Va. Tech shooting

[Wayward Son]

I've read from a number of sources that this change in england was subtle & occurred over many, many years, but the basic gist is that now, legally, you don't dare come to another persons defense nor do much of anything to defend yourself. I've read of cases where people were attacked by goblins using knives who in response used something as simple as a writing pen to defend themselves who were then charged with using a weapon in an assault. Other cases where they managed to take the weapon from their assailant & then were prosecuted for that.

So sorry, but I'm not there & never will be. Sometimes people say they would not want to live here, where people do have guns & other weapons & sometimes use them for either good or bad. Well, I do not want to live where the law is so much on the criminals side that I face prosecution & prison if I dare to defend myself or my family.

Criminals depend on their victims not fighting back. I for one do not intend to make it that easy for them so long as it's in my power to not do so.

 

[airsix]

It's interesting reading cdiver2's comments from a British perspective. I recall that a few years ago a farmer in the English Midlands, Tony Martin, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for shooting two men with his shotgun, killing one of them, after they broke into his home. There was quite a fuss at the time, since he was defending himself from two young career criminals with extensive arrest records. I remember that the Crown Prosecutor pointed out that the UK was a civilized place where the private use of firearms in self-defence was not tolerated.

The Crown Prosecutor is sorely mistaken. In a "civilized place" there are no career criminals who break into your home. And as long as there are, self-defence by whatever means is most effective is prudent and acceptable.

I really like some of these comments, and several of you have voiced my own opinion regarding passivity, situational-awareness, preparedness, etc. I'm also very glad to hear that there are some kids out there being taught not to be a willing victim.

-Ben

 

[cdiver2]

I've read from a number of sources that this change in england was subtle & occurred over many, many years, but the basic gist is that now, legally, you don't dare come to another persons defense nor do much of anything to defend yourself. I've read of cases where people were attacked by goblins using knives who in response used something as simple as a writing pen to defend themselves who were then charged with using a weapon in an assault. Other cases where they managed to take the weapon from their assailant & then were prosecuted for that.

So sorry, but I'm not there & never will be. Sometimes people say they would not want to live here, where people do have guns & other weapons & sometimes use them for either good or bad. Well, I do not want to live where the law is so much on the criminals side that I face prosecution & prison if I dare to defend myself or my family.

Criminals depend on their victims not fighting back. I for one do not intend to make it that easy for them so long as it's in my power to not do so.

100% but the last instance I gave was in Florida, a right to carry state.
It would seem you have a right to defend yourself BUT if you have a means of escape then you will be on the wrong side of the law if you use deadly force.

In the last instance I gave it would seem the police expected me to turn my back on someone (that had pulled a knife on me) walk back to my car and drive away.

It would seem the onus is on the victim to make the right decision in seconds and your damed if you make the wrong one.

 

[Cacia]

NOW they have a pychiatrist on TV saying that depressed kids on SSI meds (like Zoloft, Prozac) get chemically converted to pscychopaths because they are now numb and emotionless, disassociated.
I'm betting the medications get implicated after the autopsy. Cause what stands out more than anything? His behavior changed. yea, yea, I know he was weird already but that is not violent.

 

[cdiver2]

From the BBC news






Gunman report sparks Nasa alert

The alert comes after this week's massacre in Virginia
The US space agency, Nasa, has evacuated a building at the Johnson Space Center in Houston after reports that a gunman had been seen.
A Houston police spokesman said the building was sealed off and that they believed a white male suspect, aged between 50 and 60, was in the building.

Capt Dwayne Ready said a Nasa employee had seen a man with a gun and two shots were fired.

He said no communication had been made with the suspect.

Police were called to the scene, an engineering office known as Building 44, at about 1340 (1840 GMT).

A Nasa contractor, Jacobs Engineering, has told the BBC that one of its employees is involved in the incident.

The company said it was co-operating with police.

School secured

The Houston police department told the BBC they had sent a helicopter, a canine unit and a special weapons team to the space centre.

Building 44 houses communications equipment and engineering laboratories.


The Johnson Space Center contains Nasa's mission control which oversees the agency's space flights.

The centre's staff, numbering several thousand across the sprawling complex, were initially told to remain in their buildings but after several hours were allowed to leave the complex.

An intermediate school near the building was also secured for several hours.

The alert comes less than a week after a gunman killed 32 students and teaching staff at Virginia Tech university before killing himself.

The BBC's Adam Brookes in Washington says there has been a rash of security alerts across the US, which is also marking the eighth anniversary of the Columbine school massacre in which 15 people died.

 

[Natasha]

I'm 8 mles from NASA. On our news right now they are saying the gunman is dead...although unconfirmed.

 

[Kim]

Oh I get it.....

It's NOT okay to talk about gun laws and stuff in the States...

It IS OK to talk about it in the UK....

Amazing.

 

[tonka97]

Oh I get it.....

It's NOT okay to talk about gun laws and stuff in the States...

It IS OK to talk about it in the UK....

Amazing.

+1

On second thought, not so amazed.

 

[Lopaka]

I've read from a number of sources that this change in england was subtle & occurred over many, many years, but the basic gist is that now, legally, you don't dare come to another persons defense nor do much of anything to defend yourself. I've read of cases where people were attacked by goblins using knives who in response used something as simple as a writing pen to defend themselves who were then charged with using a weapon in an assault. Other cases where they managed to take the weapon from their assailant & then were prosecuted for that.

A bit off-topic after reading through all these posts, but I have to wonder about the culture you describe so well having a direct effect on the 15 Brit sailors and marines giving in passively to the Iranians. A culture that nurtures no resistance to hostility may be difficult to program out during military training.

 

[Kim]

A bit off-topic after reading through all these posts, but I have to wonder about the culture you describe so well having a direct effect on the 15 Brit sailors and marines giving in passively to the Iranians. A culture that nurtures no resistance to hostility may be difficult to program out during military training.

What? Did you want them tortured first? I don't think that anyone else would have reacted differently under the circumstances, and they certainly weren't blamed for it in the UK. And you suggest they're cowards????

I'd love to see you make a comment like that to their faces.