Recently in Self Defense Category
Photographing thugs 'is assault', police tell householder snapping proof of anti-social behaviour
It's the Daily Mail, but given the direction of things in Britain these days I'm buying it:
David Green, 64, and his neighbours had been plagued by the youths from a nearby comprehensive school for months, and was advised by their headmaster to identify them so action could be taken.
But when Mr Green left his £1million London flat to take photographs of the gang, who were aged around 17, he said one threatened to kill him while another called the police on his mobile.
And he claimed that a Police Community Support Officer sent to the scene promptly issued a warning that taking pictures of youths without permission was illegal, and could lead to a charge of assault.
When he started taking pictures, one of them called the cops. That's something right there, law-breakers asking the law for help. But the law sided with them.
Nothing to laugh about. This sort of thing is the natural next step after the right to defend oneself is outlawed. Note that I wrote that the right is outlawed, not removed. Big difference.
One thing worth laughing about is the Daily Mail's alt text for the image they included in the story:
Picture of yobs taken by David Green
Why is it that Green is apparently being treated like the yob?
'He was threatening to beat him and kill him'
Neighbor killed after threats, home invasion
A Prairie Creek resident shot and killed a neighbor who had kicked in his door Tuesday evening and tried to assault him, police said.
Johnny Hawthorne shot Mekin Kantaphone with a handgun once in the head in self-defense inside Hawthorne's home, Benton County sheriff's Capt. Mike Sydoriak said.
The prosecuting attorney's office will decide whether the shooting was justified, Sydoriak said.
Kantaphone, 34, sent threatening text and voice messages to Hawthorne, 25, earlier in the day, he said.
There are allegations that the shooter was having an affair with the shootee's wife. The shootee's brother tried to keep him from going in, but he couldn't.
Mark Morford's Notes & Errata column on SFGate:
Here is the majority of the court basically arguing that, in case you forgot, much of America still blindly loves its guns, and of course handguns are a nice addition to any God-fearing family's arsenal of ridiculous self-defense weaponry and therefore banning a device designed to do nothing but kill other humans is just plain wrong.
Why is it that those calling gun owners and religious people "bitter" and such always sound so, well, so bitter?
He'll get over it.
Or not. Who really cares?
Via Snowflakes.
'He just didn't want to listen'
San Antonio, TX:
From the way the homeowner tells it, it sounds like the intruder may have been intoxicated.
Just like being intoxicated isn't an excuse for causing a traffic accident, being intoxicated is not an excuse to invade someone's home.
The homeowner forgot to take the safety off before pulling the trigger the first time. It's easy to criticize someone for missing an obviously critical thing, but I've never been in that type of situation before and don't really know how I'd handle it, either.
I hope I never have to find out.
Another reason to carry at home
An Omaha toddler underwent surgery Wednesday night to reattach her scalp after a pit bull attacked her and three other people.
From Not Always Right, which features conversations with customers:
Customer: "Yeah, I got my kids guns for their birthdays!"
Coworker: "How old are they?!"
Customer: "In their 20s."
Coworker, shocked: "But guns kill people!"
Customer: "Well, they may need to protect themselves someday, you know."
Coworker: "From what? Wild animals?"
Customer: "No, from Democrats!"
I guess if you look at it from the perspective of "I'm giving my kids guns now so that they can protect themselves in the future even if Democrats manage to make it too difficult to buy guns", it makes perfect sense.
Greenville Pizza Delivery Driver Shoots Robber
Greenville Police say the incident happened early Monday morning at 1105 A Masters Lane when the Chanellos Pizza driver said three suspects began hitting him as he was delivering the pizzas. Police say the delivery driver then pulled out a gun and began to fire. One of the three robbery suspects was struck. Elvis Deans Junior, a 17 year-old student at South Central High School, is listed in stable but critical condition. He'll be charged with Common Law Robbery and Assault Inflicting Serious Injury.
Later, he'll be included in with "children" injured by guns. Another 17 year old, two 18 year olds, and a 14 year old mastermind have also been charged.
If previous incidents are any guide, the pizza guy will lose his job for carrying a weapon while on the job.
Via CGSDB.
Joe Huffman on the Seattle buffoonery:
The Seattle PI had an opinion piece where they said:
Mayor Greg Nickels' plan to forbid guns on a host of city properties is a measured response to the gunshot injuries to two people at Seattle Center during the Folklife celebration.
...
The city would ask people legally carrying concealed weapons not to bring the guns into city parks, community centers and other city facilities. Anyone discovered with a gun could be asked to leave under trespassing statutes.
...
He represents his city well on the issue.
In the comments it's pointed out that the order is illegal under Washington state law. Huffman responds:
But it's expensive and time consuming for people to fight it.
More on Japanese stabbing incidents
A commenter on Sunday's post about the most recent mass stabbing in Tokyo pointed out a comment over at Steven Den Beste's that includes:
As for cultural passivity, there was a recent incident on a train where an unarmed guy flashed a girl, and when she protested, he beat her up right in front of the other passengers and at the next stop stuffed her down between the train and the platform. No one did anything to stop him during the act or his escape, and no one even stayed as a witness. Yes, this does happen elsewhere in the world (however, non-involvement is the norm in Japan) but nontheless it always leads to a lot of extra soul-searching in Japan, as it should, since they pride themselves so much on their social responsibility and cohesiveness. When one of the witnesses to the train flasher assault later came forward via anonymous phone call to a TV station, he said the reason he didn't want to get involved at the time was he didn't want to get hurt (the pathetic pussy) but worse, he would have been late for work if he'd stayed to be a witness for the cops. He was dead serious with that excuse and had called in to make it clear he had a perfectly understandable reason for not getting involved.
Go read the whole thing.
This reminds me of the whole A kid punching a playground bully is a 'vigilante'? discussion in April:
In a comments thread over at Dean's World, responding to a commenter who wrote that women should simply yell "Masher!" and hit the offender across the face if pressed against or fondled by a stranger:
That's called vigilantism...So if you wish the people not to descend into tribalism and lawlessness, you would have to stop advocating 'take care of it yourself' for an official government law enforcement policy.
Oh for pity's sake. Is it 'vigilantism' when a kid punches a bully in the nose?
Yes, of course.
In my school we seek to ensure that he does not have to do so.
So here we have a case where a woman stood up for herself after being flashed, and the flasher proceeded to beat her up while everyone else stood and did nothing. They probably didn't want to become 'vigilantes' by helping the woman (another 'vigilante.') Absolutely pathetic.
Then, to top it off, the non-'vigilante' witnesses don't even bother sticking around to help the authorities pick up the pieces after the fact. Indefensible.
So finally we have this, left in a comment on Sunday's post:
How can you kill 7 people with a knife?
7 die in Tokyo Stabbing spree:
A man who police said "was tired of life" drove into a crowd of pedestrians Sunday and then went on a stabbing rampage in Tokyo's premier electronics and video game district, killing seven people and wounding 10, authorities said.
Yes, he drove a truck into a crowd, doubtlessly injuring some of them and leaving other stunned. But it seem outlandish that he was able to stab 7 people to death with a knife. This wasn't some samurai with a sword, just a deranged lunatic with a knife of some sort.
(Qualifier: We don't know how many of the 7 dead and 10 wounded were killed or wounded by the truck in the opening moments of the attack. Maybe he only stabbed a couple of people after driving over and killing 5. That would at least make more sense.)
Now, Japan's gun control is among the most restrictive in the free world, so it's not surprising that someone didn't use firearms to defeat the attacker. But what sort of mind-set must have been present to allow this guy to do this? Were they just standing around hoping the police would show up before the slasher got to them?
We hear a lot of stories about 70-year-old WW2 vets fighting off street hoods while outnumbered three-to-one on American streets. And, no doubt, similar things happen in Japan from time to time. But I'm not aware of any mass-stabbing attacks in the US lately.
Armed with a gun, with a backpack, or with nothing, self defense is a mind-set first.
Theft victim shoots up suspects' pickup truck
All Joe Lord needed to halt a pair of theft suspects was patience and a shotgun.
The 66-year-old man blew apart a Ford pickup truck Tuesday morning and scared away the couple he said had stolen $3,000 worth of scrap iron, steel and aluminum from his machine shop over the weekend.
Taking aim after more than two days without sleep, Lord shot holes in the front tires of the 2008 Ford F-250, blew out the windshield and rear window and shot up the radiator.
He said he would have aimed for the suspects if he would have been able to see them. He couldn't, so he "disabled the truck." The driver, a girl who was using her father's truck, and an accomplice will be charged with theft.
Get this:
Sheriff Liberty said he discourages the use of guns to protect property.
"I can understand the frustration that Mr. Lord must have been experiencing," [Kennebec County Sheriff Randall] Liberty said. But, he added, "We don't want to see anyone get hurt over property."
Sheriff Liberty? It sounds like Mr. Liberty is saying it would be better for the thieves to get away with it. That can't be right. Can it?
Just so everyone's clear, Murdoc doesn't want to see anyone get hurt over property, either. So don't try to take Murdoc's property. Because Murdoc will shoot you if he can.
We often hear about people criticized for defending themselves, sometimes by shooting and killing robbers, over property. The saying usually goes something like "Is $20 worth killing someone over?"
Significantly, it's always someone whose $20 wasn't at risk who is asking this question.
I consider the question to be more along the lines of "Is $20 worth getting killed over?" And if anyone tries to take my $20, I figure they've answered "Why, yes. Yes it is."
Getting your dad's pickup shot to smithereens and charged with theft is a pretty light consequence when you go against a guy with shotgun and the justification and motivation to use it.
Wouldn't that be a "defense rifle"?
Men Attempt Robbery, Woman Shoots One Dead, Deputies Say
A woman who was awakened Friday morning to two men trying to ram a van through the front door of her business shot and killed one of the men, Montgomery County deputies said.
Deputies said the two men had robbed a motel in Troy earlier before driving to a Mount Gilead coffee shop and attempting to rob it.
That's when deputies said Bouaphan Chanthunom, 51, opened fire with an assault rifle, instantly killing Joseph Murphy McRae, 36, of Mount Gilead.
No make on the weapon. Maybe it was an SKS-47.
