What is appropriate here?

if you want people to discuss contentious subjects in the campfire, then give members the ability to hide threads they dont want to see, for weeks now the firearms thread has been near the top and the discussion has become repetitive with opposing views disagreeing with each other, all this after 50 people were murdered. i started that thread, i'm sorry I did, I regret it very much. it was supposed to be about news for reducing guns in nz, but people didnt want to stick to the terms i posted for the thread... and it just stayed off topic after that, so i removed my content from it. but the topic went on and on and on at the end of the day its a tramping forum. to a certain extent firearms ownership is relevant to trampers. but not to the point where we dont have a choice about seeing the topic at the top of the recent posts for weeks on end after such a horrific event. i stopped following the news the past few weeks, we havent been able to get away with the extensive saturation of the subject in the news. and as its been noted people do come here to get away from the heavy duty news in the media and have a low key discussion. I dont mind discussing the heavy topics, but up to a point then it just starts to feel like people beating each other over the head with their standpoints... guns are going to be a very divisive topic from now on with the new legislation... its one of those subjects that isnt going to be an easy discussion anymore. issues about peoples rights vs the govts taking away peoples rights and whether what they are doing is going to work or not... or have another sub forum for discussing the news that can be hidden by members from what they see here if there are that many members that do want to talk hard hitting news ad nauseum. more than ever now tramping is a relevant activity to get away from the world. and even then we can still be more in touch with the world than ever when tramping, with the advent of instant communication almost everywhere a lot of us cant get away from the demands of modern life. people expect to be responded to quickly with email and cell phones instead of answer phones and normal postal mail... tramping is one of those events when you can tell people you are truly in communicado, its not possible to get hold of you. even if you have satellite comms, you're only going to tell a select few people you have that, you've gone bush... just you and the wilderness and some mates and minimal interference from the madness of the outside world...

Matthew A strong vote here for: - strict tramping-only rules outside 'the campfire' - strict moderation of potentially derogatory / discriminatory / upsetting / inflamatory content outside 'the campfire' - the status quo (the current balance of freedom vs moderation) within 'the campfire' - the ability of individual users to opt not see 'the campfire' content in their 'whats new' and /forums page - but ... for those that choose to exclude it, the campfire still there as a link to visit if wanted Most days I visit this site wanting to see what people have been up to, whether there are questions I can answer. It would be great to be able to do that without mentally having to filter out any 'red rags to a bull'. And still to have the option to visit more general discussion when I feel like it. EDIT ==== Just to avoid misunderstandings here - the above are opinions I have been forming for some time and not related to the topic of gun control specifically. Sorry if I gave that impression

In my opinion the thread should not have been started, I agree about not having politics and worries here. Once it was up, I felt I had no choice but to indicate my opposition towards rushed proposals that would not have prevented much. I'm happy to kill that thread. I would never start a political debate here, but if people do, be prepared that there are still a few who oppose the main narrative.

I think the discussion is good. Must admit I havent read all of the original thread. But us city-dwelling folk dont often get to hear the views of people actually out there using guns in a recreational context - ie: hunters. IMO we're all NZers and entitled to our views - whatever our political leanings.

given the events that went on the discussion that eventuated was too visible, too soon to those of us who didnt want to be exposed to an endless conversation on weapons.

Perhaps I missed the posts that have riled some folk. It wasn't really a forum for me so I stopped following it. I for one didn't see anyone being abusive of others. Some stuff was posted that I didn't agree with, but that is par for the course. Personally I am fine with threads that are indirectly related to tramping. Gun legislation (as an example) affects what people might be carrying out in the mountains (and possibly pointing at me).

I agree with Mad Pom pretty much to the letter except with the addition of asking that the thread that has lead to this be locked. I think everyone that wanted to has had there say and leaving it open will serve no further useful purpose and may result in people inadvertently overstepping the mark

I personally have no issues, I didn’t follow the thread as it was of no interest to me on this forum. The standard of comment in general is very high on here, especially compared to other blogs / forums / media . That’s a compliment to those who post here that personal attacks, thread hijacks and trolling is virtually non existent.

Difficult to stay on topic once the original post was deleted. Until then, I thought it was pretty much on topic (surprisingly). Out in the real world, non-tramping matters are discussed around the campfire and that's appropriate. However, there is an inherent difficulty discussing complex issues in a text-based mode - it lacks tone, visual expression, interactivity. People havd to be careful with their comments and how they interpret others. But, as forest328 observes, there is very little personal attack and zero trolling here - it's a pretty good site. I agree with madpom's points - although I'd hide individual threads rather than the whole Campfire forum. Members should be able to view their hidden threads, if they choose.