I'm going to reopen this thread now after I post the below comments which are not aimed at anybody specifically but are aimed (no pun intended) at everybody in general.

First things first. The fate of this forum is solely dependent on the decisions of HNI administrators and, ultimately, the company that now owns HNI. None of the members or mods get to make that decision. Each of you (and I as well) can make suggestions or recommendations but HNI admin will end up making a business decision that is based on this forum (and all of the others) being profitable.

Now in a philosophical sense, Mystro does have a point in that the forum will definitely go downhill if members choose to carry discussions and disagreements to the level of contentious arguments and/or confrontations.

This contentiousness has been growing at HNI over the past few years and is in definite contrast to HNI's Golden Years 1998 through early 2005 or so. During those Golden Years, discussions and disagreements were more civilized, without rancor and were often just a whole lot of fun. People didn't wear their personal honor on their sleeve and were able to agree to disagree or drop the conversation before it went to the level of being counter-productive.

Sadly, this personal restraint often doesn't occur these days when people simply have to get the last word in and can't let it go. In a way, this lack of self-restraint or decorum is representative of politics today where people are determined to disagree and carry it to a flame-war level. That's too bad as it results in the poor government we have today and ignores how our government was created to encourage people with different points of view to compromise and devise solutions that compromised for the betterment of all.

I realize that some gun issues have certain laws of physics and some things aren't really up for compromise but each member who hunts and/or simply shoots will find what works best for them in their particular circumstances. Belittling another for what works best for him/her based on what works best for you is kind of pointless. You don't walk or hunt in their shoes and they don't in yours.

I am only one of the mods on this website but I try to moderate in a manner that I would appreciate if I were on the receiving end. I have posted, PM'd and discussed issues with many of you and I happen to rely on quite a few of you to uphold the standards at HNI--High standards that individual members create and uphold. Standards that make this website a on-of-a-kind and unique place to gather, read and post. Standards that make the mods' job easier and in turn, admins' job. Standards that I have seen in so many of you and appreciate because you make this place fun and special.

I am unlocking this topic now and stepping down off my moderator soapbox. Play ball, gentlemen, but play nice. Disagree at will but leave the animosity out of it. And yes, some of you will just have to agree to disagree.

CalHunter
Moderator