock. So it may be with Kyle Rittenhouse. The photos below were not taken on Halloween. This is the way the kid lived/lives his life. It might be interesting to look at his chart (Neptune? Pisces? 12th House?) in relation to the way his story was used and politicized by a corrupt media attempting to simply support their narrative.
If you’ve been watching mainstream media without doing your own research, and if you actually believe what the mockingbirds have been saying to incriminate Rittenhouse, then it is reasonable that you think that Kyle took an AR-15 and drove 30 minutes across state lines into Kenosha to purposefully kill innocent BLM protestors who were out demanding social justice. What you haven’t heard the mainstream media report is that Kyle worked in Kenosha as a lifeguard; that’s why he was there. After work, he helped others clean up graffiti that the BLM members had painted all over that town. (There’s a photograph of him doing this.)
He and his group of friends then got a call from another friend asking them to help defend his business because the ongoing rioting was continuing after businesses had been burned down the night before. Kyle even brought his first aid kit and could be seen in videos asking the protestors if any of them needed help, or if they were injured. In fact, he was again videoed helping one woman who had had a projectile, brick or rock land oh her foot. Kyle wasn’t there to cause trouble or instigate; he was there to try to help keep the peace since, obviously, the local authorities were falling short of being able to do that.
Things got ugly when Kyle and his friends put out a literal dumpster fire that the rioters had started that night, and he can be seen in a clip, rushing a fire extinguisher to the scene. That’s what caused the rioters, including Joe Rosenbaum, to lose their cool over him. Rosenbaum was a convicted child-molester who had recently been released from a mental hospital and was reportedly “off his meds.”
Numerous witnesses, even for the prosecution, described Rosenbaum as belligerent and getting into disagreements that night as well as being involved in an arson fire in a dumpster. Rosenbaum is the guy who was seen and videoed harassing the militia and literally telling them to shoot him, a guy who served prison time in Arizona for child molestation and was on bail for assault in Wisconsin.
Moments later, the mob could be seen chasing Kyle down with one of them firing the first shot as Joe Rosenbaum is charging at Kyle, trying to take his weapon, all of which was captured on video and, as eye-witnesses confirmed, resulted in Kyle shooting him.
Then, as Kyle was fleeing the mob to avoid further confrontation, the mob caught up with him and knocked him to the ground. One of them stomped on him while another one, Anthony Huber, approached him and hit him in the shoulder with a skateboard. Huber had been convicted of disorderly conduct in 2018 and was a domestic abuse repeater. Kyle shot and killed Huber as another person, Gaige Grosskreut, armed with a pistol, approached Kyle and pointed his firearm at him; Kyle shot him in the arm. After visiting Grosskreut in the hospital, one of his good friends posted on Facebook that Grosskreut ‘s “only regret was not killing the kid” and “emptying entire mag into him.’
If you want to talk bout “anger looking for an outlet”, you may want to discuss instead at the charts of the three individuals whom Rittenhouse shot in self-defense: Joe Rosenbaum, Anthony Hube, and Gaige Grosskreut.
Rosenbaum was clearly a mess, abused by his stepfather for years as a child, diagnosed as bipolar, had been released from a mental hospital the day of the riot, and the bag he threw at Rittenhouse had his underwear, socks, and a stick of deodorant. He was there by accident. Huber also had mental health issues. Grosskreut had had juvenile arrests but none in the past 10 years, and testified he thought Rittenhouse was an active shooter, which is a near daily occurrence in the US these days. Whatever you want to say about the backgrounds of any of these people, only Kyle Rittenhouse killed anyone that night, no one else. The police stood by, let Rittenhouse walk about with an AR15 without stopping him. Also, none of this would not have happened without the lax gun laws in the US and egged to violence by the media, right-wing militias, and politicians.
Funny how the media kept saying how he “crossed state lines” over and over again, as if was a big thing. Media chooses to emphasize what it thinks as important.
Crossing state lines does matter in the context of what laws apply to the situation. In a European context, that would be crossing the countries frontier. Going from France to Spain would likely change what law would apply to a criminal case and what punishment would apply. (USA:think does this state have capital punishment or only long imprisonment for the most serious crimes?). In the USA the individual states have priority for most prosecutions such as murder. And the laws involved vary somewhat. Normally the federal government doesn’t have a part in that.
I wonder if you are going to take 8 paragraphs to explain when the next time this kid gets in trouble. He is going to be gallivanting with those who put him on a pedestal until the attention wanes and he is left high and dry. We are going to hear about him. And is not going to be about redemption and good deeds. I wonder were you got all your info about him. Do you know him? All info out there is thanks to the media. Just make sure to list your sources, was it from the good media or the bad media?
Kyle was a police cadet, a fire cadet and a worked in Kenosha as a lifeguard in a local pool so he did have some first aid training, although calling himself some sort of an emergency medical technician is a stretch but in the absence of anything else what to do? I suspect that if those shot by him had not pointed a gun at him, grabbed his gun, smashed his head with a skateboard threatened to kill him drop kicked him etc he would have kept is gun pointing downwards as was seen in the videos of him running away. Best not to close in on someone armed just because they look like a soft target.
Judge Schroeder birth data unavailable…..use his Term Chart when he first became a judge, which was August 17, 1972. He was born in Milwaukee, WI.
Set up his Term chart and in the outer ring put transits for the verdict announcement.
No birth time for Greta Thunberg, but like Rittenhouse she has natal Mercury in Capricorn
in the bounds of Mars. Thanx to Jen for noting their similar birthdate.
Both of them are far too intense, too serious for their age and put the weight of the world upon themselves.
Oddly both Greta Thunberg and Kyle Rittenhouse look much younger than their actual ages. They both give off the aura of children thrust into the adult world.
Thank you, Marjorie, for predicting a “bruising” decade ahead for this toxic, murderous nutbar! In high profile cases, the Court of Public Opinion can be far harsher than any judicial penalty.
Greta Thunberg was also born on 03.01.2003.
Hi all…any takes on Judge Schroeder? Can’t find birth date aside from the fact that he was born in 1946.
His Asc fits Cancer rising…very emotional, baby-faced, patriotic. I rectified his birth chart to 5:30:31 pm,
giving him an Asc of 26Cn15 and MH of 8Ar29. Most of his planets are in the bounds of Saturn except
Mercury in Capricorn, 7th House, in the bounds of Mars. Vettius Valens describes this bound as……:”dictatorial, aiming at rule in everything, wandering, loving solitude, quarrelsome to the end.”
When the verdict was announced, transit asteroid NOT(not guilty) was conj natal Sun; trans Uranus, ruler
7th House, ruling trial verdict, was trine his natal Sun; trans Mars, ruling his 10th, fame, reputation was
sextile his natal Sun. Rex Bills in his book “The Rulership Book” assigns the 7th House to “trial verdicts”.
Rittenhouse was NOT GUILTY of all charges.
Thanks for the post on Thunberg/Rittenhouse.Confirmed,at last.
For me,Thunberg has become just a Big Mouth, aggressive in a way.
Hopefully she will learn and grow up ….
GretaThunberg is on the autistic spectrum which traits will be reflected in her chart. This gives her unwavering persistence that has undoubtedly led to the environmental movement gaining more prominence. If she believes that she is right she will continue despite all opposition. One enormous plus is that Donald Trump considered her to be an irritating teenager.
As with Kamala Harris, I’m looking at Rittenhouse’s chart synastry with the U.S. Sibly. His Uranus is conjunct the Sibly moon. His North node is right on top of the Sibly Uranus. His Cap moon directly opposes the Sibly Mercury in Cancer. His Cap Sun is in a close opposition to the Sibly Sun in Cancer. More specifically to his own natals, transiting Pluto has surely been digging up the sewer here. I think his extremist tendencies may have been strongly triggered in 2014 when Pluto transited conjunct his natal sun and have been building since then; he was 10 or 11 years old at the time, so I wonder how much his mother and conditions in the family unit may have aggravated things. I understand his mother drove him to the protest that day. I envision him having been swimming in a toxic stew since Pluto has been in Capricorn. Maybe Pluto transiting over his natal Neptune in a few years will be what breaks him out of his fog of delusion.
I mean, what kind of nutjob parent drives their kid to a protest with the kid having an assault weapon in his hand?! Pluto transiting over his natal moon screams “toxic mother” to me. My own belief, considering the circumstances mentioned above, is that she had a fairly large hand in radicalizing him. That said, he must still accept responsibility for what he did.
There’s one fact checking site that says not so. The weapons were left at a friend’s house and he didn’t have them when he left home. But she’s undoubtedly a firm supporter and raising money like crazy for his defence fund.
Also, Eris, a slow transiter, has been at 24 Aries for a while, squaring transiting Pluto and Rittenhouse’s natal moon. Add in a bit more widely his natal Merc in Cap, as well as the Sibly Mercury in Cancer, all of it creating an additional T-square. Interestingly, he has no natals on the Aries/Libra axis (without a confirmed birth time his AC/DC axis can’t be confirmed, of course, but the chart as shown does hook in to these tough transits). So much bitterness and anger there. (sigh)
Thanks Marjorie. A terrifying case really – I was so disturbed by how young Kyle Rittenhouse is, just a boy. He’d apparently asked an older friend to buy the gun for him. But since his friend is still only 20 years old, it seems astonishing that he (the friend) was able to purchase a military-style weapon legally. Or that military style weapons are readily available to buy in the USA.
The eclipse falls on his Venus, ruler of the eclipse, and in Taurus the financial side of Venus is emphasised I think. Maybe the fund-raising for Kyle’s defence will now be in the spotlight, or maybe all those details will be “eclipsed”? According to an article in The Guardian in April, 2021:
“Rittenhouse, who became a cause célèbre across conservative media throughout late 2020, and was even supported by then president Donald Trump, held a fundraiser on GiveSendGo billed as a contribution to his legal defense. According to data from the site, he raised $586,940 between 27 August last year and 7 January .
Among the donors were several associated with email addresses traceable to police and other public officials.”
Several misconceptions here. “Military style” or “assault weapons” as they are sometimes called–function no differently than non-assault semi-auto rifles. Actual military rifles have full-auto capability but the civilian models do NOT. Thus they look similar but have different functionality. That pistol grip, removable magazine, flash suppresor, or adjustable stock can’t kill anyone. They just make it more comfortable and more accurate to fire them. It’s more about fear that some people have towards firearms.
Wisconsin resident here. US Army veteran, life member of the NRA, competitive shooter and personally focused on gun safety. It was legal for the friend to purchase the rifle since the minimum age to purchase is eighteen (not 21). He purchased the rifle with the intent to sell/transfer it to Rittenhouse when Kyle turned eighteen which technically made it NOT a “straw purchase”. But Wisconsin law allows under age handling of firearms for hunting or firearms training only. Taking the gun to a riot situation does not qualify under Wisconsin law. The physical turnover of the gun to Rittenhouse for that purpose was illegal. But probably it won’t be prosecuted given the Rittenhouse acquittal under a self-defense argument. (Not politically popular to do so).
This really was failure to supervise Kyle by his mother. Kyle claimed he was going to protect property and volunteered to “guard” the car dealer lot but soon wandered off! He also claimed to want to act as an EMT but he had NO formal training for that. Not a grounded person. What parent drops their child off at a potential riot? To be an EMT with no training? That’s parental FAILURE. Sad, sad situation.
Exactly. Glad to have someone talk about the weapon who knows what he’s talking about 🙂
Carson, Being a Brit and therefore not gun savvy apart from shotguns for rabbits, pigeons etc – can you tell me what sort of big game these types of weapons are designed to shoot?
The military versions were developed to kill humans. The civilian versions when used for hunting are targeting medium to larger game of approximately the same size/weight as humans so 100 to maybe 400 pound animals. Think deer/elk species. It would depend on the animals size, the terrain and distance to target and what caliber of ammunition the gun is chambered for. Very large/dangerous game such as polar bear would be extremely hazardous to attack. I’m not a hunter so this is just general info gleaned from hunter friends.
Wisconsin is currently in the 9 day deer hunting season (using rifles). It started yesterday (Sat) at dawn goes through the Thanksgiving holiday and ends at dusk next Sunday. It is generally considered the 2nd biggest event of the year after the (Christmas) holidays. Wisconsin is approximately 65,000 sq miles in area which makes it twice the size of Scotland or bigger than England. WI is only a medium sized state in the USA. But it barely has 5 million people. 60 % live in the 3 biggest communities. Over 1 million people will go into the woods to go deer hunting this week. That is roughly one out of four adults in the state. We are the “dairy state” (think the best cheese in America, rivaling anything else worldwide). So we have more cows than people. We also have a massive deer population in the wild supposedly numbering 1.5 to 2 million deer. Hunting is a very big custom here. Many Europeans can’t grasp all that. It is so different from what they know or think they know. If you have a chance, come visit my country, you’ll likely enjoy yourself. Just don’t come for Disneyworld in Orlando, Hollywood/LA or New York City. That is not America. It is fantasyland. It exists to pick your pockets clean. The real America is here and very welcoming. Love your site, thank you for posting!
France is awash with hunters – for wild boar and birds – and on occasion they pick off joggers, dog walkers and other human hunters. My home country of Scotland is also renowned for shooting – mainly pheasant/grouse but also deer. But there isn’t the same everyday gun problem there is in the US.
Unfortunately we do have a violence problem. So does the UK although with more stabbings than shootings and more Middle Eastern-type terrorism than we do. Our violence problem doesn’t seem to be related to the existence of firearms. Most of the violence is rooted in gang type warfare in the cities and a disregard for other peoples lives. Also there are some individuals with untreated mental health problems here. There are insufficient resources used in this regard. There are far more firearms in the suburbs and rural areas than in the cities. Those same rural and suburban communities are among the safest places on Earth. Gun violence is rare in those areas. No one has an answer for all this going on. Then we have the wacky politics, both Left and Right wing here. The polarized views have destroyed mutual actions for the betterment of our people. I am certain that change will happen though.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate
USA homicide rate is way above UK or other western European countries.
During the deer hunting season a million + hunters go into the woods. There are a lot of rounds of ammo fired but someone being shot or killed is very rare. Most firearm injuries in deer hunting season are self-inflicted due to unsafe handling by the hunter.(they shoot themselves) More likely is someone dying due to a heart attack. Once every so many years, someone is killed by by an ass who didn’t confirm that they were firing at a deer. Hunter safety programs and safe firearms handling and usage are major topics here. People take their responsibilities seriously during hunting seasons.
Marjorie: the murder rates you reference are misleading. The violence is heavily concentrated in the major cities and particularly the “inner cities” which are poverty stricken and gang related. Even the local very liberal news media has been reporting this for years now. All kinds of solutions have been attempted but not much has diminished the violence. In other parts of our cities themselves, the violence is much rarer. Outside of the cities, it is minimal and on par with the safest communities in Europe. In my city area, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the murder rate is “high” and it is almost entirely gang related, largely blacks killing blacks. That, unfortunately is the crux. No one has been able to curtail this violence and lawlessness. Not Black activists or Black pastors. The violence with firearms or knives or bludgeons or autos is shocking and ongoing. Peoples attitudes and respect for one another will be the key to change. Most Blacks in my city are afraid and very frustrated by the violence but nothing seems to work to change that. We pray for peace every day.
Carson, Gemma – the following are banned in the UK: fully automatic, semi-automatic, pump-action rifles, and cartridge ammunition handguns. For shotguns, hunting rifles, and pistols, which are legal, you must apply for a license from the police. This involves rigorous assessment, home visits, and so on. A person’s doctor is usually notified, so that they may flag up any mental or physical issues they think may render the gun owner an unsuitable or dangerous person to have a gun/guns.
Civilian gun ownership in Europe is heavily restricted with legislation varying between nations. As of 2017 the countries with the highest civilian gun ownership were Finland, Malta, and Iceland.
The guns I have come across myself have been in a hunting or sporting competition context, apart from seeing a few armed police officers at times of high security alerts here. A much older and very rural relative shot game, and another relative won many prizes in shooting competitions. Neither context required a weapon such as the one Kyle was carrying. I do realise that it is legal for civilians to “open carry” weapons in Wisconsin. In most parts of the world, this is not the case.
I’m well aware that many European countries have restrictive gun laws. I disagree with some of that, as do most Americans. I do believe that the USA needs some better protection from mentally disturbed individuals, not merely in regards to firearms. Change is slow in my country due to all the competing voices.
In the USA our Constitution protects our rights. It’s enshrined in our written laws. That includes firearm ownership and use. In the UK, you have no Constitution and thus no written protection from an overreaching government. If the govt. changes the laws you have little to no recourse. If your govt. abuses the existing laws than you have little recourse. Your Parliament is a lapdog in response. Useless. Your population needs to demand a written Constitution. What it would include is the subject of thoughtful debate by your citizens. Good luck, good health and good fortune to you all.
I’m Visiting very sporadically nowadays, but felt you’d look at Rittenhouse’s chart and wanted to see how it played and what you’d have to say.
It’s uncanny he is born the same day with Greta Thunberg, and I have a nephew who is just a couple of days removed, so he shares the chart, minus Moon position.
And looking at this chart confirms what I thought from non-astrological point of view – I thought not being held accountable would ultimately hurt Rittenhouse. Astrology confirms this. People with strong Saturn and especially Capricorn must be held accountable in their youth, or they will develop serious boundary issues.
Very true. It surprised me as well. I think Kyle has a very long hard road ahead of him.
Thanks. I knew I’d seen that chart before but couldn’t place it in the moment. Greta found a different cause into which to sink her pent up anger.
He and Greta thunberg have the same birthdate. Same energies applied differently.