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Introduction and Legal Disclaimer
First and foremost allow us to say that we firmly believe that the majority of our members are mature and self-guiding enough that these rules will fall into the category of common sense. Unfortunately there sometimes arise incidents when it is helpful to be able to refer to a set of written guidelines for what is considered "acceptable behavior".
TNGunOwners.com (herein referred to as Tennessee Gun Owners or TGO) and it’s staff are ultimately not responsible for what the members of the community upload or say within the confines of this web site. By using the Tennessee Gun Owners web site you indicate an acceptance of these rules and agree to follow them. Furthermore you agree to hold TGO and it's staff members harmless and indemnify them of any legal claim resulting from your use of this web site.
Because there are only a few rules and because they are so simple in nature, they are strictly enforced.
Tennessee Gun Owners Code of Conduct
Revised November 4, 2009 by TGO David
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| You are a guest here. Conduct yourself accordingly. |
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All members are reminded that they are guests of TGO and should conduct themselves accordingly.
You do not have a God-Given right to be here; this is very much our "house" and our guests are expected to follow this code of conduct. This is not a democracy. The word of the TGO Staff is final on any subject. If you have a question about or disagree with the way something was handled by a moderator or Staff member, take it up with them in private. Do not debate them in public! If you do not like the answer that you receive, feel free to contact the TGO Administrator.
If you argue with a Staff member publicly or otherwise engage in insubordinate behavior, you will be removed from the site without question.
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| 2. |
| Keep it clean. |
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Using foul language or posting lewd or otherwise inappropriate materials simply is not necessary to have a good time and will not be tolerated. What we consider to be lewd or inappropriate are the same things that the major broadcast television networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) do. This not only means no cussing but also means no dirty pictures, sexual innuendo, etc.
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| 3. |
| Maintain good fellowship. |
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Members should treat each other as they would like to be treated themselves. Name calling, flame posts, racial slurs, and other insulting remarks meant to cause conflict will not be tolerated. You should always try to maintain good fellowship with the other members of this community and be respectful to your fellow shooting enthusiasts whether they are new shooters or seasoned veterans.
Debate is welcome and encouraged, but you must always stick to attacking the issues rather than the person or profession. Personal attacks, and name calling, serve no purpose in the exchange and debate of good information. Keep in mind that in life there is no guarantee that others will agree with your thoughts or comments. You absolutely must try to handle disagreements, criticisms or opposing viewpoints with tact and maturity.
If you have a problem with another member or a vendor, you are instructed to take it off-line. If a problem cannot be resolved satisfactorily in this way, you may contact the TGO Staff and request assistance. If a problem between members manifests publicly, the Staff will intervene in the way most beneficial to the Community.
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| 4. |
| Don't crap on other people's threads. |
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Thread crapping, by definition, is when someone posts off-topic remarks or otherwise steers an existing thread of conversation off onto a tangent unintended by the thread's original poster. Sometimes the perception of "thread crapping" is subjective to the opinion of the original poster or of a Moderator. Other times it is more obvious.
Regardless, thread crapping is strongly frowned upon and may result in Moderator intervention or disciplinary action.
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| 5. |
| Do not discuss illegal activities. |
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Illegal activities should never be discussed here. This includes but is not limited to discussion of ways to circumvent laws or regulations (see Rule #6).
Obviously a web community centered upon firearms ownership will have members from various local, State and Federal law enforcement agencies let alone be monitored by those same agencies. Don’t put them in a position to have to do something professionally about something stupid that you did or are going to do.
We would greatly prefer that our members not engage in illegal activities in the first place, but if you have you should be smart and not blab about it on the Internet.
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| 6. |
| Observe all laws. |
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Part of responsible firearms ownership is observing all local, State and Federal laws that pertain to firearms. All of our members are expected to do so when communicating on our forum or when conducting sales through our forum.
For example, certain things should never be discussed. Things like how to convert a semi-automatic firearm to full-automatic, or how to build a bomb, how to circumvent proper transfer and registration of a firearm, etc. Likewise, all sales of firearms should be done in accordance with the Law. Out-of-state transfers must be coordinated through Federal Firearms Licensed (FFL) dealers on both the seller and buyer side of the transaction.
If you are in doubt of what is legal in a given situation, always ask before you commit or post!
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| 7. |
| No unauthorized soliciting / Commercial advertising. |
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Advertising opportunities are available to persons or companies wishing to market their goods or services to TGO members. If you are interested in taking advantage of that while helping support this community, contact us and let us know.
Unapproved commercial advertising should never be posted by members of our Community. This means that unless you have sought authorization from the TGO Staff to post a commercial advertisement for goods or services, you may not use advertising language in posts made to the forums. Specifically:
- No advertising language, links, banners, images, etc. in posts
- No advertising language, links, banners, images, etc. in signatures
- No sending unsolicited private messages (PMs) to members with any of the above in it
Authorized vendors are exempt from these restrictions.
Manufacturers or their dealers are welcome and encouraged to post information in the discussion forums as it relates to technical specifications, new product releases (models, colors, options, etc.), prototypes, user feedback, or additional features in existing or expanding products lines. Members interested in selling or trading equipment should use the Trading Post forums.
Likewise, use of the Tennessee Gun Owners forum to advertise, promote or recruit for other web communities will be considered to be "spamming" the forum and will not be tolerated. Mentioning or linking to another forum when there is a legitimate need in context with the remainder of a post is okay. Blatant or repetitious plugging of another forum for no other purpose than advertising their existence is not.
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| 8. |
| Use of the Trading Post forums. |
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The Trading Post forums are our online equivalent of the Classified Ads pages of your local newspaper. The ability to post ads is a perk granted to our Premium Members (Benefactors) for supporting the TGO community. Benefactor subscriptions are as cheap as $20/6-months or $35/year.
Anyone may reply to an existing thread so long as their reply is relevant to the thread in question. Anyone caught replying to an existing thread just to try to advertise their own merchandise will lose all access to the Trading Post forums permanently.
We do this to prevent commercial or private brokers from signing up just to use our forum as a form of free advertisement. We value the quality of our participants over the quantity, so if we lose a few "spammers" in the process, that sits well with us.
By using the Trading Post forums to buy or sell merchandise, you understand that you assume the burden of following all local, State and Federal laws pertaining to the transaction. This site, it's staff and owners cannot be held responsible for any damages, direct or indirect, caused by the result of any transaction made between buyer and seller.
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| 9. |
| Premium Membership Fees Are Non-Refundable |
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Purchase of premium memberships for Benefactor or Vendor status are non-refundable. If a member or vendor is ejected from the Community for violating our Code of Conduct, their membership fee will not be refunded to them.
You are reminded that all actions have consequences. The best way to protect your investment into this Community is to conduct yourself maturely and responsibly.
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